HiP Reader Tips & Reviews
March 13, 2009
Photos Erica Berman
Bonjour vacationers! We hope you’re enjoying your Parisian experience wandering through winding, historic streets, getting lost in mazes of artwork, whiling away afternoons on sun-drenched cafe terraces… A newcomer’s eye is often the most perceptive, which is why we’re now looking to you to share your unique Paris havens with us.
We want to hear about the restaurant where you ate the best crème brulée, which bench along the Seine has the finest view of Notre Dame, how you unearthed an original antique at an unassuming corner brocante, and the artisan bakery with organic goodies just down your street! Tell us which room in your apartment has the best light for morning breakfasts, about your dinner parties with old and new friends, and simply what it feels like to wake up in a large, soft bed in your very own fabulous Parisian flat! We look forward to hearing about all of your HiP tips and reviews. Happy exploring!
Written by Haven in Paris
Genevieve was born in New York City and raised between London and Paris. Genevieve is part of the Haven in Paris team and edits the Hip Paris blog. Unable to stay away from Paris for too long, she now splits her time between New York, Honolulu and Paris, where she keeps tabs on the Haven in Paris properties and service providers and scours the city for great bistros, cocktail bars and vintage stores.
Website: http://haveninparis.com
Tags: Exploring Paris, Insider Tips, Luxury Rentals in Paris, Paris Apartments, Paris Dining, Vacation in Paris, Vacation Rentals
Posted in Reader Tips & Reviews | 88 Comments »
Everything is fine so far. Didier was waiting for us when we arrived and gave us a great intro. The Clery apartment is perfect.
What a wonderful place you have here. We are having a great time and certainly appreciate having a comfortable place to return to.
Everything is great here. The apt is great, everything is in good order. Didier was also great, very friendly courteous and professional.
We are enjoying Paris in the summer.
We are sipping coffee in this fabulous apartment. We have NO complaints — far from it, we’d like to know if we could just stay here forever!
Wish we could squeeze more hours in the day.
Everything is great – no problems with our shuttle, and our greeter was
most helpful upon our arrival. We love the neighborhood and the Place des Vosges flat, and only wish we could stay longer.
We are having a fabulous time here in the Livingstone apartment. Our greeter is the perfect guy for you. He was awesome, helpful and more than knowledgeable.
Everything is fine. Arrived well and settled in very well. The driver Andy was really helpful – he was great.
All is wonderful! The Boulanger apartment is just as we expected and we are having a great time. Our greeter was very helpful.
Everything is just marvelous. Our driver Andy was wonderful and I would recommend him highly to anyone. Didier, our greeter met us as we arrived at the Bac Penthouse apartment and couldn’t have been better or more helpful. The owner had recently added flowers (lavender) to the terrace, which while very beautiful, attract bees to the terrace. My husband is allergic and when we called Didier, he arranged for the lavender to be kept in the courtyard during our stay so that we can enjoy the terrace (the bees left with the lavender!). This was really going the “extra mile” to make our stay perfect and is greatly appreciated. we have had several experiences with rental companies in Paris ( we have come nearly every year for the past 6 years) and this is by far the smoothest trip we have had. Thank you so much and extend our thanks to your whole team!
The Places des Vosges apartment is lovely, wonderfully convenient, comfortable as can be. Even quiet, with the windows closed, even though in such a busy place. The booklet in the apartment is great (explaining things, the neighborhood, etc.) Beds: the duvets are very cosy and beds and pillows comfortable (design of sofa bed is best i’ve ever seen).
We have been very happy here and have had a great
time. Gorgeous weather today. We go to Normandy tomorrow.
We’re having a fabulous time and the Michel le Comte apartment is perfect for our family.
Our stay at the Carnot apartment was truly memorable. The view was incredible! The Metro, RER, and Taxi were at our front door! Our greeter Mika was gracious and offered guidance to our inquiries. The kitchen and laundry rooms were nicely equipped which made travel so much easier. The computer and free phone calls topped things off for us as we were able to return at the end of the day and utilize both. Carnot was a well-suited apartment for a fabulous stay in Paris!
We all had a wonderful stay. Merci!
I wanted to let you know that my friend Laura had rented a property from Haven in Paris back in May and she recommended your company to us. I am glad she did. I will be very sure that I will pass on to our friends and family how excellent a company you are.
