I need help with apartment location in Paris
 

Please review the link below and let me know if you see any pros/cons with any of the general apartment locations indicated by the bed.

Thanks

http://tinyurl.com/zg5fn9f

I clicked on the link - didn't understand.
Do you want us to tell you if the locations marked by a yellow bed are ok ?
If so, they are.

I'm having the strangest problems with the forum tonight. Originally I had a lot more info in the post above...but it rejected it every time. So I shortened the post and finally got it to post.

What I need to know is when you look at the map in the link above do you see problems with any of the apartment locations? Any that stand out as better than others...or as really problematic?

Thanks

And yes...the yellow beds indicate the location of each apartment that we're considering.

Well its hard as they are not exact addresses.. but most look absolutely fine to me.. however I would be least likely to choose the one far left..near Havre metro as I just think its a boring area.. I prefer being closer to river then further from it.. and I prefer left bank but have stayed ( and am staying this May ) on right bank and was fine with it too.

None of them are in "dodgy" areas if that's what you mean.. but as I said.. they could be right above a noisy restaurant/bar or something and we can't tell that by the map.

We stayed a few months ago in Saint Germain de Pres, quite near where your yellow marker is...below Cafe de Flore. We loved that location!

I would look for apartments that are convenient to Metro stations and bus lines. If there are specific things you want to see, you might choose the location most central to the things you want to see/do.

I like the left bank and enjoy the 6th arr. but I would be happy pretty much anywhere in Paris.

We always sty as close to the river as possible - since we like strolling along there in the evening. And we usually prefer the left bank to the right.

IMHO there is so much to consider with apts - have you considered:

AC
stairs vs elevators
Security if any are street level

Also have you confirmed that they are legal apts per the laws in Paris?

None are at street level and the elevator, while nice, isn't a necessity. We are aware of which ones have AC.

As for them being legal...of the 15 or so I've researched I've asked about half if they're abiding by the rental laws and they've all said yes. Either I'm extremely lucky in the apartments I'm choosing or renters will say what they want to regardless if they're following the law or not. From what I've read previously those accepting credit cards are more likely to be legit so I'm looking to use one that accepts credit cards.

Fortunately all of these are w/in acceptable distances from a metro.

" renters will say what they want to regardless if they're following the law or not"

This.

I would not worry about ac in winter minths( obviously) but i would seriously NEVER rent an apartment in june july august , or early september , without ac.

You may not need it, but, if you need it, you will deeply regret not having it. Touring around all day in heat, with even public buildings only having weak or inefficent ac, and then not even having a cool retreat to sleep in...no thanks. Leaving windows ooen for air is not always a good option, unless you like city noise and 6 am garbage trucks.

<i> From what I've read previously those accepting credit cards are more likely to be legit so I'm looking to use one that accepts credit cards.</i>

In Paris, just about the only vacation apartments which are offered legally are those of Parisians renting out their primary residences while they are away. It´s possible that such an owner could offer his home through an agency accepting a credit card on his behalf or it might be possible that you would pay him directly with cash. Credit card acceptance alone does not tell you much.

Of course if an agency believes that you are concerned about legal vs. illegal rentals, they will likely tell you what you want to hear. That´s their business and there is unfortunately no law in Paris against advertising illegal rentals. Only the apartment owner is fined by the city.

Renters are not often affected by vacation rental laws but can be involved if a reserved apartment is suddenly withdrawn from the market (which the city can do) or if a copropriété (homeowner´s association) forces an eviction.

Rental contracts penalize renters for cancellations but rarely the owners.

Hi Wekiva,

I once rented an apartment near the Pyramides metro stop, and I really didn't like the location. The apartment was on a very narrow street; so narrow, in fact, that I could easily see into the rooms of the buildings on the other side of the street.

Even though it was a narrow street, it had a LOT of traffic, with all that traffic noise. Sometimes there was a blockage on the narrow street, and I got treated to lots of horns blaring.

So -- can't be sure exactly where your apartment is -- the yellow bed is near the Pyramides stop, but I can't tell what street it's on. The apartment I rented was on rue Saint-Roch.

Have fun as you plan!

s

What Sarastro said.
There are only a few hundred legal apartments in Paris (out of 30,000), and those do not include the amenities or charm most tourists want and may not be in the most desirable neighborhoods. I do not recommend paying cash - even for a damage deposit - since if you are unhappy with the apartment, or if the owner is unhappy with you, you will never see that money again.

