Legal apartments in Europe

Take all guesswork and needing to verify legality out of the equation and book yourself an apart'hotel, like the Citadines chain with locations in both Paris and Barcelona. You get the larger place and amenities you want, plus you are staying somewhere that is more flexible in terms of check-in times and it's professionally managed with someone available 24/7 if you have any questions or problems.

Why don't you mention the names of the agencies? It should be possible to find reviews or people here may be familiar with them.

We have used Vactioninparis.com and they were great. It is an American company so no issues with language or credit card payment.

Actually, Sasha, we've used vacationinparis twice and enjoyed our stays although we did have to deal with a cancelation of the specific apartment a week before arrival. I'm just wondering for stays in future years.

Darcy, when I win the lottery and buy an apartment in Paris you can stay whenever you want. Can you please remind me to buy lottery tickets to make this happen? ;-)

Darcy, let's take turns reminding Andrea to buy those tickets!
SharYn

All agencies have the legal right to list vacation apartments.
It is up to the owner to obtain the right from the Mayor's Office if he wants to rent his apartment legally.
To date, there are only 112 legal apartments listed by the Mayor's Office. There is no list available which lists the actual apartments, however.

If you'd rather avoid the most common complaints about vacation rentals - the probability that if you stay less than a week the owner will cancel your reservation in favor of someone staying longer, the fact that you cannot drop your luggage if you arrive before the apartment has been cleaned so have to haul it all over town, and trying to verify if the apartment is rented legally - you should have a look at Adagio or Citadines apart'hotels.

Most first-time visitors would appreciate having help with directions, reservations, etc, as well as having their beds made and linens changed each day. Both Adagio and Citadines are located in many different neighborhoods, many different price points, and all are convenient to transportation, markets and anything else you'd like to do. What these apart'hotels may lack in "charm" is more than made up for when you step outside the door.

SharYn and Andrea, I will bug you both daily for Andrea to buy lottery tickets....for "our" apartment! Andrea, please choose one big enough for Pam too, I'm sure she'll want to join us!
Chexbres, thanks for the great advice and suggestions. I just wish there was a way to rent and know that it was a legal apartment. Information such as that would be so beneficial for first or second-timers to Paris.
(Actually, in 2015 we rented on ile St Louis and were able to leave our carryon-size bags before our expected arrival while we went for a coffee.)
Chexbres, are there any others cities or towns in France with similar laws?
Thanks for everyone's input!

Sasha, I've only rented an apartment twice, both times through vacationinparis.com which I found very helpful and convenient. That doesn't necessarily mean the apartments are legal.

There are population limits which preclude renting short-term - but if you were to venture out to the suburbs, nobody would care what or where you rented.

Though the buildings might be more modern - or not - than most people would care for, the neighborhoods are set up more or less the same way as they are in the center of Paris. You can walk to the shops, transportation is convenient, and you'll get a glimpse of how "real" people live.

Frankly, I'd start looking in places like Versailles, Neuilly-sur-Seine, St Germain-en-Laye, which are a short train ride away from Paris.
Here's a list of some places where you wouldn't have any trouble finding a short-term rental:
http://www.expatica.com/fr/housing/Where-to-live-near-Paris_422631.html

You might want to start investigating Barcelona - not certain if the city has outlawed short-term rentals outright or not.