Booking.Com And A Property With No Full Address

I use Booking about 20 times a year, and I see stories like yours on occasion.

First, never do non-refundable, all the bad stories start out that way, the exception is a place you know, or where there is a no cancellation within a week

Second, be wary of new listings, if it seems to be too good to be true, it usually is, and with number one, your spider sense should be tingling

Third, rather than call, use the chat feature in the app or on the site related to the booking.

If they are pulling a bait and switch ask Booking specifically what action to take. But right now, Booking can only assume everything is legit, but oddly I always have an exact address

You should also request the owners registration of the apartment for short term stays Paris is strict about controlling that, if they balk, one more reason for booking to get involved

While it’s standard practice for apartment rentals through Booking.com to not reveal the full address with the unit number until the arrival day— you have already paid for the month-long stay since it is non-refundable. And Booking.com surely must know what the full address is of the unit for which they have brokered this transaction. Keep in mind that sometimes the address you go to for the key may be different than the actual address where the apartment is located,

I would contact Booking.com in writing and let them know your concerns that there seem to be two different property addresses you have been provided with, and you are concerned you may not get the key to the one you actually agreed to
pay for. Be sure you take a screen shot of all your communications with Booking.com so you can document all your conversations with them. You also should take screen shots of any photos of the unit you originally agreed to rent. That should be in your original reservation confirmation from Booking.com

If it later turns out that the property owner is renting a property other than what was originally represented ( square footage, features, amenities, views etc.) or what the photos originally showed, Booking.com should step up. Take photos of the property when you first arrive in Paris. Also take photos just before you checkout of the apartment so you can prove it was not damaged during your stay. If the apartment was different from the one you agreed to rent and Booking.com seems unwilling to give you a refund, you can then go through your bank that issued the credit card this was charged to and begin a dispute with Booking.com for a full refund based on the fact this was a fraudulent transaction which they brokered.

Remember to communicate only in writing and take screen shots of all your communications.
Best of luck to you.

”While it’s standard practice for apartment rentals through Booking.com to not reveal the full address with the unit number until the arrival day..”

We rented a couple of apartments in Spain last year through Booking, and the exact address was in the listing.

Robb, I hope all goes well when you arrive. I agree with the advice to take screenshots of all communication. I had one reservation in Booking where we mutually agreed to shift the date. When the date was changed, all of the previous communication was gone - as if it was a new reservation.

We have used Booking for years and never had one problem. I know the rules and stick to them. My only question is what are you upset about? You booked a non-refundable, so did you not understand the rules? You were told you would get the check in details the day of arrival. I am confused about the issue which I assume is an issue you have which is not an issue with booking. IMO your not being scammed not even close.

We use booking for 95% of our stays and only had a problem day of because a storm moved through Venice the night before and roof leaked. (Probably several hundred stays since 2018.)

Booking has always provided accurate apartment address, but maybe not the apartment number.
In fact, we have a stay in Bolzano for tomorrow night, and we won’t get checkin access code until day of, tomorrow. We provided copies of passports yesterday. While we booked cancelable room up to a week before stay, payment was made 6 days ago.
Edit, just received message from host with codes and photo of gate, which matches google street view.

I almost always message hosts for apartments on booking a question, first to see if they are responsive and if answer makes sense. About to cancel an apartment in St Emilion as the photos weren’t clear if apartment was attic or not, and/ or and if bedroom was not a loft, separate from main floor with bathroom. Not sure if answers were unclear due to language translation, or if just not the right apartment for us.

I had a similar problem with booking.com and since then they are my last choice when booking a hotel room. I found the customer service to be terrible. In my case, I found the Seattle neighborhood to be inconsistent with the address and neighborhood provided. The apartment owner seemed to be a real estate company. My son lives in Seattle, and I actually recognized the unit pictured on the booking ad. The real estate company did not return messages. Finally, I cancelled the reservation, which was easy enough, but at that point there weren't options that were close to my son's address. The real estate company then pulled the listing on the booking website. My son went the the listed address and while the actual unit tenant wasn't home, neighbors told him that there were people living there and subleasing or related was not allowed. I also believe the listing was a scam and booking.com was not helpful. They just kept saying if we arrived Seattle and the unit wasn't available, they'd put us elsewhere which was a problem since we weren't renting a car.

We have booked apartments through booking.com numerous times, and we always were given the exact address. We always choose one that has free cancellation though. We only had a problem once when after we checked in a bomb from WWII was found beside our apartment and we had to find another place for the first night. The apartment owners refused to credit us for the first night. We called booking.com later and received a credit. We've used booking.com for 11 years,and fortunately have had no problems. I would continue to request the address. I don't understand why they could refuse to give you the address. Good luck!!

My wife and I recently got new smartphones, and AT&T never properly setup our phones--especially for international service. When we got to Budapest, our phones would not connect. On top of that, I forgot my email password.

We found our Booking.com apartment building at 8:20 p.m. We just had an after hours phone and a pizza deliveryman let us use his phone. He then showed us how to find the apartment. The manager on the phone gave us the combination number on the keybox.

We went thru our 3 week trip with only a laptop for communications thru Facebook Messenger. No big deal. I seldom talk on the phone anyway.

Make sure everything is setup for international travel before you leave home.