Hello lovelies,
It’s been so fun seeing how many of you are as excited for this as I am! (And those of you who follow my stories have already seen a peek of this beautiful place below, and noted that it’s indeed a ‘find’!)
I thought it might be interesting for you to see a little BTS and thought process of how I choose the apartments I rent in Paris, and a few new resources I’ve found.
I just selected and completed the reservation for this one shown here, and I could not be more excited! As soon as I saw that giant picture window, I was in love! It was not an immediate reservation though lol.
The backstory is that I first fell in love with it and the incredible light, location, and view, but then decided I wanted to find a place that came under a different budget amount.
As I searched elsewhere, I remained undecided trying to choose from other options that were also lovely, but not as perfect for my purposes, and then suddenly, this one came back up in the search, as the nightly price had been lowered to be within my desired range!
I cannot wait to use the beautiful and light laden backdrops for photos and filming!
Here are the things I’m looking for when I start my search:
– Location: There are a few areas of Paris that I know and love: namely the 16th, 7th, 8th, and parts of the 6th, 5th, 1st, and 15th arrondissements. If I book a place in these areas, I can practically guarantee I’m going to have a good trip.
I like to try out a different apartment in a slightly different corner each time to get to know Paris from a different angle, and slowly expand the parts of the city I know. I love becoming familiar with little shops, grocery stores, flower shops, and the people who run them. It’s so fun to return to one I love and they still remember me from previous trips!
– Light: Both because I do so much photo and filming for my work, and because it makes life so much more inviting and inspiring, I always look for locations with abundant natural lighting. This means big windows, high floors, and views over courtyards or streets rather than being right up against another building. Generally this can be seen from the photos of the space.
– WIFI: Essential for zoom calls, video uploads, etc. I search ‘wifi’ in the reviews for signs that it might not be reliable there … 😉
– Ideally 1 bedroom or a separate sleeping space: While I have no problem with a good studio, since I do so much of my work in the apartments I rent, I find I’m much happier when the sleeping area is distinct from the living area so my mind can have a little separation from sleeping and working. It also usually means you get more space total, and avoids any sofa bed situations 🙂
– Clean kitchen and Nespresso machine 😉 Enough said and usually visible from the photos.
– Clean bathroom. Again, enough said. This is about making every day pleasant, and many bathrooms can be small and poorly lit. Not a problem if there’s a mirror with better light (for photoshoot makeup 😉 but the photos should show if the owner cares about this, and thus if your whole experience is likely to be positive.
– Lovely bed: often the bed will be overlooked and sometimes attention will not be drawn to the fact that it’s a sofa bed. Usually airbnb is good with calling out exactly where you’ll be sleeping, and there should be a photo. Something to double check 😉
– Photo and filming backgrounds. A huge part of why I come to France so frequently is for content creation. And whether there’s an unexpected rainy day, or I need to do a long live training on Wifi, or I want an indoor scene for some kind of shoot, choosing an apartment based on there being at least one attractive background and chair literally becomes a business move.
And here is the process I use to gather what’s available and then narrow it down:
First I start a wish list when the trip is just a dream. I put in potential dates and collect gorgeous places in the price range I want based on the criteria above. This is always so fun! It doesn’t mean the trip will actually occur in that area, at the time, or at all, but I like to plan so that dreams can come true 😉
Once I have my list of dreams 🙂 there is a map option so I can view them based on their location. When it’s a location like Paris that I’m relatively familiar with, location becomes a big factor that rules certain choices out.
When it’s a new area I haven’t traveled to, I research the neighborhoods as much as possible through opinions on travel forums and maps functions that allow you to go down to street view and ‘look around’ at the shops, cars, etc to see if the area looks run down or safe and classy.
More and more as I make like-minded friends who travel frequently in the areas I love and know them better than I do, I ask for and take their recommendations.
Hopefully this post has been just that for you too, my friend! Bon voyage!
