Paris apartments that rent less than a week?
 

I've searched the board for a few days now and I can't find any topics that cover renting apartments in Paris for about 4 or 5 nights. I would really prefer to rent an apartment as opposed to staying in a hotel, but I'm not sure how realistic that is since we will not be spending a week in Paris.

We will be a group of 5 people(Mom and Dad in their mid-60's, 3 women from early to mid 30's) and we will need two separate apartments. My sister and I have already been to Europe twice, but for the rest of the group it will be their first time to Europe.

I would like to stay in either the 4th/5th/6th/7th arr., and I'm not quite sure about the budget yet, which I know is an important fact to include. We will either be going to Europe mid-Sept. or Early October 2011. Right now, I'm just trying to search for any agency that doesn't require you to spend a week at their apartment.

Any help would be great because I'm already feeling that horrible stressful panic that only seems to hit you when searching for apartments in Paris - did I mention that it will also be my parents 40th anniversary? And that it's been my mothers dream to visit Paris for eons?

We rented a wonderful 1 BR apt in the 7th arr for 5 days from Vacation in Paris (www.vacationinparis.com) Some properties require a minimum stay, but not all. I would highly recommend this agency.

Yes, VIP, rents some for 4-5 days although I had one with them for 7 days. Also check www.homeaway.com and www.vrbo.com and scroll through the listings. Happy Travels!

Thanks for the replies!

leuk2 - do you happen to have the exact web address for the apartment you rented?

guenmai - I have thought about VRBO, but I'm a bit nervous about renting from private owners. Is homeaway like VRBO? I know some people have had success with that company.

homeaway and vrbo are the same company. I just like the homeaway website better as I find it easier to navigate. i found a great apartment through homeaway and stayed in it a few months ago. I dealt directly with the owner, who happens to be American.

I even paid for it in U.S. dollars and she sent the keys out to me before I left home. She lives here in the States. So, it can be fine to deal with the owner. Just after you've selected an apartment, run it by folks on different forums, to see if they have stayed at it. I actually didn't do that with the last apartment that I had as it was a fairly new listing and with no reviews. But, I was on e-mail with the owner for months and had a really good feeling about it and she turned out to be great and we still e-mail each other. Happy Travels!

I believe you can rent apartments for less than a week at www.rentparis.com. I have rented from them with good success.

You should try Citadines:
http://www.citadines.com/en/property...tml?City=Paris
My husband and I stayed at the one in the Bastilles district.
While the kitchen facilites are small, they were adequate
for a short stay. The one on the Quai Augustines (??)
is the best location for all things Paris.
There are different sizes of apartments. Get the one with real
beds, not pullouts, for your parents as they will be much more
comfortable.
They have wifi, too.
Best luck to you.

Check out www.slowtrav.com for reviews of rentals and rental agencies. I'm sure you will find many that will rent for less than a week.

Do you need both apartments to be in the same building? Or just nearby? In either case, I would suggest contacting agencies directly. That's an unusual request; it might be hard to figure out from the web site listings.

Fortunately you're planning well ahead of time. But don't tarry!

As you will discover, VacationinParis.com imposes a not insubstantial surcharge for short stays (less than a prescribed minimum number of days, which varies with the apartment selected). We stayed in one of their apartments for 5 days and paid the charge. We were happy with the service, apartment, location.

Enjoy your trip.

Hi Anna - we found an apartment in the 7th that we'll stay at next week for 5 nights. The website is below. So far everything has gone very well with our reservation, deposit, etc. We are also travelling with another couple and were pleased to find a 2 bdrm 2 bath apt. Good luck.
http://www.rentalfrance.com/index.ph...alar-2nd-floor

I'm renting the place listed below for less than a week.

As Hmmm says, there's a "short stay" fee; i think it varied per apt on the minimum # of days. As I recall , most require a minimum of 5 nights' stay , which you require for your group--so possibly you would not have to pay that fee for Vacation in Paris

Even with that fee included, the flat we chose came to not much more than many hotels we considered. Here's the thread about that VIP flat:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...nparis-235.cfm

Another possibility is to go through Paris Perfect, where rates are more per night. They rent for less than a week... IF there is a gap between renters. However, they don't take bookings on those until about two weeks prior to arrival, and most folks like to have plans and dates "firmed up" before that.

Thanks to all who wrote with ideas. Anna, thank you for starting this thread!

Our experience with Paris Perfect has been different. We've tried 3 different trips to rent any of 3 or 4 apartments for 5 or 6 nights during different time frames. Each time we were told that it was not possible to rent for less than 7 nights. Frankly, we've given up. We would have liked to have stayed there in the past and really wanted to stay at one of their apartments for our trip next week with another couple. But their rules and our time availability just don't seem to mesh. While we'd love to spend 7 ngihts in Paris each time we're in France, our schedules don't allow us that luxury and PP doesn't seem particularly flexible. In our experience anyway. Thankfully, there are many other apts that do accomodate shorter time frames.

I found an absolutely charming apartment on Ile St Louis for our 4-night stay next June thru VRBO. It's apartment #218078 (the Juliette). The owner has been very easy to work with, and has made me feel completely comfortable with this transaction. (There was no short-stay premium attached.)
I hope you find just what you're looking for.

I think you'll find a few companies who rent for five nights (of course you can always do it if you pay for more days), but four days is really unusual. I think this place has no minimum, although they do have a $100 flat fee for any rental (additional to the rent). I guess it depends what the bottom line is.

Thanks to everyone for their replies!

Nikki - rentparis is an option, but most of their apartments are in the 3rd, and aren't in the central location we are looking for.

Mimar - I forgot to check slowtrav! Thanks!

Janicego - have you dealt with rentalfrance before? Do they have staff in Paris that can help if there is a problem?

Calinurse - I looked at your previous thread, and I've also heard mixed reviews about vacationinparis. How has the process gone with them so far?

I've contaced Paris Perfect because although they are way, way out of our budget, my sister and I thought we would just pay the money for our parents since it is their 40th anniversary, and they seem to have such wonderful customer service, which is a big deal to me. Sadly, like calinurse said, they only rent less than a week if you call them two weeks in advance - not ideal.

Burley - thanks so much for your post. Ile Saint Louis is a place we have been seriously thinking about staying. Have you heard good reviews about this apartment?

Christina - thanks for your comment, but I'm not sure if you forgot to post a link?

The sticking point is the number of days right now. We have a very limited time in Europe(we really had to talk our parents into staying 3 weeks instead of 2)and my mother is pretty stuck on 4 nights in Paris.

The reviews listed on the VRBO site are glowing. I found a couple of other good ones on TripAdvisor, but did not find any other reviews on any other sites (SlowTrav, etc.) Again, I feel very comfortable with the owner's communication (she is in the US). This will be our first apartment rental, but I'm confident in my decision. Have you looked at the apartment? Isn't it the most charming place you've ever seen?

you're right, I did forget It was Panache Rental

http://www.panacherental.com/

Burley,

That's great that it's gotten such great reviews. Since the owner is in the US, what happens if you have a problem with the apartment?

Christina - thanks for the link...I'll look into it later!

Anna1013 - Well, our first stay at this apt will be next week. Yes, they seem to have a staff person in Paris as he'll meet us at the apartment the day we arrive. He, Pascal, has recommendations on this board. Our reservations, deposit, etc. have all been handled professionally. That's all I can say so far. Good luck.

http://www.quaibourbon.com/property_details.html

above is another in your # of days requirement, Janice. It looks beautiful, on Ile St louis. Owner will rent it for four days, but no less.
300 Euro/night.