Looking for an apartment in London and Paris
 

My husband and I are planning a trip to Europe next year. We love to rent apartments rather than stay in hotels, and would appreciate some suggestions for London and Paris.
We can pay up to $250 a night.
We want to rent a place which is centrally located and has some kind of connection to the city, ideally French windows with a balcony overlooking the street. We prefer to cook our dinners in the flat, so want a complete kitchen with dishwasher, and we also want a clothes washer. Of course, we want food shops nearby,
We can handle one flight of stairs; otherwise, we want an elevator.
As for ambience, we prefer charm over modernity, except in the kitchen and bath.
We rented from Paris Vacation Apartments when visiting Paris last April, and were very happy with their 1 bedroom Charles Nodier in Montmartre. We would rent this again, but want to be more centrally located. We also rented from Paris Perfect, a flat with a great view of the Eiffel Tower in the 7th Arr. It was small, though, and I thought expensive, and the level of service was not as high as the Montmartre people, who were delightful and went out of their way to be welcoming and address a few problems which came up.
As for London, I've rented at the Citadine's in Holborn. Great location, but not much else good to say for it (cheap?).

Check out www.vrbo.com where you will find loads of listings for both Paris and London

I've used this site several times for London. They also have a lot of flats in Paris. I assume you're American & if so, note that the prices are quoted in dollars:

http://www.londonguestsuites.com/

Thanks. I've gone through the vrbo listinigs for both cities, and was hoping for a recommendation about an apartment someone had stayed in.
Carrybean, I will check the site you recommend.

I've stayed in Property Code 1107 3-4 times now.

(That's in Knightsbridge, 1/2 block south of Brompton Rd. & is very quiet, backing onto a little private park.

Check out the other properties offered by Paris Vacation Properties. We stayed in the Palais Royal 2 bedroom property and loved it (similarly enamored of the service). Larger than you likely need, as it's two bedrooms, but the location is very central, it's quiet, and the view onto the garden of the Palais Royal is very cool indeed.

Maybe the Eiffel Tower 1 bedroom would suit?

Like you, I find Paris and London Perfect properties a bit small and too expensive.

My daughter and I stayed in this apartment just around the corner from the Tour Eifel!
http://www.vrbo.com/60877

I can't recommend it highly enough!

You can see some photos on my World is Round site.
http://www.worldisround.com/articles/297194/index.html

We stayed in this wonderful apartment in Paris: www.lacigaleparis.com is the site. Fabulous service and location. Spacious and well appointed. Other Fodorites have stayed there. You can let me know if you want more details.

Thanks so much for the suggestions, I'll check them out.
I am inclined a bit towards the Palais Royale from Paris Vacation Apartments. Alex and Isis are amazingly attentive hosts, and I know they deserve our business again. Therese, you said the view was cool. I prefer to have a view of street activity rather than a courtyeard or park. I just feel more connected that way. Is there much "people" viewing from this apartment? The Charles Nodier in Montmartre had a wonderful view of the Butte, and people climbing the stairs and the paths.
I've been to the La Cigale site, Cabovacation, and it looks very nice indeed. I must ask the same question, is there a street view?
Carrybean, thanks for the London recommendation, I will check it out.
And Danna, thanks for your link to your photos, and your flat recommendation.

The ground floor of the Palais Royal is mostly shops (upmarket---there's a very cool place that sells vintage designer things near the apartment). The shops are accessed from either the garden side or the street side (Rue Montpensier), and there are lots of people visiting the garden or just taking a short cut through it during the day. I felt very much part of the "flow", and French friends who visited me during our stay were, frankly, stunned at how nice a location I'd snagged.

Because the apartment takes up the entire width of the building, there are views over both the garden and the street, with the former running the entire length of the apartment, from the lounge, down the long hallway, and finally to the bedroom. The windows are large, reaching nearly to the floor, and semicircular in shape. The other bedroom, the main bathroom (there are two full baths in this property), and the kitchen overlook the street. There are several restaurants and bars on Rue Montpensier, so there's some street activity pretty much all the time, but it's not a particularly raucous crowd. Towards the end of our visit there was a crew of nice young guys stationed on the street 24/7: their job was to "take over" parking spaces as they emptied in preparation for a film production that weekend.

The apartment is beautifully furnished and equipped. There's an elevator, but we didn't bother to use it very often, as the walk up the curving stairs was easy (and very pretty). Kitchen well-equipped (though a bit awkward in the layout, such that I was happy to not be cooking elaborate meals), including dishwasher and separate washer and dryer (relatively unusual in European properties---they often have combination machines that don't so much dry your clothing as cook it).

I'd stay in this property again in a heartbeat. Absolutely great service: we were met when we arrived, and again the morning we left (they even insisted on carrying our luggage down to the pre-arranged cab).

Another place to check is www.craigslist.org It may be harder to find specific references from Fodorites, but you can ask the owner for references (and hope they are true!). Often you will find listings there that link you to an agency with additional properties to let. We've booked in Paris and New York and have been pleased.

Just to confuse you further & give more options, I've stayed in probably 2/3 of the flat at this place & highly recommend them also. They're located between Brompton Road & Hyde Park (Prince's Gate entrance) in Knightsbridge with wonderful decor. There is a washer/dryer available in the building.

http://www.snowwhitelondon.com/

Thanks for the additional input. After doing more research, I think we'll do Paris rather than London. I think at this time, anyway, it's a better bargain. We also found it easier to get around, using the buses and the Batobus on the Seine.
We still love London, but it's so pricey!!! And Paris is hard to beat.