How To Get An Apartment For 1-2 Months In Caracas

Hi Alex,

Welcome to expat-blog!

I invite you to post an advert in the Flats for rent in Caracas section, this might help you finding what you are looking for.

Regards,

David.

Let me explain you something... Venezuela has this CRAZY exchange rate... like INCREDIBLY CRAZY.  It is just wacko.

In other words if you can change your dollars in the black Market for bolivares, that 160$ per night changes to 40$ per night.

AGAIN THIS IS BLACK MARKET VALUE OF THE DOLLAR!!!.  If you are paying with your credit card (foreign), you are subject to the extremely high price of everything.

The only way to get out of the insane prices is to go with your dolars and sell them on the black market in exchange of Bolivares.

If you want more details you have to leave me some contact information, maybe an email.  I could even buy some of the dollars at the Black Market value to help you get setup, but it is your call.

I just asked a bunch of friends that are working here for a project (from argentina/mexico/colombia)... they tell me that they are being charge 1500-2000 $ for an apartment in the Chacao/Altamira area (they pay with USD, not with BsF).  Renting in Venezuela is very tough because the offer is very low, not many people like renting their apartment, and when they do, the prices are skyhigh.

A hotel room is around 300-450 USD per night at the OFICIAL exchange rate, but if you sell those dollars in the black market you would be paying 55-80$ per night.

Thanks for your post Gunflame, I guess the black market is crucial over there then. However I will have to pre-pay most of the stuff from UK initially.. as I will book the plane tickets at the same time as the hotels/apartments (if I book online through some sites)My friend lives in Horizonte in Caracas so I am looking for somewhere good to stay around there.. Do you know of any specific websites where you can rent short stay apartments as a foreigner? the only other option is the Pestana Hotel which is apparently quite near there, but thats $130 a night.. which doesn't really work if you stay 1+ months, its expensive. I'm pretty stuck on what to do, getting the plane booked is no problem, but I need somewhere stable to stay once I land, somewhere pretty safe etc. Budget isn't a huge issue, I don't mind paying up to 1.5k USD a month for an apartment of 1-2 bedrooms, if it comes down to it.

thanks

I really can't stress this enough... if you want to pay everything before you arrive you will lose a LOT of money.

You NEED to use the black market to have a decent rate on anything here.  Personally I could buy some dollars from you, but I don't not have the cash to pay for 5000 USD or something like that in an instant.

About apartaments for foreigners I really can't recommend you an specific website, all I can say is to google "periodicos en Caracas" and look for the "clasificados" section.  Obviously everything will be in spanish. 

What do I suggest? talk to your friend, sell him some dollars at below the black market rate (at 10%-15% below black market so he can resell it).  Ask him to make the reservation with that money in the Hotel Pestana or one of the other 10-15 nice hotels that exist in Caracas).  Even if you go as low as 20% below black market rate you can get a hotel for 100 USD a night.  I'm talking about the best hotels in Caracas (obviously not the best rooms).

I can offer myself to do that (I would obviously find a way to resell the dollars at a better price and get a profit), but I'm a complete stranger and there's no reason why you would trust me.  Of course, to do that I would need to know the specific dates you are arriving so I can look for decent hotels, I would also need to know where you will be working and a bunch of those stuff.

Again, the key here is to ask your friend that lives in Venezuela to help you out, doing it from the outside is not very efficient.

I believe Horizonte is not a great location in the sense that it doesn't have a metro station nearby. But I don't know the area, it could be a really nice place with good bus routes or other means of transportation.

Some hotels:
- Pestana.
- Eurobuilding Caracas.
- Best Western.
- VIP.
- Altamira Suites.
- Melia (good hotel, very close to the metro, but the surrounding area is not that good).
- Caracas Palace.
- Hotel Paseo Las Mercedes
- Hotel Tamanaco

Hey Gunflame,

Thanks, I will talk to my friend for sure. So if I send my friend money and they book the hotel Pestana with local blackmarket, it's a lot cheaper than $130 a night? I just felt that I needed somewhere sorted as soon as I land.

Also, on a seperate note, how is safety as of now in Caracas? I am reading a lot of stories on the city being dangerous, and I will initially be arriving alone..as a tourist.

thanks

I never feel completely safe in Caracas, but there are some safe areas.  Mostly the East Side of the city

Caracas is divided in 5 Counties, Chacao, Baruta, El Hatillo, Libertador and Sucre.

Each county is divided in sectors.  Too many to list here.  Most (but not all) sectors from Chacao, Baruta and El Hatillo are considered relatively safe.  Safe enough to place a phone call with your Iphone or maybe play it around with it in some bus routes, but not safe enough to sit on a park bench and work with your laptop free Wifi.

WTB Black market price of the dollar can be seen here: http://dolartoday.com/

So for today is about 45 USD.  Assume a room is 3.800 BsF a night, then you can send about 100 USD to your friend per night.  If he doesn't find a buyer let me know... I'll definetly buy them at that exchange rate.

Venezuela is a mix of people, some are very white, some are pitch black.  Some are blonde, others are brunette. The most "common" trait here are dark eyes (though we also have people with blue/green eyes).  So unless you are some kind of really white, red head, blue eyed, extremely tall person you will be mistaken by one of us until you open your mouth.

Make sure your friend arranges some transporation for your arrival, otherwise you will have to spend 80-100 USD to pay for a taxi (it is actually 600 BsF for the airport taxis, or 350 BsF for an external taxi).  Once you reach your hotel you should be fine...  All the hotels I mentioned are in good areas.

If you want to meet with me here after you arrive also let me know I can give you a brief introduction to the city and how things work.  Again the key is to talk to a local, and since you have a friend here there is no better reference than to talk to him.

I get where you are coming from now, Alex. Well, am very familiar with Chacaito which is next to Chacao. I however dont know about their housing charges, but you wouldn't have any problem about paying. The prices might have seemed high to you over the internet because they appear with legal Government currency rates. The dollar rate keeps increasing with each passing day. A dollar at the bank will earn you about 6.3 Bolivares Fuerte while that same dollar will get you a "toasting" 48 Bolivares Fuerte at the black market.Check your inbox for the rest of the message.