Parisian living: why an apartment in Paris is the best alternative to a hotel for a long stay

Forget the minibar and beige carpeting. In 2026, the smartest female travelers no longer book a hotel room for their long stays in Paris. They rent an apartment in Paris, open the shutters on the zinc roofs, go downstairs to get croissants and live Paris as if they’d always lived there. The Emily in Paris dream, but in a realistic version. Here’s how to do the same.

We’ve all had that fantasy. The rooftop apartment with exposed beams and morning light flooding the wooden floors. The little balcony overlooking a cupola. The boulangerie on the corner where the baker recognizes you. Emily in Paris has sold this dream to millions of female viewers around the world, and let’s be honest: even if we found the series a bit cliché, we all looked at the apartment on Place de l’Estrapade and thought “what if it were possible?”.

The good news? It is. And the figures prove it: according to the Lodgis 2025 barometer, the average length of stay for furnished rentals in Paris is now 8 months, compared with 7.2 months a year earlier. More and more female travelers, temporary expatriates and mobile professionals are choosing to put down their suitcases in a real Parisian apartment rather than a hotel room. Not just for a few nights. For a few weeks, a few months, the time to experience Paris for real. And thanks to direct contact platforms, finding an apartment in Paris has never been easier.

The hotel in Paris was fine. The apartment is better.

Let’s do the math, because glamour is no barrier to lucidity. In 2026, a night in a 4-star hotel in Paris will cost an average of 189 euros according to hotels.com, and up to 290 dollars (around 270 euros) according to Booking.com. Over three weeks, even on an optimistic basis, the bill climbs to between 4,000 and 5,700 euros. A month in a five-star hotel? Expect to pay a minimum of 6,500 euros, rising to over 20,000 euros for the most prestigious addresses.

For this budget, furnished rentals in Paris offer a very different reality. According to some professionals, the average rent for a furnished apartment in Paris will be 1,725 euros per month in 2025. A 40 m² one-bedroom apartment in a central district will cost between 1,400 and 1,800 euros per month. In other words, for the price of ten nights in a hotel, you get an entire apartment for a month. With a kitchen in which to prepare your Sunday night pasta, a living room in which to entertain your friends, and that supreme luxury in Paris: space to put your suitcases AND your Bon Marché purchases.

But beyond the financial argument, there’s something the hotel can never offer: the experience of living like a Parisian. Having your own keys, your own neighborhood, your own habits. Going down to the market in your summer dress to buy peonies. Have your coffee on the terrace of the bistro downstairs, where no one speaks English and the waiter keeps your table for you. Walking home in the evening along streets you’ve come to know by heart, with a paper bag from Poilâne under your arm. It’s this intimacy with the city that transforms a simple stay into a story that’s still being told years later.

“For the price of ten nights in a hotel, you get an entire apartment for a month. With a kitchen, a living room, and the ultimate luxury in Paris: space.”

A booming market in Paris (and how to make the most of it)

The phenomenon is not anecdotal. In 2025, 59% of rentals in Paris will be furnished, compared with just 38% in 2019, according to industry data. Demand for long-term furnished rentals jumped by 19% in the first quarter of 2025, according to the Lodgis barometer. And 68% of Parisian renters are now looking for a furnished property. The typical profile? Professionals on the move (59% of Lodgis tenants), followed by international students. Women who come to Paris for a project, a mission, a desire, and who want to live in a real home, not a standardized room.

The mobility lease is your best ally. This contract, designed for temporary stays of one to ten months, requires no deposit and is aimed at all those who come to Paris for a professional project, an internship, training or simply the desire to live here for a season. It’s the perfect legal framework for turning dreams into reality, without the commitment of a classic lease.

Then there’s the practical question of where to look without breaking the bank in agency fees. Platforms that put tenants and landlords in direct contact with each other have changed all that. 123 Loger is one of the platforms our editors recommend for long-term stays in Paris: search by arrondissement, real-time alerts, direct contact with landlords, zero commission. For someone arriving from New York, London or Milan with a three-month project in Paris, this is the kind of tool that saves days of research and several hundred euros in fees.

Parisian districts where you can live your Parisian moment

Choosing a neighborhood is already the beginning of the story. Each arrondissement has its own personality, its own energy, its own type of Parisian. Here are the ones we love for a long-term stay in Paris.

Le Marais (3rd-4th) for those who want everything within easy reach. Galleries, concept stores, restaurants, nightlife. You’ll see girls in Sézane leaving Merci’s with a matcha in hand. It’s the Paris of Instagram, but in real life it’s just as beautiful. Expect to pay between 1,800 and 2,800 euros a month for a furnished apartment, according to SeLoger data, a little above the Parisian average, but the decor is priceless.

Saint-Germain-des-Prés (6th arrondissement) for literary elegance. The district of bookshops, historic cafés and facades that haven’t changed since Françoise Sagan. If you dream of writing your novel on the terrace of Café de Flore (or more discreetly at Prescription Cocktail Club), this is the place. The budget is higher, but for a two- or three-month stay, it’s infinitely more affordable than a hotel in the same district.

Canal Saint-Martin (10th arrondissement) for the creative and independent. Ceramic workshops, coffee shops where you can work on your Mac, weekend brunches by the water. It’s the Amélie Poulain neighborhood of 2026: more foodie, more freelance, as photogenic as ever. And with rents 15% to 20% below those in central Paris, your budget can breathe a sigh of relief.

Butte-aux-Cailles (13th arrondissement) for those who want the secret Paris. Cobbled streets, street art, old-fashioned bistros and a village atmosphere that not even all Parisiennes know. Rents in the 13th arrondissement are around 30 euros per m², well below the 42 euros in the center, and the extended metro line 14 puts the district within 15 minutes of everything.

Batignolles (17th arrondissement) for those looking for the real Paris of everyday life. The Saturday morning organic market, the Martin Luther King park for Sunday jogging, the little neighborhood restaurants where you dine at the counter. Less glamorous on paper, infinitely more appealing after a few weeks. And 20% to 30% cheaper than central Paris.

The checklist before signing your lease in Paris

Even when you fall in love with an apartment at first sight (it happens, this is Paris), keep a cool head. Check the DPE: since 2025, G-rated flats have been off-limits to tenants, and a poorly insulated apartment in January is the best way to ruin the mood. Use the DRIHL simulator to check that your rent complies with the current rent limits. Ask for a visit in person or, if you’re still abroad, a live video visit (not a pre-recorded video with an embellishing filter).

And the details that change everything on a daily basis: test the Wi-Fi (essential when telecommuting), check the bedding (you’ll be sleeping there for three months, not three nights), and make sure the washing machine works. It’s not very poetic, but believe us: after two weeks without a washing machine in Paris, the glamour of Parisian life takes a hit. And don’t forget to check that your mobility lease complies with the legal framework: duration of one to ten months, non-renewable, no deposit required.

True luxury in Paris is not a palace

There’s a scene in Emily in Paris, season 1, where Emily takes in the view from her maid’s room. The rooftops, the light, Paris at her feet. We smile because it’s romanticized, because the apartment is too nice for the price, because it’s Netflix. But the feeling is real. That moment when you open your shutters in the morning and realize you live in Paris. Not as a tourist, not in transit. You live here.

This is true Parisian luxury. Not a marble lobby or 45-euro room service. It’s a kitchen where you prepare dinner for friends you met last week. A lounge where you read with the windows open to the sounds of the city. An address you give when you say “chez moi”. And the delicious certainty that for a few weeks or months, Paris isn’t just a destination. It’s your home.