Post by grndma on May 6, 2008 3:50:53 GMT -5
:)Last October we stayed in this apartment we found when looking through a hotel website.
www.hotels-paris-rive-gauche.com/-Rent-a-luxury-apartment-in-Paris-.html
The apartment is well represented by the photos, in fact it is probably nicer.
The beauty of this apartment for apprehensive, first time apartment renters is that you have the hotel Sorbonne management as a contact point. We left luggage there whilst waiting for our flight home and they arranged a shuttle at short notice. They were very helpful and happy to answer any questions we had.
SITUATION The apartment is on rue Tournefort in the 5th arrondisement. It is a narrow, quiet street that runs parallel with rue Mouffetard, a famous 17th century market street. So shops, cafes, boulangeries, market and bars etc are all on your doorstep.
Across the street is rue Pot de Feu, which connects rue Tournefort with rue Mouffetard and is lined with inexpensive restaurants, so you can literally fall back from a restaurant to your building. At the end of the street is "chez Lena et Mimile" a well known "foodie" place. and at the top is place Contrescarpe, a lively square good for bars, sitting and people watching.
There are three metros near which can take you in all directions..
Rue Monge 3 minutes walk
Cadinal limoine 5 mins walk
Luxemberg RER/metro 8 minutes walk
( all personally timed at Grndpas SLOW walking pace)
Within a 10 minute walking radius are
The Panthenon
St Etienne du Mont
Sorbonne
Luxemberg Gardens
Jardins des Plantes and Zoo
Mosque de Paris
Seine
Boulevard St Michel
Shakespere and company.
There are two thrice weekly markets at Rue Mongue and Maubert Mutualite.
THE APARTMENT. Secure access through keypad in one of those large doors in the street that I had always wanted to disappear behind! then key though a glass door to a lovely internal courtyard with a spiral staircase. The apartment is on the 1st French floor. There is an elevator.
The style is French antiquey. I don't know if it is genuine as I am no expert but everything was in good condition and the seating was comfortable. There was original artwork on the walls, beams and beautiful wooden floors.
The large ornate bed in the main bedroom was soooo comfortable. Good quality linens and plenty of towels were provided, with the instruction to let them know if we needed fresh. I slept in the convertible bed in the 2nd bedroom a couple of nights (because Grndpa snored!) and had a comfortable night but in my opinion it would not be big enough for two adults. Two children would be OK. There was more than enough storage for all our clothes and suitcases.
THE KITCHEN was compact but well designed and equipped and Grndpa made several gourmet meals and picnics. There was a slimline dishwasher which I think is essential, an expresso machine (which I didn't use because the instructions were in French) and a filter coffee maker. NO KETTLE unfortunately, I am English and like my proper cup of tea!! The table was a good size and there were four chairs but four would be squashed around it.
BATHROOM and toilet were separate at the back of the apartment. The bathroom was surprisingly spacious. The bath was one of those small French type half baths. The shower was powerful. Ever thing was clean. There was a washing machine which again I couldn't use because the instructions were French, But life's too short to do laundry on holiday.
The lounge and bedrooms are at the front of the apartment overlooking the street. There was the occasional car passing by and pedestrian noise. Despite this we were not disturbed by noise except for Saturday night when two young men briefly woke us up having a conversation at 2 AM. Across the street are other apartments a bit like that Alfred Hitchcock film you can observe French life going on through the windows. The apartment windows are obscured by curtains so they can't see you. ( that makes me sound like some sort of peeping tom! but honestly I had better things to do)
We had a wonderful time and Msr Solo the manager of the Hotel Sorbonne could not have been more charming or helpful. He had just taken over the management of the apartment and did not take a security deposit. We paid half the fee by credit card when booking and half in cash when we arrived. We stayed for 6 nights at a very good rate but I think he has now a minimum of one week booking and the price has gone up. I still think this is good value for this standard of two bedroom apartment in this type of location.
All in all thouroughly recommended.
