Paris and Nice
 

Hello.
My husband and I are planning a trip to France. We plan on staying 3 nights in Paris and Nice for 6 nights. We are wondering if anyone has recommendation for Nice. We are not sure if its better to rent an apartment or a hotel. If apartment please recommend a website becuase don't know where to even begin to search for apartments. IF hotel please let me know what hotels you would recommend that are under $100 a night. We looked into Hotel Felix and NIce Garden Hotel as possibilities. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

thank you in advance ; )

I have been making the same trip as you for the last several years. I always rent an apartment in both cities.
The agency that I have used for the last 2 years in Nice is WWW.RIVIERA PEPPLES.COM
This year I decided to try a smaller apartment from an agency called
WWW.NOBLE APARTMENTS.COM
I always stay in the "OLD TOWN" SECTION OF Nice.
My dealings with Riviera Pepples have always been very good, and since this is the first year that I am using Noble I can not make any judgement except that in my dealings so far they have been good.
If you have any other questions I will be glad to try and help.
I leave for my trip in 2 weeks and as always really looking forward to being in Paris and Nice.

Tdk, Neither of your links works.

Are you talking about http://www.rivierapebbles.com/ and http://www.nobleapartments.com/ ?

Marcy
Yes the 2 that you listed are the 2 that I am referring to.
Do not know how I made a mistake. Glad that you caught the error.

Also check out Ownersdirect.com. Used that site for Nice apartment with success. The website also contains guest reviews.

You will get much more for your money with an apartment than with a hotel and IMO you get a lot more. Sure you have to make your own beds, but you'll get a kitchen where you can stock coffee, wine, stuff for breakfast or evening snacks. You'll get a living room instead of a hotel room with one chair and virtually no space. Even traveling just as a two-some, we prefer an apt to a hotel. The pebbles website is also good.

Thank you so much for the feedback. I will try the suggested websites tonight and will report back on which one I choose.

We used homelidays.com and were very happy with our apartment. You will love Nice.

GoNice is also a good site for rentals, with the advantage that they can be paid by credit card instead of wire transfers.

Nice pebbles.com has great apartments.

I have contacted different people from these websites and just waiting for availability reponses. Thank you again!

Is it possible to rent an apartment in Paris for 3 days? or is it just better to get a hotel? and if hotel has anyone stayed in Familia Hotel in Paris?

Micheline - i am slightly worried that we transfer the money into their account, instead of paying with credit card or paypal. What it safe? did you have any trouble with that? please let me know.

We liked the Hotel le Grimaldi in Nice:
http://www.le-grimaldi.com/

elenadoherty: If you are asking about the Familia Hotel on rue des Ecoles in the 5th, it is an excellent budget hotel. The rooms are tiny as with most hotels in that price range but it's a good value.

Yes, that is it.. Thank you I will book tomorrow.

Also, I found an apartment in Nice and is located in the northern part of center city of Boulevade De Cessole. Has anyone every stayed in that area? if so, how was it? the apartment is very cute and very afforatable. please let me know!!!

thank you

My nephew rented this one in Paris for a short stay. Cheap, well located

http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/31685

Elena, re: the bank transfer, are you renting directly from the owner? If so, do you have to send all the money upfront? There's no guarantee that what you see on the Internet is what you get. Or even that you get any apartment at all. At least, if you pay a deposit up front and the remainder when you arrive, you can look over the apartment and walk if it isn't as represented.

Bank wire transfers are expensive from the US: $35 - $50. If you search the forum, there's a recent thread on alternative methods of payment: Western Union, www.xe.com, etc.

I personally prefer to rent from a recommended agency and pay with a credit card. That's 2 lines of defense. Whereas if you pay all your rent up front and show up to find nobody meets you, all you can do is sue the owner for fraud -- if you can find him. I'm sure the owner listing boards make no guarantee -- though VRBO/Homeaway does offer insurance.

Mimar
That you for your suggestion. It is through a website called Homelidays and the guy has great reviews. He requires a 150 eur deposit and then the rest onsite.

I actually don't even know how to do transfers.

I would not suggest staying at the apartment on Boulevade des Cessole. I think the street is about 2 kilometers from the beach and a very long walk to places that you would want to go to.
I strongly suggest staying in or near the old town, There are many restaurants in this area, you will be a very short walk to the beach and the Promenade des Anglais and many attractions such as the OPERA HOUSE, lovely churches, the Port etc.
You will be near the fabulous Cours Saleya (the local street market for great food and flowers in the morning ,which in the evening turns into a very lively restaurant row,

About all those rave reviews for your proposed apartment, are they only on the Homelidays site? Because they might have been screened to eliminate bad reviews. It's good to get confirmation from some other neutral source. Try googling the apartment address.

My husband and I stayed at Hotel Albert Premiere in 2007 . . . it is close to the Old Town and the beach. Our room was on an upper floor, corner, with a Juliet balcony; it overlooked the park dedicated to King Albert I, a World War I hero of Belgium, and we faced to the West. We saw splendid sunsets. If we stayed true to our history, it was a budget hotel.