Does anyone have information about RM Consulting or www.specialapartments.com? They rent apartments in Paris. There is one in particular I am interested about (apt info below).

Company contact information:
Regis Maurin
RM Consulting
10 faubourg Saint Denis - 75010 Paris
Ph.: +33 660 52 55 90
www.specialapartments.com

The apartment is listed at: 55 rue du Faubourg Saint Martin – 75010 Paris

Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!

Hi seattletofrance,

I don't know anything about them either, sorry. I have been considering using them, because the apts. on the Web site look nice and the rates are good, but I'm worried about the lack of knowledge about them and the requirements, which say: no cancellation at all, they have option to replace your requested apartment if it's not available when you arrive, and no disputing credit card charges...

My feeling is that if you shop around, you can do a lot better than those terms &amp; conditions. They sound <u>exactly</u> like the setup for a scam - think Rentacell.

I recently used Special Apartments and was really happy with them. I stayed in one of their apartments on the rue de Mazagran. It was very nice, reasonably priced, clean, well-decorated and the company owner, R&eacute;gis, was very helpful. I think that that stuff you're worried about is just legal stuff, that they right in case there is an accident like a water leak in the apartment or something. In any case, I had no such problems and everything was perfect for me.

There is only one thing in that agreement that I think is that unusual. It doesn't read like a scam to me at all, just that this guy has a good lawyer (or is one). Most of those terms are the same as many other companies, people just don't notice them.

For example, most companies have the legal right to give you a different apt. than you booked, if something happens. Now his agreement does sound a little more like you may often not get any particular one, just any one they have in a category. I wouldn't like that and wonder if that is just worded to imply something he doesn't mean, or what. I don't even know that legally you can give away your rights to contest a credit card dispute (especially in a foreign country), but I think that makes sense when it is vague issues like &quot;service&quot; you want to dispute or whatever. Maybe he had some bad experiences.

Many apts won't pay you back for cancellations, either, but his seems a little more difficult in that he won't refund your money for ANY cancellation, even if it were 6 months in advance or something. He just says you can apply it to another apt. I think all the firms I've dealt with have schedules of when your deposit is nonrefundable (often within 30 days), and what proportion you get back if you cancel in 90 days, 6 months, etc.

So, those are the two things I would be concerned about -- maybe not even the cancellations so much as I never do that, and if I were going to prepay that I'd buy travel insurance. The thing about no apt. being guaranteed to you sounds too weird to me -- if it were not guaranteed in the case of emergency or something, that's one thing, but he sounds like he isn't renting you any particular apt at all, just the general concept.

Righto.

I want the fine print to say &quot;if we can't provide the room you contracted for, this agreement is null and void in its entirety, and your deposit will be refunded in full.&quot;

Well, without any info about them except the contract provisions on the Web site--and now one good review--we've decided to go with vacationinparis, which seems to have a lot of good reviews. Perhaps there will be more information about them by the time we plan our next trip to Paris...

I'm also currently considering an apartment through this firm. Any additional input, perhaps from someone who has used them in the past?

my family is staying in paris in a few weeks and we've recently booked a stay with specialapartments.com, it was actually referred by an article in the NYTimes... My father is pretty confident with the business, so hopefully it goes well, but I can't imagine that a national publishing company would put their name behind a &quot;scam.&quot;

Hi! I had a really bad experience with these people. We booked one of those nice apartments you can see on the pics, but when we arrived the flat was dirty, the tv was not working and the worst thing was that we had no hot water for the next 3 days. The owner (Regis) was on holidays and didnt replay to our complains until 2 days later. They moved us to a smaller apartment (wich only had 1 room) and since we were 4 people, some of us had to sleep on the couch. We didnt get any apology from the owner and of course, no refund. We paid a 2 rooms apartment and some of us had to sleep on a couch and we didnt get our money back. They were not professional at all, i would not recommend to book thought them. Leticia

I am staying at one of the specialapartments next week. Can anyone give me info on their experience with this company? Other than the ones already posted.
thank you

fyi,

horrible experience with this agency!!!!!!

