a few nights in Paris...family vacation edition
July 22, 2015 7:55 PM Subscribe
Am looking for recommendations of a house or other no-shared-walls place to stay, in Paris and/or surrounding area. It's key that we rent something like a house because my 1-year old screams loudly at night and we don't want to disturb neighbours (has happened in the past, in a hotel). More below!
. Looking at November 2015. We haven't planned trip yet, other than flight into Paris. Willing to do a few days in the city and then take a short flight or the train to another city like Toulouse. All family-friendly suggestions are appreciated. Ideal would have washer and dryer, air con, kitchenette etc. Merci beaucoup in advance!!
. Looking at November 2015. We haven't planned trip yet, other than flight into Paris. Willing to do a few days in the city and then take a short flight or the train to another city like Toulouse. All family-friendly suggestions are appreciated. Ideal would have washer and dryer, air con, kitchenette etc. Merci beaucoup in advance!!
Response by poster: Yes, sorry I meant to mention that! We are looking at Airbnb, and so far have found a couple of options but nothing that meets all our criteria. Thanks for the suggestion
posted by leslievictoria at 8:02 PM on July 22, 2015
posted by leslievictoria at 8:02 PM on July 22, 2015
Are you opposed to a place 20ish min away via RER? The Vallée de Chevreuse has small cities directly off a line that stops at Notre Dame. With a wee one you could find an equipped home walking distance from a station and with small yard. With a kitchen you can do easy breakfasts and head into the city after morning rush or after a quieter walk downtown. Memail me if you're interested in specific towns - they're easy to find along the same line as Orly Airport (RER B?) which might be convenient for your next leg.
posted by lawliet at 8:46 PM on July 22, 2015
posted by lawliet at 8:46 PM on July 22, 2015
We stayed in one of the (no longer listed) apartments listed at http://www.apartment-in-france.com/paris-apartments.htm and had a very good experience. It's been a few years, and airbnb has definitely taken over it seems, but maybe you'll find something on this list that fits your needs! Enjoy!!!!
posted by mochilove at 8:55 PM on July 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by mochilove at 8:55 PM on July 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Try getting in touch with this place:http://www.alacarte-paris-apartments.com/en/
They have "concierge" guides who could advise you on what properties might work for you.
posted by LilithSilver at 9:43 PM on July 22, 2015
They have "concierge" guides who could advise you on what properties might work for you.
posted by LilithSilver at 9:43 PM on July 22, 2015
Response by poster: Thank you!
Mochilove - I will definitely check out the apartments in Paris website.
Lawliet- The Vallee de Chevreuse sounds beautiful...I don't have any specific town in mind, but en route to Orly airport is a great idea. If you don't mind, please do provide details on how to find such a place!
posted by leslievictoria at 9:45 PM on July 22, 2015
Mochilove - I will definitely check out the apartments in Paris website.
Lawliet- The Vallee de Chevreuse sounds beautiful...I don't have any specific town in mind, but en route to Orly airport is a great idea. If you don't mind, please do provide details on how to find such a place!
posted by leslievictoria at 9:45 PM on July 22, 2015
I am having a hard time thinking of anything in Paris that doesn't have shared walls. I think you'll need to look out to the suburbs for that.
posted by ktkt at 10:04 PM on July 22, 2015
posted by ktkt at 10:04 PM on July 22, 2015
Husband and I stayed at an AirBnB in Paris in May. We had shared walls which became apparent when the young women staying at an adjacent apartment spent over an hour trying to figure out how to work the lock. This building also had at least one crying child in the evenings so yours would have some company. This place had a washer (not sure that the French are into dryers), kitchenette, and air conditioning (but I doubt that will be necessary in November).
Anyway, for what it's worth, I don't think you should feel required to limit yourself to places without shared walls. Kids are going to do what they're going to do what they're going to do and as long as your family is not literally having a screaming contest to see who can be the loudest, I think people would be sympathetic. And maybe your kiddo will have grown out of this delightful phase by then?
posted by kat518 at 3:51 AM on July 23, 2015
Anyway, for what it's worth, I don't think you should feel required to limit yourself to places without shared walls. Kids are going to do what they're going to do what they're going to do and as long as your family is not literally having a screaming contest to see who can be the loudest, I think people would be sympathetic. And maybe your kiddo will have grown out of this delightful phase by then?
posted by kat518 at 3:51 AM on July 23, 2015
Even in the suburbs, you're going to find a lot of apartment buildings.
