We stayed in this apartment for a week in June. We found it excellent, to the extent of thinking of coming back next year.

The owners, Frank and Geraldine, kept us up to date with our booking and provided all information necessary to locate the apartment easily.

Residence Colline is about 15 minutes' stroll from the town centre and another 5 minutes to the sea. The walk home is only mildly uphill, but there is a climb up two sets of steps to the door. The road on which it is situated is quiet and very pleasant. One does walk the sidewalk of a small piece of busy main road as one nears the town centre.

The Residence is five blocks built around the pool. The buildings are a jaunty pink, which is in keeping with colourful Collioure. The ground floor is garages, which are of a mechanised, stacked design. Bring a small car: our Opel Corsa fitted, but nothing bigger would. Our first attempts at the slope into the garage were stressful to both driver and clutch, but having private parking is a big bonus in Collioure, so we persevered and mastered it.

Living, dining and bedrooms are spacious, light and airy. We were only a couple, but four people would fit, no problem. The owners have thoughtfully left lots of reading material, beach equipment, pool equipment, a few DVDs and CDs. The TV has mostly UK channels, allowing one a little bit of home away from home.

The kitchen has all the appliances one needs, plus plenty of pots and pans, so it is possible to cook proper meals there. Conveniently its window opens onto the rear terrace.

This terrace allows one to eat outside and is also a good place to dry towels, clothes etc. It is not a pretty space, but we still valued it for the ability to eat outside in private.

Much more attractive is the small outdoor space at the front of the apartment overlooking the pool and having a view of Collioure and mountains. It's not big enough for meals, but is a pleasant place for an after-dinner drink.

The bathroom and separate toilet are functional and clean, though the fittings and decor are a little tired.

Superb swimming pool is big enough for actual swimming (I reckon one can get about 15 metres hockey-stick-shaped "lengths"), clean and attractive. Water was 24C in mid-June. There's a nice area around the pool where one can relax in lovely surroundings. There were chairs and loungers that, in June at least, seemed to be treated as communal by the surprisingly small number of people using the pool (we frequently had it to ourselves).

Some electrical equipment in the apartment could do with a bit of attention. We were unable to use the microwave at all, while the washing machine and some wall power outlets had slight issues. I will be letting the owners know about these. They seem very nice so hopefully will address these problems.

Collioure itself is very pretty and a lovely place to be. It has a number of areas of sea-front bars and restaurants, plus quaint back-streets with nice shops. The beaches are nice enough, though not sandy (try St Cyprien for sand without Argeles' Blackpool-with-sun feel), and plenty of people were happily swimming in the sea.

We stayed at Residence Colline from June 9 – 14, 2012 and had a wonderful time. The photos on the website do not show how large the living and dining rooms really are. We were very pleased with how spacious and comfortable the apartment was. The kitchen is very modern, and the bedrooms a good size – each opening out to a small terrace. The toilet is in a separate closet room from the bathroom which has a tub/shower combination and a bidet. The terraces are quite small, but adequate.

We were especially pleased to find so many English DVD movies available to watch in the evenings, as well as some games such as Scrabble and Dominoes. There is no Internet connection that we could find, so we had to walk into town to Café Sola for email. The walk into town took us 15 minutes to the edge of town and another 5 to 10 minutes to reach the beach. Make sure to attend the wonderful farmer’s markets in town on Sunday and Wednesday mornings – one of the most charming I have ever encountered in France. However, do not drive because it is very difficult to find a parking place – just walk down from Residence Colline with a shopping bag.

We ate at several of the restaurants in town – usually the lunch menus which were excellent and ranged from 14 to 17 euros for 2 or 3 courses. Fresh seafood and good Collioure AOC and Banyuls wine are abundant. The last night we splurged and booked a reservation in the very elegant La Ballette restaurant with an incredible view across the bay. The dinner menus start at 45 euros per person and go up from there. We did the 45 euro menu which consisted of 4 courses, plus 2 amuse bouches and 1 small plate of candies at the end. Wonderful service with artistic presentation of the food.

We took day trips to several places including Ceret to visit the art museum. While there we had a great lunch at Restaurant Bisbee – only 16 euros and almost gourmet in taste and presentation. We also did the 45 minute free wine tour at Celliar de Templars in Banyuls (English tours in afternoons) and drove the very twisty road to the Spanish Border to have lunch in Spain at Port Buo. We did one long day trip to Carcassonne (1.5 hours from Collioure), and then took the back roads home to Limoux to taste the sparkling wine, Renne le Chateau to visit the mysterious church, and then followed the winding and incredibly beautiful road through the Pyrenees to Maury where we stopped to taste their famous dessert wine at the coop tasting room. This is called the Route of the Cathars and seems very special and magical.

The trip was great, even though we did have one day of rain. The only issue was parking. Even though the apartment comes with its own parking space, I could not fit my car in it, so I had to park on the street. Parking is an issue in Collioure as it is so small and so many people want to visit. Therefore if you drive, be prepared to wait for a parking place and then pay for it.

The town of Collioure itself is like something out of a postcard. It was my second visit and did not disappoint. It is hard to find a place more charming with its church, tour, chateau and seawalls snuggled along the tranquil sea with colorful boats and delicious restaurants. There are many small shops to visit and several free winery tasting rooms. On Sunday afternoon they do free Catalan dances in full costume in the square outside the tourist office. Definitely plan to attend. Cheers!

We spent a lovely Easter week here. The flat was tastefully decorated and the kitchen extremely well equipped. The owners had provided lots of extras from hot water bottles and umbrellas to outdoor furniture and beach equipment. The little patio at the rear was a real suntrap and we enjoyed eating al fresco most days. Collioure was beautiful and only a short walk down the ravine from the flat. We spent many happy hours sitting in one of the waterside cafes watching the world go by. Good quick train service to Perpignan and beyond - easier than driving. Best day out was a trip to the medieval town of Villefranche- de- Conflent , stopping off at Les Orgues on the way home to visit the spectacular rock formations.