Air BNB Debate

If you’re asking about legal, short term rentals, there are three broad categories:

1. Commercial apartments - of which there are only several hundred in Paris, and most cost as much as an upscale hotel.
2. Private party rentals - limited annually to 120 days, must be the owner’s primary residence.
3. Mobility leases - minimum of 30 days, not open for tourists.

If you’re asking a moral question about renting an obviously illegal apartment, registration number or not, I defer to others.

September/October are peak hotel months in Paris, any decision you make should be done quickly.

I tried to book an AirBnb in Paris before pandemic. About 6 weeks before our reservation I got an email stating the apt was 'no longer available.' The apt owner/manager tried to steer me to another one of their rentals which was not in our desired neighborhood. We ended up getting rooms in a hotel since we didn't feel comfortable with that owner/manager. The good news is Air BnB did refund our $$$ fairly promptly. However, I am not sure I would try renting again from them even though I have had several good experiences with them here in the U.S.

I don’t use Airbnb any more as their charges are high - you will often find the same property on Booking.com, VRBO or Trip Advisor rentals at a much cheaper price. Pick one with numerous reviews going back some time.

I had a very positive experience with AirBnB in Paris in June. I made sure I only looked at Superhost listings and listings that were cancellable in case I saw somethng that concerned me. I kept checking the reviews pretty much weekly up until the time we left to make sure others were not having an issue with the space.

For the apartment we stayed in, there were multiple reviews each month, all of them very positive and commenting on how accurate the description was about the actual space. The apartment we were in had been part of a boutique hotel, but the host seemed to have concluded that AirBnB was a more effective way of marketing rooms than using his own website. The AirBnB listing had the registration number and the host was very responsive to any questions I had about the space. So I would ask some questions about any place you are interested in (dropping off bags early, how check in works,etc.) and see how responsive they are. All of those are ways to see if you get any bad vibes about the space or the host.

hey hey JR
many cities with apartment rentals are or have been scaled back big time. I’m sure have read about them or posters let you know here. the prices and especially fees are thru the roof, some fees can be more than rental. few years back, us three friends rented in London. good communication before trip but what a nightmare when we arrived.
her 16 year old daughter met us with one key, never went inside to show and give instructions, says down quiet street, 2 bedroom/1 bathroom, kitchen, washer/dryer, A/C.
“2nd bedroom” was living/dining/twin bed all in one. window above noisiest street with buses, taxis, sirens, loud party bar and restaurant below, people traffic to trains/subway-tube, metal radiator cover off an inch from my foot, burnt out lights in bathroom, no handicap bar in slippery shower, washer had half full water with someone’s wet dirty clothes inside, couldn’t open because of it being in lock position. tried all we could, leftovers in fridge with musty ordors.
owner out of country, won’t answer phone calls, no number for daughter: like she really could help. horrible experience, off of site.
Paris we had a great place, part time family home with all amenities and she had a fabulous guy, propert manager, come by when we needed him. so helpful and sincere and nice to talk with. this place is over 30+ day now off the platform
cross-pollinate.com
this couple started the beehive hostel in Rome and furthered the company. put dates in and see what comes up.
tripadvisor.com
we looked under vacation rentals, picked amenities and went from there. used it in Paris and annecy, pleased with both, only the paris one was further out then we wanted but it worked and took taxi when needed.
remember check in is 2-4pm, unless approval for early or rent night before and inform hotel/apt, check out 10-11am. I mention this since many people what to do with my time and luggage if I have hours to wait.
check bed sizes, mostly full or few doubles, stairs/steps to climb with luggage or is there and elevator/lift even any mobility issues, cancellation policy
bedbreakfast-paris.com
booking.com
click apartments and your wants. hope you find something, you’re late looking. october is a busy month, we were there oct 2019 and was packed. after booked go with the flow, so many people are traveling everywhere, want out after being cooped up in cocoons.
aloha

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/covid-19-fallout-on-lodging-industry

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/a-plug-for-airbnb

Oy - does anyone have the name of any reputable apartment rental places in Paris?

Have you tried using booking.com to find apartments? Are you looking for two bathrooms? Guest Apartment Services is a very good agency that I recommend but given their prices, you would probably spend less with two hotel rooms and the accompanying two bathrooms. If the dilemma is sharing a single room with two other adults, one easy solution is to get two rooms in a modest hotel and avoid the headaches that you are giving yourself with this apartment search.

How about TWO hotel rooms for the three of you? Seeing your first sentence brings me logically to that thought, not to a leap into rental apts and Airbnb.
No debate, no dilemma. No problem.

I don't use Air BnB when in Paris. I have used either Cobblestone Paris, https://cobblestoneparis.com, or Apartments du Louvre, https://www.apartmentsdulouvre.com. Apartments du Louvre has two buildings and both have elevators.

Good Luck.

My son has rented AirBnB apts in Paris, as recently as June 2021, with no issues at all. He rents AirBnBs all over the world and has never had a negative experience. SuperHost is the key, as SCFamily said.

But i agree with JHK, just get two hotel rooms.

So we took the advice and got two hotel rooms. Feel much better about that decision. Not necessarily where we would have normally stayed, but for sticker shock for our friend traveling with us, it will work out just fine, and give us our privacy. Thanks all!

Paris, like Barcelona and many other cities, has struggled with how to deal with the reality of short term rentals while working to preserve the integrity of their long-term residential rental markets, limit impacts on neighborhoods, etc. As a traveler I've struggled with this too (we are scheduled for an AirBnb in Nice and Paris in March). The best I can come up with is that I will use AirBnb because of its efficiency and economy to me and my family when we travel, but will work to follow all local regulations in the destination that affect the use of the service. Much like Uber and other ride-sharing services, the demand is there and that's for a reason - trying to put the genie back in the bottle and pretend the services don't exist or banning them seems shortsighted to me. Every traveler needs to approach the issue thoughtfully and reach a reasonable conclusion about how to use these types of services. It sounds like that is exactly what JR has done here, in this case opting for the 2 hotel rooms.

Steve, I appreciate your thoughtful reply. But the genies of highway deaths, alcohol abuse, credit card debt, and more are out of the bottle. And like the free-real-estate giveaway of outdoor dining, there are huge constituencies for them. Nobody is willing to give back something they've had for years. (Remember when motorcycle helmets and auto seat belts were the "jackboot of big government oppression"?)

There are always travelers who post about how they have a right to a "family room" with a pod coffee machine and a kitchen. But that form of travel is not a basic human right endorsed by the UN. It's just a "want". I'd love to have a two-room suite with silent air conditioning, right next door to big attractions. But I have to take what I can afford, or am willing to "stretch" for.

Steve, I agree with all that you said. And you are right, “the demand is there and that's for a reason”.