Paris Apartment Rentals Reader Questions Answered

If you're visiting Paris for a week or more, should you consider splitting your stay between two or more neighborhoods so that you can experience different parts of the city?

In the Sunday edition of my free Paris Discoveries Newsletter, I answer reader questions about Paris travel.  Recently, readers have asked whether it makes sense to move from one Parisian neighborhood and hotel to another when time permits.

This article is part of the Paris Discoveries Q&A Archive and brings together my answers based on my own experiences with staying in multiple neighborhoods on longer trips.  

You'll find advice about whether splitting your stay is worth doing, how to choose best-for-you neighborhood combinations, hotel suggestions for several popular areas, and. 

I've lightly edited, expanded, and updated my original answers, included a few practical tips for making the move from one hotel to another easier, and added photos to make this a more complete Paris travel resource. 

Reliable Sources for Renting Apartments

Myra's Question:

We are considering renting an apartment in Paris next fall.   Do you know of reliable sources we might use?   Preferably something more personal than Airbnb or VRBO, neither of which we have ever used. We are five adults and would need three bedrooms and more than one bathroom.  Thank you for any help you can offer.

Susan's Suggestions:

Hi Myra, I would start with Paris Perfect, which specializes in renting nicely furnished, nicely equipped apartments in central Parisian neighborhoods to English-speaking visitors. Although 3-bedroom/2 bath apartments are less plentiful than smaller units, they have a good selection on their website and by starting your search so far in advance, you'd probably have no difficulty in finding something you'd like for your dates.

If you don't see what you want on their website, I would contact them directly. They represent a lot of different types of properties, and are well-connected and also well-staffed.

I rented a 2-bedroom apartment from them for about a week a few years ago for a visit with my daughter, and had a very good experience with them. The apartment wasn't quite perfect, but their responsiveness was. I would definitely rent from them again.

Another rental agency that I've heard about recently (but I haven't used myself) is Merveil. My neighbor's mom used them to rent an apartment in Paris's 8th arrondissement for 6 adults and 2 kids about a year ago. My neighbor said the apartment was nice and his mom said that renting it through Merveil was easy.

Finally, Plum Guide has, I believe, a number of apartments with 3 bedrooms, and their properties are usually quite good. I rented from them myself maybe 15 years ago, and it was a good although rather minimalist experience in that they met me at the apartment, turned on the lights, handed me the key, and told me to call if I had any problems. I didn't, so that was my only contact with them. The apartment was lovely and in a wonderful 1st arrondissement location near Palais Royal - although in a 400-year old building which, I swear, shook whenever I walked across a room. I felt happy and relieved that the whole thing didn't collapse during my stay there.

Another option that you might look into are apart'hotels - basically, managed apartments. As Paris is finally cracking down on short-term rentals through Airbnb as they've long-promised (the main issues involve lack of adherence to fire safety regulations and not being licensed, which means that the owners are perhaps violating tax and other laws), apart'hotels are becoming more and more common. Some have all of their rental units in one building, others have units scattered all over the city, and a few have some of both.

Edgar Suites, for example, has both consolidated (all in one building) and scattered units, including some highly-rated 3-bedroom options near the Louvre.

Beauquartier is another name I've been seeing recently in various parts of the city, and according to their website, they have a few 3-bedroom units - I believe that they follow the "scattered" model.

I hope this helps and that you find a 3-bedroom unit that works for you and your dates!

Apartment Rentals: How to Avoid Excessive Broker's Fees

Ingrid's Question:

I would love to visit Paris next year for 3 months, middle Feb -middle April 2027 and like to rent a 1Br apartment in the 16th arrondissement (or equivalent). I checked with a couple of brokers but found their fees excessive. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you.

Susan's Answer: 

Hi Ingrid, That sounds like a wonderful plan!

I have heard about one short-term rental agency, Paris Attitude, that a couple of my friends used when their kids were doing semesters abroad in Paris while at university, and I do remember my friends talking about the "finder's fee" - which based on what I'm seeing on their website right now, equals about a half-month's rent.   So I hear you about the excessive fees. 

On the other hand, the apartments were not exorbitantly priced, and in a few cities in the U.S. such as New York, finder's fees of a month's rent are not unusual. It is annoying, though, especially when you consider that the apartment owner is also no doubt paying the agency a fee.

Both of the first two options, Paris Perfect and Marveil, that I mentioned to Myra in the message above, also do short-term rentals of 1-3 months or even longer, so you might check them out.  I believe (although not 100% sure) that their overall pricing may be higher, so it's possible that even though broker's fees aren't explicitly spelled out, they may instead be folded into the overall rental cost. 

What I would suggest doing is to look at a variety of options and then evaluate value compared with total cost (which may or may not include a broker fee.)

Unfurnished apartments are, of course, much cheaper but totally impractical for anyone who's staying just a short time ("unfurnished" in France often means no kitchen appliances and perhaps not even any light fixtures, in addition to no furniture) - plus based on what I hear, many owners do not want to rent to anyone who doesn't have a French bank account or a steady French income source.

Another option that you could look into are apart'hotels - perhaps even a month each in three different ones if you want to experience various neighborhoods.  (Check out other Archives Q&A about splitting a Paris stay between two or more neighborhoods.)

I wish you the best of success in working out the details - three months in Paris in the spring sounds fantastic!

---

See Questions & Answers on Similar Topics

Wondering about specific neighborhoods for your Paris visit?  You'll find those Q&A archives here:

• Where to Stay in the Marais (placeholder: add links later)
• Where to Stay in Saint-Germain (placeholder: add links later)

Paris Neighborhoods & Hotels - Where to stay in Paris + choosing the right hotel

Paris Discoveries Q&A Archive - See Q&As on all topics

Paris Discovery Guide is a reader-supported publication.  If you purchase through our links, PDG may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.  Merci for your support!

---