Chateau d'Hallines — Hotel in Saint-Omer

We stayed at Chateau d’Hallines as a group of 16, having been 24 people but we got hit by last minute Covid. The trip was our annual group/family cycle event that we’ve done for 8 years or so and Chateau d’Hallines has definitely set the standard! Our best trip yet and I cannot see how we’ll improve on it.

The trip had been planned for 2 years but Covid had prevented us getting out. All through this time Amanda was absolutely fantastic, really easy to deal with and a mine of great information. As a host she couldn’t have been more helpful.

For the trip itself all the group thought the Chateau was wonderful. The location, size, decoration and amenities were all highly praised and the owners have done a brilliant job not only on the renovation but for getting everything that enables a visit to be just right.

The entertaining rooms are all ideal and we had group dinners and games nights with ease. The kitchen worked well and all the little extras, like the table football, billiards, tennis and trampoline meant that we had activities both day and night. Likewise, all the bedrooms are decorated to the highest standards. With 12 couples staying I had to allocate rooms and had no concerns about someone not being happy with the choice, all are ideal and everyone was delighted.

While it would have been easy to cook for ourselves, we got prepared meals delivered for two nights (good vale and very tasty) and had a chef come in for another evening. This was perfect. I had considered eating out for some evenings but that would have been harder to sort out and more expensive, plus we wouldn’t have made best use of such a great Chateau. We had brilliant evenings in the dining room eating very well, and added a barbeque night as well to make sure we used the stables area to best effect. Also, getting dinner delivered for our first night meant we were stress free after a reasonably long cycle. We also had someone serve and tidy on our last night with the chef which meant we enjoyed ourselves even more and had a very clean kitchen ready for our departure the next day. These are all extravagances I would have usually avoided but they really made the event even more special.

For activities both the cycle group and non-cyclists had loads of options. We planned a battlefield tour of the Dunkirk evacuation that went very well as well as doing Agincourt. Even though we know the area well it always surprises us how much there is to do nearby and how lovely the villages and scenery can be. Lots of great lunches out were had and there was never a dull moment.

Looking ahead, the eight who missed out are completely gutted – especially after those who went have spoken so highly of the Chateau – so we are booking for 2024. We have plenty of other cycle routes to do, plus loads of other sites to see, and are looking forward to it already.

Finally, my daughter has just planned her wedding for next year and my regret is she hadn’t seen Chateau d’Hallines before booking. A missed opportunity that she would have loved, but one her siblings can use...

We are a family of 24 including 14 adults 8 children and 2 infants. We had a brilliant week at Chateau d’Hallines which had just about everything you could possibly think of on a practical basis for catering for a varied and large gathering. Every one had a most comfortable bedroom with no-one feeling they had a lesser quality room than anyone else. All rooms had a different and vivid theme with quality fixtures and fittings. Everyone had hot water for showers regardless of the time of day and what was happening in the kitchen or rest of the accommodation. The kitchen had every conceivable convenience for catering for a large group. Many choices of large pots and pans, cutlery, China and serving dishes. The chateau inside and out was clean and tidy including the old stables which provided a covered patio area with ample lounge area and seating for BBQ’s or outside picnic’s. Plenty of surrounding undercover space ideal for kids to play while adults relaxed and chatted. The indoor dinning hall was spacious, light and airy and again plenty of chairs and elbow space for all and conveniently located off the hall next to the kitchen. There were a number of indoor sitting rooms and a couple of well equipped TV rooms where small groups could drift off to for some quiet time although we didn’t use the inside spaces much. On the top floor was a well thought-out games room with table tennis and flick football and warm carpeted flooring and attractive wall decor. Not forgetting the indoor trampoline great for little and not so little people. There was also a snooker room on the ground floor and paddle tennis off the old stable area not forgetting the outdoor tennis courts. So much choice for an active family whatever the weather. All equipment provided and a large variety of indoor and outdoor games and equipment. Not forgetting a number of quality bikes for exploring the area. The outdoor pool was a little cold but the weather perhaps was a little early (May) to have helped on this point. There was plenty of seating and loungers plus pool floats etc. to use. On top of this there was massive outdoor space for wide games on the well maintained lawn and wild areas for exploring. All in all we couldn’t have asked for more from our hosts in equipping and maintaining the accommodation and a big plus for our group was the short trip from Calais which was barely 30 minutes. One week is just not enough. We would love to return at some point in the future as this place has everything our large family group of diverse ages could wish for, and there is something for everyone. We didn’t even begin to explore the surrounding area as we were fully occupied. We did venture to a beach (35 minutes away) and Bagatelle Theme park which was a big hit for young and old alike. Amanda we can’t...

Had an absolute wedding nightmare with the owners. We rented the chateau for 3 days with the use of the refurbished stable block for our wedding in September 2018. Around 12 hours before our journey to France and we received an email that told us: the stable block roof needed to still be extending since it didn't provide enough protection in case of rain. We wouldn't be able to start the set up for the wedding in the stable block until 5pm. We had agreed to an early check-in to have enough time to decorate and set up before the wedding day. -This meant an immense amount of stress for not only all guests but also for us. To top this we had builders on site during our booking, without an option for a discount based on their failure to get this organised months in advance or an apology.

When we agreed to the rental we did it based on the fact that there was no noise restriction mentioned for the wedding. About 2 months before, we then were told that there should be no amplified music past 10pm. I organised silent disco from the UK to cover this. Between 11.30 ish pm and midnight the owner then came over two times to complain about the noise level, not due to a neighbour complaining as far as know , no, because they felt it was too loud when people spoke or were singing along. Imagine if we had organised a band or DJ. We were asked to close the doors to the 'dance area' which is, in my opinion: too small for 60 people dancing too hot and sticky due to lack of air flow and not sound proofed. People were therefore dancing in the main room for more space and fresh air, at a wedding you can't restrict people to one space when it wasn't mentioned before especially when the bar is in the main room. After having made me cry the owner came a third time, having ruined the party for me, a group of my friends then dealt with the situation.

The cherry on top came three days after check-out when we received an email from the owner, that we had damaged a sofa in the kitchen and they would keep over half of our deposit for it. That was part of our wedding money by the way. They initially charged us for a wooden box, without showing us an invoice for cost, they later found it in their house... The sofa turned out was already damaged before our arrival, we had photo evidence We had to take legal action in order to resolve this matter which cost a lot of energy, time and meant that we didn't get the full amount back

There is so much more I haven't mentioned but all I can say is that in my opinion the owners showed no compassion for us, our/ their guest or what should have been one of our happiest days in our lives. I would not trust them with a...