Fashion week in Paris ok for fall 2018?
 

My husband and 1 are planning a week in Paris next Fall, and the week that works the best overlaps with a fashion week in Paris. As we're looking to rent an apartment (waiting till after Dec 1, of course) and we are not particularly glamorous folks (!), I don't imagine it will interfere too much. Any reason NOT to book for the week of Sept 29-October 6, 2018?

1 did a search on this and, in a post from a few years ago, the consensus was that it doesn't interfere much with regular tourist activity. I live in NYC and the only time I'm aware of the fashion week is if I visit a trendy area and see an inordinate number of tall, skinny girls and young women!

You should be fine. Hotel rooms that would otherwise be filled with tourists will, instead, be filled with Fashion Week visitors.

For apartments, take a look at OneFineStay.com. Everything here is licensed and vetted, and you have a professional team in Paris taking care of you during your stay — showing you your apartment, providing mid-week cleaning, etc. You're even provided with an iPhone for use during your stay (with a one-touch button to reach them for concierge and service issues). OneFineStay is a division of Sofitel.

travelhorizons . . . .looked at several apts. on the site you mentioned. What does "licensed" mean? No Paris required registration numbers were posted.

It means you don't have to worry about it being an illegal rental.

Thanks, travelhorizons. I'll look into the agency you recommended. I figured I'd wait until Dec 1 to look at the agency and see which apartments are complying with the regs. I've been following AirBnB and seeing that gradually some of the apartments have been getting licensed.

travelhorizons,
A question - how do you know that the apartments are licensed? I don't see any license numbers posted on the apartments so it's not clear that they are complying with new law. Am I missing something here?

They're a little pricier than I would like to spend but there are some that seem more reasonably priced (in the vicinity of $200 or less per night) but I would want to make sure that they are, in fact, licensed.

OneFineStay is exactly like staying in a Junior Suite in a modern hotel. If that's what you want, fine.

The 13-digit registration number is to be posted on the website, and is tied to the property owner's (not the tenant's) financial information.
If you do not see it, it's illegal.

So the apartments on the website are not, in fact, legal as of now.

Don't know what you mean by staying in a junior suite, fuzzbucket, as they do look like apartments, even if they are clearly not privately owned. They look like mid to high end apartments that are agency-owned, which I assume are just as illegal as a private (individual) owner having an apartment solely for rental.

there isn't any reason Fashion Week should have anything to do with you. It's just a business convention, basically, like many others, doesn't make any difference to people not in the industry. Some hotels can get booked up early, that's all (but not the kind I stay in), and it's just generally a busy time of year for business in general, that's all, and perhaps certain restaurants and bars where they hang out. What you look like is irrelevant, if you are from NY you shouldn't have some odd ideas about how this affects everyone in the city and there are fashion police out or something.

We've been in Paris during fashion week twice. The only inconveniences for us were shows set up in public places. For example, we wanted to wander in the garden of the Rodin Museum. Most of it was closed off and scaffolding up for putting up or taking down stages.

We love that time of year in Paris and wouldn't stay away because of fashion week.

Thanks, I didn’t think that it will be a problem. I certainly didn’t mean that how we look would be a problem, even for the fashionistas, but my point about being from NYC was to note how irrelevant fashion week is to my daily functioning! Of course, I’m working, not touring, but no, I don’t anticipate having too much interaction with that crowd. So, for now, my plans will have us overlap with the week.

Judy, yes, I can see if they’re doing outdoor shoots in tourist sites, it might be a trifle inconvenient, but overall, I would imagine it will be fine.

The fa&shion weeks go unnoticed by just about everybody in Paris. The only people who could possibly be inconvenienced are the ones addicted to certain chic hotels used by the fashion world. I worked in the "Golden Triangle" (formed by Champs Elysées, Montaigne, George V) for almost all of my working life and practically never saw anything there, since I was gone before 6pm and their world doesn't start until later.

Thanks, kerouac, my sense is that the fashion week isn't going to impact me very much at all.

The property owner has from 1 October to the end of December to apply for his 13-digit registration number. I would not send funds until mid-January, to be safe. If it is a tenant, prior notice in writing must be given by the property owner. Then, the property owner can apply for the registration number.


The OneFineStay is a hotel, not a residential apartment complex.
So, you'll probably have to stay in a "Junior Suite" or other apartment, if they even have them available.

fuzzbucket,
If OneFineStay is a hotel, why do I get so many different apartments in different locations when i do a search? It looks like a private agency. In fact, its opening page for the site clearly says “Stay in private homes”

Frankly, after reading the Wiki about OneFineStay (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onefinestay), it is still not clear to me exactly how they operate.

But since they are owned by AccorHotels, the 6th largest hotel chain in the world and the largest one based in France, I would hope that they respect the local legislation. (Actually, Accor was even the #1 hotel chain in the world back in the days when they also owned Motel 6 for 10 years.)

This can be quite confusing when you scratch the surface.

We were in Paris during Fashion Week this year. I do not see how it would impact you negatively in any way. In fact, we found it interesting in that it coincided with the Dior exhibition, which was fabulous, and my Wife went to the huge fashion showcase held in tents in the Tuileries. (As long as you have a business you can get tickets on line.)

Also, we had the unusual experience of Paris without cars, when the Mayor banned all private vehicles from the streets on Sunday of that week. It was amazing to see the Arc traffic circle deserted except for the occasional taxi or Uber.

Thanks for the info on OneFineStay, Kerouac. I’ll keep my eye in some of the less pricey options after Dec 1, but I’m finding places on AirBnB that are starting to get the licenses, so am hopeful that may be a good option for finding an apartment.

nukesafe, thanks so much for your comments - very helpful! Perhaps we’ll have some interesting show coinciding when we visit as well.

Love the idea of the city without cars! I wonder if that’s planned again. That would be a great experience.

There are relatively large neighborhoods where cars are banned every Sunday, notably in the Marais and along the Canal Saint Martin. Cars are banned on the Champs Elysées one Sunday a month.

We had our first citywide carless day this month, which will probably be repeated next year.

Echoing the above: we were in Paris exactly that week in 2008 for 8 days. I have no reference for comparison, but sense that fashion week had absolutely no effect on our trip.

Except perhaps: they very politely declined our attempt to enter The Ritz for lunch since we weren't actually staying there and the fashion folks had taken over. Perhaps kerouac hinted at this in his reference to certain chic hotels?

I didn't particularly feel like going to Paris, kind of a spur of the moment trip tied in to some UK business travel. But my wife pressed the point and once there I didn't want to leave.