When traveling and staying in an area for several days, we don’t usually stay in hotels. Instead, we opt for a vacation rental or an Airbnb.
We find we have more options this way. We have the ability to eat in if we want, more room to spread out, and we feel a little less like a tourist who is in town for a day or two. We’ve stayed in everything from a roomy estate to a small apartment.
We’ve had noise that couldn’t be shut out to places with absolute quiet. There have been floors that squeaked if you even thought about stepping on them. We’ve had tiny lifts to the fourth floor and places where we carried our luggage up 79 old, worn, stone steps. There have been views worthy of the best postcards. And, views of a brick wall.
In Colmar, France, we opted to rent a VRBO (vacation rental by owner) in the middle of town.
As usual, we read all the reviews, contacted the owner, and checked out Google street view before we booked. What did we find?
The apartment was exactly as billed. Spacious, more than enough room, great location, and positive interaction with the manager. One problem was rectified as soon as they could. The lift to the fourth floor was not working when we arrived. Four of us carried our luggage up five flights of stairs. The following day it was fixed and made life easier when we carried up some wine we purchased at a local winery.
This apartment was two stories. One bedroom and bath were on the first floor. Two bedrooms and a bathroom were on the second floor. Not a big deal…until you saw the stairs leading to the second floor. This curved staircase with its small steps was only a challenge taking our luggage to the second floor.
Location was great. We were just steps to restaurants, shops, the market, and local life. Our parking garage was only a 10-minute walk.
All in all, a great location and a wonderful apartment in Colmar.