We have had a fabulous week in Paris and can’t wait to return. We are all sad that today is our final day this vacation. Such a beautiful and vibrant city. Love the area that the Rosiers apt. is located in. This is my third visit to Paris and the most enjoyable.
We have looked online and seen your Tuscany properties and we are already planning next years vacation.
Hello from Paris!
The Ecoles apartment is lovely and very comfortable, thank you. Location is fabulous! We are very happy here and feel blessed to have found this apartment.
Andy picked up us from CDG. He was very helpful and got us here in no time. Francoise greeted us and showed us how everything worked in the apartment. She gave us directions to the nearest Monoprix, restaurant and Metro.
Thank you for this internet connection! Thank you for this home in Paris.
Everything is super! We didn’t reserve a driver, but our greeter was perfect…. very prompt, helpful and charming. The Mazarine apartment is very comfortable and well-stocked. Thanks very much for all your help. We’ll certainly make sure to recommend your service.
Everything is going really well! We love the apartment and our greeter was wonderful.
We are settled and very comfortable in the Boulangers property. This is a wonderful apartment. Laurent, our taxi driver, was great, as was Marie Noel, our greeter. We have no complaints and will definitely recommend Haven in Paris to anyone we know who is planning a trip to Paris.
The Abbesses apartment was fantastic. After we stayed in the property, we spent a few nights at a fancy hotel that we thought would be a splurge for our last weekend in Paris, but the apartment was far superior. Great location, great space.
I absolutely love the Pilleux Sacre Coeur apartment! It has everything I need. Didier was very helpful and Andy’s paris taxi service was great. I really appreciate all your assistance. You all have really made sure that apartment has absolutely everything a person would need. It really helped yesterday when the combination of lack of sleep and the weather change from Texas to Paris left me feeling pretty sick. You can not imagine my relief to find some chamomile tea in the cupboard. Thank you again for all you do. You have all truly helped to make my life long dream of an apartment in Paris a reality. – Chandra
We are settled. The apartment is lovely – very comfortable. Our greeter, Marie, was very friendly, helpful and thorough. We arranged for own transportation.
It really seems as though you’ve got all bases covered, we can’t think of a thing to improve upon. We’d book this apartment again in a heartbeat.
Thanks!
Dave & Glen
Hi there!!!!
Everything is just fine….the Rosiers apt is lovely, the location perfect!!!
We had no problem meeting up with our greeter and she was very kind and thorough in orienting us!!!
We cannot believe how incredibly beautiful this apartment is — we knew it from the photos; but the actual experience is beyond words. We are very happy.
Our driver, Andy, was fun and helpful… he will pick us up for our departure on the 13th.
I cannot thank you enough for sharing this amazing apartment with us — it has meant everything to us!
- M
We are having a wonderful time in Paris. Our apartment is delightful and more than we could have hoped for. The pictures on your website actually match what the apartment looks like in person (a rare thing indeed).
Our only regret is that our trip is ending so soon. Time flies at Vieux Colombier.
Our greeter has been a great help and we appreciate the care and attention to detail.
We’re already planning our return.
Things are going well with us and the apartment. Our greeter was a great help in getting us set up in the apartment, understanding how to operate the various items, getting basic supplies on Sunday night and recommending a local restaurant for this tired group on Sunday evening. We have been getting our friends familiar with the area and have spent time at some of the local spots of interest – Eiffel Tower, Musee D’Orsay, Notre Dame etc. Getting our walking exercise.
We are settling in very nicely – the apartment and surrounding area
are perfect – we are thoroughly enjoying every moment.
Our greeter was very helpful and has kindly given us her
personal cell number should we need her.
Thanks again – everything is really lovely!
Yes everything is perfect here in our Vieux Colombier apartment. As you know it is our 3rd visit and it felt like we had come home. Thanks for checking in on us. Until our next visit our best to you and your team.
The apartment is wonderful….the location is perfect and we are finding our way around the neighborhood nicely; beds are comfortable too.
We love it. The bed is very very comfortable and the apartment just gorgeous. We wanted a french experience by living amongst the Parisiens and we got it – Perfect!
My husband and I are comfortable at the Pilleux apartment and everything is going well — the rain shower is wonderful and the computer/wifi so convenient. Didier, our greeter, is delightful. He’s been very responsive to my questions and helpful with his list of restaurant/pastries recommendations! We’re back in the apartment after enjoying a wonderful lunch, watching tennis at Roland Garros (the Safin/Ouanna thrilling match) and a delicious dinner.
