hotels vs apartments

I would honestly advise to stay in a hotel that first day. I may be a poster you were referring to re this. Once, I rented an apartment in Paris, and we were to meet the guy at the apartment at 8AM. We were exhausted, wanted a shower, cup of coffee, bathroom, etc. The guy arrived @ 9:15. We sat on our suitcases and waited. When he arrived, he told us the current renters were checking out @ 11AM, and the maids would open the apartment at that time and store our luggage. We couldn't use a shower or bathroom till 2PM.

A second time we stayed in a BnB in Rome, again, after the long overseas trip. Same deal. There's no hotel desk, no lobby bathroom, coffee shop etc to make the wait tolerable.

After saying the above, I stay in apartments all the time in Europe if I'm staying in one location for four nights or more, but NEVER again the day of arrival! Keep in mind, also, that it takes a while to 'check in/out' of an apartment. You need to learn how to work the appliances, etc., and on check out, many times the meter must be read and electric bill paid. You also need to arrive usually with a lot of CASH to rent the apartment, and most demand cash payment on arrival. Another subject, but I do this all the time, just not first day.

Apartments for that length of time would definitely be the way to go. Being able to cook and not be crammed into a hotel room would make the trip so much more enjoyable IMO. I thoroughly enjoy the shopping for groceries experience and feeling a little like a local. I've rented apartments for as little as 3 nights and would likely do so again. It would also likely be much cheaper to rent apartments..
That said - unless you could store your luggage at the train station on the morning of your arrival - or could get into your apartment early, I might go ahead with a hotel for that first night. But. - if the apartment is empty the night before you arrive, the owner might be willing to let you in early. Might be worth asking.

Apartment advantages:
They can be cheaper for larger groups. When we travel with another couple, I can almost always rent a 2 bedroom apartment for less than 2 hotel rooms.

When traveling with others, it is so nice to have a gathering room to sit and visit. When we are in 2 hotel rooms, there is nowhere to sit and plan the next day, etc.

You get a kitchen. Although we do not usually fix the dinner meal there, we have saved money by eating breakfast and lunch in the apartment. Several of the apartments we have stayed in have provided some food. (sometimes "staples" like salt and pepper, but we have also had apartments that provided bread, milk, jam, etc. )

Disadvantages:
They are a little more of a risk in my opinion. I don't think reviews on web sites like Airbnb, VRBO, etc. are as accurate as reviews on a 3rd party site like Trip Advisor. Also, more people use that hotel, so there is a broader range of opinions. Quite often apartments will only have a couple of reviews.
Apartments sometimes have rules and "you musts" that a hotel does not have. I rented an apartment in Switzerland where we had limited hot water each day (in fact that happened to me again this last trip), were required to empty our trash and take items to a recycle place in town, and strip the sheets when we were done. Hotels don't ask you to do any of that. However, that apartment was 120 SF in a small town where the cheapest hotel room was a 110SF. (The apartment was 2 bedroom and we shared it with another couple, so it was 60 SF a couple in an expensive city!! At that time, it worked out to be about $55.00 a night per couple.)
Most apartments I have rented had one bath. Since there was 4 of us, that meant scheduling time in the morning.

Summing up:
I tend to try to rent apartments in expensive areas (like Switzerland and Paris...we stayed in a beautiful 2 bedroom apartment in the heart of Paris for $200 a night or $100 a couple!) I also use them more when we travel with another couple then when my husband and I travel by ourselves. (although there have been times I have found studio apartments that worked well for us.)

I have never rented an apartment for as long as a week. The shortest time was 2 nights...the longest was 5 nights. I have never found it that much of a hassle to rent them either.

As to the luggage issue, I would either book a hotel for any night where you might have that problem, or be up front and ask about how it could be handled when you book. I know we wanted to leave our luggage at our Paris apartment when we checked out. He said that would not be a problem. If the apartment was not booked for the next night, we could pile it up in a corner and leave it. If it was booked, we could transfer it to his apartment in the same building. (it was not booked, we left it in the living room and came back at 3:00 to get it).

Definitely ask. You could even make early arrival one of your criteria for choosing a place.

We have stayed in a total of 8 apartments so far. Three of them were the first places we went after the long flight. Maybe we were just lucky with the timing, but all 3 let us check in as soon as we got there from the airport.

We have rented both apartments and hotel rooms and have been happy with both choices. It depends on how long you'll be in an area, and what the situation is. If you're only going to in an area for a couple of days - I'd book a hotel room. If you're going to be in an area for longer - try booking an apartment. We are currently in an apartment in Salzburg and we couldn't be happier. We were tired of restaurant meals and are very happy to spread out. Our cost is almost half of what a hotel would cost (70E) and it includes breakfast - it's part of a gasthaus that has other rooms as well. We don't find buying groceries a hassle - it's part of the travel experience. Meals are pretty easy to plan - many of the grocery stores/kondeteri's have partially prepared meals and fruit, cheese, bread, juice, wine, etc are easy to buy. We just spent about 70E for groceries and it will feed us at least 5 dinners and several lunches. We've also rented gites in France in previous trips and have been very happy - I've booked through Gites de France, but also looked at Booking.com and TA. Read the comments, look at google map or Google Earth to see where it's located ie restaurants, shopping, neighbourhood, etc. Your always taking a bit of a chance with apartments but we also considered that if it met 80% of our needs - it was a good choice. Some apartments do want cash deposits and final payment, but others will accept a combination of credit card and cash. Just plan for what ever your needs will be. Will be moving to Vienna in a few days and the apartment I have rented there accepted a cc deposit but want cash for the final payment. It still works out way cheaper that a hotel room - we're only paying 50E a night (for 11 nights). A pretty good deal.

