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Fabulous Paris Apartment Rentals
Farhad Heydari June 30, 2008
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Last October, braving the armada of high-heeled fashionistas, self-involved stylists and "ohmigod!"-exclaiming industry lackeys that gather each year for Paris’ Fashion Week, Nancy Meyers decided to do something she’s never done before: visit Paris for fun. No stranger to the city, Meyers—the much-lauded Hollywood director, producer and screenwriter behind such hits as "Something’s Gotta Give," "What Women Want" and the "Father of the Bride" comedies—had used the French capital as the setting for some of her acclaimed movies and had been a frequent visitor.
Yet the filmmaker had never spent any great length of time living there, something she was hoping to remedy with a good old-fashioned Parisian sabbatical. “I really just wanted to return to a city that I loved and that I’d often gone to for work but that I’d never visited for play,” she says. So, taking a friend’s recommendation, she decided to forgo the city’s upper-crust hotels—often shone in a dizzying blur of paparazzi flashbulbs—in favor of a month-long solo stay at a private apartment offered up by Chez Vous, a leading California-based agent. “I wanted to have that fantasy of living in Paris without having to pass through the lobby and have the concierge do something for me; I wanted to be self-sufficient and I immediately fell into the fantasy life that I was hoping for.”
See our slideshow of Fabulous Paris Apartment Rentals.
The démarche that landed the 59-year-old in a posh pied-à-terre in the 6th arrondissement is something more and more clued-in visitors are now opting for. In a city with astronomically priced five-star hotels laden with haughty staff and a glut of forgettable, serviced apartments decked out with flat-pack furnishings, a new clutch of exceedingly up-market apartments have, somewhat furtively, made it onto the private hire market—often offered up by reticent patrician owners intent on remaining anonymous.
And they are being snapped up by those, like Meyers, who are not unfamiliar with the French capital but are looking for a new experience, says Claude Nederovique, CEO of Paris Luxury Rentals. “Most of our clients have already had a previous Paris experience,” says the San Francisco-based agent, “and so they want something different. They want to embed themselves into the daily life of a Parisian and be part of the game.” Most of his clients are in the creative fields, but he also has über-wealthy camera-shy executives who would rather come and go undetected. “We have a well-known conductor from a well-known orchestra who spends two months each year in Paris.”
Indeed, for a small group of self-reliant individuals who value their privacy above all else, these apartments offer something that hotels could never provide. “I don’t think I’ll stay at another hotel,” insists DeJuan Stroud, a New York City event organizer and decorator who recently made his first foray into the world of private apartment hires and is already planning another trip in the coming months. “Staying at an apartment afforded me and my family not only privacy but it enabled me to operate on my own schedule without service interruptions and the like.” Then there is the sheer space: “Because there is a living room and a kitchen, it also afforded us the luxury of that extended space instead of having to meet in the lobby or gather in a bar.”
See our slideshow of Fabulous Paris Apartment Rentals.
These amenities come at a price—one that many agents, fixers and even clients maintain is nothing short of a bargain. “It doesn’t compare,” says Nederovique. “It’s at least one-third cheaper than staying at the [Hôtel de] Crillon or the [Four Seasons] Georges V or any comparable hotel in this category.” Stroud, who invited his mother on his Paris sojourn, agrees: “With the number of people we were bringing, this actually worked out cheaper.”
For the outlay—anywhere from $1,480 per night to $22,865 per week—guests have a wide selection of luxe accommodations to choose from, everything from an ample 17th-century townhouse spread across five stories such as Marais House or something countrified, like the Saint Germain Royal: a three-bedroom aerie with intricate plasterwork done up in cornflower blues and ochers that resembles something you’d check into in Provence.
Of course, befitting this, the top-tier of private apartment rentals, guests can also expect a roster of unrivalled amenities—everything from concierge and maid service, to a chauffeur, baby sitter, even a masseuse. Paris Luxury Rentals, for example, can also arrange a cooking course with a chef or a morning spent apprenticing in a boulangerie. Other respected companies, like Paris Prime Rentals, work with clients like Italian actress Laura Morante beforehand, “trying to get to know them and to become familiar with their specific needs,” explains the Italian-born, Paris-based proprietor Davide d'Ambrosi.
Agents like d'Ambrosi aren’t having any problems securing confirmations for these meticulously maintained abodes—even during the summer lull that invariably befalls Paris each August when the city seems to head for the countryside. “Our clients can easily afford to keep a pied-à-terre," he says, "but they rent from us because it’s hassle-free and since they don’t own, they can afford to spend more, even in August.” d'Ambrosi's portfolio includes properties that range from willfully classic to arch modern.
The one thing these apartments share is enabling the visiting guest to partake in the whirlwind that is life in Paris. And that, according to most, is the primary reason for eschewing any other type of lodging. “It is more authentic,” says Meyers, who is juggling her writing schedule for a return visit to her hush-hush Left Bank haunt. “And while you’re pretending a little, because you’re not really living there forever, you do get to meet the lady at the dry cleaner and you do get to know the man at the grocery store. Somehow, I don’t think that would happen when you stay at a regular hotel.”
See our slideshow of Fabulous Paris Apartment Rentals.
