Apartment Rental Paris

www.vrbo.com is a good site for renting an apartment which I have used twice, with good results. Many people on this site also recommend www.vacationinparis.com

http://www.feelslikehomeinparis.com/

Because the amenities are different in Europe, I would inspect any apartment before I rent one. I learned the hard way in Italy where I found it way too small and practically no kitchen at all AFTER I had agreed to take it.

I read about one traveler who moved out of his apartment the second day after paying for it to find a better one.

Owners expect tourists to inspect before renting; so dont be deterred.

Be aware that some wont rent for less than a week during certain times of the year.

I also like to inspect the neighborhood before renting.

Many times there are reviews from previous renters who leave their email address. I have emailed them and asked their opinion and all have been very kind in responding.

How can one inspect an apartment before renting them?

I had to send a deposit and pay in full BEFORE we got to Europe.

I do understand where you are coming from though because our apartment in Carrieres-sur-Seine was extremely small, moldy and had broken furniture. It was hard to know this before because the owner made it all sound good, and because he rents to friends, most of the comments were positive, except for one negative. When I asked why the negative, he down played it. Lesson learned. However, the apartment in Rome was just as described, so I think it's a sort of hit and miss for us when renting from this far.

Thanks everyone. This has been very helpful. I know how small Paris apartments can be. I am pretty familiar with the city so I am comfortable choosing a good location. I am looking at parisattitude which has good pics and inexpensive options. I just want to save money by having breakfast and maybe dinner in the fridge and eating a nice lunch out. Some of them even have a washer and drier!