About Barge building

How we re-build barges.....the transformation to luxury floating hotel

As barge builders, we have spent a great deal of time searching the backwaters of Holland and Belgium finding good hulls, which are ideally suited to the smaller canals and rivers, we navigate

A vessel of the correct dimensions to navigate the smaller locks is essential. We cruise where none of the big river cruise ships can follow, away from the maddening crowd and through some of the finest scenery in Europe

It takes about a year to build a hotel barge once we have found the boat. The first job is to take the vessel to a shipyard, usually in Belgium to create the steel structure, which will house all the interior joinery. At this stage we also build fresh water tanks, fit the generators and wiring and plumbing looms and ballast the boat with specially made cast iron ingots, which fit, neatly between the frames for maximum use of space. The steel work stage takes us about 4 months

The painstaking process of fitting out then begins. Eight months of coordination and excitement as the vessel develops and starts to take shape

We select the finest materials, using brass, African hardwoods - varnished teak and mahogany, American air-conditioning units, and we employ highly skilled craftsmen from all marine professions - shipwrights and carpenters, plumbers, electricians, painters, interior decorators and designers, glaziers and soft furnishers to fit out the barges

Every hotel barge is created within the limitations of the overall barge size, allowing for the maximum amount of space for every cabin and living area. We build so that every inch of living space is used as efficiently as possible, and we build with passenger comfort always in mind, and to exacting international safety standards

We understand exactly what our discerning clientele demands, and we believe our fleet of vessels represents Europe’s premier hotel barge selection

Please visit the following links if you would like to know more about our Barges

Why not experience the magic for yourself, contact us today to find out
more about our European luxury barge cruise vacations
on the European Waterways....

Toll Free 1 800 394 8630