These boats come with a crew that drives the boat and prepares some or all of your meals. There will be some small number of other passengers. Lounge and eating areas are shared. On the UK canals, hotel boats are often a pair of 70 foot long narrowboats, and passenger cabins are small. On European canals, hotel boats are often wider and carry more passengers.
There is no implied recommendation for any of the firms listed, nor is any criticism implied for any firm not listed. No firm has paid for any listing.
Visit the firms' web sites and/or contact them directly for further information.
4 Oct 2023 - I have dropped listing agencies for hotel boat firms; there are a lot of them. I only list here hotel boats that have a web presence of their own.
As these sometimes roam around much of the canal system during a season, no "location" has been specified.
See also Hotel Boats - UK - Wide-beam.
Away4awhile - after ten years, owners have switched from operating a hotelboat
to running "Away2dine", a
"canal cruising restaurant modelled from the dinner boats in Paris"; Birmingham - However this is now Website defunct.
Classic Waterway Holidays - Website not working - 70' narrowboat; 4 passengers
Duke & Duchess Hotel Narrowboats
Hotelboat Periwinkle - final season was 2015, after 14 years of operation
LadyLine Hotel Boats - In liquidation, late 2018
Charter Hotelboat Willow - Operators retired in September 2015 - Scottish Canals; "charter" service: your party are the only guests
Wandering Duck - from their Facebook page on 3 Jan 2018: "After 6 years of the Duck introducing guests to the canals we have decided to stop running trips."
For another alternative, see my list Hire Nightly or B&B. This lists several narrowboats, some for B&B and some for use as the equivalent of a hotel room.
African Queen - River Thames; also B&B in Reading Oct-Mar
The Billet Hotel Canal Boat - up to four passengers
MV Edward Elgar - River Severn; 22 passengers
Caledonian Discovery - Scotland (Loch Ness and Caledonian Canal); was "Fingal Cruises"
Castlerose Boat Stay - Website defunct - wide-beam "narrowboat"; hotel boat on Bridgewater Canal, or self-catering docked in Manchester
European Waterways - fleet of 18 varied boats, in various locations, some company-owned and some represented; in British Isles, has Thames, Scotland, and Ireland
Hotel Boat Kailani - boat sold to private owner Aug 2022 - wide-beam "narrowboat"; cruises GU, K&A, R. Thames
Lady Teal Boutique Hotel Boat - broad-beam boat in narrowboat-style
Magna Carta - River Thames
Scottish Highlander - Now apparently only offered through agencies - Scotland
Shannon Princess - R. Shannon, Ireland; 10 passengers
Thames & Chilterns Holiday Cruises - "Tranquil Rose" - narrowboat-style boat, but wider - River Thames; K&A Canal
Wessex Rose - wide-beam "narrowboat", launched May 2013; cruises K&A
De 4 Vaargetijden - Belgium (web pages available in English, Français, Deutsch, Nederlands)
Merganser - France - as of 2022, NOT operating as a hotel boat. Website now is a blog on their move of the boat to England.
Johanna - Dutch barge; France, Belgium
KR-line - barge cruises on the M/S Johanna in Belgium; 7 passengers
Dutch Paradise Charters - Website defunct - river salon yacht; 10 passengers; Holland, Belgium, France (web pages in English, Deutsch, Français, Nederlands)
Barge Colibri - 4 passengers (Canal du Midi, France)
Barge Nilaya - 4 passenger Luxemotor barge; France
European Waterways - fleet of 18 varied boats, in various locations, some company-owned and some represented
Feniks - hotel boat, cycling holidays, charters; cruises the Netherlands, Belgium and France
River Yacht "Roi Soleil" - cruises Canal du Midi and in Provence
The Saint Louis - up to six passengers; France
La Reine Pédauque - I get blank screen - use caution - cruises on the Burgundy Canal; was "Sonafho France"
The Barge Company - No longer in business; owners have retired - agency; France, Netherlands, Belgium, England, Scotland, Ireland
Luciole - Canal du Nivernais in France, from Auxerre to Clamecy; 14 passengers
Hotel Barge Rosa - 8 passengers; cruises the Canal de Garonne in southwestern France
Please email firm suggestions to the address below.
Many thanks to Nigel Hamilton, Julie Shook, Robin Smithett, and Paul Higson for additions and corrections.