Starline Narrowboats Review

Booked with Starline - very impressed with service - that so we now have brought a narrowboat of our own and it is sponsored by Starline - the boat name is Star Gazer and we are really pleased with the comments we are receiving

Had a great short break on Kentish Star. 1st time on a narrow boat unfortunately due to flooding in the area had a smaller route to navigate, would of loved to go further but will book up again next year. Boat was in good condition for its age and learnt more about Narrow boats during our holiday. Our dog was nervous at 1st but was soon jumping on and off the boat when we approached a lock.

Tried calling, no answer so left a contact request via the website. No return call after a week. Chased up to enquire about next years prices, polite lady I spoke with said she would get the manager/owner to call me later. 2 weeks later still not heard anything.
This isn't a review of my experience of the product they sell because it seems they srent really bothered about sales.

Just returned from a weekend on the canal boat. We thought the boat was clean and well equipped. The staff were very helpful. We all had a great time and would use the company again.

We had a lovely time aboard Starline Narrowboats. Alwyn run us through all we needed to know in order to control the narrowboat & operate the locks. Our experience was very cosy & pleasant. We often stopped off for pub lunches & shopping. The narrowboat has all the essentials you need to have a comfortable stay including central heating - shower - flushing toilet & cooker etc. It s like a small floating caravan. Take warm clothes if you feel the cold though.
The scenery was excellent & you wake up to the quack quack of ducks.... ha ha

Stayed on North Star at the beginning of September 2018 with only 5 people on a 12 birth boat. The toilets were full after 3 days. The oven is the only method of cooking so its one pizza at a time and the boat instructions say if twelve More

Just came back from our 5 days break on Kentish Star (20/8/18 till 24/8/18). The staffs were very helpful & courteous when we checked in. We were explained on how to work the boat & showed the routes we were going & all. I would've given it a 5* had it not been for some small niggling issues. The cutleries drawer had a broken catch. So I have to bash it everytime to close it. By the end of the 1st day, it got on my nerve! Also, when we were stuck on 1 of the locks as it was "locked", a phone call to Starline was not much use. Luckily, between us & another party, we managed to sort that out. And, when we were handed the boat, it wasn't really clean but a quick brush, sorted that out. The tv never worked but that was fine as we weren't there to watch tele.
This was a joint birthday gift for mum & dad. It was an experience to say the least. My husband enjoyed it thoroughly inspite of the hard work & very physically demanding nature. Dad on the other hand was knackered. Luckily we have our 14yrs old son who did alot of the physical side of opening & shutting the locks. We were a party of 7 & are quite cosy on this boat. My advise for those thinking of going is to realise that there are alot of hard work & physically demanding part of this holiday that you probably won't know until you've been. This was our 1st time on a narrow boat holiday.Overall, we all have enjoyed our experience. I'm glad we did it. My husband wants to go again but I'm not rushing for it. So, its a personal preference really..

We hired Western Star narrowboat in September 2017 and would NOT recommend Starline Narrowboats. We noted several items missing on the boat and had issues working the cooker, grill and tv. The furniture inside and curtains were shabby and dirty and in need of a good clean! The gentleman who did our handover proceeded to smoke during our instruction and gave us misinformation about mooring. Our biggest complaint has been in how the company dealt with our observation and feedback. Although agreeing with many of our points the company persisted to push the responsibility back onto the previous hire for not reporting any missing items, allowing themselves only a 4 hour turnaround time (if previous hire had returned the boat on time they said!) and inferring we should have done a full and working inspection of the inventory checklist prior to handover. We were on our holiday and put trust in the company to ensure THEY had made certain everything was as stated it should be. NEVER AGAIN! We would give no stars but we can't post without at least 1!

Amazing experience, first time narrow boating for my 30th birthday, and the staff were friendly and approachable. The boat had everything we needed and was clean and comfortable. Engine ran beautifully! The area was lovely and we were recommended to go from Stourport to Kinver which we did, instructions for the boat were straight forward and will definitely be back, thanks Starline!!

Great experience. Our boat, the Western Star was mechanically sound, safe and clean. After a short but thorough walkthrough we set sail. We opted for a short 5 day break and turned round at Kinver. Beautiful scenery and lovely local people. Nothing beats the sound of a Lister engine plodding along at tickover with the wildlife around you.
Upon returning our boat with a heavy heart, we had a good chat with the owners who didn't even ask to see the boat. Overall it was delightful the whole time from start to end.

Ignore reviews regarding people commenting about only being able to cook one pizza at a time or the fridge not working, check the thermostat inside is set to 3 and not 1, this is so not to flatten the onboard electrics.

The boat itself was easy to drive and operating the locks becomes second nature - so don't stress.

10/10

Been 3 times now and loved it . Staff are great down at stourport and friendly and helpful . Can't wait till will go again soon

My wife and I, our two kids and my parent's and Hired 'Endeavour' in September 2016. The trip was spoilt by several major factors. We were told at the outset that the engine had a water leak and that we'd have to keep checking the levels. More

Good week away, but marred by numerous issues with the boat (Western Star) and the lacklustre post-hire service from Starline. The engine is embarrassingly loud, even at tickover. The amount of comments we had as we negotiated peaceful canals and waterways around the midlands. The mattress on the main bed is terrible and sleeping 5 would certainly not be a comfortable experience. The boat needs a thorough and deep clean, and basics like handsoap and knives that can cut anything would be useful!! Finally, getting through to somebody in the office wasn t possible. We were told that if we need to treat somebody we would call and leave a message, but the phone wasn t answered on the four occasions that we called and it wasn t possible to leave a message. All in all it was a lovely few days, just a shame that the boat and the service wasn t better.

My family and I hired out Dawn Star from Starline Narrowboats in june,2015. I decided to book with this company as they stated they updated their boats and that they have new boats. The gentleman I think his name was Tony, who was very friendly, helped us on our way. While my partner was driving I was putting our belongings away the fridge was in a terrible state the door was all rusty and inside was not very clean and the inside was all cracked I had to clean it all first before putting our stuff in. the floor hadn't been cleaned as I dropped some water I cleaned it up the floor was black with dirt. paint around the boat was all chipped and flaking off. there was dead flies which had been splatted on the walls and not wiped. we pulled the blinds down at night time I don't think they have been cleaned since the boat was made and that was 1991.

Not a happy experience. Boat was not that clean when we arrived and no linen - we had to ask for it. No adequate facilities to hoover. Then we get charged extra as a result. They are still in possession of some of our property having failed to send it on. Avoid if possible