MNSWEEps

We are 4 adults and 1 child and looking for a AIRBNB for 7 days in April 2018. This would be our first visit to Paris and I was told to get a AIRBNB closed to Notre Dame and a metro station. Any recommendations would be appreciated?

Tamino

Vacation or short term apartments are, on the whole, illegal in Paris and the crackdown is accelerating. By December, all apartment listings, including those on Airbnb, must have a city registration number or be removed. The registration process starts next month. Only apartments which are occupied full time by their owner are eligible for city registration. Owners may legally rent their primary residences for a period not to exceed 120 days annually.

There are about 125 legal, full time apartment rentals in the city. Considering Airbnb currently has about 50,000 listings (which may change dramatically in the months ahead), your choices are going to be limited to an owners apartment rented while he is absent or to one of the very few legal apartments, most of which are high end rentals costing approximately the same a 4 star hotels.

If you are eager for an apartment in Paris, you might want to check with one of the apartment hotels:

Adagio
Citadine
Henri IV

As a first time visitor, you might consider the many advantages of a hotel which include but are not limited to:

Luggage service - valuable if you arrive before your room is available
Elevators
Airconditioning
Front desk staff
Concierge service
Maid service
Knowing that you are not staying in a building where you are not really wanted.

No location in Paris is far from a métro station. Locations popular for tourist accommodations are:

1. le Marais - 4th arrondissement
2. Latin Quarter - 5th and 6th arrondissements
3. St Germain des Prés - 6th arrondissement

Yahillwe

All of what Tamino said, plus the concierge can give you lots of valued info. An apt, you are on your own.

Hoyaheel

We ended up using an agency for our last Paris trip - and the specific apartment we had isn't online anymore (but would have been too small for you anyway)

We were in the Marais which was perfect for us.

http://www.vacationinparis.com/index.php

I almost always prefer a rental to a hotel so I can shop local markets & cook. It's all about individual preferences ;-)

DCJoe1

While the law may be changing, I wouldn't be too worried about using Airbnb. I have used it twice within the last 3 years while visiting Paris, both times staying in excellent apartments that the owners periodically rented out, while living there the rest of the time. There may be some places removed from the inventory, but I am sure many will end up registering and staying available.

My experience was that the best time to check was about 10-12 weeks out from your trip. Many people don't seem to list available dates much more in advance than that.

Personally I love the area in and around Republique/Canal St-Martin/Oberkampf. The best combination of being in a slighty less touristy part of the city, but still very much in the heart of everything. Republique is a transit hub, so you can get from there to almost anywhere on the Metro within 20-25 minutes.

Tifosi

Hmm, I'm arriving in CDG on December 1 and was planning on using Airbnb, though now I'm reconsidering. I'm having a hard time finding out more details about this increased enforcement. Does it mean that as of December 1, only registered apartments may be listed, or is it that only registered apartments may be rented out; (i.e. am I okay if I booked the apartment prior to December 1)?

Tamino

It means exactly that.

Owners renting apartments for periods shorter than 12 months or apartments which do not qualify for a registration number may be fined up to 50 000€ per apartment. Enforcement is increasingly more vigilant than in the past and more and more owners are being fined the maximum amount for violations.

Expect to find fewer and fewer listings while those which remain available will cost noticeably more.

Tifosi

Thank you. So it sounds like a booking made prior to December 1 is perfectly okay even if the stay itself occurs after the new rules come into effect.

Tamino

Rules against short term apartment rentals are fully in effect now, and have been for some time. Owners and investors have been fined at record amounts during the first 6 months of this year for illegally renting apartments.

All that changes beginning this December is that potential renters will have a much clearer picture about the legality of what is being offered on the short term rental market. Registration will also give authorities additional tools to close down illegal apartment rentals.

MNSWEEps

Tamino, thanks for information. Can you provide a link the new rules? I have not booked yet but want to check with renters before I confirm.

Tamino

The current rules concerning short term apartment rentals are part of the law ALUR which was a vast rewriting of laws concerning the buying, selling, renting and managing of French real estate. ALUR became law several years ago.

In reference to short term apartment rentals, defined as those of a duration less than 12 months, the law basically allows the following:

1. Owners may rent their primary residences for a period not to exceed 120 days annually. Secondary residences, pieds à terre, or other types of investment properties may not be rented short term.

2. Investors may meet a list of stringent requirements allowing them to qualify certain apartments for short term rental. It is very expensive to obtain such approval and currently, there are only a handful of such apartments in Paris, 125 specifically. Apartments of this type rent for approximately the same cost as a 4 star hotel.

Recent laws mandate that any apartment rented short term must be registered with the city of Paris. Registration begins this month and registration laws go into effect fully in December. All online apartment listings must display the city registration number. Airbnb, among other such companies, has stated that they will only allow legal listings as of this December.

The good news for those looking for apartments is in knowing that registered apartments are completely legal. Perhaps the downside is that, as fines and penalties to renting illegally increase, many vacation apartments are being withdrawn form the short term market and are either being sold or rented legally to residents of the city.

Overall in the coming months, I might expect choices to be fewer and rental costs for remaining legal apartments to increase.