AirBnB vs Hotel for Paris week in November

There are quite a few less apartment rentals both between the crackdown on illegal rentals (see what Aimee said about the registration number, and yes there are still many illegal ones out there but their day will come) and rentals which did not survive covid and have either gone long-term or reverted to private ownership and occupancy.

You might try booking.com for apartments and try agencies such as Ville et Village. I really prefer an apartment for a stay over 4 nights., although I understand that may be difficult these days.

I prefer apartments, especially in Paris, and especially during COVID (in theory, I haven’t gone post-pandemic yet)! Parisian hotels are very picky about no food in the rooms. I don’t like breaking rules, and I have weird blood sugar issues and often need snacks at off hours. So I like to have fruit, granola bars, etc in the room wherever I go. Not allowed in many Paris hotels. Of course, it would be easy enough to do it anyway but…I like to be a respectful of the hotels rules. As for why during the pandemic? Food. Again. If I can’t find a restaurant I feel safe in, I’d do take out or cook. Much easier to eat take out in an apartment and obviously you can’t cook in a standard hotel.

All prior posters advice on making sure the apartment is legal is essential. Maybe look into apart hotels or local agencies.

On all my past trips to Paris I had hotels. The trip we had in September was AirBnB apartment in the 6th. It was a fantastic old school Paris apartment with windows opening out onto the avenue. Large rooms, comfortable sofas, kitchen. I may never do a hotel again in Paris. Location put us within a block of the 4, 10 & 12 lines.

Unless you are renting an owner's own apartment while he is away or one of the several hundred commercial apartments available in Paris, for periods of fewer than 30 days, I would stay in a hotel and avoid the messy illegal apartment rental situation.

If you are considering an apartment without the government required, 13 digit registration number (included in any advertisement), you are risking that it might be forcibly removed from the marketplace by the city. If you are considering an apartment with a registration number, it might be legally offered by the owner but the number itself is not a guarantee that it is a legal rental. I could obtain a registration number for a room at the Ritz Hotel online in about 5 minutes. It would, of course, not be a legal rental. An otherwise completely legitimate rental could have already reached its annual number of rental days, 120 in Paris, 90 in Nice I believe, and any further rental, within the calendar year, would be illegal. Any of these irregularities can lead to fines for the property owner of up to 50,000€.

The rental landscape in Paris has changed dramatically. Approach it with caution.

100% Apartment for that length of stay. There are reputable rental agencies you can use that have registered apartments. We used Paris Best Lodge, whose website now indicated they rent through VRBO, which was established long before AirBNB. We rented from VRBO 13 years ago when we went to London, when I don't even think renting apartments was thing. In Paris we had a studio in the 6th Arrondissement which is the Saint-Germain des Pres district which was close to the Odeon Metro and an RER line. We walked to the river daily, had wonderful shopping and restaurants close by and had some snacks in the apartment. We even had a memorable night buying one of those roasted chicken dinners with potatoes (which we purchased right around the corner from the apartment), stopped and got bread and pastries and ate it all at the apartment after a long day of sightseeing.

For a one week stay beginning next, I would look at hotels. I think it takes a little bit more time to find a good short-term rental these days in Paris. If you need a kitchenette, take a look at the Citadines Bastille Marais on Blvd Richard Lenoir. It looks like it could be anywhere in the world but it is a good option.
Just for the sake of clarity, the 6th arrondissement is more than Saint Germain. There are other neighborhoods (quartiers) in that arrondissement.