Last week I was in Le Touquet. It was a flying visit, as I was en route to Le Mans. It was really more of a flying visit than a holiday trip. We both love Le Touquet and had previously stayed at a small, privately-owned "boutique" hotel there, right in the centre of the town, but the rooms were very tiny and it had started to get very shabby on the last couple of visits, so we decided to look elsewhere. My friend suggested the Holiday Inn which is situated in the forest at Le Touquet. He had stayed there before and said it was very good. I was not convinced as I had the idea Holiday Inns were perfectly functional but more of the "motel" kind of hotel. Anyway, I agreed to try it. We were greeted by the reception staff who were extremely friendly and efficient. The room itself was lovely. It was very large indeed, with one complete wall of floor to ceiling windows overloking the greenery and peace of the forest outside. There was a very large marble bathroom and a separate sizeable entrance lobby, which gave the room the feel of a suite, even though it was not. Everything was immaculate and there seemed to be flowering orchid plants everywhere! The bed was huge and incredibly comfortable and the room was so peaceful and quiet. We were so impressed that we booked to stay on our return trip from Le Mans, which was for the "day after next". When we returned to the hotel two days later, we were greeted like old friends by the young man on reception! We were allocated the same lovely large room and this time we decided not to go out to dinner, but to try the restaurant in the hotel, as we had covered a lot of miles on the French motorways in just a couple of days and were too tired to go out in Le Touquet itself. The food was excellent - we both had fish, I had the cod and my friend had the salmon and neither could be faulted. They were super-fresh, deliciously and imaginatively prepared and the service at dinner was excellent even though the resturant was very quiet. Whilst waiting for the chef to prepare our food, we were served a complimentary serving of soup, which turned out to be a shrimp bisque topped off with cream, served hot in a small glass with a thick straw. It was the best shrimp bisque either of us had ever tasted - perfectly balanced with an intense shrimp flavour - totally delicious! After another perfectly peaceful night's sleep, as we headed back to England, we promised the charming staff on reception we will be back soon.......and we undoutedly will! We are just hoping the shrimp bisque will still be on the menu!
- Le Touquet Holiday Inn
