Vacation In Paris Apartment Rentals

I used them in May 2015. It was awesome but that was before the crack down on rentals. Not sure if they have registration numbers. I’d contact them

I also used them and was very pleased. But this was before registration was required. I'd call and ask - they had good customer service when I dealt with them.

I called them earlier in the year when I was looking for an apartment and was told that most of their apartments are not registered but that I shouldn't worry about it. I didn't use them.

I’ve used them three times (2009, 2011, and 2013) and was happy with them. This was before the registration numbers took effect. I’d suggest you call and ask. With the flats I rented, the keys were mailed to me in the U.S. before I departed which I really liked as there was no need to coordinate with meeting someone. I’ve talked to them on the phone when trying to decide between a couple of flats and found them very helpful.

Forgive me being slightly off-topic, but I just spent a week in Paris with my family, and we rented an appartement in the 5th arrondissement through VRBO and it was relatively inexpensive, great neighborhood, clean, quiet, and generally wonderful. Sean

Thanks everyone,

@seanb_us, I would like to know more about the apartment you stayed in. Was it registered? It seems like the places I've looked at on Homeaway/VRBO didn't have registration numbers.

Yes, it had the 13-digit registration/license number. It is displayed on the home page for the rental. Sean

VIP is a well-established, reputable, trustworthy company. We've used them several times. I seriously doubt that they would mislead you. If they say that they (or actually their customers) haven't had a problem, I'd believe them.
I can understand someone wanting to stay entirely within the law, and if that's you, then you should not rent an apartment that doesn't have the registration number. But clearly there are well-intentioned laws that fall far short of 100% enforcement - speed limits in most of the U.S. being a glaring example. My guess is that one can safely rent a non-registered apartment in Paris.

I've rented from Vacation in Paris 3 times in the past (2008, 2010 & 2012) and will be doing so again next month. Never had any issues with them and would highly recommend. The apartment we are renting (#204) does have the 13-digit registration number.

My guess, and it is just a guess because I have done no research on the scope or frequency of enforcement actions, is that one can rent an unregistered apartment and not have a problem. I would not encourage someone to do that but then again, I stop at stop signs late at night when no one is around. I think that the City of Paris does not have enough inspectors to catch every unregistered apartment and even if they did, the odds are that this would not happen to the apartment you are in while you are there or right before your arrival. That being said, you have said that you will not rent an unregistered place so whether other people who are willing to take that risk have had good experiences with VIP is probably not really helpful to you. What you need is a way to find which apartments at VIP have registration numbers. Now you know that #204 of VIP is registered. If there is no number, the place is not registered and VIP does not have a way for you to search for that on their website. I am of the opinion that #204 is the only registered apartment at VIP. So maybe the answer is to call them and see if they have a list of their apartments with registration numbers that they can share with you or maybe you can go through all of their listings to see which ones have registration numbers. Or maybe you could look for your apartment through booking.com, which only lists registered apartments.

Thanks again everyone. JHK, you make some good points. I do tend to be a rule follower (if you ignore my lead foot when I drive) and worry about booking something that won't be available 9 months from now. I'm on a budget and don't want to have to scramble for something at the last minute. I think I'll give VIP a call and talk to them.