Twenty-two berths · Four cities

Floating Apartments and Houseboats to Stay On

Sleeping on the water in the middle of a city is the rare kind of accommodation people remember for years — provided the boat is warm, quiet, properly plumbed and moored somewhere you actually want to be. Our twenty-two floating homes are modern, insulated, connected to mains water, power and drainage, and berthed on serviced pontoons within walking distance of the centre. They range from a one-room studio on a converted barge to a two-storey floating house sleeping six, and every one has a caretaker within ten minutes.

Boats & Stays Check Availability

Modern two-storey floating house with glass terraces

Dark-clad houseboat moored along a city quay

About us

Boats Fitted Out as Homes, Not as Novelties

The first boat was bought half-finished by a naval architect and a hotelier who were tired of houseboat rentals that leaked cold air through single glazing, ran a noisy generator all night and offered a chemical toilet at a city price. Their fit-out set the standard for everything since: insulated hull and superstructure, double glazing, a proper heating system, mains water and drainage, a real bathroom with a real shower, and enough sound insulation that a passing tourist boat does not wake anybody.

Berths are chosen as carefully as the boats. A floating home needs a pontoon with serviced connections, secure gated access, parking within reach, shelter from wash and wind, and a location where the surroundings are worth the view. We have turned down cheaper moorings on working quays where the first commercial barge of the morning arrives at five, and beside nightlife streets where the noise makes sleep impossible in summer. Every listing states the exact berth, what is around it and what can be heard from the bed.

Everything is legal, which sounds obvious and is not universal in this sector. Each boat carries current inspection certificates, gas and electrical safety documentation, insurance covering paying guests, and a mooring agreement that permits short-term letting. Guests are registered as required, tourist taxes are declared, and the harbour authority knows exactly what each berth is used for. Owners who place boats with us receive copies of all of it.

Advantages

What Makes a Floating Stay Work

Six things that separate a night to remember from a cold, noisy story about a boat.

Warm in Winter, Cool in August

Water conducts heat away from an uninsulated hull with remarkable efficiency, which is why so many houseboats are miserable outside June. Ours are insulated below the waterline as well as above, double glazed throughout, heated by air-source systems or shore-powered underfloor rather than by a diesel stove that needs feeding, and ventilated to control condensation. In summer the same insulation and cross-ventilation keep them cooler than the apartments on the quay, which is the reason our August occupancy is higher than our July.

Plumbed Into the Mains

Every berth has serviced connections: mains water, mains drainage into the municipal system, three-phase shore power and fibre. That means unlimited hot showers, a washing machine, a dishwasher and no holding tank that has to be pumped out mid-stay. Guests never handle a hose, a pump-out or a gas bottle. It is an unglamorous point that decides almost everything about how a week on board actually feels, and it rules out most of the cheaper moorings in every city we operate in.

Berths Chosen for Sleep

A beautiful boat on the wrong pontoon is a bad stay. We assess wash from passing traffic, the working hours of neighbouring quays, the distance to bars and clubs, exposure to the prevailing wind and whether the pontoon itself creaks and slaps in a swell. Mooring lines are set with springs and snubbers so the boat sits still rather than surging, and fenders are sized properly. Listings describe the acoustic reality of each berth honestly, including the two where the first commercial boat passes at seven.

A Real Bathroom and Kitchen

Full-height showers with proper pressure, ceramic toilets on mains drainage, heated towel rails and extraction that actually clears steam. Kitchens have full-size appliances, an induction hob, an oven, a fridge with a freezer and enough worktop to cook a real meal. Storage is designed for luggage rather than for a weekend bag. Guests staying a week or a month — and many do — find the boat works as a home rather than as a novelty that wears off on the third day.

Somebody Ten Minutes Away

Each city has a caretaker who lives nearby, holds keys, checks the mooring lines daily and answers the phone from seven in the morning until eleven at night. Arrivals are met in person, the systems explained in five minutes, and problems dealt with the same evening. Boats are checked after every storm and during cold snaps whether or not they are occupied. Guests are given a single number that reaches a person rather than a platform message queue.

Fully Legal and Insured

Each boat holds current hull and third-party insurance covering paying guests, a valid inspection certificate, gas and electrical safety documentation, and a mooring agreement that expressly permits short-term letting. Guest registration and tourist tax are handled by us. This matters more than guests realise: unlicensed floating lets are periodically cleared out of European cities at a few days' notice, and a booking on one can disappear the week before arrival.

Houseboat with terrace moored on a calm harbour

Services

For Guests and for Boat Owners

Short stays, long stays, group berths, events on board and full management for owners.

Short Stays

Nightly and weekly stays on twenty-two boats from a studio for two to a floating house sleeping six, all with linen, towels, wi-fi, heating, a full kitchen and a terrace or deck. Check-in is in person at any reasonable hour, parking is arranged where the berth allows it, and a printed guide covers the pontoon, the neighbourhood and the practical details of living on water. Minimum stay is two nights, three at weekends in high season.

Monthly and Seasonal Lets

Substantially reduced rates from one month upwards, with weekly cleaning and linen, a desk and chair set up for working, a grocery delivery on a fixed day and help with local registration where a stay requires it. Remote workers, people between homes and visiting academics make up most of these bookings. Utilities are included and unmetered, and extensions can usually be arranged on the same boat rather than requiring a move mid-stay.

Groups and Neighbouring Berths

In three of our locations several boats lie on the same pontoon, so a family or a group of friends can take two or four adjacent boats and share the deck between them. We arrange catering, a breakfast delivery to each boat, and a private tender or water taxi where the city allows it. Groups are capped at what the pontoon can absorb without disturbing neighbours, and quiet hours are part of the booking rather than a suggestion.

Small Events on Board

Two of the larger boats have saloons and decks suitable for dinners, meetings, small celebrations and photo shoots, with catering from nearby kitchens, staff, sound and a wet-weather plan. Capacity is limited by the boat's certificate rather than by ambition, and music stops at the hour agreed with the harbour authority. Corporate bookings frequently combine a working morning on board with an afternoon on the water in a hired launch.

Management for Owners

Owners of floating homes can place them under full management: photography and listing, pricing, guest vetting, key handling, cleaning and linen, technical maintenance, mooring line and fender checks, winter care, insurance and certificate renewals, licensing and tourist tax filings, and a monthly statement. We only take boats that meet the standard, and we will quote for the work needed to bring one up to it rather than listing something we would not stay on ourselves.

Technical Care and Winterising

Routine maintenance for boats on our berths and for private owners nearby: hull and anode inspection, bilge and pump checks, heating and water system servicing, gas and electrical certification, mooring line and fender replacement, storm preparation and winterising. We hold spare parts for the systems used across the fleet and can reach any of our berths within an hour, which is the difference between a frozen pipe and a flooded interior.

Contacts

Bookings and Owner Enquiries

Tell us the city, the dates and the number of guests, and we will suggest the boats that fit with honest notes about each berth — the view, the noise, the walk to the centre and where to park.

Owners considering management, and anyone needing technical care for a private floating home, should write to the same address.

Office19 Quai de la Fosse, 44000 Nantes, France

Phone+33 2 40 73 52 91

Emailpontoonstay@gmx.com

Office HoursDaily 08:00–20:00; arrivals met until 23:00