Paris VIP apartments ID 1, 228, 181
 

Anyone know of these particular apartments or areas? I know all are small, but trying to find a 2BR apartment is getting tough. 2 adults and 2 teenagers:

http://www.vacationinparis.com/apts/id_01.htm
http://www.vacationinparis.com/apts/id_228.htm
http://www.vacationinparis.com/apts/id_181.htm

I would go with Rue Cler, but I am a die hard left bank girl. Rue Cler is great for shopping for those great things you will want in your apt (cheese, charcuterie, bread, etc...It's an easy hop over to the Right Bank. The Marais would be my second choice.

It's Paris, so you really can't go wrong.

You would be happy with any of the three locations, but are you sure you won't need more space with two teenagers and two adults? I've rented apartments several times in Paris, and one of the advantages over hotels is that you have more space to relax, rest, fix meals, etc. 30 square meters is pretty tight quarters for three!

I meant for four!

I stayed at id #1 in February 2006 with my wife, and two college aged sons. We found it to be roomy enough for all four of us. The trundle bed in the first room was fine for the boys, no complaints at all. It is one and one half block from Rue Montorgueil markets, so food shopping was excellent. It was also close to Chatelet-Les Halles station for metro access, which is huge, but has direct access to different metro lines (1,4,7,11 and 14), and RER A,B, and D lines.

Earlier this month, I stayed in a different VIP apartment near id# 181. It was also convenient to Rue Cler Market, but I can equivocally say that the Montorgueil Market was bigger and better for actually purchasing food for the apartment than Rue Cler. Rue Cler, and the immediate surrounds had a better selection of restaurants, IMO. It appears as though 181 is close to Ecole Militaire stop on the metro, so you have access to only line 8 (the same as the next closest metro La Tour Mabourg) so you'll have to transfer stations to head further east towards Marais.

The only caution I would give is based solely on my personal experiences with VIP. To preface, overall, I've enjoyed my experiences with VIP apartments. However, I've used three apartments with VIP in two trips to Paris. In each apartment, there was a significant issue that arose during the week. The first trip involved a broken water heater when we arrived on Saturday, which couldn't be fixed until Monday morning. The last trip the door broke on the second to last night, locking us out for a night.

VIP was quick to respond and eventually put us into another apartment for the night in the area when their staff couldn't fix the problem themselves. That apartment had a water leak over the w/c, which was significant enough that it completely soaked a bath towel from midnight when I discovered the leak, to 6am the next morning when I awoke.

You can expect some mishaps and breakdowns in apartments, but being 3 for 3 is a little much. Maybe it's bad luck in apartments, or choices of apartments (I didn't choose the third one, it chose me) but VIP's responsiveness was excellent. I guess I'm just a little frustrated at having to test their responsiveness.

I would agree with denisea's comment: "It's Paris, so you really can't go wrong."