This is one of the best vacation rentals in which we’ve ever had the pleasure of staying. It exceeded our expectations and was absolutely perfect for our family of 5. Veronique and Michel are outstanding and kind hosts. Their communication is excellent. The apartment is absolutely fantastic: a wonderful location, fantastic views, nicely decorated, very comfortable, and extremely well-equipped.
The building is old, quirky (those stairs!), and charming. The windows in the apartment are high quality and do an unexpectedly good job of keeping out the noise at night - we loved having them open to let the sounds of Paris in, but appreciated how well they kept out the noise when we were sleeping.
Here are a few tips to help those deciding on whether this is the right place for you:
- Lots of stairs from the street to the apartment.
- 5-10 minute walk from the apartment (ground floor) to most bus/metro stops (I recommend the RATP smartphone app for point to point directions using bus, metro, RER, etc.).
- Walkable to many major sights (stop by a cafe on the way and enjoy the journey).
- Portable A/C units are supplied for the sleeping areas for the occasional summer heat wave. During our stay, they were necessary only for one night when the temperature didn’t drop - on all other nights, even when days were quite warm, opening the windows in the evening allowed a cross-breeze to cool the apartment quickly to a comfortable sleeping temperature.
- The upstairs toilet is an electric flush toilet and thus is for liquid waste only.
- The windows do a great job of keeping out the noise, but light sleepers may still want to bring along some earplugs - remember that you’re right in the middle of the city with the accompanying sounds (and convenience).
- There are a wonderful selection of stores, cafes, and restaurants nearby - you can get anything you need without having to leave Île Saint-Louis.
- Don’t underestimate the value of the views of the city and the Seine (I still marvel at the ability of the large barges to navigate the Seine around the islands at the speeds they do). We especially appreciated the view during the times when there was a bit of rain or we just wanted to relax - we still felt that we were experiencing Paris and that time in the apartment looking out the window was vacation time well spent.
On our next trip to Paris, we would choose dates based on the availability of this apartment. We wouldn’t want to stay anywhere else.