...what is included in the rental cost.
When and how to reserve and pay for your apartment.
Incidental (optional) charges.
When, where, and how to check in and get your keys.
Access during your stay.
When and how to check out.
Cancellations and refunds.

• Furnished apartment rental, from 4p on day of arrival to 12n on day of departure.
  See also information on check-in, below: earlier occupancy and / or later departure may be available at no additional charge.
• All utilities.
• A 50% discount on the rental of a French mobile / cell phone, if desired.
  Reception is excellent, and incoming mobile calls are free on French phones.
• Use of linens (towels & sheets).
• Cleaning of apartment prior to check-in.
• All taxes.

The apartment will be cleaned shortly before the arrival of each new guest.

There is no security deposit, but renters are nonetheless responsible for damage and breakage.

Not Included in the Rental Cost
Laundry service, maid service, and groceries / household goods.   The apartments do not have “land” phone lines, but you may, if you wish, rent a French mobile (cell) phone from us at a discount.

Laundry
If, upon check-out, you do not wish to wash the linens you used (or if a very early departure prevents you from doing so), we offer a linen washing service.  Soleil, Petit Nuage, and La Bohème have washing machines and racks for air drying, but not machine dryers.  Citron has neither.  But there is an automatic laundry with long hours less than a block from our building. 

If you are washing your own linens, you must allow 90 minutes per load (the machines can only handle one set of sheets / towels per load).  It is not necessary to dry them:  carefully hanging the sheets and towels to air dry is sufficient.  However, leaving them wet in the washing machine is not:  in order to escape the linen charge, the sheets and towels you leave must be useable by the next guest with only folding by us. 

Maid Service
Maid service can be arranged if desired (a weekly passage, for example, costs 40 €).  We also clean the apartment between each guest, so no “heavy cleaning” is required upon check-out (see “check-out,” below, for details).

Groceries / Household Goods
Groceries / household goods are not included in the rental cost.  Please ponder this to be sure you understand what it means.  You are renting an apartment.  If a light bulb burns out, or you run out of paper towels, you are expected to purchase the replacements yourself, just as you would at home.

Don’t worry, if you fail to do so, we do not come after your non-existant security deposit to charge you for a replacement light bulb.  And indeed, you will find a “starter stock” of household goods available to you when you arrive:  things like paper towels, toilet tissue, soap, cooking oils, trash bags... so that you will find your apartment fully functional on the day of arrival.  But our prices depend on our guests approximately replacing what they use, in value if not in kind....


Reservation and Payment

1. To reserve an apartment, you must send us two things:  a booking form, and payment (see 4, below).
   Space is only considered to be reserved upon receipt of both of these things.
2. Payment can be made by any of our usual methods: credit card, check / cheque (made to the order of Blue Marble Travel), or wire transfer.
3. If you prefer to make your payment in US or Canadian dollars, you may do so by check / cheque.
   - We will convert the dollar payment to euros using this currency converter, and using the date on which the check / cheque is posted to us.  2% will be deducted from the result to cover the costs of currency conversion, and the result will be rounded to the nearest whole euro.
   - There is a $50 fee for any returned check.
   - US and Canadian residents are, of course, free to pay by credit card, as may anyone else:  the card will be debited in euros, for the euro price of the rental.  The credit card authorization is attached to the booking form.
   
4. 70 or more days from the start of the rental, payment of 50% of the total rental cost (rounded to the nearest euro) is required to make a booking.
   Within 69 days of the rental start date, full payment is required in order to make a booking.
   At our discretion, a 5-day “hold” can be placed on rentals booked at least 30 days in advance, to allow the payment to arrive.
5. If a partial payment has been made at the time of the reservation, the balance of the rental payment is due 60 days prior to rental start date.
   If the balance is not received 60 days prior to rental start date, the renter is considered to have cancelled the reservation 59 days prior the rental start date.  This is unfortunate, and makes the renter cross, because the funds already paid are not refundable in this case. Please be sure to make your final payment promptly!
6. Prices are subject to change without notice.  However, once you have made a firm reservation, you will not be suject to any subsequent price increases.
   
   

Incidental (Optional) Charges

Any amounts due by the renter for cell phone rental, breakage or damage, or the optional check-out linen washing service can be calculated upon check-out if this takes place during our business hours.

