Just booked this lovely apartment in the First for 6 weeks next Christmas

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p143450

elsiejune and AnselmAdorne have both stayed there (links above too)

Now - off to Africa in 6 days so I'm all set for next winter's getaway!

Elizabeth - It is a beautiful apartment and you are sure to love it. Sheila, Bruno and Roland are very responsive. How wonderful to be spending 6 weeks in Paris!

Angela13 - If this is your price range you might want to consider a Paris Perfect apartment. Certainly VIP #226 is a beauty, but does it really have only 1 bathroom for 3 bedrooms? I've rented from GuestApartment Services, and they are very nice, professional people with lovely flats.
Happy hunting, EJ

Angela,

The VIP apartment is 740 sq. ft. according to the website. At least it has two baths, but it seems as though the Guest Apartment unit has only one, but the apartment is much larger. Have you looked at www.parisvacationapartments.com? When are you going? Will you need a/c?

Angela, I have rented from Guest Apartment Services in the past and like Elsiejune (Hi, EJ!) found them very professional and easy to deal with.

Safari njema, Elizabeth.

bookmarking

Hi Leely, Happy New Year!

Oops, now I see that VIP #226 has 2 WCs and 2 bedrooms, cw. Guess I was looking at a few too many apartments at once. It's certainly a beautiful place, Angela. Let us know what you decide. EJ

I am so happy to have found this thread! Thank you so much for all the fantastic information. My family (including two teenage girls) will be renting an apartment for a week in Paris this summer. We have decided to go with Paris Vacation Apartments and thanks to all the info here, I feel good about our choice. I have narrowed it down to two possibilities and I'm wondering if anyone could help me to choose between them. One is on the corner of th Esplanade des Invalides and the rue Saint Dominique and the other is on the rue Dauphine. They both look beautiful although we like the decor of the former better. I would just like to choose a location which is near a great bakery, cafes and shops where we can stroll in the evenings but is not too noisy for sleeping. This will be my family's first trip to Paris and we are so excited! Thank you all for any advice you can give me!

I love Rue Dauphine - lots of bakeries, cafes, etc in that area...and great walking access to the right bank.

Thanks Elizabeth_S. That sounds wonderful!

Thank you all for your responses. I am planning to go this fall. I am almost ready to book with VIP. Does anyone know the area? Is it safe? The address is 3 rue de la Harpe.
Merci! Angela

Look it up on Google Earth. It is just across the bridge from the Notre Dame. Can't think of a safer or more central location.

:-)

Angela13-The area is fine. Happy Travels!

GiacintaG,

"I would just like to choose a location which is near a great bakery, cafes and shops where we can stroll in the evenings but is not too noisy for sleeping."

If you want to be near bakeries, cafes and shops then rue Dauphine would be great. Eric Kayser, Paul and Gerard Mulot are nearby however, it gets very noisy from traffic and people. We had to move hotel because of the noise, my husband could not take it.

Thanks cafegoddess. The bedrooms are at the back of the apartment and the previous tenants actually commented on how quiet it was for sleeping, so hopefully it will be okay. I'll be sure to bring some ear plugs just in case. Otherwise, the area sounds perfect!

Your teenage girls will love rue Dauphine. Make sure you take a stroll down St. Andre des Arts, one of my favorite street in Paris. There is a silver store on the corner they have great earrings and other neat jewelries.

Have a great time in Paris!

I've just recently rented an apartment from Vacation in Paris for our February trip.

What I did was put the address of the apartment into Google map then go to streetview to see what the neighborhood actually looked like. Using streetvuiew you can actually "walk" down the streets to see if the neighborhood is what you are looking for.

Using Google Streetview I was able to rule out apartments that were in neighborhoods so residential that they were without a bakery or cafe within a few blocks.
Or the one with so much graffiti on the buildings that the paint spray lettering reached the second floor, this wasn't the Paris experience I was looking for.

I found a lovely apartment on a street with a lot of little shops around the corner from a street market, this was what I wanted. I printed out the streetmap and the photo of our building so I will know what to look for when I arrive Jetlagged :).

Again thanks for your input! I will do street view next! Merci.

richardab if you are still reading this -- I am just about to push the rent button on this one:
http://www.rentparis.com/appart-en-8.html -- due in large part to your glowing review. I usually stay in the 5th, and therefore not familiar with this area. Is it within walking distance to Place Vosges, or Notre Dame? Is the area lively? hard to tell from Google. Also, does the sofa pull out? I am traveling with my teenage granddaughter and I am sure she does not want to sleep with Nana. She told me she doesn't mind sleeping on a couch.

Actually, thanks to jetsetj, I am now very intersted in this one:
http://www.vrbo.com/250968 I love this area and I know my granddaughter would like it too. Anyone else familiar with this apt.?

As for noise in Paris, a lot depends on whether or not the bedroom faces the back of the apartment or the front. It can also depend on the season.

If it's high season summer, then there will be more people out on the street at all hours. I've been to Paris in summer, spring, and fall over the last 30-plus years and even in summer in areas where there were a lot of people out, I mostly had rooms that faced back courtyards at hotels and weren't near any clubs/bars, so I was fine. It's been the same with the other two seasons. The only time I had major problems, no matter what season, was if I had a room that was near a big boulevard as the noise of motorcycles is the absolute worse. However, I always pack earplugs. Happy Travels!