Safety with Apartments

Personally I'd be more concerned about how many hotel staff can actually access your room than fret about someone having a key to the apartment. I've stayed in apartments in London and Paris over the years without any safety issues what so ever. I've used Feels Like Home In Paris, VRBO and airbnb without any problems. I stay in one city for a long period of time and renting an apartment lends to my sense of "living" there. If you choose to rent an apartment do proper research, checking the trip advisor website and searching the web to make certain the rental company is legit and not a scam.

Have you heard of this website Home Away? Is it a legite site? What are good sites that I can find apartments and how do I know that I am getting a good apartment vs something shady. Should I be worried about someone that asks for full payment before I get there?

I use vrbo.com and homeaway.com to rent apartments. I have rented in Paris (2 different apartments), Barcelona and Verona, not to mention times in the U.S. I have never had problems with safety or anything going missing. I agree that it is probably safer in an apartment, where it is unlikely anyone will enter during your stay (with a possible exception of cleaning during a long term stay), as opposed to a hotel situation that would have staff entering you room daily.

Megan, look at Parisbestlodge, they are very well reviewed on tripadvisor( and actually on many other forums) and they do NOT ask for payment up front( which frankly I would not do,, why should I loose interest on my money for 6-9 months ahead of time, baloney) just a post dated deposit check. I will be renting the Esmeralda this July, so will let you know how it is. I generally love hotels, but have to say, that I have never thought about safety issues of either hotel or apartment,, just as safe if not safer then your home really,, and I have travelled solo too. Worry about things that matter, like missing trains, and getting ripped off by buying 5 euro cokes,, have fun.

You should learn the difference between agency rentals and owner-direct rentals. With Homeaway and VRBO, you are renting directly from the individual owner, and they set the terms. You also run a slight ( very slight) chance of being scammed, as the apartment ad may be a fake. This is more common with Craigslist type rentals, as the websites like Homeaway do respond to complaints and kick any bad actors off the website. ( Saw this happen recently on Tripadvisor, where someone posted about being scammed by an apartment rental,there was an outcry, the website manager got involved and the person eventually got her deposit back). The vast majority of the owner direct rentals are legit, but I would check carefully for references, how long have they been listing, etc.

We try to pack light so we really don't have much to steal. I may wedge a chair under the door when going to sleep, but I'll do that in hotels, too. Here's what I worry about: Does where I'm staying have smoke detectors and safe ways to exit in case of fire? Statistically, fires are a more likely risk. Because I don't bring my own smoke detector, sometimes we just have to chance it.