Paris Home Exchange

Our family loves travelling and trying new things. We also love discovering out-of-the-way places that only locals know about.

So when HomeExchange asked if we would try out their service we immediately said yes!

HomeExchange is a community that connects like-minded travellers, helping them travel the world, live like locals and stay for free. They have over 65,000 listings in more than 150 countries – all combining to over 1,000,000 exchanges!

It costs £100 to join and there are different 3 types of exchanges: Reciprocal, Hospitality, and Non-Reciprocal. With a Reciprocal Exchange, you swap homes with another member simultaneously or at different times. In a Hospitality Exchange, you stay at a home while the family is there, allowing you to get to know their lifestyle. With a Non-Reciprocal Exchange, you host a member or stay at a member’s home without them staying at yours. For this type of exchange you need a “Balloon”. There are a couple of ways to earn a balloon: hosting a family with a Balloon (and they pass it on to you) or being gifted one after a year of a paid membership. We were given a Balloon to try out the service and write about our experience.

Being new to HomeExchange, I didn’t really know what to expect. There’s a real sense of community with a very active Facebook group. HomeExchange members LOVE to travel and the community is an important and  integral part of their travel lifestyle.

The group is based on trust, goodwill and mutual respect. When you do an exchange, it’s like staying at a friend’s house: If you use something, you replace it. You treat the home as if it were your own. You can get to know your host well. In fact, some exchange relationships turn into life-long friends!

We stayed in Paris in a thoroughly renovated apartment in Le Marais. The apartment was small but modernised and had everything we needed. It was on the 4th floor above a very famous 2-Michelin starred restaurant. We absolutely loved it. The best bit was walking outside into the middle of a vibrant, thriving city. 

It turns out our host is a HomeExchange super user, having done more than 40 home exchanges with his young family. He gets to know his guests prior to a stay through a video call. This really added to the whole experience, as we had already “met” his family. My daughters thought his toddler was adorable and loved all the emojis he used in his correspondence (obviously much more cool than their mother!). Our host was very helpful and sent us many recommendations on places to eat and things to do in the area.

Our first night, at our host’s suggestion, we ended up at L’Alsacien, literally just around the corner from home exchange. The restaurant specialises in food from the North Eastern region of Alsace and served a kind of “pizza”, which is not really a pizza! I was so glad of the recommendation, as we probably would not have found it without our host’s help.

 

The view from our apartment in the heart of the Marais! We stayed here with Home Exchange, a community with more than 65,000 listings in 150 countries. The concept is amazing: connect like minded travellers, live like locals and stay for free! #ad #homeexchange #paris #travelblogger #showmetheworld #prettylittletrips #snaphappybritmums #myhappyplace #myhappycapture #liveauthentic #iamatraveller #widenyourworld

A post shared by Susanna Scott ~ family travel (@amodernmother) on Aug 25, 2018 at 11:07pm PDT

Of course this all sounds amazing, you must be thinking, but there must be a downside. Our host talked a lot about “surprises” which I took to mean things not going exactly to plan. A big part of the HomeExchange experience is to clean your house thoroughly and leave it just as you found it. Just like you would do if you were staying at a friend’s house. Of course we all have friends that might not do this, and inevitability there might be a “surprise.” But as with a friend, you just don’t invite them to stay again, or in the case of HomeExchange, you give them a lower rating. After each exchange both parties “review” each other and you are encouraged to thoroughly read reviews before committing to an exchange.

Our host was in touch throughout our stay, offering us lots of suggestions on what to do in the area, including taking the Batobus for the best view of the Eifel Tower.

Since our exchange, I’ve had lots of questions about the programme. “I’m interested, but what do you do about the crazies?” My guess is that you vet them out as much as you can, through chats, reading about past experiences, etc. A big part of the HomeExchange mentality is trust, which sadly our current world lacks. You just need to take the leap. Read the section on safety here. If you are interested, here’s a good Q&A about the community.

HomeExchange is not for everyone. But if you want to travel the world economically and live like a local without the high cost of accommodation –  it is offers a very tempting proposition!

Have you ever been tempted to do a Home Exchange? Please share your thoughts!

My favourite boutique hotel in Paris

If you want to stay in le Marias area, here is my favourite boutique hotel Hotel Original Paris (you’ll thank me later). I used points to stay there. 😄

Disclosure: We were awarded a balloon exchange for the purpose of this review.