Name Saint Louis Port of registry Lyon Length 29 m | Operator Owner operated Launched 1923 Draft 1.2 m | |
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Owner SARL AB Barging (a French company owned by A & B Wyllie) Route Canal de Garonne and Canal de Montech - Montauban to Agen to Castets-en-Dorthe
Midi-Pyrénées and Aquitaine Builder Gebr. Boot, Alphen a/d Rijn | ||
The Saint Louis (named for Louis IX of France, later canonised) is a Luxemotor hotel barge, built in 1923 by Gebroeders Boot in Alphen aan den Rijn in the Netherlands. She was built as a bulk carrier and served in the Dutch seas and inland waterways carrying cargoes of grain and gravel until around 1985. At that time she was converted for use as a supply vessel in the port of Amsterdam, using the name Supplier 2. In 1994 she was sold and then converted into a hotel barge. She spent the first ten years of her new life as a hotel barge in the canal systems of Burgundy, in north west France. The Saint Louis was then bought by her present owners in 2004, when she was taken down the river and canal system of France to arrive on the Canal de Garonne, in south west France.
The Saint Louis has three double cabins for guests and separate accommodation for her crew of four. The guest cabins all have en-suite bathrooms. The boat has full air conditioning and central heating. The Saint Louis carries a crew of four and is owner-operated. The owners themselves fulfill the key roles of Pilot / Tour Guide and Chef / Head Housekeeper.
The owners of Saint Louis, Barbara and Alasdair Wyllie, are both 'Grande Plaisance' qualified passenger barge skippers. Alasdair is also a Yachtmaster (with full Commercial Endorsement). He is the great grandson of the renowned marine artist W L Wyllie and many of that artist’s works are to be found in the guest areas of the boat.