David's Marais hideaway
I'm very pleased with the apartment, and my interactions with the owner have been fine. I can't say I'd particularly recommend the agency, "Paris-Attitude", the name says it all. I give them a barely passing grade. They seem honest enough (you don't have to look very far on the web to find posts denouncing them as scammers, and dishonest, but most of the posts in question seem a little hysterical, or to have been written by people with completely unrealistic expectations), but their level of service was lacklustre, at best. Whenever they needed something from me (usually a bank transfer), I would be inundated with e-mails, all demanding a response "within 24 hours", but if I needed something from them, my e-mails went unanswered for up to a week; the woman I was dealing with never answered her phone, or responded to voice messages, and seemed entirely focused on getting the (very hefty) agency fee paid, well upfront. Once I had signed the contract and made the bank transfer to the landlady, I never heard from the agency again, not even a followup note to check that I had arrived and settled in OK. Unfortunately, from what I've read and heard from others, this seems to be par for the course with Paris rental agencies. If I ever come back, I will try either to deal directly with the owner of this unit, or go through one of the sites where one arranges the rental directly with the owner.
Nonetheless, things did go relatively smoothly in the end, the apartment does live up to what was advertised, and the location is ideal.
Should anyone be interested, here is a link to the school:
Accord School Paris , which I recommend unreservedly. Friendly, professional, excellent teachers - I couldn't be happier.
But now my laundry is done, and it's time to join Paddy and Karin (a Swedish classmate) to go visit la maison de Balzac.
A bientot!
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