Hi everyone,

Thanks for the recent advice about 2bed/2 bath apartments. I have found a number that will work for us, but will have to pay about $250/couple for the best floor plans. We have narrowed it down to four apartments--if anyone has any advice or opinions of any of them--your input would be appreciated.

http://www.vrbo.com/114205

http://www.parisianflat.com/rent-a-p...-des-pres.html

http://www.parisianflat.com/rent-a-p...uxembourg.html

http://justfranceinparis.com/paris153.html

Again, if any of you have any experience with any of these apartments and/or the neighborhoods, I would be grateful for your thoughts.

I think any of these would be good locations. I have stayed in the general areas of all by the one in the 1st arrondissement. And all appear to be lovely apartments. If you wanted two bathrooms, it seems to me that the first one is what we would call in the US only a bath and a half as I don't see a shower or tub in that the layout for that "second" bath. When I rented an apartment a few years ago for a week in Paris with my parents through vrbo I asked the manager if he could provide any recent guest who would answer a few questions. I emailed specific questions about the quality of the apartment, the location and the neighborhood to the woman he gave me and googled her to figure out that she was a real person who lived in California. It was very helpful to know what to expect. Like many things in life, nothing is perfect about any apartment, but knowing the pluses and minuses in advance can help you relax and enjoy your choice. Also, if you haven't used it, the website www.pagesjaunes.fr is a good one. You can put in the address and take a virtual tour of the neighborhood with photos of buildings and listings of what is nearby to get a sense of the area.

They all look nice.

I am familiar with Parisianfla as I have also rented from them. Couldn't be nicer.

Personally, I would prefer the location of the first ParisianFlat

You might alo want to look at the
www.parisvacationapartments.com
site. Their apartments all come with laptops and all hotel amenities!! Prices are also in $$, not euros.

Enjoy your search....

Thank you laurie_ann for the advice about the rentals--and ESPECIALLY for the website www.pagesjaunes.f I hadn't seen that one yet and look forward to checking the locations myself.

Thanks also gracejoan3 for your input on the location for Apartment #2. I am familiar with the apartments with parisvacationapartments.com but all of the ones that would have worked for us were already rented for next September. Apparently, anyone who is interested in them must move faster than us!

Does anyone else have any thoughts???

Samml point..out of my own curiosity, can you pay in euros instead of $? Are the owners in America? If not, I'd want to see a price in the local currency, just to see if there is a difference...

You might want to take a look at this one..quite nice

http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/Fra...ris/p66709.htm

They are great looking apartments. Just going by location, I would also vote for the Rue de Villersexel apartment with Parisian Flat.

Paris vacation apartments are wonderful, but must be booked way way ahead!

CW

All good apartments need to be reserved way ahead....ParisPerfect, ParisianFlat, ParisVacation..all great rentals.

I reserve a year in advance, as do many others. I don;t think there is a time that is too early.

I think you have some very good choices, considering. I posted in the other post and think I was a little mistaken on figuring out your budget (for some reason I thought you wanted to spend about $150 per couple per night, or $300 per day total, but I guess it was more like $400 which would have been around 275 euro). However, upping the budget to 300-350 euro a night certainly helps find stuff like these.

I think they all look pretty nice. The two Parisianflat ones looke very similar, must be the same owners or something -- didn't know concrete coffee tables were the rage.

IN any case, I like the one in the 5th arr on Gay Lussac the best, I supposed, and the one in the 1st arr. The two Parisianflat ones are the same price, 350 euro a night for a week or more, but I like the Gay Lussac one a little better and I personally like that neighborhood. It's a little larger.

I think the one in the 1st looks more homey and comfortable, actually, but I wouldn't prefer that location, although it is fine (Near Pyramides metro). However, I don't think I saw the price on that one so compare--maybe I missed it. However, you did say you wanted queen or larger beds and both those bedrooms only have regular double-size beds, so you must be aware of that (140 cm).

The "twin" beds pushed together to make a kind in the Solferino apt (rue de Villersexel...) looks a little dicey to me. It just looks funny, like there isn't hardly any bed or mattress. I suspect that will not be comfortable, but I could be wrong. Looks like thin mattresses on a board.

bookmark

I think you will find that anything that ParisianFlat offers is very deluxe, in every way....

Thanks again everyone.

gracejoan3--I am fairly certain that the apartment you mentioned at http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/Fra...ris/p66709.htm is the same as the #4 apartment I have listed at : http://justfranceinparis.com/paris153.html With all my searching I noticed that many apartments were often listed on a couple of websites. This one was recommended on another post by AnselmAdorne. I love the idea of a terrace but would have liked to have king beds.

I'll have to check the size of the beds again as Christina recommended. 140 m does sound rather small. I was hoping that translated to a queen size bed.

