My husband and I want to rent an apartment in Paris for three weeks in July. After endless searching on various sites, I've come up with three candidates on VRBO - 351780, 351552, 18283. I want a one-bedroom apartment and my "must haves" are air conditioning, wifi, elevator and washing machine. I've read all of the reviews (which I assume the owner has control over)and googled the VRBO numbers and key words. I've rented through VRBO many times in the US, but I'm wondering if there is anything else that I'm not thinking of that I might want to check on. My leading candidate (before checking with the owners) is 351780, which has an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower - so amazing that I'm wondering about photo shop. My plan was to rent in the 7th and this is a bit farther out in the 15th, but I think waking up to that view every morning might be worth it. Just want to be sure that I would be waking up to that view! I'd appreciate any words of wisdom or experience any of you might have for me.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17429 posts
Looks like a nice apartment, if you are OK with being on the 12th floor. The one thing that is different about VRBO rentals in France as opposed to the US is the payment method. Many owners want a money transfer directly into their bank account. There are various ways of doing that, and some of them are expensive. We have done it a couple of times, but I am never happy with the arrangement. And I've never understood what kind of protection ( from fraud or draconian cancellation policies) you get with that payment method, so hopefully someone can explain that.
Posted by
Woodinville, WA
97 posts
We, too, have used vrbo in the U.S. many times and without any problems. The apartment looks lovely. I don't know that owners can affect reviews. I've read a few very poor reviews on vrbo, and the owner seems to only have the ability to add a note but not to change the review itself. Or, if you see "Guest Comment Entered by Owner," then the owner added those him/herself (maybe from a guestbook or maybe fabricated). Just make sure that you contact her via phone. I like to talk to them in person, and make sure the phone number is the same as the contact information on the website. Even vrbo recommends that you contact them directly. It seems like a good find! Good luck,
Becky
Posted by
OP
Seattle, Washington
682 posts
Thanks for your replies. Contacting them by phone was an especially good suggestion that I hadn't thought of. This ended up being a stressful roller coaster ride for me, but I did end up with an apartment as of yesterday. I got "not available" responses from all of the above VRBO listings and many more. I've never run into that in the US, but none of the ones I looked at on VRBO kept their calendar current. I got a response from France: Homestyle for one of my VRBO inquiries and I've rented an apartment in the Latin Quarter from them. They operate out of Seattle, are recommended in the RS Paris book, and they take credit cards, which is a plus for me. They were easy to contact by phone and they were wonderful to work with. Thanks again for the suggestions and words of encouragement!
Posted by
Sherman Oaks, CA, USA
262 posts
Nancy, We use parlerparisapartments.com and myparisvisit.com. Both great, but really LOVE the first one. Exceptional apartments, great service, more higher end. But from what you have chosen as possibilites, I believe these could fit for the bill. Happy Travels!
Debi