Paris apartament rental questions
 

I'm looking for recommendations about two companies: VBRO.com and rentparis.com

Anyone rented with either of them? Good? Bad?

Also, in general - they seem to say you call when you get to Paris and someone meets you. In your experiences, is this pretty straigt forward? do you end up having to wait around a long time?

Also, what about keys, do you generally get more than one set? We will be three people and may want to go out independently and meet back at "home base" which in a hotel would be no problem, but if only one person has a key it could be less convenient. Any experiences?

I haven't used rentparis, so don't know their rules, but do know that VRBO is NOT a rental company. It is just a website where private owners post their listings and set up their own rules and fees. So, there is no company responsible for standards, quality, etc. It's the same as renting from a want ad in the paper. That's what the acronym stands for -- Vacation Rentals by Owner.

Hi Isabel - Fabrice is pretty good about getting to the apartment at about the same time you do. make sure he has your arrival information and call his cell from the airport. After taht it is all up to the whims of traffic into the city and the Metro for him. Do not worry if you get there and he is not there - he is very reliable.

I rented from RentParis.com last Christmas (2004)

We did get two keys to our unit. Overall I was very pleased with the service. The apt was just as advertised. I did have to wait a while for them to arrive, but I think that was a communication gap between us and due to the fact that we made AMAZING time into Paris. The trip took half the time it normally does!

Hi, Isabel. I have a property listed on vrbo.com in Canyon Lake, TX (81246). I am pretty successful at renting it out regularly - all via email. It's been a pleasant experience. Information is listed on the website itself (i.e. price, accommodations, etc), and I have an agreement which I require the renter to sign and deposit to be incurred in advance. I try to let them know what to expect realistically - and I try to find out what they are looking for to see if it's a "match." I have not met any of our renters, but have communicated via email and some have made special requests, which I've tried to accommodate. I only charge for extras if it is inconvenient for me to provide them. I've only had one bad experience where the people signed the agreement indicating they would neither smoke nor have pets on the premises; they did both - I kept their deposit - no questions asked - according to our agreement signed in advance. They never appealed it. (jerks!) Good luck. If you'd like to see our agreement, send me your email address and I can forward to you. Thanks, paulcraig

paulcraig . . which one at Canyon lake is yours? . . we are thinking about a get-a-way over there next month

Duh . . I see it now . . sorry

Sorry - had not visited this site. Glad you found it http://www.vrbo.com/81246 - we have fun going out there AND renting it.. . with few hassles. Thanks and hope to hear from you.

I have used VRBO several times, including a Paris apartment in October 2005. I have never had a problem, in fact the apartments/villas i rented were fantastic! For the Paris apartment the keys were mailed to me about a week in advance, so no waiting to meet someone. Not sure about multiple keys.

Isabel, I loved the pictures you took and posted on pbase.com (got the information off of Beatchick's forum). I was curious as to what camera you use?

My husband and I are going to Germany,
Switzerland and France at the end of July and I would love to take great pictures. I'm looking for the 'creative eye' shots that I can actually blow up and place in my house. Your pictures were just amazing.

Thanks for your help!

Katzen - hi. I have two cameras - both digital. One is a Nikon 5700 (5 meg) and the other a Canon S410 (4 meg). The Nikon has an 8x zoom and I also have a wide angle converter (that you screw on when you want it). Not quite an SLR but it is definitly smaller and lighter and that's important to me. I'm glad you like my photos. I'm going to Paris and Barcelona in 3 weeks so hope to have some new photos soon.

As for the apartment - thanks for the info on the vrbo rentals. We went with one from rentparis.com this time but if all goes well, I'll definitly be in the market for other apartments (in Paris and elsewhere) in the future.

Isabel -hi, thanks for replying. I was joking with my husband that if our pictures didn't come out, I was going to see if I could purchase some of yours!! :) I loved the picture in Murren of the cowbells. :)

It looks as if I will need to get a wide angle lens. I only have telphoto (EF 75-300) that I hope gets me some good pictures! We have a 5meg digital (kodak) and a Canon Film (Rebel) ... but are in the process of looking at Canon digitals.

Thanks again!

katzen - Canon digitals are wonderful, I love mine. You probably won't need a wide angle for Switzerland, it's mostly useful for cities , nature provides a pretty good wide angle in the mountains. But when you are looking at cameras, if you think you might want a wide angle, be aware that not all cameras will accept a converter, and wide angle built in lenses are pretty rare. Good luck with your camera and have a great time on your trip.

Thanks Isabel,

I've been looking at the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT and I already have the EF 75-300 f/4-4.5 lens. Do you recommend I get the wide angle?

Also, I noticed on Beatchick's Paris trip report where you mentioned having an editing program. We have an Apple iMac. We are thinking about getting Adobe Photoshop Editor. What do you currently use?

Sorry for asking you so many "photo" questions .. but I loved your shots so much on pbase .. and you sound very knowledgeable about cameras.

my email is [email protected]

Thank you for your help!

Hi Katzen. I don't have an SLR, I have a Nikon 5700 which is one step below an SLR. It has a 8X built in zoom and then I have the wide angle converter that screws on. That gives me all the options I really want. It has the ability to have all manual settings if I want. I just recently played with the new Nikon digital SLR, and while certainly lighter than my old Nikon film SLR, it's still larger and quite a bit heavier than my 5700. Maybe someday, but since most of my photography is while traveling, having a camera that doesn't break my back is important. I do love the wide angle converter though.

For editing I have Adobe Photoshop. I certainly don't use all it's bells and whistles, but do love the ability to improve on contrast, light, etc - esentially the things I used to do in a darkroom years ago.