Pricewise they are:
#1 2000 euros (obviously the least exp--but also smallest--807 sq. ft.)
#2 & 3 are both 2450 euros --#2 is 1,100 sq. ft.--#3 is 1,200 sq. ft.
#4 is 2,300 euros at 1,000 sq. feet

Having the extra space for two couples--along with bedroom and bathroom privacy was a priority. Of course we do want to be in a good location too...

Any other thoughts???

no, a queen bedsize would be about 160 cm (63&quot. 140 cm is a std double bed size, around 55 inches (a double bed in the US is around 53", a queen is 60&quot. A king bedsize would be 180 cm wide.

Yes, I'm sure you are right in the two being the same apartment. Often they are on a number of sites.

Thanks for the info about the bed sizes Christina--I would really dislike showing up to my "dream" apartment only to find that DH and I don't fit on the bed!

Has anyone else either stayed in these apartments or have input about the neighborhood?

Thanks! It is all appreciated.

I'll weigh in on the side of the Villersexel apartment. I really like that neighborhood, very quiet and residential but with just a couple of blocks of shops, galleries and the Musée d'Orsay. We stayed around the corner several times and I'd stay there if it fit my budget. I find Gay Lussac too busy a street, and I'm more taken by the modern look of the parisianflat apartments than by the one in the 1st.

In case you're still looking, some friends have recently listed their apartment in the Marais. It's smaller and less expensive than the ones you're considering while preserving the separation between the 2 bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. The bathrooms only have showers however: www.vrbo.com/155068

Hi Shellio--Thanks for your input. However, just when I thought we were about to go with the villersexal property I talked to the rental company and was told that they plan to convert the dining room into a 3rd bedroom. We don't need a third bedroom but I am now concerned about how that will affect the layout of the space. We hope to cook and eat in the apartment several times while there and am not sure we want to do it in the kitchen.

So while we haven't completely made up our minds yet--the other apartment your recommended seemed considerably smaller than any of the apartments highest on our list. Thanks for the lead though....

Anyone else have any thoughts????

Thanks again to everyone who has provided advice on my quest for a 2bed/2bath apartment in Paris! An apartment called "Gloriosa" was also intriguing...but is not available for our time period. (it was more than we wanted to spend anyway to maybe that is a good thing?!?)

So, as I mentioned in the post above, we had settled on the villersexel property only to be told that it is scheduled to be rennovated in Aug '08. They are going to make the dining room another bedroom, which will obviously cut down on living area--and who knows if construction would actually be complete in September when we need the apartment.

Our friends like the gay lussac apartment next but I am still nervous about the location. The other two apartments only have queen beds so they have moved down the list--but I did find another apartment on rue grenelle at:

http://www.paristay.com/1239-2-bedro...nelle-94-.html

Has anyone stayed here and what do you all think about this neighborhood in comparison to the Gay Lussac one?

Thanks for your continued help!

The neighborhood is fine on rue Grenelle, but I like the neighborhood on Gay Lussac and surroundings, so neither is better to me. I know the one around Gay Lussac better, I suppose, and personally prefer it (probably for that reason, which you can't help, but also I really like being near a nice park like Luxembourg Gardens).

I wasn't aware you were nervous about the Gay Lussac area, perhaps I missed what you are nervous about. What is it?

The one near rue de Bac is closer to metro stops and it would be nice to be near the gourmet food section of Bon Marche (although they don't seem to give the address of that apt. that I could find, but assume near rue de St Simon. Both are near some good bus lines, I guess.

As for the apt., I don't particularly like the last one, though, and I wouldn't personally consider it. It appears barely furnished, what's up with that. A couple pieces of furniture stuck in a room, and they quit? The LR doesn't even have a coffee table, and the TV screen is on the floor. The bedrooms are pretty bad, also. This is the kind of stuff you see from a lot of Parisian rental owners/agencies who are trying to be really cheap and just don't get it. If they tell you it has been furnished more and they just took the photos when it looked like that, I would wonder what kind of customer service and ideas they have, as that seems like such a dumb thing to do (I have seen photos of apts in the midst of renovations and with brooms and mops lying on the floor, by an agency who claims it's really nice now -- so, take a photo when it's finished, doofus).

I assume you noticed the 18 pct add-on agency fee, which makes the price about the same of those two, around 350 euro a day. The one on rue de Grenelle is a lot smaller (980 SF versus 1200 SF). But the thing I noticed was that it didn't even seem to meet your criteria, as that one bedroom has two twin beds (and not much else), far apart and they don't even look like regular-size twin beds. They are probably only 90 cm, which isn't the size of a regular twin bed, good for a small child, but is about half the size of a king bed. If the idea is those two beds are going to make a king, I didn't see it mentioning that.

Those are my personal reactions to that apt. Wouldn't be worth 350 euro per night to me, and the decor/furnishings etc don't approach the one on rue Gay Lussac.

I agree with Christina. The Rue Grenelle apartment is barely furnished, and the second bedroom doesn't suit your requirements at all. The seating in the living room and dining room is much better in the Gay Lussac apartment.

I see being near the Luxembourg gardens as a real plus, especially in September.

CW