Apartment rentals in Paris

I just got one through AirBnB. Looks legit, a nice apartment located in the Marais district near the Pompidou Center for $155 USD per night. It has lots of user recommendations and making the arrangement was fairly simple. This is a first for me with AirBnB so I will just see how it works out. But they have an established reputation that is good and a very large selection of offerings throughout Paris.

There are also conflicting opinions on this, but I have rented from Cobblestone Paris, and was very pleased. In fact I have booked through them again for next year. They are listed in Rick Steves' 2013 Paris book. They do not require a damage deposit and accept payment through PayPal. The apartment I rented last September was accurately described and pictured on their website. Www.cobblestoneparis.com

The City of Paris is monitoring what they call illegal rentals, so you are better off renting through an agency that allows payment by credit card or PayPal than from a listing service where you rent directlyfrom the owner and are required to pay cash. There has been quite a lot of discussion on this subject on the TA forum.

I've used VRBO several times in Paris and many times elsewhere. Homeaway is their sister company and I've used them too. For my trip in September/October I used airbnb in London and Provence. This will be my first time using them, but so far it's been a good experience and I've heard good things about dealing with them. Whichever company you use, pay attention to the reviews.

If you would like information about the apartments I've rented in Paris just let me know.

I found my Paris apartment through VRBO and I was very happy with the experience. They are a reputable company, but you have to realize with VRBO and AirB&B they are listing companies and you deal directly with the owner or manager of the individual apartments so you need to read the reveiws, verify any questions or concerns by contacting the owner directly. Everyone I know who has used either of them has had a good experience.

VRBO.com is excellent and we have used them many times with success. Booking.com also has some apartments and as a site is trustworthy. As mentioned above, you deal with the owners overall, after booking thru a site. Just be sure you are paying thru a reliable channel (PayPal for example, cash in person when you arrive). I have also explored Cross-Pollinate lately based on their excellent reputation here in Rome. Haven't used them yet, but they get excellent feedback.

www.parisbestlodge.com and www.vacationinparis.com are two highly regarded rental agencies if you decide that you want to go the agency route.

We have used vacation in paris twice and will definitely use them again. We like the fact that they send you the keys before you leave the US and also that you pay in US dollars. They have an 800 number which makes it easy to set up your reservation.

We had an excellent experience last month renting a flat in Paris from France: Homestyle. It's a Seattle company, so it's easy to call for info. They take credit cards, which is a plus to me. Their representative in Paris was quickly available for questions/concerns. We rented the flat for three weeks and found it a very positive experience.

I've used www.vacationinparis.com. It met our families needs quite well.

Another vote for Vacation In Paris!

We had good experiences in Paris with homeaway.com and with historicrentals.com.

I've used Vacation in Paris 3 times in the past few years and find them to be very dependable, responsive and accurate in their listings. I much prefer apartments to hotels (I've done both in Paris) because an apartment gives me more room to relax (not just a bed to sit on), a place to cook if I want to and to store food, and makes it feel more like I'm living in Paris rather than just visiting. I've also used VRBO once and had a great experience with them too but that's very dependent on your landlord. I'm using AirBnB for the first time this Fall but so far the owner seems very good. DO NOT use something like CraigsList - a friend was scammed there for a Paris apartment rental.

I have used Parisbestlodge twice, easy to work with , good business practices,apartments were exactly as pictures, clean, well supplied and well located!

Merci, tout le monde.

I have used Parler Paris Apartments on several occasions and always had wonderful stays.

I've used AirBnB here in the States several times and haven't had any issues. For my up coming trip to Europe, I have booked all the places I'm stay at through AirBnB. I usually look over most of the reviews for that apartment, what ratings it has received, where it is located, what the apartment has, and of course the cost of the place. I also have friends who have used AirBnB in Europe and they really liked it, plus the places they stayed where very nice. Good luck in finding a place.

No problems with HomeAway

We stayed in a luxury apartment with Paris Vacation Apartments - they were a pleasure to deal with, very responsive, and they have been around for quite a while and have a number of apartments. We had a great stay with them this past month; they answer emails quickly, they responded immediately to our one small problem when we were at the apartment, and the check-in and check-out were a breeze! The website is http://www.parisvacationapartments.com

I am going to Paris in just under 3 weeks and rented an apartment through VRBO. I will let you know how it goes.

VRBO & sister company HomeAway have both been great for us for apartments in Europe and the USA :-)

Whatever agency you are using, & I usually use vrbo.com, make full use of the "filters" available to you when doing an apt search. It is worthwhile to consider the environment you are looking for and ask questions so you get the type of experience you are hoping for. Too many times people rent an apartment without thinking through some of the details and when they arrive expectations may not be met. I think this is just as important as which agency to use --- a number of good ones have been previously mentioned.

I live in California and there's almost no smoking anywhere. I now know to ensure that the apartment I am going to is smoke free---use the filter options to select an apt that has the characteristics you are looking for or email the owner through the website. Do you need wireless? Do you need to be on the ground level due to mobility or stroller issues? or do you prefer to be up one floor to avoid possible security issues with opening the window on the ground floor? what floor is the apartment on and if it is important to you, is there any elevator at all? do you absolutely positively need to have two actual bedrooms or would one bedroom and a loft suffice? If there is air conditioning, is it in the entire apartment (rare) or just in the bedroom? Contact the owners through the website, most will provide you with an exact address. Look at Google maps and see if it is located near public transportation, and use Street View to see the neighborhood. If there are "adult" Go-Go bars in view, this may not be the place for you.

I pride myself on being aware of all these issues now, but must admit that one time I rented an apartment in Paris and it turned out to be directly over a neighborhood bar! this actually worked out well as I had twin 5 year olds who loved to run around the living room and they could do so during the day without my worrying that they were disturbing someone downstairs! Strangely enough, there must have been terrific soundproofing because we never heard the bar at all. I'm sure others will have good suggestions, too, but if you think about what you are looking for you are more likely to find the best place for you and your needs. Have fun!

We used VRBO to rent our apartment in the 6th in Paris in May. It turned out that it was a rental agency advertising there so we paid using their website. Everything turned out fine for us but I have to admit there were zero reviews on the listing when we rented from them. I would use them again but I generally look for recent positive reviews when booking. Good luck!

I have rented this studio for the past 7 or 8 years. Great place, good location and great owners.

Nadine Giblin
Studio 30 sqm Paris 9e near Montmartre
E-mail : locationparis9@cogib.fr
Website : http://locationparis9.canalblog.com

Regards,
John

Check FranceHomestyle, a company recommended by Rick Steves', they have nice apartments and the team is really great!.

We just got back from a week stay at an apt we rented through Escalea.com. We've used Homeaway with good luck too.
Very nice place on Blvd St Germain.
http://www.escalea.com/en/apartment-paris/s766/saint-germain-paris#tabs1-apartment-slider

I am looking into vrbo apartments by owner/manager Olivier Scullier. He has several apartments around Paris.
Has anyone rented from him? Any comment, recommendation?