We just returned from our "trip of a lifetime" to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary in Paris. We had the pleasure of staying at the Amaryllis apartment on the Ile  Saint Louis, on the Seine River. We wanted to have the Parisian experience — living in a residential, but convenient area, with traditional furnishings. This fit the bill. Ile Saint Louis is in the center of Paris and we traveed with ease to all parts of Paris. The Metro stop was only 2 blocks away.

–Vincent picked us up at the airport – what a breeze!

–The large 1-bedroom apartment, built in 1685 (that is not a typo) was very clean. We had linens changed and the apartment refreshed half way through our stay of 9 days.

— There were fresh flowers awaiting us!

— There was a small gift bag with some "madeleines" and hot chocolate, juice and water in the refrigerator.

–All of the appliances were clean and in working order: coffee maker, very small dishwasher, washer/dryer.

–Liliane from Guest Apartments accompanied us to the apartment, pointed out how to operate the appliances. She noticed the desk lamp was flickering. She said, half to herself, she needed to see to that. By that evening, the bulb had been replaced!

–Liliane gave us a list of shops and restaurants where other guests had had a good experience. The several we tried during our stay were quite good.

–They take a credit card swipe as a deposit against damage. As promised, within 2 weeks we received an email saying the apartment was left clean, the allotted 1 hour international call limit was not exceeded and the electricity did not exceed the allowance. We owed no further money and the credit card imprint would be destroyed. We had told them we accidentally broke a juice glass. Liliane waved it away and said not to worry about it.

–Although we did not ned help to make reservations in French, we felt we could have called them for anything we needed.

–There were 2 pharmacies (very knowledgeable and they speak English) , 2 bakeries (both very good baguettes and pastries), 2 green grocers (fruits/vegetables), a famous ice cream shop (Berthillon – very good), and a very good and clean spa-and-tearoom  (for a massage to get over jet lag) all within 2 blocks of the apartment.

–In a building built in 1685 you have to expect some oddities. The floors slope. And the elevator stops half way between two floors not on a landing but on a step in the stairwell. If you are mobility-challenged, you may want to consider this.

–We would not hesitate to recommend Guest Apartments to family and friends and would certainly plan to return on our next trip to Paris!