Hi:

My wife and I are gonig to Paris from Mar 8 - Mar 15 and trying book a budget condo for our stay.. I looked through a lot of listings on VRBO dot com and need your input on the following:

http://www.vrbo.com/20279

Is this in a decent area with easy access to public transportation, restaurants, shops etc.. Please feel free to provide any other suggestions as well..

Thanks..

It's in the 5th arrondisement and claims to not be far from the Seine, so it's going to be near shops, restaurants and public transportation. It is decent, but I would want to know the exact street as I have a sneaking suspicision that it could be on a very noisy and busy tourist street given it claims to be on a pedestrian-only street with "gift shops". I bet it's on rue de la Huchette or rue de la Harpe. I wouldn't stay on those streets myself due to noise and number of people, but others might.

Generally, it is okay for what you asked.

I agree with Christina, if the apartment were located on one of the small pedestrian streets east of St. Michel and near the Seine, it wouldn't be my first choice, for possible issues of noise, and because I don't much like crowd-running to get to my front door, and of those streets rue de la Harpe is the most dense with people. But that is a convenient location in Paris for access by foot to many of the city's delights, and in the first half March the crowds would be smaller than in the summer. If it were that area, I'd step out of it, for the most part, for dining because the restaurants are mainly low-end tourist spots with little charm. But again, you wouldn't have to go far.

It is a walk-up too, 2 flights, that can be really tiresome after a day of sightseeing.
I would keep looking.

Okay, I see it's on St. Severin, which intersects with rue de La Harpe, and on the second floor. You might want to ask whether the windows face the street and if so, whether they're double-glazed, soundproof.

But if you're young and healthy and on a budget the two flights of stairs would be more of an inconvenience than a deal-breaker, I would think.

Thanks for your input, after thinking it through and talking to the owner, I am leaning toward the following unit (offered by the same owner). It is in a different area but I believe it will be little less touristy and we can explore some other part of the city (out of the main loop)

http://www.vrbo.com/30917

If you haven't already booked, check out this flat on VRBO.
http://www.vrbo.com/66518

Can't say if it lives up to it's billing yet but it's in the 7th so very central and very affordable in March - 500E. Elevator and American queen bed, owners have been very kind through the booking process.
We leave 3/17 and I can hardly wait! Enjoy your trip.

On the first floor is a greek run pizza/gyro shop. Interesting odors going up those two flights of stairs as well. And the boys that work there LOVE to sing love songs to the sweet young pretty things walking on Rue de Severin... I know, I stayed there.
If sleep deprivation isn't an issue... i.e., you can sleep through anything...its GREAT!

Oh, their Marais apartment? Yes stay there. They are wonderful honest folks...at least in my experience...and very easy to work with; and at the time I stayed in the Severin 1 room flat (condo?), they had a young lady available if I needed her for maintenance...