I am looking to book an apartment in Paris through a company, Rendez Vous A Paris. Payment can only be through a bank transfer as they do not accept credit cards.
Has anyone knowledge of this company as being a reputable company and is this form of payment comment?

Gavinc,
I have not used this company but the company I am using for Paris, only accepted Bank transfers.
I think my bank charged me $37AU to transfer 200 euro. A bit of a pain but...

Which company did you use to find an apartment? We have been looking at hotels but I stayed in a friends apartment my last trip and really enjoyed it.

Thanks!

Bank transfer is the accepted way of doing business in Europe. Almost nobody has a credit card. Bank transfers are virtually, if not in fact, free.

Unfortunately, the cost for Americans to make an international bank transfer starts at $30 and up.

You will have to put your faith in the repute of the company, both as an honest broker and as selling you something that you will like, i.e. location, ambience, facilities, etc. I don't know this company but you would be advised to find someone who does before sending more than a week rent.

My experience in renting an apartment in Paris involved walking and looking and walking and looking until I got lucky with location, price, and facilities. Depending on how long you are staying, your surest approach is what I did. Just stay in a hotel and go out looking every day for a couple of weeks. The search becomes a part of your Paris experience.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but I had an excellent experience dealing with Pascal Zytomirski.

Here are the apartments he rents:

One bedrooms :
75 Bd Malesherbes, 4 people, in the 8th district, Madeleine Opera area, Metro St Augustin
24 rue des Vertus, 4 people, in the 3rd district, in Le Marais, Metro Arts et Metiers
11 rue de la Huchette, 4 people, in the 5th, Metro St Michel in the Latin quarter.

Studios:
11 rue Duvivier, Studio for 2 in the 7th district, MEtro Ecole Militaire.
24 rue Xavier Privas, Studio for 4 in the 5th district, metro St Michel, in the latin quarter
37 rue de la Harpe, Studio for 4 in the 5th district, metro St Michel in the latin quarter

You can email Pascal at [email protected]

Pascal acts as the rental agent for all the owners. He will meet you at the apartment with the keys after you arrive in Paris.

I rented the apartment at 11 rue Duvivier and was very satisfied. Apartment rentals work best if you are staying longer than a week. My apartment was quiet and totally modernized with a washer/dryer. The cost was much less than a hotel room would have been for a lot more space.

I just rented an apartment I found on www.vrbo.com which shows apartments worldwide. I found that many of the aprtment owners have links to their own websites for even more information. I rented from someone who accepts credit cards. On www.vrbo.com there is a symbol to show each owner who accepts credit cards.