Otherwise, cell phone rental must be terminated on the last business day prior to check-out, and paid for at that time, along with other charges (if any).  A 3% service fee applies for “flow-through” charges settled by credit card, since we cannot pass your card on to the phone company, or to the store from which we purchase replacement glassware.


Check-In

Check-in takes place at our Paris office (2, rue Dussoubs, the ground floor of the building where the apartments are located) during our office opening hours.  An appointment is necessary during our “off-season” (mid-October - early May), and is always advised (see this page for details on making appointments).

If the apartment has been occupied the previous evening, maid service will be scheduled between noon and 4p on the arrival day.  In this case, the apartment may not be ready for occupancy until 4p.  However, check-in (dropping luggage, claiming the keys) can take place at any time during our normal hours.  Luggage storage in our downstairs office is free on check-in and check-out dates.

Saturday Check-In
At some seasons of the year, when we are not regularly open on Saturday afternoons, it may be necessary to check in before 1p (even though the apartment is not guaranteed ready for occupancy until 4p), in order to avoid the “Off-Hours Check-In” charge (see next term).  When this is the case, we will give you the keys, and let you take your luggage up to the apartment, even though you cannot occupy it until it has been cleaned.

Off-Hours Check-In (if required):
If our Paris Office Opening Hours are not convenient, it is possible to schedule check-in at an alternate time.
Availability of this service is not guaranteed:  if your booking is contingent upon it, be sure to ask before you commit!  Giving us at least 48 hours advance notice of your wish for an off-hours check-in strongly improves the probability that we will be able to arrange it.

There is no additional charge for check-in at any time between 9a and 7p Monday - Friday, nor on Saturdays during our Paris Office Opening Hours (which vary by season), except on legal French holidays.  However, an appointment is necessary at least 48 hours in advance if you are not arriving during our (more restrictive) Paris Office Opening Hours.  See this page for details on making appointments.

Outside these hours, ask us if we can arrange to host you at whatever time you please.  If one of us can block his calendar, we will quickly confirm the meeting.  An off-hours check-in charge applies (follow the link for details).
If you are arriving by plane, and your flight is delayed by 3 hours, having us wait for you at 25€ / hour can quickly get expensive... we suggest that you not time things too tightly.

Checking Over the Apartment
Please look over the apartment upon check-in, much as you would inspect a rental car you are about to drive off the lot, and point out any obvious damage.

Broken furniture, torn sheets or towels, damaged kitchenware, plumbing problems, broken light fixtures... are not the way we intend to receive you!  Indeed, these are things we consider “damage,” and charge for.  We ourselves check the place during cleaning, and believe that we are giving it to you in good condition.  If you notice something amiss, this is the time to bring it up, so that we charge the previous renter, and not you!

Blue Marble is not an airline.  It is a group of humans, who are reasonable people.  If you notice that a chair is broken only on your second day, and call our attention to it quickly, we will be understanding.  However, we try to keep our rental chargess reasonable, and they do not include replacing the glassware or buying a new bedside table after each guest’s visit.  So we ask you to replace or pay for the things you damage, just as you would at home....


Access During Your Stay

We have occasional local renters, relatives or friends of people who live in our urban village but do not have guest rooms to host their loved ones.  They may ask to see the apartments as a prelude to renting. 

We try to schedule any such visits so as to not inportune our guests in any way.   In keeping with this, they are programmed between 11:30a and 2:30p, and you are told of any “showing” at least the day before.  These times are chosen because they correspond to hours when our guests are generally “out on the town.”  Any visit at any other time is only conducted with your prior approval (and you are absolutely free to refuse).

If these hours don’t suit you, please tell us at least a day prior to your arrival, and propose any alternate 3-hour band you please.  We will respect your wishes absolutely.  We must ask that you allow us to show the place as a condition of rental, but we will make every effort to do so in a manner which minimizes nuisance to you (and it very rarely happens).


Check-Out

• You are requested to check out by noon on the day of your departure.
  By prior arrangement, and if the apartment is not receiving new guests the same day, an afternoon check-out is possible. There is no extra charge for this, when available.
• If check-out takes place between 10a and 12n Mo - Sa (except legal French holidays), you may request that a Blue Marble come upstairs, check the place over with you present, and claim the keys.  This insures secure transmission of said keys, and face-to-face discussion of any damage and resulting charges.
  Monday through Friday (except legal French holidays), it may be possible to arrange for this free service between 9a and 10a, as well, or during the afternoon if an afternoon check-out is available.
• If check-out takes place during hours when no Blue Marble employee can be present in the apartment, the renter accepts that Blue Marble Travel becomes solely responsible for determining damage, if any, and agrees to pay Blue Marble Travel’s determination of same.
  In general, warning us of damage will produce a more sympathetic calculation of its cost than if we hear about it from a grouchy next renter.
  

