Paris Vacation Rental Companies? Marais or Ile Saint-Louis

I can recommend Vacation In Paris http://www.vacationinparis.com/index.php.

They're reputable, well-established and helpful. They have apartments all over Paris and will help guide you to one that fits what you are looking for. We've rented from them several times and will again be staying in one of their apartments this summer.

I highly recommend https://www.guestapartment.com/ and http://www.parisperfect.com/, but not knowing your budget, I will mention that while both tend to be on the pricey side, their apartments are lovely and usually centrally located.

Here's one I've used that was quite excellent: http://www.apartments-and-more-paris.com. They were booked for my upcoming trip so I'm also using vacationsinparis.com. They've been good and responsive so far - haven't stayed in the apartment yet though.

I have used Paris Perfect November 2013 and have booked again this spring in a different apartment. I was extremely happy with the apartment and the staff meeting me at the apartment, going over the apartment as well as contact numbers for any problems.

We've also used Vacation in Paris, twice, and been happy both times. The thing I really like about them is that they send you the keys before you leave, so once you get to Paris, you're all set!

So far, everyone has been too polite to tell,you that it is MARAIS, pronounced "maray", not Marias. Just so you do not embarrass yourself in Paris.

Thank you all for the great recommendations! We are looking at many of those sites now, as they have several good options!

We are now wondering if we should include other neighborhoods potentially in our search. Initially, we were drawn to the Marais area, but we're open to suggestions for a first trip for the kids. Our main criteria, in addition to what we mentioned in the original post is that we'd prefer to be an a safe area, within good restaurants and stores, and walkable to main attractions and a Metro station.

Thank you!

I loved staying in the Marais but also loved the Rue Mouffetard Market area. We enjoyed wandering around the market. We shopped there many times. I would recommend the apt we used but too small for you. The metro was close. There were endless shops and cafes.
http://www.rue-mouffetard.com/market.html

We have used this company twice and they were great to work with. Apartments look just like the pictures.http://www.parisvacationapartments.com

They have apartments in the areas you mentioned and others.

Have Fun!

We also stayed in the Rue Mouffetard in a wonderful apartment. We loved the area! It felt very safe, even quiet on our street. It was a walk to the river and Notre Dame but not too bad. I guess that depends on the age or your kids and how far they can walk. We were pushing a wheelchair so it probably felt longer than it really was.

We used homeaway.com to find our apartment.

Stillerz, Agree with Susan and Monte regarding Homeaway. Had a great experience with them last year. Airbnb is also another reputable organization that we've been happy with. You mentioned Cobblestone, so wanted to share caution for using them. We had a very bad experience with Cobblestone Apartments two years ago and would not use them again. They seemed small, inexperienced and unreliable. Arrived in Paris for first time, got taxi to apartment at 11 p.m. and key was to be under door mat. Taxi driver saw that we got into building successfully and left. No key at this hour in strange city was not comforting. Fortunately, we had a phone and able to make contact and key arrived 45 minutes later. I understand people make mistakes, but this fiasco continued with this company. I can give more details if you are considering them, but I can only say that apartment was very nice and there were no problems with the apartment. Beyond that, I can say nothing good about managing our rental with them. Stick with Homeaway or Airbnb or other more reputable companies. Hope this helps. The Marais and Ile Saint-Louis are both beautiful areas, but I've not stayed in either so no recommendations to pass on. Keep looking at description of apartments and reviews; you'll find the perfect place! Have fun!!

I'm just back from two weeks in Paris, and I rented an apartment form ParisBestLodge.
They seem to have been around for a long time, I didn't find any bad reviews, and I was very happy with both the communication with the agent/manager/owner Thierry; and the apartment I rented, which was the" Luxembourg Gardens ".
Every email was answered that same day, and no question from me was too trivial.
He is also available by phone for help/questions while you are in Paris.
The apt. was exactly as promised, and I would definitely rent from them again.

Imtoo am a big fan of Parisbestlodge, have used them twice, and have another one booked for june. The apartments are always clean and exactly as shown.
I had the opportunity to view tow other of their apartments, so have seen four different ones now, i would rent any of them. And Thierry is a treasure.

I have stayed in the Marais on many occasions and adore the area. Most of my trips were as a young, single woman, so staying in a safe area was important. I was very happy with the Marais and had no qualms about walking around anytime night or day. The location is perfect - the area has convenient metro stops so you can get anywhere in the city fairly quickly. A lot of sights are in walking distance. The area has lovely restaurants and shops, and there are some big department stores nearby. The Place des Voges is in the Marais, so you'd have a nice park the kids can run around in.

The Ile St Louis and the Marais are right next to each other. I personally find the Marais more interesting since The Ile is mostly just housing. The Marais has a nice mix of bars, restaurants, shops, and sights. The Jewish neighborhood centered around the Rue des Rosiers has an exotic feel with delicious foods!

Ile St Louis is my favorite neighborhood to stay in. It's like a little village in the heart of Paris surrounded by the river and amazing views. Lots of Parisians live there, there's a wonderful park at the Eastern end, a beautiful church, grammar school (fun to hear them singing, or moms waiting to pick them up), lots of fun shops, bakeries, pharmacy, post office, ATM machine on main street, good restaurants, cafés, grocery store, produce store with the best fresh squeezed OJ we've ever had, Amarino gelato and Berthillon ice cream. And it's quiet at night.

We rented an apt there for a month and loved the apt and neighborhood, unfortunately, the apt is not available for rental anymore. But next time I rent again, I'll look for one on ISL.

Paris Perfect(Paris made Perfect) is a great company. Just posted a new apartment on Ile Saint-Louis. I have stayed in two different apartments with them and would recommend checking their web site.