Apartment Castagnary47 studio - Paris 15th

Hello, I%26#39;m planning my very first trip to Paris come July.

I%26#39;ve searched the forum on allorenta.com apartment rentals and it seems ok to me.

Can anyone tell me if this apartment Castagnary 47 Studio - Paris 15th is in a nice neighbourhood? Also, is it convenient to take public transport from here? (the website lacks details on this).

http://www.allorenta.com/paris/flat.php?id=47

Any tips appreciated!

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Hi Fledgeling: First I have to say that I think Switzerland must be the most beautiful place on earth! Really, magnificent!

I am trying to help you with your question. I have tried about 5 times to get to the allorenta site and check out your apartment. I keep getting sent to a parking.registar.com site or sometimes I get an error message so, at least for now, I cannot look at the apartment.

However, there is an apartment on that site that I have stayed at and it is also a studio. It is number 59 and is located on Ile St. Louis which is a much better location for a %26quot;first timer%26quot; in Paris. The apartment is very small but has nice furniture, looks out onto a nice courtyard, and is conveniently located on Rue St. Louis on L%26#39;Ile St. Louis--the best place is all of Paris to stay--in lots of people%26#39;s opinion. I also know the landlady and she is really nice. I rented this apartment 2 years ago but then it was listed through another company so I haven%26#39;t actually used allorenta before. Again, I do know the landlady for the #59 apartment and she is great.

I will keep trying to get through to the site so I can give you direct feedback about the apartment you selected. I must say, however, that the 15th arrondissement is not usually where people stay for their first trip to Paris. It is not near the main attractions in Paris.

How long will you be in Paris? If you will be there for awhile, perhaps it doesn%26#39;t matter that you are staying out a little further. Of course, it is your choice.

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Hi Fledgeling--I looked at the apartment. It is very inexpensive and, although probably small and basic, I bet it has everything you need. It seems perfectly adequate. I didn%26#39;t read anything about internet or phone or washing machine or any of those extras but if you don%26#39;t need those, this apartment seems fine. It is near two Metros and buses. It is on the first floor (French or American?) which means you don%26#39;t have to walk up a ton of stairs.

As long as you know that you are pretty far out from the center of Paris and the main sites, you will be fine. That being said, the Metro is very efficient and you can get anywhere in Paris in a very short time. I never worry about this but many first timers like to be in closer. If you are looking to save money, this looks like a good option.

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Hello %26quot;In Love With Paris%26quot;.

Thanks so much for your very detailed reply. I really appreciate it.

I will be in Paris for about 5 days. I think I will take your advice to try and find a place that is more central.

I have looked up another hotel which says %26#39;downtown Paris%26#39; in the description. However, I could not figure out the location in the %26#39;arrondissement%26#39; although I tried looking up some on-line maps.

Could I get your advice on:

Hotel de Paris, 188 Avenue Jean -Jaures, Paris, 75019

http://www.booking.com/hotel/fr/de-paris.html?aid=304142;sid=20c3d0b031e108339d9ee16adfdc0ec3

If this is not a good location, what specific addresses/streets/areas should I be looking out for? How can I tell which %26#39;arrondissement%26#39; the hotel is located in from the address?

I am on a tight budget of max 70€/night. I don%26#39;t mind basic accommodation as long as it is clean and easy to get around.

Any suggestions would help me very much!

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Hi Fledgeling--The way you know which neighborhood a place is in is by looking at the zipcode. The number of the hotel you mentioned is in 75019. The last two numbers show the arrondissement that the place is located in. You should get a map of Paris which shows the arrondissements so you can see where each one is. The 19th is really just as far away from the center of Paris as the 15th is but it is just to the East rather than to the Southwest. So I don%26#39;t think this is any better for you.

Look for a place in arrondissements 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 (so: 75001, 75002, 75003 and so on).

Why are you looking at hotels now instead of apartments? Apartments are usually cheaper and you should be able to find one since you are staying 5 days.

Also, the apartment you mentioned only had 1 star which means that it is either very, very basic or people didn%26#39;t like it very much.

Again, it isn%26#39;t that big of a deal to stay further out. It just means that you need to take the Metro to get to the center of town. I enjoy doing that. You may or may not.

I will see if I can find anything which is cheaper and nice near the center of town.

If anyone out there knows of anything, would you please mention it.

Also, do you know about the search feature on this site? If you say %26quot;budget apartments in Marais district%26quot; for example, you should be able to see what people have mentioned previously.

Keep working at it--it is a lot of work to find the apartment/hotel which is perfect for you. But it is fun too and very rewarding when you show up and things go well.

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Also--be aware that hotel rates that are quoted might not include the city tax which would be added on top of the price.

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I found a great site for you:

centreparis.com/location-paris/…index.html

Check this out! I counted 35 apartments for 60E/night or less. There are even a couple for 50E and 55E/night.

Most of them look pretty decent.

Remember, check which arrondissement they are in. When you click on each one it will tell you this information and show you where it is on an arrondissement map.

The Saint Joseph Studio in the 2nd arrondissement looks really nice for 55E (I%26#39;m not sure of they showed a picture of the kitchen) and the Studio Temple 2 located between the 3rd and 10th arrondissements says it has all new furniture.

You need to get this figured out quick because you are going in July. Hurry! Just find a decent place and book it. Let me know what you decide to do. Thanks.

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Hello there, thanks again for the great tips! Now, I understand the zip codes.

I have also looked up the website u provided. It looks great. Just one more question, is air-conditioning a necessity in Paris for Jul? We would like be able to sleep comfortably at night. Do let me know.

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Many people on this forum encourage people going to Paris during the summer to be sure to have air conditioning. Since you are mentioning it and say you want to be able to sleep at night, then I think you should get an apartment which has air conditioning. If you can%26#39;t find a decent apartment in your price range that has air conditioning, I guess you won%26#39;t have it.

So my answer is--get it if you possibly can because you very well might need it.

Last summer in Paris wasn%26#39;t very hot--it had cool spells, rain, etc. But you just never know for sure.

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