Check-Out Linen Washing Service
We offer a linen laundering service for those whose travel schedules prevent them from washing and setting out linens and towels to dry prior to their departure (or who simply don’t want to spend the time staring at pillow cases spinning around while Paris awaits).  The cost of the service is 25€, plus 10€ for each additional machine load (one set of sheets and towels = one machine load).

Soleil has a washing machine.  Citron does not, but there is an automatic laundry less than a block from our building.  If you are washing your own linens, you must allow 90 minutes per load.  The machines can only handle one set of sheets / towels per load, and they are slow, if thorough.  It is not necessary to dry them:  the apartments have drying racks.  Carefully hanging the sheets and towels to air dry is sufficient.

If you wish to subscribe to our Linen Washing Service, please inform us prior to check-out, and leave linens and towels to be washed in a pile on the floor of your apartment.  We request that this service be prepaid.

Cleaning
A maid service will visit the apartment prior to the arrival of our next guests, so there is no requirement that you dust, vacuum, or do any “heavy” cleaning, other than for your own comfort during your stay.

This maid service does not, however, include the washing and storing of kitchen articles (pots and pans, plates, cutlery, etc.).  In addition, the cleaners may not come for some days after your departure if no new guest is scheduled to occupy the apartment.  So, we ask that you do the following upon departure:

• Throw away any perishable goods, including those in the refrigerator.
• Carefully wash and put away any pots, pans, cutlery, dishes....
• Empty all trash receptacles, and take the trash downstairs.
  

If you are unable to do these things, please tell us so, and we will send someone to do them for you on your departure day.  In this case, a supplementary cleaning charge of 25 € will apply.

If you are subscribing to our check-out linen service (see previous section), please leave all articles that need washing in a pile on the floor of your apartment.  If not, we rely on you to wash, and set out to dry, all linens and towels, including the kitchen dishtowel, the WC hand towel, and the bathmat.


Cancellations and Refunds

Cancellations must be sent to our Paris office by e.mail, fax, or post (addresses are here).
- If received during our normal business hours, cancellations are effective on the date on which they are received.  If received after our normal business hours, they are considered to be received on the date of the next normal business hours.
- If you have also rented a discount cell phone, it is automatically considered canceled at the same time.  These cancellation terms apply.

• If cancellation is received 90 or more days prior to the first rental date, 75% of the total rental cost is refundable.
• If cancellation is received between 89 and 60 days prior to the first rental date, 55% of the total rental cost is refundable.
  If full payment for the rental is not received at least 60 days prior to the first rental date, the rental is automatically considered to have cancelled 59 days prior to the first rental date.
• If cancellation is received between 59 and 30 days prior to the first rental date, 35% of the total rental cost is refundable.
• If cancellation is received between 29 and 2 days prior to the first rental date, 10% of the total rental cost less a fixed 20€ charge is refundable.
• No refund can be made if cancellation is not received at least 2 days prior to the first rental date.
  

A “Cancellation Waiver” is available at additional cost, providing more favorable refund terms.  See below.


Cancellation Waiver

If desired, a cancellation waiver is available for an additional 10% of the rental total, rounded to the nearest whole euro.  The cancellation waiver may only be subscribed (and must be paid in full) at the time the reservation is made.  The cancellation waiver refunds rental costs (and cell phone rental costs, if any) in the event of a cancellation, less the following amounts:

• 30 or more days prior to first rental date:  50 €
• 29 - 3 days prior to first rental date:  50 € + 5% of rental total
• Within 2 days of the rental start date:  50 € + 10% of rental total

If the renter does not formally cancel, and does not arrive on the first date of the rental, rent is due at the “daily” rate for that date and the following day (2 days, total), and the apartment is held open for those two days.  If the cancellation waiver has been subscribed, the remaining total of the initial rental cost will be refunded, less an amount equal to 50€ + 10% of that remaining total.

Please continue to the Booking Form