• CONTACT US if you have any problems registering for the forums.

Nice Neighbrhoods - Help

Colo

500+ Posts
Contest 2019 Winner!
We just booked a flight to Nice for the first 8 days of October.
Looking at an assortments of apartments across the city.

I think we want to stay in old Nice, but I found more options in Le Carré d'Or that meet our requirements and cost appears to drop.

Suggestions? Should we look in other neighborhoods? Any input welcomed!

Thanks in advance!
 
We just booked a flight to Nice for the first 8 days of October.
Looking at an assortments of apartments across the city.

I think we want to stay in old Nice, but I found more options in Le Carré d'Or that meet our requirements and cost appears to drop.

Suggestions? Should we look in other neighborhoods? Any input welcomed!

Thanks in advance!
Hello
It depends on your requirements. Old Town is lovely but I prefer the Port area. I don't like Carre d'Or. Very touristy and busy. However, Nice is easy to negotiate. Oct should be beautiful.
Have you checked Nice Pebbles? They are a rental agency with offices in Nice. Very reliable
This past April we rented through Airbnb but next time I think I'll go back to Nice Pebbles even if more expensive.
Check out threads in this forum. I love Nice especially in off season.
 
Lisa,

Thanks so much for the input. A quick view on the Nice Pebbles showed some great places to look into. I did not see anything in the port area on other pages (VRBO / Airbnb) so hopefully Nice Pebbles will have a few to offer.

We are hoping that going in October will reduce the amount tourist significantly, but I do realize that I am one, and others feel the same way about me. ;)

One thing I did notice on the VRBO and Airbnb page that some units wanted a significant deposit in cash upon arrival. (500 Euro Plus) I have never seen that before in other places where we have used them in the past. That stinks - In that I would end up losing twice on the transfer of Dollars to Euros and then when I get back I have to do the opposite. Plus if we have an early flight... will the owner be willing to come early and check us out for the refund... Hmmm makes me nervous.

Thanks again!
 
Colo
I'm not sure what you mean by having to make a deposit on Airbnb and then waiting for refund. I have never had to do this and book with them all the time. Nor do have I had to convert several times over from Canadian. This was one of the reasons why I began using them in the first place. I pay with my credit card. Everything is quoted in Canadian funds. Yours would be US of course. Most of the "hosts" have a lock box and/ or are used to early arrivals so no worries there. So I'm not sure what you are seeing. I don't use VRBO but have in the distant past.
Nice Pebbles definitely has listings(not many) in the Port area. When I said Carre d'Or was touristy, I meant busy, noisy, not a neighbourhood feel. Plus the restaurants are those 24/7 kind of places. Of course, there are pockets that are just fine. Nice is a smallish city so probably doesn't matter where you stay. Yes, we are all tourists and Nice is filled with people like you and me but some areas have a more neighbourhoody feel with little cafes, bakeries etc.
As long as you feel comfortable and get what you want, it doesn't matter where you stay.
What are you looking for? How many are you?
 
Lisa,

Thanks so much for the input. A quick view on the Nice Pebbles showed some great places to look into. I did not see anything in the port area on other pages (VRBO / Airbnb) so hopefully Nice Pebbles will have a few to offer.

We are hoping that going in October will reduce the amount tourist significantly, but I do realize that I am one, and others feel the same way about me. ;)

One thing I did notice on the VRBO and Airbnb page that some units wanted a significant deposit in cash upon arrival. (500 Euro Plus) I have never seen that before in other places where we have used them in the past. That stinks - In that I would end up losing twice on the transfer of Dollars to Euros and then when I get back I have to do the opposite. Plus if we have an early flight... will the owner be willing to come early and check us out for the refund... Hmmm makes me nervous.

Thanks again!
I inputed dates Oct 1-8 on Nice Pebbles and Bonaparte(see above) came up as only 1 available in port neighbourhood. I find this surprising but I guess the others are booked. Anyway, Bonaparte is a fantastic street. Very hip with tons of cafes and accessible to everything including public transport.
 
Lisa,

Here is an example of what I was talking about:

The departures are effected before 11am and arrivals earlier than 14h. Unless otherwise agreed.
Obligatory cleaning payable on arrival: 60 € / 2 people, 80 € / 3 or 4 people.
The deposit of € 500 is to pay by check (for French) or cash on arrival, refunded on departure.
The reservation will be validated receipt of deposit (50% of total price).
The balance is due one month appel téléphonique the latest before the arrival date of your stay.

Just got home so I will be heading to the Nice Pebbles to check out
 
I don't think that's Airbnb or if it is, it's very unusual. A cleaning fee is usually included with overall payment. Everything by credit card. I just wouldn't book something like that. There are tons of listings on their site, I would just be careful.
Even with Nice Pebbles, there will be a check in window.
 
And if you are in US everything quoted in your dollars. Nice Pebbles everything g in British pounds so don't know what you are looking at.
 
The place I quoted is vrbo listing and is also a Airbnb listing. ( i am pretty sure Airbnb owns vrbo now) It was not the only one like that.

Good new: I think we found something on Pebbles - thank you!
 