So what was the horrible experience??

1. I asked many questions regarding the location of the apartment. Since I was traveling with a 12 month old. Is it safe? Can you send pictures of the street, building, etc... My first red flag should have been...&quot;it is in a lively area&quot; THE AREA LOOKED LIKE A GHETTO. MAN EXPOSED HIMSELF TO ME WHEN WE ARRIVED.
WE WAITED IN THE TAXI FOR 20 MINUTES FOR HIM(Regis) TO ARRIVE AT THE APARTMENT TO LET US IN.

2. There were holes in the walls in the kitchen and shower.
3. No shower curtain.
4. Paper towels are more absorbant than the towels provided at the apartment.
5. We moved to another of his apartments...NO TV,NO PHONE, NO COFFEE MAKER!
I could go on and on. No time.
Don't let the nice web site and pretty photos of the apartment deceive you.

We think it only fair at Special Apartments that we should have a chance to reply to some of the critics that have been placed in this thread, even though they are now over two years old.

Our aim is to offer a service that is both professional, friendly and good value for money. We are always interested to listen to any criticism and to adjust and improve accordingly.

At the time we were a relatively new company, with our share of growing pains. In the beginning we had just a few apartments and there were only two of us to take care of everything : bookings, reservations, cleaning etc. Things went so well, that we started to take care of more apartments and engaged a cleaning company to take care of the cleaning. This was in the beginning of 2007. Unfortunately, the standard of their cleaning was not what we wanted for our clients and we stopped working with them in May 2007.

When Leticia_RM came to stay in one of our apartments, there was an unfortunate incident, in that the hot water tank broke (as can happen in any apartment) and could not be fixed immediately as it was a weekend. We offered Leticia two options: the first being to entirely reimburse them for the rest of their stay, so that they could find another option, or the second; we offered them another smaller apartment nearby (it was the only one we had available) and we would reimburse them the difference.

They accepted the second option which we had, by no means forced on them. After consideration we also reimbursed them entirely for their stay shortly after, but unfortunately they did not mention that in their comment...

Kook123 reserved an apartment on the rue du Faubourg Saint Martin, just in front of the town hall of the 10th Arrondissement. It is an area which is very central, a few minutes walk from Republique or les Halles. It is actually around the corner from where I live. I personally love this area, because there are great food markets, cheese shops, butchers, fruit and veg etc..There are also African hair salons, many Indian restaurants, Turkish food stores, Italian and Slav specialty food stores. It is a lively area, with much color. It is not dangerous in the least. I am so sorry that someone 'exposed themselves to her'...but these things I suppose can happen just about anywhere.

To reply to the rest...
2.There are or never were any holes in the kitchen or shower (Actually it is a bath)
3. There Is no shower curtain, because it is a bath.
4.We used to use towels from Ikea at the time. Its true they are not the best so we have changed them (and all the other linens) for professional hotel quality now.
5. The guest insisted on moving to a 'better neighborhood'. Unfortunately, the only other apartment that was free, was in the Saint Germain neighborhood and was a small, but charming studio, where there was no telephone or TV (we had many problems having an internet, telephone, TV connection installed in the apartment, this has been resolved since). The guest was warned of this and said that she didn't mind and of course she was reimbursed for the difference in price.

Obviously we are human and along the road we have made our share of mistakes. But with our enthusiasm, we have learned from those mistakes, so that we can now offer a better more efficient service.

We now have a team of professionals: two guest relations and quality control managers, two full-time cleaning ladies, a handyman and someone who looks after the website and the general image of our company.

We hope that we will be able to welcome you some time soon in one of our 'Special Apartments'. Paris is really one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and we are happy to offer this interesting alternative to travelers who come here.
Sincerely,

http://www.specialapartments.com