Paris apartment rental recommendation

[regatta333]

Has anyone done an apartment rental in Paris? If so, how was the experience and would you recommend it for a 3-night stay? There will be 2 couples, so we'd need a 2BD, 2 bath in mid-May. Alternatively, we've been looking at hotels that would have 2 bedrooms with an adjoining sitting area we could share, but I am not seeing any options for this except for some that have two twins in the 2nd bedroom.

Also, what would be the best arrondissement to avoid restaurants that cater mainly to tourists?
We are currently looking at Marais, Latin Quarter, and St. Germain.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

 

[stmartinfan]

We have rented 2 bedroom apartments in several European cities, including Paris, and found it worked well for our family. It did seem common to have twin beds in a second bedroom, although that was what we wanted. The one we had in Paris was in Marias, on a quiet street and a few blocks from Metro connections. We found we were able to rent for less than a week.

Several of our rentals were via agencies that specialize in managing rental properties and that worked well for us because it gave us another way to ensure that they were legitimate and of decent quality. I would now consider VRBO as well, but in areas I don't know I like having the agency available if there are issues.

 

[Chrisky]

We have rented 2-bedroom and 1 bedroom apartments in Paris but I am not sure that apartment rental agencies will rent for only 3 nights. You would have to contact them to find out. We have used:http://www.parisvacationapartments.com. Other well reviewed companies are: https://www.parisperfect.com, http://www.parisbestlodge.com

 

[zora]

During our last visit to Paris we stayed in a 3 bdrm in the 11th arrondisment: http://www.ademar-colinas.com/en/the-apartment-3/
and loved it. Close to the metro, secure building, owner is a retired dr (this is where he raised his family) and managed by his daughter.
If we're in Paris with our children, this is where we'll stay.

 

[Tamino]

Has anyone done an apartment rental in Paris? If so, how was the experience and would you recommend it for a 3-night stay?

Most rental apartments offered in Paris are illegal. The government has passed laws in recent years to dramatically curtail the renting of apartments short term. There are however, two broad categories of apartments which are legal to rent:

1. Those that are an owner´s primary resident, offered as a short term rental while he is away.

2. Those which have received specific authority from the government to rent short term, defined as periods of fewer than 12 months. There are only several hundred such apartments currently available. Given that there are tens of thousands of vacation rental apartments currently available on line in Paris, the number of approved apartments is statistically insignificant.

There will be 2 couples, so we'd need a 2BD, 2 bath in mid-May. Alternatively, we've been looking at hotels that would have 2 bedrooms with an adjoining sitting area we could share, but I am not seeing any options for this except for some that have two twins in the 2nd bedroom.

There are a number of such hotels. Here are but a few:

Citadine
Adagio
Hotel Residence Henri 4

Also, what would be the best arrondissement to avoid restaurants that cater mainly to tourists?
We are currently looking at Marais, Latin Quarter, and St. Germain.

The areas you mention are those containing a large number of tourists. Excellent restaurants are not geographically limited to any specific area, nor are the bad ones.

For restaurant information, I use these sources for recommendations:

Paris by Mouth
David Lebovitz
Francoiis Simon

 

[regatta333]

Thanks to all who posted. We were able to book at Residence Prince Regent.