Paris - apartment Germain (found on Craigslist) Feedback?
 

Hi, I am looking for loding in Paris. I have been looking at Craigslist and saw this.

Any feedback on location? He sent me pictures, and it looks decent. I went to the site someone suggested taht gives reviews on apartments, but because this is a posting by owner, and not agency, wasn't able to find any reviews

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I am renting my Very nice Studio To you guys how would rather stay in an apartment instead of an hotel so you can experience the parisian style of > life.

The studio is located in the heart of saint germain des pr?s (corner rue de seine and rue jacob 75006) just above a little bamboo and palm tree park. It is really great there and cute. It's on 3d floor no elevator, wooden stairs, charming building, very safe and fency district of paris. You got so many
> Bars, caf?s, grocery stores, natural markets, fashion stores, clubs, jazz
> clubs and the seine right down the street :)
>
> I am asking 400 euros a week, 100 a night
> I'd rather rent the sudio for short periods up to 2 or 3 weeks max.
The studio is totally furnished, and offers fridge, induction stove, micro
> wave, shower, hair dryer, a fan, towels, bed sheets and internet wireless
> speed connection (WIFI) just bring your tooth brush!

There are so many other choices out there; I would definitely want to be able to find out more info about any place I am considering. Try the vacation rentals by owner website "VRBO", that is how I found the place I am renting in June. If you are interested, it is #45955. Check it out!

Did he tell you how big the studio was? Apartments in Paris are very small and the pictures may not reflect the size of the room.

Great location - great price. Makes sure the apt. is big enough for you. Do they give total area of floor plan??

Yep, I realize Paris apts are small, and pictures but that doesn't bother us. I'm just looking at basic accommodations, cleaniness, safe area, and central location. This apt fits our budget and seem like in a good.

I looked at VRBO, but the apts listed are out of our price range

It's easy to be cynical and probably wise to be wary when something sounds like a great deal as this does. But it also sounds like your expectations are pretty basic, so if the square footage seems reasonable and the photos look decent, what the heck. I'd go for it. I have had pretty good luck in several cities using craigslist, and find that the prices tend to be lower than those through VRBO and certainly less than agency prices. Please let us know how it works out.

Assuming you're staying a week, you shouldn't expect much of anything for 57 euro per night. As long as you don't expect much, I think you won't be disappointed. The location is great in my book. Fourth floor (to us Americans) with no lift is a bit much for me, but for that kind of price -- I say go for it.

By the way, I love it when people read a post like this and say you can do better then suggest a place that costs at least double the amount. While we're at it why not simply suggest the poster stay at the Ritz and be done with it?

Craigslist is a good resource for people who want to rent things themselves, for no fees. A lot of young people use it, and from the language translation, it is clear you have a real French local just trying to make a little money on the side renting this apartment.

So, not much I can say if you like the photos -- the price is good for that neighborhood, you really cannot get more for that rate (400 a week), and the location is very good. In fact, even if very small, that is a good price for a small studio in that location (even though no elevator, but 3rd floor walkup is about my limit, and I've had those, it didn't bother me).

Sounds like a great deal. I have found a small studio from beau-paris.com in the 6th for 460E a week that I thought was good deal until now. Please let us know what you think if you end up renting it on your trip. lynda

Thanks Lyndash, I actually looked at that site too, but htey didn't have availability for my week.

I'll let everyone know how it is!

Try Coach House Rentals. They’ve been in business in London for 5 years and have a great reputation there. They’ve just started up an operation in Paris see: www.rentals.chsparis.com.

I'm going to disagree with some of the others. You're renting for a week? That's 57 euro per night? The location is WONDERFUL! If you saw a couple pictures and they look OK to you, if you can do without air, and the three full flights of stairs don't bother you (3rd floor is 4th floor to us Americans), then I'd say go for it.

You can follow suggestions of all these other sites, but let's be honest here. You're not going to find a palace for 57 euro a night! And with no additional fees like cleaning (will it be cleaned for you?), this sounds like something hard to beat if your expectations aren't too high.

harley_nott,

Did you see Neopoilitan's first post above?

The absolute cheapest flats in the website you offered are both twice the price of kittcatangel's apt. in St. Germain (and are far from city center center to boot).

Not very helpful, IMO.

Ignore Harley. He has posted here 10 times in the past three years. All of his posts have done nothing but advertise his company. Wish they'd block this advertiser posing as a poster -- more offensive than the flying Dumbos or other ads in my opinion.

Cannot comment on the apartment without seeing the ad, especially the photos. The location and price certainly look good. I do wonder about the text. To me, that does not read like a French text translated to English. If it was written by a French person, it was by one who is fluent in English - and that's certainly possible. Otherwise, the spelling errors are rare and odd, and the grammar is fine. May mean nothing, but there's my two centimes worth.

Fodors gurus - all of harley nott's postings are advertising his rental place - every single one. Is that allowed? I thought advertising was a no no - does one get kicked off the site for that?

no, advertising isn't allowed, but I think usually Fodors just pulls the ad (although they do sometimes ban repeat offenders). If you want him to be kicked off, why don't you complain to Fodors, not by writing on the message board (they do not read every post every day, that's for sure).

Well, I think that ad doesn't sound like a native American, in any case, nor even probably English resident, due to some of the phrasing. Whether it is a French person or some other nationality, I couldn't say, it just does not appear a native English speaker. There is only one misspelled word that I can see and that could have been a typo (fency--I'm sure sudio in one spot was a typo as studio is said elsewhere), so I don't think you can determine from the spelling (ok, toothbrush is one word, but lots of folks may not know that). This phrase does not seem like something an American or English native would say:
<<To you guys how would rather stay in an apartment instead of an hotel so you can experience the parisian style of life.>>

There are some other usages that are not typical nor good grammar, in my opinion (ie, saying "you got so many bars" instead of "you have" in one case, but an American might say "you've got"). There are lots of native English speakers who can't write or speak well (especially on the internet) or do so sloppily, so you never know. It doesn't really matter that much, I just find it interesting to see how various nationalities write English sometimes. I might matter if you think they are an agency or nonresident.