Le Boat UK

Should have been a superb long weekend to Djon BUT;
1. Office staff are nice but very slow due to inexperience,
2. Restricted itinerary. Forced down the straight boring canal (with limited water points) due to flooding they said, although they didn't impose this on another party of guests as we were leaving,
3. Additional costs which were not clearly stated before hand (parking, seat covers) seemed ridiculous,
4. Lock keepers, WOW!! Personally I like working the locks myself, but I appreciate rules are rules, but having personal lock assistants which pootle along with you on a moped, eventually opening the gates in their own sweet time, sometimes even missing in action for hours,
5. Electric issue despite undertaking the pre-float checks with a technician the charging system failed on the first night out of port. No compensation offered for the issue (inc. cutting our break a night short) just grief trying to get a refund on the extra fuel used trying to keep the boat warm after the eclectic failed.

Boating in the UK maybe be a bit run down in comparison, but we prefer it. Exploring Ireland next :)

#FrenchLocksNeverAgain

** Le Boat's response (judge for yourself) **

Dear Danny,

It is our main aim to provide our customers with the best service, so we are disappointed to read your comments on this occasion and are very sorry for the technical issues you had. With regards to our prices, we believe in transparency and that is why you would have received a detailed price list of our optional extras together with your contract. As for the navigation restrictions and lock keepers issue, those situations are managed by the local waterways authorities and are, unfortunately beyond our control. We would like to thank you for your feedback which will help us to continually improve the standard of our services.

Kind regards,
The Le Boat Team

Been out twice with Le Boat on the Thames and it's been great fun. The boats are really comfortable and spacious with everything you'd need and it's such a lovely way to see the area. We got the hang of locks easily and really enjoyed navigating the waterways and watching the world go by from the top deck. A relaxing and fun holiday! Very friendly staff who helped with all the details of our booking too. Thanks Le Boat :-)

My first boating holiday and a lovely trip along Canal Latéral à la Garonne! Le boat staff was very accommodating with all the bizarre questions I had and made boating for a beginner very easy. Just a note, make sure you bring a multiple plug extension - there aren't many plug outlets on the boat

Booking for a group of friends. LeBoat was terrific at responding to the many questions about the boat, the region, and assisting with early preparations.

We had a very enjoyable week boating along the Thames from Benson, helped by lovely weather and some wonderful villages to stop at on the way. Particularly, Goring, Sonning and Pangbourne were beautiful with great walks and lovely pubs for a nice meal. The boat was showing it's age but had pretty much all the facilities we needed and although a 4-birth, it was just right for the two of us with 2 cabins and 2 bathrooms. The staff were very friendly and check-in was smooth and quick. There were, however, a few issues that need to be stated. The front cabin was supposed to be set up as a double bed but the insert piece of mattress had no support so couldn't be used leaving the 2 angled singles. The fridge seemed to have no temperature control; no matter what we set the knob to from 0 to max, things completely froze in the fridge so we had to take things like milk and butter out to thaw before using. Luckily the weather was good because one evening it rained for a while and we immediately noticed a rain leak through one of the fixed windows so had to put a towel under it. Fortunately, it didn't rain for long. When it did rain, the window wiper was somewhat ineffective as it only cleared the top half of it's sweep. We stopped for water once and realised that the hose supplied on the boat had a standard garden hose attachment that didn't fit on the water tap! I had to remove the attachment and hold the bare hose firmly up against the tap which was hard and from time to time I got sprayed with water! There were a number of contradictions in the pre-departure documentation, the main one being the booklet said you won't need to pump out during the week but the technician showing us over the boat said we should! So we stopped at a pump-out point only to be told that you need to get a pump-out card first (the technician didn't mention this). At this point I decided not to bother and it was fine not pumping out (there were only two of us after all and we made use public toilets where we could). Despite these issues, we had a great week and would certainly do it again but I hope Le Boat fix the rain leak in case it rains more next time!

Bizarre. I just filled in a survey about the booking experience and Le Boat redirected me here so I could write a review. Can’t really do that until I’ve actually been on the boat, can I? So far not impressed with the hidden extra charges though - added about £4-500 to a £1500 headline price. Naughty.

Overall holiday experience in Scotland was excellent, however the sour taste of the poor service at the end of our break by Anne and her counterpart was simply atrocious.

The hidden extras and deceitfulness around the extortionate fuel bills are something to be VERY wary of. Very little information and explanation on the fuel usage, and then when we arrived back, despite not knowing who checked us in, the lady was adamant we were told, a complete lie. It then came to fruition that the fuel cost had increased due to the Ukraine/Russia conflict, without any prior communication to us.

The customer service clearly roles down hill, as I never received a response from their after sales team either - hardly unsurprising!

The boat, experience, scenery and even the weather was second to none. The ladies on check in and check out would prevent me from booking again. Be aware!!

had an absolutely amazing May bank holiday weekend at le boat caledonian canal. we were rank amatuers to boating having never done it before but our le boat rep John was an absolute gent and legend who made us feel at ease and helped us every step of the way. Before we knew it we were away with it and off boating on our own. we had 3 night friday to monday and sailed from loch lochy to loch ness and back. The sense of peace and freedom was next level. We will definitely be back. we cant wait to do it again with more friends and a bigger boat. The best money ive ever spent.