An apartment could still work for you. My ex's apartment in Paris had a living room that faced the street, with one bedroom on either side and a hallway on the backside. Keep the kid in the living room and voila, no shared walls!
posted by benbenson at 9:51 AM on July 23, 2015
An apartment could still work for you. My ex's apartment in Paris had a living room that faced the street, with one bedroom on either side and a hallway on the backside. Keep the kid in the living room and voila, no shared walls!
posted by benbenson at 9:51 AM on July 23, 2015
As an Airbnb host and an apartment dweller, I appreciate your thoughtfulness in not wanting to disturb neighbors. If I were you, I'd look on Airbnb first and refine my search by selecting "Entire Place," then under "More Filters" selecting your requirements under "Amenities" (such as air conditioning and wifi, but also run the search without these selected; some hosts may have accidentally neglected to indicate that they do in fact have those amenities) - here, you can select "Family/Kid Friendly," thus sparing you wasted inquiries by looking for hosts who have self-selected as being willing and able to accommodate children. You can also select the property type, so start with "House" and see what comes up. Airbnb helpfully lets you browse accommodation by neighborhoods and have the search redo itself as you move the map, so experiment with those features to see what's available and the tradeoffs you'd have to make to be near the things you want to do in Paris.
If this is an option for you, register for Love Home Swap and check out the houses that are available there. My large family (seven people, two children under 13 at the time) managed to not spend a cent on hotels during our 2013 trip to Europe and we stayed in very nice places in Barcelona, Montpellier, Reims, and London.
I highly recommend Reims and Amiens as cities close to Paris where you might have some luck finding something more private, more spacious, and better-equipped than Parisian quarters. If you plan on taking the train a fair amount, you may want to look into the SNCF's family discount cards.
Feel free to MeMail me about planning your trip, I speak French fairly well and lived in Amiens for several months teaching English back in 2013.
posted by Devika at 10:34 AM on July 23, 2015
If this is an option for you, register for Love Home Swap and check out the houses that are available there. My large family (seven people, two children under 13 at the time) managed to not spend a cent on hotels during our 2013 trip to Europe and we stayed in very nice places in Barcelona, Montpellier, Reims, and London.
I highly recommend Reims and Amiens as cities close to Paris where you might have some luck finding something more private, more spacious, and better-equipped than Parisian quarters. If you plan on taking the train a fair amount, you may want to look into the SNCF's family discount cards.
Feel free to MeMail me about planning your trip, I speak French fairly well and lived in Amiens for several months teaching English back in 2013.
posted by Devika at 10:34 AM on July 23, 2015
You won't find much/anything without shared walls in Paris itself. But, the old apartment building found in Paris are much more soundproof than hotels or North American apartments.
We rented an apartment in Paris for about 8 months. The people across the hall had a small child that you could often hear crying when you were in the hallway, or they were in the hallway with the child. Once in their apartment though, never heard a peep. We stayed in a few apartments and don't remember ever hearing a neighbor in their apartment.
posted by dripdripdrop at 1:08 PM on July 23, 2015
We rented an apartment in Paris for about 8 months. The people across the hall had a small child that you could often hear crying when you were in the hallway, or they were in the hallway with the child. Once in their apartment though, never heard a peep. We stayed in a few apartments and don't remember ever hearing a neighbor in their apartment.
posted by dripdripdrop at 1:08 PM on July 23, 2015
Response by poster: Wow, thank you very much, everyone, for your suggestions. This is awesome!! Looking forward to reviewing all these options over the next little while.
posted by leslievictoria at 5:42 PM on July 23, 2015
posted by leslievictoria at 5:42 PM on July 23, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by DarlingBri at 7:58 PM on July 22, 2015