Lisa THANK YOU for the Nice Pebbles lead.
We are booked! We did decided to stay in the Carre d'Or.
After weighing pros and cons for this trip it seemed to be the place to be this trip.
Hoping October will be calmer than "in season"

Cannot thank you enough for your insight.
 
I don't think that's Airbnb or if it is, it's very unusual. A cleaning fee is usually included with overall payment. Everything by credit card. I just wouldn't book something like that. There are tons of listings on their site, I would just be careful.
Even with Nice Pebbles, there will be a check in window.
We've done lots of AirBnb rentals (mostly in Italy, but many others throughout Europe & North America) and always had the cleaning fee rolled into the rental rate. In our experiences, we have never had anyone actually charge for the security deposit (either separately or rolled into the rental rate), even though the listing seemed to require one. However, we have a long history with AirBnb rentals with lots of reviews of us--so maybe they decided that we were a known quantity & the deposit wasn't required. I would be curious to know others' experiences.
 
Lisa THANK YOU for the Nice Pebbles lead.
We are booked! We did decided to stay in the Carre d'Or.
After weighing pros and cons for this trip it seemed to be the place to be this trip.
Hoping October will be calmer than "in season"

Cannot thank you enough for your insight.
That's great! So glad it worked out.
 
We've done lots of AirBnb rentals (mostly in Italy, but many others throughout Europe & North America) and always had the cleaning fee rolled into the rental rate. In our experiences, we have never had anyone actually charge for the security deposit (either separately or rolled into the rental rate), even though the listing seemed to require one. However, we have a long history with AirBnb rentals with lots of reviews of us--so maybe they decided that we were a known quantity & the deposit wasn't required. I would be curious to know others' experiences.
I believe Colo was on VRBO and Home Away sites not Airbnb.
 
"A cleaning fee is usually included with overall payment."
It depends.
I have used rentals where the cleaning fee is included.
I have also used rentals where this fee is separate.
Many French owners who have the habit of renting to French tenants do this, because many French tenants choose to do the cleanup themselves and not pay the final cleanup fee.

For example, our rental inBonnieux last year had a separate cleaning fee and separate linen rental. It is the second time we rented the place.
In the 2 houses we rented in Goult and the house we rented in Saignon, all in the nearby area of the Luberon part of Provence, we also paid cleaning fee and linen rental on top of the rent.

Many rentals in France also "rent" the bed linen and towels. This is because many French renters bring their own.

I understand that those of us who are used to paying a lump-sum rental amount can't help but feel as though they were being nickled and dimed.
It really is a matter of different habits.

But more and more rentals are including the cleaning fee and the linen rental inthe rent.

I always ask the owner if linen and cleaning fee is included.
 
Last edited:
I believe Colo was on VRBO and Home Away sites not Airbnb.

I did some digging and all three companies have (Homeaway, VRBO, and Airbnb) owners which do it.
Here is a link to Airbnb's policy - Deposit Policy (See Host-required security deposits)

We have used all three services multiple times and never experienced this cash deposit required. I was a little surprised to be honest. I have no problem if an owner wants a deposit or a cleaning fee, however, cash as the payment at check in seems a bit much. Paypal or a credit card would not be a big deal to me.

I just hope this is not a trend in holiday rentals.
 
"cash as the payment at check in seems a bit much"
This also depends on the owner.
The owner of our Annecy rental for next year demanded this.
Our rentals in Rome and Venice too.
The Rome rental was close to 6000 euro. It was a lot of cash to be carrying. We felt quite strange about it.
 
The owner of our Paris rental this past May, through VRBO, required us to pay a damage deposit and a very reasonable cleaning fee, in cash, directly to the building's Manager upon arrival. The owner, who lives in Italy, was very clear from the moment we agreed to rent the place that she would send us a modified bill, without these amounts, to be paid through VRBO (credit card accepted) & that we'd need to bring cash (euros only) for these separate amounts. The Manager apparently kept the damage deposit in an envelope throughout our stay, came up to the apartment our last morning, looked around and then gave us the envelope with our euros. The only downside to this arrangement (other than our initial jaded New Yorker skepticism that we'd ever see our deposit money again - offset, I might add, by the knowledge that we would've paid that extra amount for the great apartment anyway if that was the asking price) was that we wound up with 350euros in our pocket as we were leaving Europe. Seed money for our next trip I guess.
 

How to Find Information

Search using the search button in the upper right. Search all forums or current forum by keyword or member. Advanced search gives you more options.

Filter forum threads using the filter pulldown above the threads. Filter by prefix, member, date. Or click on a thread title prefix to see all threads with that prefix.

Sponsors

Booking.com Hotels in Europe
AutoEurope.com Car Rentals

Recommended Guides, Apps and Books

52 Things to See and Do in Basilicata by Valerie Fortney
Italian Food & Life Rules by Ann Reavis
Italian Food Decoder App by Dana Facaros, Michael Pauls
French Food Decoder App by Dana Facaros, Michael Pauls
She Left No Note, Lake Iseo Italy Mystery 1 by J L Crellina

Share this page

Back
Top