Hotel de France, LéPINE

This is one of the most charming Hotels I have stayed at. Janie and Patrick really looked after us and we will certainly be going back next year. We stayed for four nights, ate in the courtyard restaurant which was outstanding both in quality and value for money, visited the nearby town of Le Touquet, we went to the market at Hesdin. The location is perfect;right in the centre of Montreuil-sur Mer. The friendly, homely atmosphere really suited us and the courtyard is a real site to behold -decked in flowers from head to toe! Go in the summer and enjoy a bottle of wine before dinner in glorious surroundings, Little Patrick runs a great restaurant!

Please don't pay good money to stay here. It is actually disgraceful that the owners have the gall to charge for the rooms. We were a party of four and booked two rooms on the basis that it looked charmingly boho and eccentric on the website...and the courtyard of the hotel is lovely - all tumbling flowers and pots. The owner met us and gave us our keys and it soon became apparent why she doesn't accompany you to your room. The first one stank: of damp and dust and mould all overlaid with lashings of air "freshener". The second one, a "suite" was marginally better, having a relatively modern carpet and more windows, but it still was in a condition that no hotelier with any pride in their property would allow: the bathroom hadn't been hoovered, the bathmat had stains and dirt on it, there was grit in the bath, dust over the furniture, and the bedspread had a cigarette burn in it. We tried to find another hotel in Montreuil but they were all booked so we didn't have any choice but to stay there but the first room was so squalid we took the duvet and used it as a mattress on the floor of the second one. One of my friends had an asthma attack from the dust and none of us passed what could be called anything like a comfortable night. For this we had the pleasure of paying of 200 euros. At breakfast, (another ten euros each for a croissant and a bread roll), tea was served in a chipped and filthy pot. I'm writing this because I really wouldn't anyone else to waste their money as we did. The owners - who I'm ashamed to say are British - lacked even the most basic pride in the place. Stay at the Coquempot up the road - it's clean and, a big difference this, welcoming.

Historic unique 16th Century Coaching Inn in Montreuil sur mer. Boutique hotel with a special zany, quirky, friendly and warm atmosphere. Privately owned this hotel has been visited by some very eminent personalities. Victor Hugo based the Coaching Inn in Les Miserables on this original 16th Century Coaching Inn. Gerard Depardieu was resident here for over a year during the filming in the area. Mel Smith and Midge Ure have also visited and Mel Smiths description of the hotel as "A Place of Sleep and Dreams" is now been adopted by the hotel as its defining description. But is also a place of Late Late night hat parties..... Fancy dress hats provided by the hotel.