Paris Apartments

Paris Apartment (Apartment Rental in Paris)

When you're staying in Paris for a week or longer, an apartment can be cheaper and more convenient than a hotel. Even if the price is the same, you'll typically get more space for your money--plus a kitchen and the fantasy of living as a Parisian with a foreign accent.

During a recent visit to Paris with our 18-year-old son, we booked a one-bedroom apartment through apartotels.com. Our landlord was an American who has lived in Paris since 1993 and owns or manages more than two dozen apartments in central Paris.

After studying the listings on apartotels web site, we chose Citadines Austerlitz apartment, a one-bedroom apartment near the Saint Germain / Latin Quarter in Paris. (We got the bedroom; our son was given the convertible sofa in the living room.)

Apartment Reservation

Apartment Reservation was more complicated than reserving an ordinary hotel room. At the time of booking, full of the rental amount was charged as a deposit to our credit card, and we were asked to email a confirmation of the rental agreement to the Apartotels.com’s admin staff.

After we'd made our payments along with the confirmation by credit card, we received a detailed e-mail from Apartotels.com’s London office with arrival tips and instructions on how to pick up our keys to the apartment.

Arrival and check-in

We arrived the day before our apartment was available, so we spent the night at the Paris Hotel, just a few blocks away. The next day, we picked up our keys at the Citadines Austerlitz office in the Latin Quarter. Apartotels.com also gave us a Paris Tourist Information guide and drew our attention to Citadines Austerlitz handbook for our apartment, which included instructions, emergency phone numbers, and suggestions on where to dine and shop in the neighborhood.

When we asked staff about check-out procedures, the answer was reassuring: All we needed to do was wash the dishes, pile our used linens on the bathroom floor, leave our keys on the coffee table, and pull the door shut behind us on our way out.

Observations:

· Citadines Austerlitz includes all utilities in the price, and the apartment has a telephone with voicemail that can be used for free local calls or for long-distance calls with a phone card. Being able to call the office is a great convenience if you have a problem or simply need an answer to a question.

Paris Apartments, Apartments in Paris, Apartments Paris, Serviced Apartments Paris