L'Escale — Hotel in Dunkirk

The interior is like a secondary school. There's no lighting in the stairwells which is bordering on dangerous. The food was pretty dire. Chicken dippers or fishcake fish slices with either rice or pasta, and then a beef/gravy sauce or a bearnaise sauce...? The apple/pear tarts were good though and the continental breakfast is decent - although the single coffee machine they have is only on at breakfast, and needed the filter changing so didn't work for half the service.

Evening meal was so bad our whole party ate out after the first night.

Rooms are basic. Wooden bed frames that squeak every time you move. Our room had a 'wet room' bathroom which was OK but the shower head holder was broken so you had to hold it which made things more awkward.

No decor in the rooms. 3 hangers in the cupboard for a 3 bed room...

Location isn't terrible. Close to the beach front and harbour although it's a little industrial.

No working WiFi. No-one on reception for most of the stay - saw the kitchen service staff trying to fix stuck key card door locks - lots of problems with those. No bar area - just a 'school common room' kind of seating area in front of the empty reception.

It's not entirely awful, but there has got to be better accommodation to stay in. The whole place just smacks of a desperate lack of ambition or tlc.

Avoid if you can. Endure if you can't.

I see you've responded to my review without contesting a single thing I posted. You've just basically called me a drunken English thug? I actually gave your staff 4 stars. They were very good and evidently work hard. The 'drunken football teams' were in fact kids teams of 11 to 14 years old. So no. They weren't drunk.

The people fighting has nothing to do with my review, or your hotel. I never mentioned that. It could have happened anywhere so is entirely irrelevant. It wasn't me so I object to being accused of being part of that.

I wasn't difficult about the catering, I was honest. I ate there on the 1st and 2nd nights. The 1st night was poor. The 2nd was better but still not good. Steamed fish or meatballs, rice or pasta and a choice of 2 sauces, including a tomato one which actually went with the pasta at least as opposed to the 1st night. At least the vegetables weren't boiled to within an inch of their lives on the second night.

You don't have any working lights in the stairwells. The WiFi didn't work. A lot of the key cards didn't work. The wooden beds squeak. The shower holder was broken. All FACTS.

Your response doesn't address any of those points. It's just a personal attack. "You drunken English"...

Whatever.

Your hotel just isn't very good. And...

I personally loved my experience in this hostel , the food was absolutely divine and as a vegetarian I still had a variety of delicious options including nothing. The pastry was so interesting and the fact that it was rock solid and cold made me feel like I was lying on the rocks at the beach. The bedroom was soo spacious like the closet I have at home and the bathroom really emphasised the outdoor experience and showed how environmentally friendly they are since the shower had no shower head and I have realised how much I would love to go camping. I have booked a holiday already. Adding to the nature experience, the wood chips in the lobby area made me 100% certain I was camping and how I would absolutely adore it. And then the way the Wi-Fi was always working and the rooms it was in its peak, my phone bill is going to be higher than Mount Everest. The artwork in the toilets was stunning and Michaelangelo is shivering in his boots, literally since there is no heating. I don’t need heating and this has helped me realise I don’t need it whatsoever but at least we had a spare blanket to feel warmer. The canteen was completely hygienic and I even found a dead fly in a jug of water which really added to the outdoor atmosphere. The way the doors slammed ,the floorboards creaked and also the bed. This all made me certain that I was a natural camper. The fact there was no soap really showed how they truly cared about us guests and how they went to such lengths to provide such an amazing experience. The colour of the mattress was a beautiful mustard yellow almost similar to the stain above the shower. The breakfast options had no hot food but I survived so camping will be a piece of cake, shame there was nothing for dessert. Such interesting interior designs, will definitely be coming here next time in France. Everyone should come so wonderful and so interesting! 5 stars!!

school trip honestly i hated it so much not even being funny now like the food was so bad, rooms sucked. like me and my friend got locked out of our room and there was nobody at reception. not that they would’ve helped like they didn’t even understand us and yes we tried to speak as much french as possible, so it’s not just english and there were other schools there should the staff not understand us? really wish i could...

Hello. We had an awful stay here at Escale, and we wish to never travel here again. The food quality is terrible and borderline inedible with the pasta nearly uncooked and very few options for everyone, including vegetarians. The WiFi did not work whatsoever in rooms and barely worked in the lobby. The rooms are as basic as it can get. The beds are extremely uncomfortable, and the bathrooms are dirty and disgusting, similar to a public bathroom with black mold on the floor! Our room had broken windows, letting in the cold air at night, which was the same with many other guests after I spoke with them. The youths here caused many problems, including pouring entire buckets of water from the windows and tapping of sticks on the walls and screaming from their rooms after 11 pm. The doors to the rooms were faulty and and there was a chance that the handle would come off. In conclusion, the place was like a prison, and the food made us want to starve ourselves. You lie in your photos on booking.com, make the hostel look somewhat appetising, and we wish no one has to go through this again. Have...