My Paris apartment rental experience
Dec 11th, 2008, 11:15 AM
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My Paris apartment rental experience
I thought this review of the apartment I rented in Paris would come in helpful for future travelers. This is the weblink to the apartment....
http://www.rentparis.com/appart-en-8.html
I really enjoyed my stay at 22 rue Rambuteau. First, the reservation process with rentparis.com went very smooth, even though I only booked 48 hours in advance and paid via paypal. They helped me with all my questions and send me all the information I needed.
Upon arrival in Paris, I immediately called the Paris agent and he gave me instruction on how to meet him. The hardest part was figuring out the dialing pre-fixes. About a half hour before arriving at the flat I called the agent again to confirm the time. As planned when I was dropped off at 22 rue Rambuteau I was greeted within minutes. I think it was Jean-Pierre? Anyway, he assisted me with my luggage, took me thru the courtyard to the building. He was very friendly and explained everything!
When I walked into the apartment I thought, oh dear. This place is not big but it does look like the pictures. Truthfully I didn't expect it to be big. I will say that within a day I was very use to it and felt at home. By the end of the week I felt like a resident of Paris. In general I loved this apartment and would stay here again, here's why -
-The location is excellent right in the Marais and within walking distance of many sights.
-The neighborhood is excellent. Right outside your door you have a butcher, supermarket, wine store, cheese shop, produce stand, patisseries and boulangeres (plus cafes and bistros). Wake up in the morning and go get a fresh croissant or baguette!
-The washer/dryer combination is great. Carry less clothes! Be sure to get instructions on how to use it, there are a lot of dials in French! The machine doesn't wash huge loads and the clothing can come out quite -wrinkled, but the apartment does have an iron.
-The bathroom has a nice shower and good water pressure.
-The apartment is on the 7th floor and the building has an elevator!
-Even though the apartment is small there are tons of windows and it get a lot of light. The views over the roof tops of Paris are great.
-The building is very quiet, I never heard anyone. The neighbors are friendly and always greet you with a "Bonjour" or Bonsoir".
-The bed is comfortable but if you are use to having 2 people in a queen size bed, be warned! It was nice having a separate bedroom even though it is tiny.
-I took the internet option and it worked great. Note - If you take the internet option you get free calls to the United States or wherever home is!
-I was there in November and the heaters worked great!
-There was a good combo microwave/convection oven. Great for heating things from the market or bread.
-All the utensils and kitchen gadgets you will need are here!
-The refrigerator was tiny but good enough to hold milk, cheese, meats and other French treats.
-What does one do when they run out of toilet paper of other essentials? I just bought it from the market.
The only thing I found as a con to this apartment was that the lighting was bad at night, but that wasn't a big deal. If you think that you want a self catering visit to Paris this is a great place to stay. OK it's not the Ritz, but it was worth a million buck to become a resident of Paris for a week!
http://www.rentparis.com/appart-en-8.html
I really enjoyed my stay at 22 rue Rambuteau. First, the reservation process with rentparis.com went very smooth, even though I only booked 48 hours in advance and paid via paypal. They helped me with all my questions and send me all the information I needed.
Upon arrival in Paris, I immediately called the Paris agent and he gave me instruction on how to meet him. The hardest part was figuring out the dialing pre-fixes. About a half hour before arriving at the flat I called the agent again to confirm the time. As planned when I was dropped off at 22 rue Rambuteau I was greeted within minutes. I think it was Jean-Pierre? Anyway, he assisted me with my luggage, took me thru the courtyard to the building. He was very friendly and explained everything!
When I walked into the apartment I thought, oh dear. This place is not big but it does look like the pictures. Truthfully I didn't expect it to be big. I will say that within a day I was very use to it and felt at home. By the end of the week I felt like a resident of Paris. In general I loved this apartment and would stay here again, here's why -
-The location is excellent right in the Marais and within walking distance of many sights.
-The neighborhood is excellent. Right outside your door you have a butcher, supermarket, wine store, cheese shop, produce stand, patisseries and boulangeres (plus cafes and bistros). Wake up in the morning and go get a fresh croissant or baguette!
-The washer/dryer combination is great. Carry less clothes! Be sure to get instructions on how to use it, there are a lot of dials in French! The machine doesn't wash huge loads and the clothing can come out quite -wrinkled, but the apartment does have an iron.
-The bathroom has a nice shower and good water pressure.
-The apartment is on the 7th floor and the building has an elevator!
-Even though the apartment is small there are tons of windows and it get a lot of light. The views over the roof tops of Paris are great.
-The building is very quiet, I never heard anyone. The neighbors are friendly and always greet you with a "Bonjour" or Bonsoir".
-The bed is comfortable but if you are use to having 2 people in a queen size bed, be warned! It was nice having a separate bedroom even though it is tiny.
-I took the internet option and it worked great. Note - If you take the internet option you get free calls to the United States or wherever home is!
-I was there in November and the heaters worked great!
-There was a good combo microwave/convection oven. Great for heating things from the market or bread.
-All the utensils and kitchen gadgets you will need are here!
-The refrigerator was tiny but good enough to hold milk, cheese, meats and other French treats.
-What does one do when they run out of toilet paper of other essentials? I just bought it from the market.
The only thing I found as a con to this apartment was that the lighting was bad at night, but that wasn't a big deal. If you think that you want a self catering visit to Paris this is a great place to stay. OK it's not the Ritz, but it was worth a million buck to become a resident of Paris for a week!
Dec 12th, 2008, 10:46 AM
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I don't have this on a websight. You may be reading my old posting from a few years ago which was the apartment on rue Rivoli. I do have some pics of this one but the ones on the websight are pretty accurate. If anyone wants to see mine I can put them on snapfish or one of those photo websights.
Dec 12th, 2008, 06:29 PM
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Very interesting.....thanks. I just finished reading Almost French, a memoir of a young woman who moves to Paris and details the huge difference between visiting there and living there. An apartment, as opposed to a hotel, is a way to, at least, make believe you live there! 
BTW, thanks also for the great advice you offered when we went to Strasbourg in '04. That was when I first posted on Fodor's and as you see I am still here. I have a particular fondness for those who welcomed me with their helpfulness when I was new and had no idea what to expect here. It has been a great resource to which I hope I am now also a contributor as well as receiver.
BTW, thanks also for the great advice you offered when we went to Strasbourg in '04. That was when I first posted on Fodor's and as you see I am still here. I have a particular fondness for those who welcomed me with their helpfulness when I was new and had no idea what to expect here. It has been a great resource to which I hope I am now also a contributor as well as receiver.
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