I don't rent apartments but I understand the pros, especially for families. You could mix it up, stay in apartments some of the time and in hotels in other cities.

Why don't I rent apartments? It's not a vacation if I have to make my own bed.

I prefer appartments, specially in Italy (I've had really negative experiences with hotels there -messy, dirty, and completely different from the pictures they put up on their sites). I find appartments really convenient when travelling with family or friends, since it reduces costs and gives you more freedom (we usually end up being so tired after days of non-stop sightseeing that we like to stay in some evenings, playing a game or just hanging out, and having a 'homemade' meal-that's always a plus, since it saves you money on food). I haven't had any problem with check-in, check out or luggage, but that is something that depends on the owner and how helpful she/he wants to be. Whenever I had timetable problems (like arriving at midnight), I've always checked with them in advance and try to find out how flexible they are.

Lots of great advice here for you. I just wanted to say that this past May we rented apartments on our trip. 6 nights in London & 7 in Paris. We were very happy with both, however we did have issues with checking in both places. In London, the owner worked & could not meet us until 4pm so we had to wait at a pub for over 2 hours (with our luggage) before we met her at the apartment. Not a huge deal but an inconvenience. In Paris, the agency sent someone to meet us and he was there earlier than we were so he waited upstairs in the apartment for us. Unfortunately we had no way of knowing this or of getting in the building, so we waited down on the street (with our luggage) for about an hour before he finally came down. I was really getting nervous at that point.

That being said, for a longer stay I will definitely do apartment rentals. You can't beat the amount of room vs a hotel room, plus we had a nice balcony to sit out on in the evenings in both cities. We travel to Rome, Venice & Paris next May and will be staying in an apartment in Rome for 5 nights, a hotel in Venice for 3 and an apartment in Paris for 7. Issues and all, I do prefer an apartment. Good luck!

The nice thing about apts (if there are more then 2 of you) is hopefully everyone can have their own room...unless you book a few hotel rooms, which will get pricey, you are most likely going to all be in one smaller space. In an apt, you can spread out. We travelled with my mom this year (me, hubby, mom) and two nights we rented a hotel (arriving late in Naples and flying out early in London). It isn't that much fun trying to keep your modesty while sharing the same room with your mom...lol. (Diff of course with children). And she's an early waker-upper - I'm sure she enjoyed listening to us snore ;)

The other three stops, we had an apartment, rented thru airbnb (mom got a sleeper couch). Three nights on Amalfi coast, 5 in Rome and 3 in Venice. It was really nice as they were central and a lot of the days we'd go back to the room during the hottest part of the day to relax (early Sept). And being able to cook a few nights was nice instead of eating out all the time, even if it was only more pasta. And having breakfast in the apt was nice as well. We never had an issue with luggage, but we arrived mid-afternoon - I know some of the hosts would allow the bags to be left with them - that is something you would have to check out beforehand. Barring that, a lot of the train stns offer storage (another reason to travel light - that adds up!)

As for having to make your bed on vacation (as someone mentioned) - it takes 5 seconds to throw the covers over the bed - and who says you have to make it? Even when I'm at a hotel, I still toss the sheets back up, so an apt is no different. But having a couch to sit on, a table to sit at, a fridge for snacks, a stove to cook on, room to spread out...priceless!

Agree with ALL of the reasons for apartment rentals! This is why I mostly use apartments. Paying that extra day so it's free when you arrive is a brilliant idea! I still will stay in a hotel the first day or two however, unless I'm spending 4 nights in my arrival city. 4 nights is my cut-off point.

I've rented apartments in Europe rarely because I rarely stay in the same place more than 3 nights when I travel. However when my entire family stayed longer (at least 4 or 5 nights in the same place) I was happy with the apartment.

I think if you have a group of 4 or more and plan to stay in one place at least 4 or 5 nights, an apartment is a good choice. For 3 nights or less, it's probably not worth the hassle, because as it was mentioned, the check-in/out process is longer.

Also (and I don't know if it was mentioned above), the apartment has no concierge, no lobby bar and restaurant, no room service, no reception desk staff that can help you with anything, etc. I don't know if you care about that, but some people might.

We've rented many apartments, and often for as little as two nights. A few hassles here and there, but nothing terribly significant. As someone else mentioned, we have found that a bedroom with a door that closes is a real plus. The reason, for us (a couple) is that we have stayed in several studios where the refrigerator makes enough noise to keep us awake or, in one case, enough noise to wake the dead.