Apartment rental tips

Advice on renting apartments: that’s what we asked for from those of you who have rented outside of the US. The responses we received were so comprehensive, we culled portions from them to present in categories. This month: the advantages and disadvantages of renting.

Write to Apartment Rental Tips, c/o ITN, 2116 28th St., Sacramento, CA 95818, or e-mail editor@intltravelnews.com (include the address at which you receive ITN). Photos welcome.

To us, the great advantage of an apartment is that we do not have to eat all of our meals out in restaurants. This saves money and gives us a chance to shop in the neighborhood. We want to experience a city, not just be tourists, and an apartment rental helps us do that.

An apartment typically has marginally more room than a hotel room and also costs less in the long run.

Al Andersen

Plymouth, MA

If you like service and many amenities, you should go to a hotel. With an apartment, you are on your own.

Apartment living is a bit more work than staying at a hotel, but it makes you feel more like a local in the city you are visiting, and that can add to the enjoyment of the experience.

Bruce Stafford

Manhattan Beach, CA

Advantages of staying in an apartment —

Having more space than you would in a hotel or pension room.

The ability to prepare meals or snacks. Although we generally don’t cook, we do like to be able to have breakfast at our own convenience. Often, we eat a large meal in a restaurant midday and have a light snack in the evening.

By visiting shops for food, etc., we feel we are a little more “local” rather than just being tourists.

Disadvantages —

Since you are not conversing with the proprietor daily at the morning meal as you would in a B&B, it is sometimes more difficult to get into repeated conversations with locals.

Generally, you pay in advance, so, if you are dissatisfied, it is more problematic to get up and leave.

Vicki Schell

Pensacola, FL

Traveling to Europe every couple of years, my wife and I have found that the most cost-effective way to visit a specific area is to rent an apartment or small house on a weekly basis. In most cases, we have had excellent lodgings for a very fair price.

Normally, apartment rentals are more popular and somewhat more plentiful in larger cities or resort areas. Holiday rental houses (or gîtes, as they are known in France) are more likely to be available in more rural locations, where rental apartments may be scarce.

Here are some of the advantages of renting an apartment or a house versus staying at a hotel, motel or hostel:

• The amount of living space is much greater than that of the average hotel room.

• The average daily cost is usually much lower than that of a hotel, especially if there is a group of people.

• There is often a balcony or patio area providing a nice view of the surrounding area.

• With any rental, a parking place is usually provided, though not always. (One of the major differences between an apartment rental in a city and a house rental in the country — in the case of the house rental, a rental car is almost always required to get around, buy groceries, etc.)

• If you have done your research properly, you know exactly what you are getting. This is generally not true with hotels, as the room you are given is often determined by luck or the whim of the desk clerk.

• Often, a washing machine and dryer are on site, eliminating the need to find laundry facilities or pay astronomical laundry bills to hotels.

• The owners of the facility, or their agents, are usually close by in the area and can be very helpful in providing information for your stay.

There are some disadvantages associated with renting, as well:

• Renting an apartment or house does involve making direct contact with the owner at some point. With today’s low-cost international telephone calls or by using e-mail, however, this is usually easy to do.

• While hotels can be booked on a moment’s notice, that does not apply to apartment or house rentals. Planning must be done well before the trip starts.

• Usually, it’s not possible to rent for one night only. Typically, rentals are one week long, and most start on a Saturday.

• Unlike with hotels, the owner of an apartment or house usually requires a deposit to hold the property. Also, full payment is usually required some weeks before the rental is to begin. There may also be a security deposit required, which is returned if no damage has occurred. Some facilities have an added cleaning fee.

• Another difficulty with renting involves the deposits. Americans sending money to European landlords often need to send certified checks or wire transfers. Certified checks should be sent via a secure delivery service with tracking (such as UPS), and bank transfers require a visit to the bank to sign the paperwork. Both of these processes are somewhat time-consuming and costly.

• Usually, rental landlords do not take credit cards.

Rudy Cajka

Denton, TX

I rent for a month at a time. I figure out my costs per diem and attempt to stay under a certain amount. When you look at the posted rates, one month is not the same rate as four separate weeks. Usually, that fourth week costs much less.

In fall 2010 I spent €206 (near $284) a night for a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. When you compute that against, say, the per-diem cost of a luxury cruise, it seems to be good value.

I am over 70 and prefer to travel alone, but for my annual stay in Paris I try to get a place that will accommodate guests, if they come, so the advantage of renting a larger apartment is there will be a larger living room, dining room, kitchen and bathrooms.

It usually happens there is a house party for part of the time I am there, and in the remainder I have the place to myself. I have a large family and they take turns visiting me when I’m in Paris.

Sheila Wolfe

San Antonio, TX

I think that I would tell anyone who is going to be in one place for longer than three nights to rent an apartment. You’ll feel more like a local and probably end up interacting with the locals more.

When my wife and I rent an apartment, we seldom cook dinner there, but we usually have breakfast in and quite often pack a lunch.

Having laundry facilities at our disposal is a plus.

It is also nice to have the space.

Jack Lowell

Asheville, NC

My husband, Rodney, and I really enjoy staying in self-catering facilities during our travels, especially after a cruise or after visiting countries with cuisine based heavily on meat and cream. In an apartment, we can eat lightly and healthily.

By the end of a tour, we are also ready for some space from each other, and apartments offer more room. We jokingly refer to the experience as “detoxing.”

Nancy Tan

Fresno, CA

Renting vacation apartments found on the Internet has enabled me to comfortably and economically explore Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam, Brussels, Berlin, London and Athens in the last decade.

I have found that having a rented apartment makes for a more relaxed vacation. I can enjoy my morning coffee before I get dressed; I can have an afternoon nap if I’m going to an evening performance or after a full day of museums and shopping, or I can just relax at “home” for an evening with TV or a book.

Everyday tasks, like using a laundromat, shopping for food and cooking can become an adventure (especially if you don’t read the local language).

I tend to limit my actual cooking to really simple things, like scrambled eggs, salads, pasta and hamburgers, but, in Germany, attempting to sample every type of bread in that bakery on the corner made every meal a treat.

Be advised, however: no matter how much you plan and how many questions are asked and answered ahead of time, there will be surprises. There may not be a bulb bright enough to use for reading; there may not be much hot water in the shower, and although there are 24 wine glasses there is only one coffee mug.

Be prepared to be flexible. Locate a hardware store and buy a bulb; call the owner and ask about the plumbing problem, and go to a flea market and buy a mug.

Marilyn Lutzker

Sunnyside, NY