Apartments for rent in Paris – recommendations for great vacation apartments

Until the early 2000s, most visitors to Paris stayed in hotels. But then, with the rise of the internet, vacation rentals came into our lives, providing a cheap and spacious option for staying in the City of Lights.

Add to that the magical feeling of feeling Parisian for a few days and the ability to cook to my taste. France In your apartment (or at least heat them up in a toaster oven) and you've got a winning accommodation solution.

So, it's no surprise that when I wrote the guide How to save money on a trip to Paris without going broke, I recommended vacation apartments as the cheaper and more pleasant alternative to a hotel.

Since then, quite a bit of water has flown through the Seine and things have begun to change, and not necessarily for the better. The demand for apartments has caused companies like Airbnb to raise prices and add fees on top of various fees. At the same time, competition has caused hotels to lower prices, and the result is that today the difference in price between a small apartment and a hotel room is already quite small.

How much will it cost you to rent a vacation apartment in Paris? It's not easy to answer this question.

The main reason is that, unlike hotels, where there is a certain standard that directly affects the price (the star rating system), any apartment owner in Paris can, in theory, charge as much as they want. Despite all this, here is my estimate of how much it is reasonable to pay for an apartment in a relatively central location in Paris in 2024:

• Small room: between 100-150 euros per night
• A relatively spacious studio, suitable for a couple: 150-250 euros per night
• Apartment for a small family (3-4 people): 250-350 euros per night
• Relatively large apartment (5-6 people): 350 euros and up.

Of course, everything written is a rough estimate and depends on many factors such as the condition of the apartment, the period, etc. Also, apartment hotels will usually cost you more than renting a private apartment, but at the same time you will often receive cleaning services and 24/7 reception services.

As you can see, the price level of apartments is not much lower than a hotel room, in some cases. Add to this the dependence on the house and the fact that there is no one to clean up after you and you will surely ask yourself: does all this mean that you should give up an apartment andRent a hotel room? Not necessarily.

To decide whether renting an apartment or a hotel is right for you, all you need to do is ask yourself two questions:

How many people will there be?

If you are a couple or a single person, it is not certain that it is worth it for you to rent an apartment, because the difference in prices between an apartment and a hotel is not high.

On the other hand, if you are a family of 3 or more, an apartment with several bedrooms (or a bedroom and a living room with a sofa bed) is an excellent option, because it will cost you much less money than renting several rooms in a hotel.

What is going to be the pace of your trip?

If this Your first time in Paris And you plan to run around the city of lights all day chasing me. Attractions, I highly recommend a hotel, as you won't be in the room too long anyway.

On the other hand, if you are already a seasoned Francophile who wants to enjoy the slow pace, then an apartment in Paris is the right option for you. Such an apartment will allow you to go down to the neighborhood market in the morning, buy yourself a fresh baguette, Cheeses, fish, meats and any delicacy you can think of and celebrate the start of the day with a sumptuous breakfast.

The apartment will also provide you with a place to return to during the day to rest a little and enjoy the many gifts you bought for yourself while wandering the City of Lights.

Although quite a few slums have undergone gentrification, from a safety perspective it is still recommended not to live in the 18th arrondissement (excluding the tourist area of ​​Montmartre), the 19th arrondissement (excluding perhaps the Butte Chaumont area) and parts of the 20th arrondissement. I would also be less likely to recommend living in the western parts of the 15th and 16th arrondissements, because these are relatively boring areas, far from the center.

I really like living inMarais District, near The Louvre Museum And recently I also fell in love withMontparnasse District, so I really like living there too.

There are quite a few booking sites, some reliable and some less so. To help you only book from a reliable site and so that you can easily compare prices, I have created the The Francophile's toolbox, where you can find all the best sites for booking your hotel in Paris (or the rest of France).