We stayed in this hotel with our 4 children for 3 nights at the end of a 3 week tour of France. The purpose of our stay being to catch up with friends living near to Boulogne. The booking was all completed by email without any difficulties being encountered. For my own peace of mind I wrote all correspondence in English and French, followed up with a "snail mail" confirmation but this is something I always do when travelling. The hotel exceeded all our expectations and we will definately stay there again. With 4 children it is normal for us to have to take two rooms. Although the hotel did not have any linked rooms they supplied us with 2 superior rooms (18 & 19) which were beautiful. Decorated in a traditional style, with dark wood furniture and warm colours; the room had the feeling of a comfy sofa,by a blazing fire on a winters' night. Not that it was lacking in any mod cons: with tv, aircon, mini bar etc plus a spotless white tiled bathroom with bath, shower and cuddly robes and slippers. For us, even nicer, was the fact that we were not expect to have the kids (ages 6 - 16) in with us. We are used to having to "officially" book places with one adult in each room. Not so with the Matelote. It was assumed that we would like some privacy. We arrived to find that 4 beds had been placed in the room next door. No pretence here. The kids loved the room, the girls had great fun with the robes, toiletries etc while while the boys (16 and13) liked the way in which the staff treated them as adults, not questioning them when they chose forgo the visit to relatives and remain in Boulogne alone. The only downside to the accommodation was that we were unable to get the VERY explicit porn channel turned off. My husband resorted to retuning the tv himself, so apologies to any future occupants of room 19. The rest of the hotel lived up to the promise of the room. Both in terms of accommodation and staff, most of whom spoke English and tolerated my massacre of their langage with great charm. . The real bonus was the hotel pool which we did not know of when we booked. (It is obviously brand new the floor it is on smelt of new paint). Situated in the roof area, it is small (recreation only) but deep (over the head of my 6-year-old who is 42 cms tall) and heated to 29 degrees with air temperature to match. There is also a jacuzzi, sauna and steam rooms. During our stay we appeared to be the only people who used these facilities with the children coming to regard it as their own private pool. Another bonus is that the hotel has its own private garage for which you pay extra. However be warned. Due to the way it is sited on a hill some spaces may to too small for larger vehicles. We had to remove the roofbox from our Toyota Previa. There is free public parking behind the Nausicca Aquarium opposite but this also has a height restriction.
The Hotel Matelote has a separate restaurant next door for which you have to make individual bookings. The food in here is superb, it is real high class French cooking, of a standard to rival some of the best Parisien restaurants and with a price tag to rival. The service was impeccable, with many little extras about which I will not write so's not to spoil the surprise! One's stomach let alone one's purse dictate's that you couldn't possibly eat here every day but it is a one off treat which should not be missed. As if by confimation most of the clientele seem to be locals celebrating anniversaries etc for which I think there is probably no better place. For more down to earth meals and prices there are heaps of restaurants within a few hundred yards of the hotel. (My sons recommend the shark steaks on offer at the restaurant L'universe a few doors along from the Matelote). There is a separate breakfast room in the hotel. Food is served from a extensive buffet comparable to all hotels of that standard. At 13 Euros each it is not the cheapest meal around. We used it once preferring to buy croissants at a nearby supermarket and eat them in our room. The hotel is not in the main town centre, being sited on the seafront with it's long rolling beach (great for kids.) However nothing is very far in Boulogne and a short 20 minute walk will bring you to the old walled town abounding with eateries of all descriptions and for us it was the perfect location. We shall undoubtely be using the Matelote again.