Even though the crackdown on vacation rentals is continuing, an agency representing several properties would likely be able to re-locate you in the event the apartment you chose was taken off the market for any reason - though you would have to accept what they offered, which might not have the amenities or the location you wanted and have paid for. An individual would likely give you a refund, but would not assist you in finding another place to stay.

What you need to do is find out the exact addresses of the apartments you are considering. If the owner/manager will not give this information, ask for the nearest two cross streets. Then, do a GoogleMaps Street View tour of the area to see if you will be near noisy bars, restaurants or anything else you might not find desirable. Unfortunately, the information you have given doesn't allow anybody to give you any decent advice.

"do a GoogleMaps Street View tour of the area to see if you will be near noisy bars, restaurants or anything else you might not find desirable"

Great advice. I've been doing that for as many as I can. But there are a batch of apartments in that group that came from HomeTown and their maps seem to only show the closest major intersection. HomeAway's maps are a lot more accurate. Once we narrow it down to 2 or 3 I'll get better directions and "peruse" the neighborhood.

Thanks!

You can't always tell if a bar and restaurant will be noisy or not. All you may know is that it is there.

There are several of those locations that I would not want because they are either not very residential and/or too noisy/busy intersections in business-y areas. Most are fine. Of course they are all safe enough.

I would never rent an apt. right near the Opera, for example, nor near Chatelet metro stop (I did stay in a hotel there once a couple days). I would not rent that apt just north of the Madeleine, nor the one at Pyramides metro stop. I'm not crazy about the one north of the Pompidou (I dislike that area but some people think it is okay--I just don't like it around there nor the ambience). I also probably wouldn't rent those two near St Germain des Pres metro stop, that is a very noisy and congested area (one looks like it is on rue Bernard Palissy and the other near St Sulpice church). But it's hard to tell with those, sometimes apts aren't noisy when in areas like that because they aren't over the street, but in the rear.

All of the other ones are in fairly noisy areas that I mentioned I didn't like, but I dislike them because the area is too business-y (right where the Opera is? that sounds horrible, in fact that's probably the worst location on there to me). Right around the OPera isn't a place I'd want to hang out at night, and things are pretty expensive, also, if you go into a cafe or something. Lots of stores, it's a business area. Pyramides is a weird location for an apt, that is a tour bus pick-up point for one thing (Parisvision), a couple very expensive hotels, etc.

Which ones of those is from HOmetown? Their maps show you where it is, I couldn't even see streets on their map if you mean this one http://www.hometown-paris.com/

If you click on "Location" for a specific place, it shows you exactly where it is on Google Maps. The one near Rambuteau they have, if it's the same one you picked, is fairly close to the intersection with impasse Beaubourg and appears to be at 37, rue Beaubourg. YOu can click on it and the Google Earth street view comes up at the bottom LH cornder and when you enlarge it, it tells you that address (at least for that one, it does). That is actually a very nice apt building, wouldn't be too bad if you were on an upper floor. There is some kind of Chinese restaurant on the ground floor (Hoa Tong) and the Google photo shows some sleeping or passed-out homeless person lying on the street practically right in front of the front door, which lends some realism to what you get around there. This is the restaurant http://www.legastronomeparisien.fr/p...g-au-hao-tong/

I don't know if the one you picked in the 9th is theirs, but if so, it is right at the intersection of rue Halevy and across from Galeries Lafayette Hommes, but doesn't show an address. There are some apts on the top levels of those buildings around there.

We have used the studio below for the past 13 or 14 years. Great location, 8 minute walk to Metro, 2 minute walk to bus stop. Bus goes to Louvre area and beyond.

Nadine Giblin
Studio 30 sqm Paris 9e near Montmartre
E-mail : [email protected]
Website : http://locationparis9.canalblog.com

Thanks for the detailed response Christina...exactly what I was hoping for. The problem I started noticing with HomeTown was that the map seemed to always indicate the location was right at an intersection or at the metro stop. Maybe all of them are RIGHT at those locations, but it seemed to me that the map location was a general location and not specific to the property (like HomeAway is). I could be wrong though.

Thanks again...I'll be looking at these with street view to get a feel for each area.