Apartment from CentreParis

Does anyone know this 1 bed apartment in Sentier. I just want to check if the area is %26#39;safe and quiet%26#39; as claimed by the description below.

thanks

Greneta 1 bedroom

APARTMENT DESCRIPTION GRENETA 1 BEDROOM

Touristic Infos

The place is located right in the center of Paris in the second district. Walking distances from the apartment are: 2 minutes for the nearest metro station, 10 minutes from the Louvre Museum, the Seine River and Notre Dame. The area is safe and quiet.

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Hi,

I don%26#39;t know this apartment but I have just come back from Paris, staying in another apartment offered by this company - and I would not recommend them.

Although arriving very late at night we were made to go to an entrirely separate location on the other side of Paris to pick up the keys from a safe.

Beyond that I was also very unhappy to find the apartment was not clean upon our arrival. The bathroom and shower had clearly not been touched as there was still soap scum and hair all over the place, and all the bottles of cleaning fluid were empty. In the kitchen, the pots and pans had not been washed properly (a frying pan in the cupboard still had cooking oil in it) and the fridge smelt. In the living area the floor had not been cleaned properly and there was still old food remains underneath the table. We had to go and buy cleaning materials and dish washing detergent ourselves and clean everything before we could feel comfortable. The apartment was damp and smelt very bad.

Don%26#39;t book with them!

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In answer to your question, yes the area is safe and quiet. It is just off rue Montorguiel with a wealth of cafes and shops and 2 minutes from several metros. I stayed near there recently and I am considering this apartment on rue Graneta for myself for next year.

I am sorry the previous poster had a bad experience with centreparis as I had completely the opposite experience. I keep recommending this agency and I%26#39;m sad to see a bad review. You pay a 25 euro optional cleaning fee and I think I would have complained loudly if I had paid a fee and the apartment was dirty.

My apartment was clean and well furnished and equipped.

My my dealings with the agency were efficient. A blocked drain was dealt with quickly on the second day of my trip.

As I stayed in the building with the keys I had no problem with that.

Denise

Love from England

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Thanks for your first handed report. I got cool feet with them as no one replied after my 4 emails asking how to pay for my reservation!!!

However so many others had positive experience with them so I guess it%26#39;s because no one left working in Paris in the month of August?

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I%26#39;ve also used the agency with great success and I%26#39;m VERY picky. I didn%26#39;t stay at the 1 bedroom Greneta unit, but I have friends who did back in Feb. They said it was great.

I too paid the 25 euro cleaning fee and would have rasied holy He** if it had been really dirty. I don%26#39;t mind wiping away a bit of dust or something, but a dirty bathroom would have infuriated me.

As to them taking time to reply to emails. Yes, if you send an email on a Friday, they often will not reply until the following business days - hence Monday or Tues. I agree that slow replies might make me go elsewhere. But, I%26#39;ve had nothing but good experiences with them, so if they don%26#39;t reply timely enough for me, I call them. Takes no time.

I%26#39;ve posted their phone number before, but if anyone wants it and can%26#39;t find it, I%26#39;ll post it again.

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i%26#39;ve also booked an apartment there but in terms of answering question, i find they are not too helpful as when i asked for the full address (i have already made reservation and preparing to pay), they have provided me with just the street name... I also asked for reference to contact but they said it%26#39;s all confidential.... which is fair enough as i can read the reviews in internet but i just would hav felt bit more comfortable if they did not refuse... another of my main concern was the toilet/bathroom cos none of those shown in the pictures and when i asked for some more pictures, they told me to look on the website.....

but all in all, they are responsive, as i hav contacted many agent already, paris attitude, apartmentfranc, vacationinparis, lodgis, bestinlodge.... so exhausting... and it really helps if the owner can be more helpful... but the reluctance of providing information does make me hesitate...

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The may be allright, but why not give you reference names. The apartment we rented was willing to do that.

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I agree. They should give you references. I suspect with relation to photos, what is online is probably all they have. If there is no photo of the bathroom, I%26#39;d expect it to be unpleasant - and I could be WAY off, but if there is no photo.. well.. we tend to expect the worse and are pleasantly surprised if it is not that.

They can be slow in replying. I have found that they reply MUCH faster and in greater detail when communicating in French. Perhaps those of you who are having some bad experiences are doing that too, I don%26#39;t know. Can only speak for myself on that one. When I communicated with them in English, my replies were MUCH slower and MUCH shorter in content. I think perhaps not all of the staff can reply to the English inquiries. Still, my French replies are not lengthy, strictly to the point, but never rude.

As so many people would say, you must go with your gut reaction. If you feel uncomfortable with any part of the booking process, look elsewhere. There are SO many apartments out there. I feel good about Centreparis because I have used them with success and I am so often on a budget when I travel.

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thank you all for the advice. so toutou, did u receive the full address from them before u pay the deposit? if the apartement does not exist, that would be the worst nightmare...

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No, I sent them a check after I received the online rental contract. It has their bank name, address, account number, SARL registry number, and the office address, etc. You could call them if you are seriously concerned, or you could call the French Tourist Office to check them out.

Here is the data from my last rental contract with them: And BTW, I%26#39;ve rented again from them for a Nov. 2008 trip to Paris.

CENTRE PARIS, Sarl

64 ru Greneta

75002 Paris

FRANCE

email: info@centreparis.com

Phone: +33 (0) 1 45 08 97 67

Fax: +33 (0) 1 45 08 97 73

Bank Address

SOCIETE GENERALE

32 rue des Archives

75004 Paris

FRANCE

Phone: +33 (0) 1 44 54 39 60

Account

SARL Centre Paris

Bank number 30003

Branch number 03070

Account number - I%26#39;ll leave this off, but if you want it, just PM me. It includes the IBAN and SWIFT codes too.

Centre Paris Sarl

French Limited liability company

64 rue Greneta

75002 Paris

RCS Paris B 452 429 764 APE 702 C

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Dear YingJan....believe me the apartment does exist. The first time I used them I asked for the exact address they emailed me the approximate address of the apartment i.e between 110 and 120. I now can understand why they do this for security reasons as I would not have wanted to have my address advertise on the internet as a target for buglers.

BTW I find I get much quicker response if I email them from the advertisement direct, perhaps they check that more often. I did find that complicated questions took longer, as toutou says I think some of the office staff understand better English than others.

Now they trust me as a customer they are happy to tell me the location of the apartment. I have checked it out and it is just of rue Montorgiuel.

I made my own enquires with people like myself and toutou and others I found through TA who had used this agency...... Much better than references supplied by an agency. They are hardly likely to give you bad references are they?.

However , one does take a leap of faith when dealing with a company one doesn%26#39;t know and I did heave a sigh of relief when I arrived and found it is all bona fide.

I paid by paypal, which took quite a while to get through and David held the booking for me till he had received my payment.

However, as others have said if you are not comfortable with this company or with what I and toutou are saying, move on. There are plenty of other rental companies about.

BTW if you wish to read my review of the studio we used you can view here.

http://www.ourparisforum.com./index.cgi?board=apartments%26amp;action=display%26amp;thread=2033

Hope you get satisfaction soon.

Denise

love from england