Guest Apartment Services, Paris: Nympheas

Rate: ***** (5 stars)

My experience with Guest Apartment Services began 9 months before our stay. For my wife’s birthday I was planning a vacation culminating with a week stay in Paris. I was looking for an apartment so that she could have a different experience from the hotel experience we would normally have. I selected Nympheas, a well appointed two bedroom (with an elevator) on Île Saint-Louis. The Island’s location provides for easy access to both banks and Île de la Cité, and yet remains a bit off the normal tourist routes so it is a little quieter and slower than Champs-Élysées, Place Vendôme, or Place des Vosges, etc. In addition, the isle is a self-contained neighborhood you don’t really have to leave if you choose not to.

Nympheas is in a secured building and (as said) well appointed, very comfortable, with views of the rive droite, the large windows open over the tree lined banks of the river. It is very well located close to cultural venues, surrounded by the main artery of city life (the Seine), and a variety of dining options (Liliane, we did shop at Le Boulanger de la Tour and had a dinner at La Rôtisserie d'Argent, delicious!).

My first contact with Guest Apartment Services was with Philippe Pée and Christophe Marty who reserved the apartment and arranged our transfer from Orly to the apartment on Île Saint-Louis. They were very patient and accommodating, they later introduced me to Liliane, who arranged other transportation and special requests to help make my wife’s experience memorable and our stay more comfortable. We arrived the last week of the Paris Open so I'm sure the staff were quite busy yet Liliane, among other things, found a group of musicians, organized through Flavien Provansal (www.euromusicproductions.fr) and arranged for them to meet us on Pont Saint Louis where they played music as we danced, the Seine and the spires of Notre Dame de Paris glinting in sunset, the backdrop for our last day in Paris. Mille merci à vous Liliane, sans vous ce souvenir spécial n'aurait pas été (I hope my French is correct). Our stay was splendid and afforded us experiences we would be unlikely to have had we stayed in a hotel or with anyone else.

Thanks to all of the staff and associates of Guest Apartment Services for helping to make the final week of this birthday celebration, a very special gift.

William