Hello there. I am happily ensconced in the Boulangers apartment and all is going very well. My greeter was here when I arrived and was gracious and informative. Of course I was completely jet lagged and probably didn’t absorb everything she told me at the time but the essentials managed to penetrate the haze that was otherwise overlaying my brain.
The apt itself is perfect for me. Everything I need is here. The view of Notre Dame is divine; the sounds of chimes from the Cathedral and birds announcing the start of the new day are not what I would ordinarily hear in my apt in Manhattan, and are indeed welcoming. I haven’t had my cooking venture yet so I cannot attest to the kitchen but it certainly looks well organized and orderly and so I am grateful for that.
We had a fabulous stay at Carnot. The apartment was just as we expected, lovely, and our greeter was wonderful; can’t say enough about how helpful she was to us. Having the CDG Etoile line outside our door was so convenient for us, we could go anywhere in Paris in a matter of minutes, along with the RER stop as well. Our weather was good, a little rain now and then but never interfered with our “running” around. My nieces enjoyed themselves, and the size of the apartment was perfect for ALL of us (4). I would highly recommend the Segway Scooter Tour. I gave Evelyn all the info on it. It was the “HIGHLIGHT” of our trip! They also have evening tours as well. Our driver, David, was prompt to and from the airport, I would recommend him for sure. The AirFrance bus, however, is right at the apartment if anyone is interested in that transportation from the airport as well. You and your staff handled everything for us with grace and confidence. We do appreciate all your effort put forth to make our stay in Paris a worry-free experience. Haven in Paris comes highly recommended by me if you are considering rental in Paris. Upon my next holiday in Paris, you will be my “first” to call for a rental property. Thank you again for taking such good care of us and our needs.
We have settled in quite well and everything is good here at the Houdon, great location! Our greeter was so helpful and nice, very sweet girl. I really enjoy the book selection. Now if you can just make the sun come out again we’ll be really impressed!
We LOVE the apartment–everything is impeccable, beautiful, spacious, light-filled; the location is perfect, too for people-watching and strolling. We couldn’t be more pleased.
We are very comfortably settled in! It’s so cozy and quiet here – we’re sleeping off our jet lag between reading for as long as we like. Finally, our bodies said enough laying around, and we made a good walking circle of the Monmartre area today, including the cemetery. I loved getting food provisions yesterday from the local specialty food shops on rue des Abbesses while trying out my meager French and hearing it all around me. No fancy cooking, just fresh, simple and easy to prepare. Hey, I’m on vacation! Thanks to all of you for this so easy, charming and comfortable flat. We love it.
We had a wonderful time again at the Rue des Abbesses apartment – we would recommend it to anyone and have given your website to many friends. Our greeter was wonderful and handled all our needs for help – her perspective both as a neighbor and a French person was refreshing. The improvements to the apartment are significant and bring what were some shortcomings – mostly the bathroom – up to the level of the rest of the apartment. The bathroom is absolutely stunning. We appreciated and enjoyed all the books! The attention to the details of comfort and taste which is a trademark of yours is very much evident here – from towels, linens, dishes, etc to the architectural details of the work in the bath and bedroom.
We’ll be back – it must be as many as 10 years or more since we started renting from you!
Everything is great with the flat. Didier (our greeter) went over everything in detail and we are very comfortable here as well as mightily impressed with how well stocked the flat is with certain essentials (sugar,
pastis, maps, etc).
Hello HiP team,
The apartment here is really great, fantastic location with wonderful views, lots of room for two and all we need, it is lacking nothing. Our greeter was really lovely and spent over an hour with us introducing the apartment and then telling us about all sorts of places to visit.
We must congratulate you on your service, your attention to detail and your professional presentation, it is absolutely world class. You deserve the gold medal!
We will recommend your service to all our traveling friends and family and will certainly contact you again when we are coming to France.
Thank you thank you thank you,
Suzanne and Dan xx
Everything is going extremely well and we are quite happy here. Even my allergies have gone en vacances probably thanks to the fact that the apartment is spotless. David (the driver) was prompt and utterly dear. NO problems.
Everything was wonderful in the Roi Doré apartment, very lovely location, extremely comfortable, well supplied with everything we needed. The greeter was great.
Everything was fantastic! The apartment is very well equipped, modernized, easy to navigate and comfortable.
