Oh no! Vacation in Paris just cancelled our apartment for Christmas
 

I am so disappointed with them. Now what they have available are not desirable units or $100 more per night and the dates does not much our itinerary. Not a nice thing to do...

Thanks for the rant. :(

My almost apartment in Paris:

http://vacationinparis.com/apts/id_252.htm

Am guessing the rennovations aren't complete? Still, no excuse, they, imo, should have not taken bookings until sure of completion. I also think they should offer you a comparable 2 BR, 2 Bath at the same price, not $100 more per night. Assumimg you were never advised that there was a chance the place wouldn't be ready, they should be doing more for you.

Cathinjoetown,

This is the email I received.

"Dear Guests,
I have the unfortunate task today to inform you that due to a problem with the property owners which I will explain shortly we are not able to offer the rental at ID 252. This is completely unexpected and our efforts to remedy the situation have met with no success. The owners at the 11th hour decided to raise the damage waiver to 5000 Euros, raise the rate per night and decided they didn't wish to work with the manager who had spent countless hours to coordinate the renovations and prepare everything for the rentals starting today! We are offering an immediate refund of monies paid or any apartments available for your dates which are available with a 5% discount. If the rate is less for any of the replacements we will refund the difference paid. Our sincere apologies for this unexpected problem. Please advise us how to proceed at your earliest convenience."

I asked if they could much the original price, they said no. They are offering $29.95 per night off, we have to find accommodation for the first 8 nights as they have nothing available. It wouldn't be so bad if I was not traveling with my elderly in-laws. Two hours later and I can't find anything.

Thanks

Am really sorry. I don't have any constructive advice but certainly think they should be offering a better discount.

S--t happens but VIP should be working harder to help you. They can't create availability they don't have, but you should be getting a better deal on what is available.

You've probably already looked here, but we rented one of these apartments this past spring and were VERY happy: http://www.parisianflat.fr/

artsbabe,

Thank you for the link. Wow, their apartments are beautiful!
We might have to settle for a one bedroom at this point but I don't thing it will be that bad. Which one did you rent?

Thanks again, I really appreciate it,

Thanks Cath, I feel the same way, I think they VIP could be a little more helpful.

have you tried homeaway.com, VRBO.com?

homeaway and vrbo are both dealing w/ individual owners which does not sound like what the OP wants for this trip.

many fodorites use

http://www.parisperfect.com/

You may have already looked on www.slowtrav.com but it not, they have vacation rental recommendations from travellers. Also try www.tripadvisor.com for apartments.

Good luck, it's so frustrating. We had problems with an apartment rental in London, getting told the flat I'd picked with so much care was not available, then moving into a flat where we lasted less than a day as there were problems, then moving again - all on Christmas Eve!

Hope you find something great.
Kay

About 7 years ago we stayed in this apartment that we rented through rentparis.com http://www.rentparis.com/en/apt-29-r...004-paris.html There were five of us. We slept on the pull out couch in the living room and remember it being comfortable. The bedroom had a full/queen bed and a trundle bed that may have slept 2, can't quite remember. The bathroom had a door into the bedroom and a door into the living room. It is a great location in the Marais. There is no elevator and it is on the second floor. The agency is good to deal with. I have used VIP and had one good experience and one bad experience. They couldn't have cared that I was unhappy on one of my rentals.

Try Paris Pied a Terre. We have rented from them and they were great. They have some lovely apartments

Have you checked www.guestapartment.com

We have had good luck with them.

cafegoddess,

Why don't you post your travel dates and the price you would have paid for the original apartment. I imagine a lot of people here could help you dig up possibilities for your time frame and dates.

I agree with those who said that vacation in paris owed it to you to find you another apartment at the price you reserved for, even if they had to eat the difference. But their e-mail suggests they were genuinely left in the lurch by this apartment owner, and people arriving in Paris immediately are also now homeless or faced with unhappy alternatives. At least you have some time to recoup and get another place, if that is any consolation.

This is just not right. If they were a decent company, they should have been the one to look for a way to satisfy their customers. This is an awful customers service.

They found a higher buyer they got the gold mine and

you got the shaft... parisbestlodge.com good always

pay with CC never wire money many scammers and steps

to Paris Apartments locations not that great.

Just snagged Novotel Less Halles hotwire.com $159/nt

It is their secret Louvre/Vendome property.

Beats the pants of apartments for me.

Marriotts Meridiens cheap central from $80 bidding

priceline.com for me in the past...

Watch out for frozen dog poop IEDs especially in the Marais

in winter is super easy to slip trip and break a hip

if not careful there.

Happy Hunting!

Everything on that link looks photoshopped no actual

apartment pictures something is rotten in the state

of Denmark...

If you elect an apartment choose a ground floor or

be sure it has a good functional elevator many do not.

Infinite steps truly suck...

To me it looks like they are trying

to pull a "bait and switch" scam on you.

Vote with your feet...

I agree that the ViP should have provided much more assistance

They have a section on Trip Advisor which allows reviews - if they don't bring more to the table I would certainly give them an appropriate review there.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/RentalPro...a_manager.1064