The Paris Room Lonely Planet Won’t Tell You About.

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I’ll be the first to admit that I find a lot of value in guidebooks. In fact, I used Rick Steves’ Venice guidebook last autumn and found it tremendously helpful for finding quality dining spots. And guess what was in our backpack when we touched down in Morocco for the first time? Why Lonely Planet, of course.

However, for all of its valuable information, the guidebook will always come up short when it comes to providing information about alternative lodging, like short term apartment rentals; that’s where travel blogs come in.

Like most major cities, Paris is full of hotels and hostels, but it also has an abundance of vacation rentals, nearly 700 on Roomorama alone. Beth and I got turned on to the value of short term rentals last fall during The Hazy Shade of Autumn when we partnered with Roomorama to review a few properties in Europe–Prague, Istanbul and Venice–during our trip.

So, when we had a hostel mishap on our first night in Paris and needed some new accommodations (more on this in another post), we turned to Roomorama.com to see what we could come up with on short notice, as in the-day-of short notice. While there were a number of apartments showing in our price range, we went with the one titled St. Michel – Notre-Dame de Paris, mainly because of its stellar location in the Latin Quarter right across from Notre Dame.

Close to the metro and just a stone’s throw from the Seine River, the studio apartment features a full-size bathroom, free (reliable) WiFi, and a kitchen with a refrigerator, stove and sink. The listing on Roomorama states that it can fit four people; though, I think two should probably be the limit, unless you are on an extremely tight budget and don’t mind sharing a space that is smaller than most master bedrooms with two or three other people.

The bed is in the form of a futon and there are two other Ikea-style cushion chairs that fold out to beds. Despite its small stature, the owner’s use of space is brilliant, giving the the studio and open, airy feel. The walls were transformed into a giant book case, which surround two large french windows, and feature a shelf that makes a great work desk. Additionally, there is a bar and a couple of stools just begging for a bottle of wine and cheese plate. And if you happen to spill some red wine on your new travel outfit, you can always use the washing machine that is located in the bathroom.

Now, before I get to one of the coolest things about this apartment rental, I first want to give you a heads up about the studio’s only downfall; it’s located on the 6th floor. Personally, I like being up higher and for us it wasn’t a problem. However, for older travelers or anyone who has difficulty walking up several flights of stairs, in this case there about a dozen to reach the studio, then you’ll probably want to look elsewhere.

OK, now it’s time to let you in on what makes this Paris studio so special, at least in my opinion anyways. French artist Henri Matisse stayed in the flat across the way, which you can see from the apartment. This is a great example of what makes Paris such a special place, especially for history buffs; you just never know whose shoes you may be walking in. Better yet, you can hear the bells of Notre Dame ringing through the streets and studio, just as Matisse and so many other artists and literary giants have over the years.

This is the view out the window of the apartment and that top apartment you see there once belong to Matisse!

The studio apartment is usually listed for around $70 per night, which is an incredible deal for this location. If you are interested in the apartment, feel free to contact the host, Natalie, who was very accommodating and quick to respond to our emails, through the rental’s listing page at Roomorama.com.

You can also now easily search Roomorama rentals by city through our accommodations page.

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*Please remember all photos on this website, unless otherwise noted, are copyrighted and property of Beers and Beans Travel Website, Nariko’ s Nest Weddings & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you do want to use one of them please contact me first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!