You can also view more photos of this apartment on this website but the price is abou 40% higher
www.parisattitude.com/apartment.asp?numProduit=1614#
Denise
Love from England
www.hotels-paris-rive-gauche.com/-Rent-a-luxury-apartment-in-Paris-.html
The apartment is well represented by the photos, in fact it is probably nicer.
The beauty of this apartment for apprehensive, first time apartment renters is that you have the hotel Sorbonne management as a contact point. We left luggage there whilst waiting for our flight home and they arranged a shuttle at short notice. They were very helpful and happy to answer any questions we had.
SITUATION The apartment is on rue Tournefort in the 5th arrondisement. It is a narrow, quiet street that runs parallel with rue Mouffetard, a famous 17th century market street. So shops, cafes, boulangeries, market and bars etc are all on your doorstep.
Across the street is rue Pot de Feu, which connects rue Tournefort with rue Mouffetard and is lined with inexpensive restaurants, so you can literally fall back from a restaurant to your building. At the end of the street is "chez Lena et Mimile" a well known "foodie" place. and at the top is place Contrescarpe, a lively square good for bars, sitting and people watching.
There are three metros near which can take you in all directions..
Rue Monge 3 minutes walk
Cadinal limoine 5 mins walk
Luxemberg RER/metro 8 minutes walk
( all personally timed at Grndpas SLOW walking pace)
Within a 10 minute walking radius are
The Panthenon
St Etienne du Mont
Sorbonne
Luxemberg Gardens
Jardins des Plantes and Zoo
Mosque de Paris
Seine
Boulevard St Michel
Shakespere and company.
There are two thrice weekly markets at Rue Mongue and Maubert Mutualite.
THE APARTMENT. Secure access through keypad in one of those large doors in the street that I had always wanted to disappear behind! then key though a glass door to a lovely internal courtyard with a spiral staircase. The apartment is on the 1st French floor. There is an elevator.
The style is French antiquey. I don't know if it is genuine as I am no expert but everything was in good condition and the seating was comfortable. There was original artwork on the walls, beams and beautiful wooden floors.
The large ornate bed in the main bedroom was soooo comfortable. Good quality linens and plenty of towels were provided, with the instruction to let them know if we needed fresh. I slept in the convertible bed in the 2nd bedroom a couple of nights (because Grndpa snored!) and had a comfortable night but in my opinion it would not be big enough for two adults. Two children would be OK. There was more than enough storage for all our clothes and suitcases.
THE KITCHEN was compact but well designed and equipped and Grndpa made several gourmet meals and picnics. There was a slimline dishwasher which I think is essential, an expresso machine (which I didn't use because the instructions were in French) and a filter coffee maker. NO KETTLE unfortunately, I am English and like my proper cup of tea!! The table was a good size and there were four chairs but four would be squashed around it.
BATHROOM and toilet were separate at the back of the apartment. The bathroom was surprisingly spacious. The bath was one of those small French type half baths. The shower was powerful. Ever thing was clean. There was a washing machine which again I couldn't use because the instructions were French, But life's too short to do laundry on holiday.
The lounge and bedrooms are at the front of the apartment overlooking the street. There was the occasional car passing by and pedestrian noise. Despite this we were not disturbed by noise except for Saturday night when two young men briefly woke us up having a conversation at 2 AM. Across the street are other apartments a bit like that Alfred Hitchcock film you can observe French life going on through the windows. The apartment windows are obscured by curtains so they can't see you. ( that makes me sound like some sort of peeping tom! but honestly I had better things to do)
We had a wonderful time and Msr Solo the manager of the Hotel Sorbonne could not have been more charming or helpful. He had just taken over the management of the apartment and did not take a security deposit. We paid half the fee by credit card when booking and half in cash when we arrived. We stayed for 6 nights at a very good rate but I think he has now a minimum of one week booking and the price has gone up. I still think this is good value for this standard of two bedroom apartment in this type of location.
All in all thouroughly recommended.
You can also view more photos of this apartment on this website but the price is abou 40% higher
www.parisattitude.com/apartment.asp?numProduit=1614#
Denise
Love from England