StudiLodge

Beware foreign students planning to stay at Studilodge on short-​term rent. They target foreigners who know little or nothing about French law and will try to charge you for made-​up taxes, fees and repairwork and refuse to return your deposit (caution) and your Caf allocations.
First of all, DO NOT agree to have your Caf allocations sent to anyone but yourself. Studilodge will encourage you to do so, stating it will «speed up the paperwork process since they are in the business since a long time and the people at Caf know them well». Also, it takes just as long, as I have experienced when staying at another student housing later (about a month or two).
They are charging myself and a couple of friends (also foreign) for taxes (the rent is TCC, or all-​comprehensive, besides electricity which you pay on your own through EDF), as well as reparations which were not noted on the «état des lieux de sortie». They are charging for an «apartment cleaning», which was not agreed to in the contract. They are also claiming after my contract has ended, that short-​term renters must pay «10% higher lease», which is a blatant attempt at thievery (By French law, all rent raises can ONLY be negotiated at the end of the 1-​year lease period and CANNOT be amended during the contract period).
Also, ex post facto fee application is obviously illegal in any country. In total, they are charging me 500 € instead of the 10 € which I had agreed to for a broken sink chain at the EDLS, and holding a total of 1000 € of my money (deposit plus allocations which arrived late) as hostage.
Because foreign students are unaware of the fact that anyone who has resided in France can file for a court case at the TRIBUNAL D’INSTANCE and/​or the COMMISSION DE CONCILIATION without being present in person for sums under 10,000 €, they try to cheat you as much as they can. It seems several students, foreign and French, have faced such blatant exhibits of scamming in Lyon and in Marseilles regions. It is not the first time STUDILODGE has done or tried to do this to students! This is how they turn over 3 million euros in revenues (data from 2013, via
).
It is a shame that I must write this, because the facilities are of quite good quality. Perhaps they only do this to foreign students, since the majority of their residents are wealthy French youth preparing for university exams (examens préparatoires).
The building at Cap Campus and Zola Park are very clean, very well-​maintained. You will not see dirt or dust on the floor of the corridors, and trash is empties several times a week. This May, all rooms were equipped with fire alarms.
The manager, a middle-​aged man, is very kind and will respond to your requests as soon as possible. He will take your parcels for you if you are not at home. Of course, I no longer remember this manager fondly, since he is the one who also forged my EDLS papers and now is still refusing to refund my deposit.
One issue I had is that the ventilation in the bathroom was not very effective, and the room always smelled a little of stale air. But that was not a major issue during my half-​year stay.
In any case, make sure that your EDL d’entrée (EDLE) and EDL de sortie (EDLS) match up when you leave. Make sure the manager checks all the checklist items, because he didn’t during mine, and afterwards added all sorts of nice little claims to try to keep what more of my money he could. If no damages or degradation is officially noted by the manager, you are not liable to pay for them. HAVE EVERYTHING ON PAPER!
Read your BAIL contract thoroughly, especially the parts with money and incurring fees. All furnished housing (logement meublé) in France protect the renter (locataire) heavily and you only have to notify the owner (propriétaire) 1 month in advance to leaving, even if the BAIL says the lease is for 12 months. If it is unfurnished, you must notify the owner 3 months prior to your departure date. UNLESS otherwise stated explicitly in the contract.
Overall, stay away from this place. They will try everything in their power to make up false repair costs and lie to you citing fake French law.