WE booked on Saturday with Marie at honeymoon-in-paris for one of the apartments near Pompidou centre. Havent heard back for how to get into apartment details. Starting to wonder! My friend who booked said she has heard nothing after she sent the $ thru Paypal. Anyone out there to reassure me??!!! ( We were on HOME AWAY site with her first i believe.) Sending our prayers to any angels out there!
Posted by
Eugene, Oregon...Formerly Ventura, CA
2261 posts
garylynn, a couple things-first, I have noticed that the French don't put much emphasis on "getting right back to you", they seem to let things take shape and happen at a more leisurely pace, so I wouldn't necessarily be concerned, as today is the first business day since you submitted.
I have not heard of this agency before, although I did run across a post from two years ago where the OP said Parisbestlodge had referred them to Marie, so perhaps that's a good sign, though there were no responses to the same question that you have in that post. The apartment rental thing in Paris, as you may know, has been in a small bit of turmoil over the last year in particular, with the mayor's office making an effort to weed out illegal rentals and get people to pay proper taxes for rentals.
My suggestions: identify any protections you have either through PayPal or your credit card issuer, and do what it takes to keep those protections in force. Keep in regular contact with the owner/manager until your trip; ask them very specific questions about the apartment, the neighborhood, the washer/dryer, etc. Try to confirm the quality of this agency through independent reviews; I do see what you mean about search terms, though.
What are the terms? Are they asking for deposit now with balance due at check in? Or are they asking for full payment up front? If the latter, in particular, I feel you really need to exercise care and due diligence, and qualify them through independent reviews. There have not been very many apartment owners shut down/fined in Paris, relative to the number of apartments available, but you don't want to be the one. Did you look at other, well known and historically reliable agencies such as Paribestlodge, or Vacation in Paris?
Some apartment renters have taken to making cancel-able reservations at a hotel in case of trouble with their rental.
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Thank you so much for your detailed reply. WE have now had contact and everything seems to be on the up and up. ( My friend had missed the email Marie had sent.... and Marie sent me a copy of all the details to me too now. )Thank goodness! When I return from my trip I will post reviews> :)
Posted by
43 posts
We are staying at that apartment next week. We received quite detailed instructions on it's location, and how to enter. We will post next week to let you know whether the instructions we received match the facts on the ground!
Posted by
OP
5 posts
We received the detailed info too now. Actually the driver Narcis who is picking us up ( Driver that Marie uses) will have the keys to let us in so we won't be getting the keys where she explained they were locked up with a code. Thank you tamijoart though!!! I appreciate your response. I will let you know how we fared too! When do you arrive?
Posted by
Eugene, Oregon...Formerly Ventura, CA
2261 posts
Well, that's reasonably good news for you, garylynn; and tamijoart, I hope it all works smoothly for you, do let us know.
One thought, do you each have a mobile phone number for Narcis, the driver, and does Narcis speak enough English to get by? In case of a foul-up in meeting the driver, have the address of the apartment neatly and accurately printed on a piece of paper in the event you need to take a taxi, etc.
Best of luck!