Does anyone have a name of a good company? I'm scared of vrbo type rentals. thanks!

You could try Citadines, we have used them in France and they also have apartments in London (and elsewhere in the world).

We used this company a few years ago and it was fine -
http://www.deepblue-apartments.com/

We have used VRBO, sometimes with success and sometimes not. Here are a couple of places I think would be OK but have not personally used:
http://www.vancouverstudios.co.uk/
http://www.chslondon.com/vr/index.htm
http://www.aplacelikehome.co.uk/props.html

Good luck with the search. One tip is to get the actual address, including full postcode and put it into Google Maps. This will show you how close it is to tube stations which in London is quite important.

Kay

There are numerous legitimate commercial apartment rental companies, Altough you will typically pay more than with a vrbo type rental. If you search below you will find the names of several recommended. (We've looked but never done - hotels always seem a better choice given what we want - so I cant give a personal reco.)

We loved our flat on Queen's Gate in South Kensington booked through London Connections.

Haven't stayed in an apartment in London, but friends are repeat visitors to this well located 'apartment hotel'-

http://london-queensgate.frasershospitality.com/

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...n_England.html

They stay at a Citadines property in Paris, but I'd have to say I wasn't overly impressed with a central London Citadines I had a quick walk through earlier this year.

We've stayed here twice and will be going back next year.
http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/ren...n-zone-1/75461

We had a great experience with
http://www.dolphinsquare.co.uk/house/

www.londontown.com great info always pay with CC

for Dolphin Square for me from personal experience

beautiful clean in a great area at a good price.

We've used Paris Vacation Apartments several times in Paris. They now have a couple of apartments in London and we've booked one for the spring. They are great to work with.

I have rented two terrific apartments from A Place Like Home, mentioned in one of the previous responses.

http://www.aplacelikehome.co.uk/

For ParisI really prefer Vacation In Paris. You get the keys before you leave home, so no waiting around for someone to let you in, and you pay in US dollars by CC. Also no security depositas you buy an inexpensive rental insurance policy

For Lodon check out Nell Gwynn huse on Slaone Avenue very near King's Rd

Look at www.slowtrav.com. The vacation rental reviews there include a review of the rental agency. You can get a feel for which are the better agencies.

The trouble with VRBO or websites that just list rentals for the owners is you don't know what you'll get. 10,000 people can have had a good experience with VRBO, but you could pick the one scam artist. (VRBO offers insurance -- but that won't save the trip while you're on it.)

And when you rent through an agency, you can pay with a credit card, another level of insurance.