In short: delighted. Very welcoming hosts, super-convenient location (for us) and very comfortable space. We would definitely stay there again.

The hosts are really friendly and welcoming - couldn't hope for better really. And the boat is very comfortable. It's spacious, modern, and very clean. More like an Ikea showroom than a set from Jaws or Das Boot (in a good way). It's definitely not a narrow-boat - it's quite wide and surprisingly long. You get the stern deck (pictured) to yourselves, the hosts use the bow deck. The boat is plenty big so there's absolutely no sense of being on top of each other.

So you go through this kind of metal doorway, discretely set into a nondescript brick wall on an inner-city street near King's Cross ... it looks like it probably has some utility pipes behind it, or maybe something to do with BT. Normally you wouldn't even notice it's there. But, unknown to passers-by, it's a secret portal into another world.

Down on the canal, you're tucked into a narrow wooded valley that feels a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of central london. Swans and ducks swirl around hoping for a chip. Some passing joggers and drinkermen with fishing rods might glance over from the far bank, the public side - but they're on the outside looking in.

Not just convenient and comfortable but also a bit of a novelty.