We (my wife and I) were VERY pleased with the Place des Vosges apartment and with our experience there… We became quite fond of the ‘cafe crème a porter’ from the bar across the street, and we had a very nice dinner at the restaurant in the building next door to the apartment – Les Bonnes Soeurs. Everything went pretty much like clock work. Thanks again for everything. We had a wonderful stay in the apartment, and look forward to renting through Haven In Paris again in the future.
The apartment on Vieux Colombier was lovely!!–the greeter was quite nice and she had the apartment filled with flowers, food, and drink!–thank you!–and Andy was delightful!–I would recommend you guys and Andy to anyone! Betty H California, USA
This is our second stay in the Abbesses apartment. It feels like we’re back home. Ahhh.
Everything is great here. Our greeter was very helpful and knowledgeable of the area and Paris in general and a very sweet lady. All in all it’s been a wonderful stay in Paris. You’ve made us feel very much at home which is something you don’t often feel while traveling. The next time we’re planning to come to Paris we’ll be looking you up for sure. Thanks so much.
The Livingstone apartment was perfect, probably even better than I expected. I appreciated the thought that went into the furnishings, the computer, the guidebooks, just about everything. Your web description seems 100% accurate, but I still was surprised at how perfect both the location and the apartment were.
Your greeter was very pleasant and showed me everything about the apartment. He is probably still in shock that I showed up an hour and 15 minutes after my plane arrived at the gate. (via RER/Metro)
The whole experience was dramatically better than my usual tiny Paris hotel room. I will definitely rent from you again.
Things are going well in Paris. We love having such a spacious apartment for the week. And we also love the area.
I am happy to say all went smoothly and the apartment is wonderful. I love it. We are recovering from our jetlag and enjoying the city. We are so lucky, and the weather is beautiful. Thank you again.
We are very happy and comfortable at Pilleux, Sacre Coeur. The driver, who was a replacement for Andy Waters, was waiting for us when we arrived, he was very pleasant but spoke almost no English. However, it wasnt a problem and Andy had already explained to us that the driver would have little english but knew what he had to do and that was correct. We were delivered to Pilleux at 11pm at night where Didier (our greeter) had been waiting 1 hour (the plane was 30min late). Didier is absolutely charming and extremely helpful. He spent about 1 hour here with us making sure we new how everything worked etc – we were very very impressed with him. He is very approachable and happy for us to call him should we need to.
Pilleux: http://www.haveninparis.com/rental/sacrecoeurstudio.php
Andy Waters: http://www.andyparistaxi.blogspot.com
All is well at Ecoles. Our greeter was great and yes she was here on arrival. Context Tours have been wonderful. I have enjoyed learning about Paris in an intimate way instead of the large tour style events that I am normally involved in. I would thoroughly recommend them. We are off to the Louvre today and hopefully Sacre Coeur if the fog lifts. Versailles tomorrow and then Wednesday will be catching up on shopping.
The apartment is very handy, special and we love it! I can tell you I could stay for a month just to get my head around being here. Now that I have had a taste of Paris I will be back and definitely would rebook this apartment if it was available. Thanks so far for all your help and kindness.
Haven in Paris apartments are truly a haven in the big city! We really enjoyed our stay at the Carnot, and appreciated all the little touches like flowers, and ample towels, and paper products. The location was perfect: we became experts at the Etoile metro station. Evelyne was a wealth of information and advice. We felt as if we were staying in a friend’s home. And, we were so close, we got to enjoy the view from the top of the Arc at several different times of day!
I would definitely get the museum pass. We used a man named Daniel Freeman at Pariswalkingtours@gmail.com to tour the Louvre – less expensive than some, but a really good, understandable guide. We used Philippe Brimont at info@best-of-france.net for a private day tour of Normandy, which was phenomenal! He really made the details come alive in a way that kept even my teenagers engaged.
Only negative -DON’t try the L’Empereur cafe downstairs, go down the street or around the corner. You’ll be glad you did.
Enjoy Paris!
Everything is just perfect for us here at the Livingstone Penthouse Studio. Alain (our greeter) has been very nice.
We have been taking it slow around Paris. Since it’s our first time here, as when we travel to most new places, we like to take our time. Experience a little of this and that instead of being crazed and seeing too many things and not remembering them. Being here in Montmartre has been great, as we feel it’s a great location and place to be to experience things outside of the busy city center. And naturally, the view of Sacre Coeur from the studio is breathtaking! We couldn’t ask for much more. – Felicia