Hi,

I am just beginning the search for an apartment in Paris for a week plus in late September/early October. I was very disappointed in my Rome rental from sleepinitaly.com this past September, so I am going to try to stick to the vrbo apartments. I don't want to go through the "switching" thing again. I have had good luck with vrbo in other locations, so I am hoping for the best.

Anyhow, I did a search for this info here, but I didn't find too much, so I thought I would ask for your favorites. This is what I am looking for:

1 or 2 bedroom (depends on $$) in 4, 5, 6 or 7th that is close to a metro. I am open to other locations, too. We need either an elevator or a (very) low floor. I'm not looking for luxury, but (like most!) am looking for CLEAN and well lit. Our price range is about $1400/week, but we could go a bit higher..

I would stay in lacigaleparis.com's bigger apartment in a flash, but it is unavailable, and since I stayed in the smaller one already (loved it!), I am thinking I would like to be in a different area. I'm not crazy about repeating things!

If you have a favorite apartment that is close to what we (my sister and I) are looking for, I'd love to know.

Thank you in advance.

OK. No takers. Does anyone have a favorite Paris apartment through any source they would like to recommend?

Did you see fishee's review of her recent Paris apartment stay in the Marais?

http://www.historicrentals.com/2005/paris/cluny/

Dear Celianne,
I have booked this apartment for a week at the end of March. I have never used it before but the American owner, whom I have spoken to over the phone, is very cordial, expert and accomodating. He also has several other properties - so you could look at some of his other rentals. There are testimonials on the website (Historicrentals.com). This is below your price range.

Good luck.

Dear Celiaanne, We've rented twice from vrbo 9718, which is very well located in the 7th behind the d'Orsay. It's owned by a very friendly American, and is beautiful and spotless, although a bit more than $1400/wk. Nearby is vrbo 61185 (also more $$), which gets good reviews on Fodors, but we have not stayed there as yet. We have stayed at a ParisPerfect apartment, which was quite lovely with a grand view of the Eiffel Tower, but their prices have increased quite a bit lately. Don't give up the search for a flat; there are so many wonderful choices in Paris. Bonne chance! EJ

I had a very good experience with http://www.letsparis.com in 2005. I initially found the apartment though vrbo, but then somehow found it listed on the letsparis site when the owner did not reply.
Letsparis is managed by an American woman living in Paris and she only represents a select few apartments. We stayed in the "Clichy" apartment in the 9th and loved it. In fact, we loved it so much, we recommended it to my best friend who also stayed there after us.
If you want to see my travelogue from the trip:
http://www.wired2theworld.com/paris2005.htm
BTW, I really liked the 9th, which is right next to the 18th (Montmartre). I've also stayed in the 18th twice before and enjoyed it as well. Lots of character and tends to be less expensive. The Clichy apartment is 650 euro per week.

vbro is a site that has ads from individual owners of apartments they rent out. It can be a mixed bag depending upon the care the owner takes to keep the apartment in shape, honesty, etc.

I have had good luck renting from Pascal Zytomirski. He is a rental agent for some units and owns at least one himself. He speaks English and is very honest. I had NO major problems at all. If you do a search on fodors for his name, you should come up with some threads discussing him. Everyone I know who has rented from him has been basically satisfied. When you arrive, he will meet you at the apartment to show you how everything works, etc.

I'm very surprised that people don't have a favorite that matches your critera -- which is a very reasonable set of parameters.

Although after I posted a long positive review of place I stayed in last week (too small for you), so many people are now booking the place that I actually fear they might not have room for me next year. So maybe people were smarter than me and are keeping secrets?

Our family of three rented this apartment in Paris http://www.vrbo.com/20362 in September 2004. We located the apartment through VRBO and had a great interaction with the owner, who now lives in the USA. It's in the 1st near the Avenue de l'Opera... very convenient to several Metro stations. We were able to walk just about everywhere. The apartment is very well lit since it is on an upper floor and in a corner with windows on two sides. (There is a small elevator.)

As others have said, VRBO is just a listing service and you're renting directly from an owner. There are other rent-by-owner websites you might use, and some owners have their own websites too.

I have a review posted here: http://www.slowtrav.com/france/vr/review.asp?n=1270 You might check other vacation rental reviews in Paris on Slow Travel: http://www.slowtrav.com/france/vr/list.asp?r=Paris

Kathy

Kathy

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I will investigate all your suggestions and let you know what I come up with!

Happy New Year to all.

WillTravel, Yes. Thank you. I did see fishee’s review, but the apartment seemed a little small for the 2 of us, plus we MAY have 2 visitors (nieces) while we are there, so we are trying to get a larger 1-bedroom with a fold-out bed. We would notify the owner, of course, if this happens.

Bazonia, Thank you for the name of your apartment. I was so disappointed in our Rome apartment that I want to make sure that I get some feedback from a person who has actually stayed in the one we choose. Good luck with yours, and I hope you will post after your trip!

Elsiejune, #9718 looks WONDERFUL. I love it. I will talk with my sister and see how she feels about the extra $$. We are basing our price range on the apartment we stayed in before that was very nice and had 2 bedrooms, which was $1500/week, as well as our budget, of course. Crazy as it sounds, while we were VERY satisfied with our experience at lacigaleparis.com’s la Cigogne apartment, we like to try new areas and apartments. #61185 looks just beautiful too, but would be quite a bit above what we are hoping to pay.

Kristina, the Clichy looks very nice too. I love that some of the furniture is leather (or even pleather!) – just a little cleaner than cloth, I think. I’d like to stay a little closer to the “center,” but this might be an option also. Thank you.

Thanks FauxSteMarie. Which apartment did you stay in? I would like to check it out.

kdcwood, Your apartment looks nice too and the location sounds great! I’m not sure how the inside stairs would work for my sister though. Thank you for your review and reference to the Slowtrav site.

Any other favorites would be great to hear.

Celiaanne-
The sofa was leather.

However, if you are going to have more than two people, I think the Clichy apartment would be too small. You might look at the other apartments-there are some really nice looking 2 br in the 9th and the 18th on her site.

I'm Celiaanne's sister. We both liked VRBO 99718 and the price is good, but we e-mailed the owner, and he replied that it is booked during the time we need.