namaka

tomassocroccante- 3 weeks till I go and yes,I will do a trip report.

kitkat1

grndgrl:
When you spoke to Jeanette, did you question the cleanliness at all? I am just wondering if jbf1 has had bad timing and they did not get a chance to thoroughly clean before his visit (dirty floors, smoking oven).
Also jbf1: did you happen to notice if there was a smoke detector in the apartment? It likely would have gone off with the smoking oven! I don't know if smoke detectors are compulsory in France.
namaka: I can't wait to read your trip report, we have rented the same apartment for 3 nights in October.

kitkat1

namaka:
Oops my mistake! I see you are renting a different apartment. Enjoy your trip!

teach905

kitkat, I did talk to Jeanette. She is hiring another cleaning service. She had a problem with her service the time in question. She has since fired them. A new staff will be in service. Please let us know how they do.

We may be renting the apartment, too. I think now that she is aware of the problem it will get cleared up. I suggest that anyone who is not happy with cleanliness, call the agency when you check in so they can do something about it. I certainly will!!!!

Just keep us up on how this is going so those of us with future dates can make sure all is going OK.

Thanks!

Links13

gardngrl-
I'm so pleased you've mentioned this to Jeanette. I've got an email into her about other issues and was going to check on these in a follow-up email. It is encouraging to hear that she is being responsive to these previous problems/concerns.

I'll be there in two weeks and will be sure to submit a report upon our return.

Thanks to all who have posted here. It helps take the mystery out of renting abroad.

kitkat1

links13: I look forward to reading your trip report!

teach95: Yes I will certainly complain if the apartment is not cleaned. In fact I recently e-mailed Jeanette about our arrival time, which is going to be quite earlier that originally anticipated. She was very helpful in trying to accomodate us earlier, even though she did mention that the apartment would need to be cleaned before we arrive.

gardngrl

Links 13: How was your trip and were you pleased with the apartment? We will be staying there starting 09/14.

kitkat1

I am eager to hear how that apartment was also, we are staying there early in October.

gardngrl

We just returned from Paris, and though I must say Jeanette was most helpful in finding alternative accommodations, this apartment (19436) was not available due to a sewage problem 2 days before we left. It was very stressful, compounded by the fact that Jeanette got food poisoning and was hospitalized, so we had a bit of a dicey time when we had to move to the second apartment (too late to find something for the whole 10 days). She booked us with another agency and let's just say it wasn't entirely smooth. I do believe that Jeanette is a sincere agent and that she really was sick and would recommend her to help you find something else if Rue du Quatre Vents is still uninhabitable.
Any further questions: [email protected].

laughingd2

That last entry was a doozie! So, has anyone stayed in this apartment since Sept. '07? We are on the verge of renting this apartment for a week this coming Spring, but the prospect of sewage and getting a different apartment are making us have second thoughts.

Thanks

bianca1975

I work in the vacation rental industry and a sewage problem can happen at any rental -- even the most luxurious and expensive ones. Regrettably, circumstances like these are uncontrollable, just as they could happen in one own's home. Naturally, it is unfortunate and unpleasant that the previous poster had to deal with this on their vacation, but I don't think you should let this experience affect your decision -- unless it is a habitual problem. But in all likelihood, it was an isolated incident since you were not able to find any other negative reviews regarding this problem. I myself was in an apartment in Rome for my honeymoon in June and the plumbing in the whole building went out for more than 24 hours. Luckily, because we had booked through an agency, the staff found us alternative accommodations until the problem was fixed. This is one of the advantages of working through an agency rather than a private individual. You have the backup assistance of the staff if any problems occur and if you need to be moved. I'm sure an individual would have been sympathetic and would have probably tried to remedy the situation as early as possible, but whether the owner would have the resources or contacts to put you up elsewhere during the repair is an unknown.

kitkat1

We were booked to stay in this apartment October 5-8, the apartment was inspected on the 4th but did not pass so we were relocated. Jeanette, the rental agent, was very helpful in finding us another apartment, we had a choice of a few. The only really disappointing thing was that she could not find us anything in the area of the 6th, which was where we really wanted to stay. I would email her to see if things are now fixed. Likely it is now resolved and you should be fine.

WillTravel

Does this mean both kitkat1 and gardngrl had the same experience of this apartment suddenly not being available, for separate stays some time apart? I'm sure this sort of problem can happen occasionally, but at this point I'd suspect some sort of less than forthright dealing.

NeoPatrick

What does "inspected, but did not pass" mean? You have a great point, Will Travel. Any apartment can have a "glitch", but twice? I'd avoid this agency!

kitkat1

WillTravel: Yes both gardngrl and I were affected by the same problem, not sure when it started, but our rental dates were about 3 weeks apart. So I believe that the apartment was uninhabitable that entire time.
NeoPatrick: I assume that repairs had been done and when the apartment was inspected it needed more work done?
There was a posting on this thread back in July by someone who did stay in the apartment, seems everything was ok then, just things were not as clean as the renter had expected.

WillTravel

kitkat1, perhaps this was a problem that took weeks to fix. But in that case, it seems that if the apartment problem was known some weeks earlier for gardngurl, then you should have been warned sometime prior to one day before your stay. Where did you end up staying?

kitkat1

I actually found out about the apartment about 2 1/2 weeks before we were due to arrive, quite by accident. I knew that gardngrl was staying in September according to her postings, so I checked on her profile to see if she had commented on the apartment and was shocked to learn about the sewer problem. I think she was only notified about the problem a couple of days prior to her trip, but maybe that is when the problem started. Anyhow I notified the rental agent immediately and she felt everything would be completed by the time we arrived. She was good to keep in contact with me and reassured me she could relocate us if things were not fixed in time. It must have been a rather major problem to take so long to fix.
We ended up staying in the 17th - the apartment was a good size (we are a family of 4), however I would have much preffered to be more central. In hindsight I should have taken the other apartment she had offered us in the Marais, but it was much smaller and I was worried we would be too cramped.

laughingd2

Well, after Jeanette e-mailed me to let me know the apartment is available for our selected dates this coming spring, she has disappeared - no response to several e-mails over the past 2 weeks.

So, we are moving on to other apartment options. Too bad, but the comments here combined with no follow-up make it an easy, if sad, decision. Thanks, Fodorites, for all the info.

nonnafelice

I'm glad I saw this discussion, because we have booked the Rue de 4 Vents apartment in December. I just wrote to Jeanette to ask her about potential problems, and I did get a quick reply. She acknowledged that there had been "very serious problems with the apartment, but they should be OK by the time you arrive in December."

She also said, "we have been relocating everyone and no one has been left abandoned. If you wish to be relocated as of now, I will be happy to do it. You can be placed in an even better apartment for the same price you locked it."

I asked her to tell me more about the alternatives -- she didn't say where the "better apartment" was. But in any case, I will say that she has been very responsive, and I agree that she appears on the up and up.

rudydog49

Nonnafelice - I have booked this apartment for January, and like you, became worried after reading this thread and e-mailed Jeanne with my concerns. It sounds like I received exactly the same response as you. I also asked her for more details on the other apartments she had available, but it has been a few days and I haven't heard back. If you receive this information from her, I would love to hear about it.