India Tour Review: Rajasthan, Mumbai, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Agra, Bhuj, Aurangabad, Varanasi, Ranthambore, Taj Mahal

Review by traveler

Sarai N.

11.5.2015

General Info

Traveler Review

Which Country (Countries) did you visit on this trip?

India

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

My trip was not organized very well, and although I had paid to be in 4 or 5 stars accommodations at times they felt more like 1 star accommodations. In Varanasi, the hotel room had mold on the walls, no hot water, and the room was dirty and infested with bugs. Although, my travel company knew that there was curfew in Varanasi, the day I had arrived there, they neglected to inform me about it, and to arrange for another hotel to stay in. Because of the curfew, no car was allowed to drive in the center of the city. In Judhpur, the hotel provided his guests ear plugs. Even with the ear plugs I could not sleep there because it was so noisy. All night i could hear dogs barks, goats and the hum and drum of the old city. Who wants to be stuck in the noisy old city when there are plenty of others hotels with beautiful gardens and quit rooms like the hotels by by Taj. In Bhuj the room in my hotel was unacceptable. All the rooms on the entire floor, except mine where being remodeled and in a process of being painted. There was a strong smelly paint smell all over the floor that felt like poison, and I had to asked the staff at the reception to tell the construction workers to stop to work at 22:30 because they kept working and knocking on the walls at all hours. In Mumbai, my travel company booked me a small noisy room at the tower of the Taj Mahl hotel. needless to say, that the receptionist at Taj hotel upgraded my room and changed my room to the Palace side of the hotel, where the rooms, are larger and much quieter. When I stayed at Aurangabad for two nights, although my flight to Mumbai was schedules only to 21:00 at night, no late check out was arranged for me. I arranged it myself and paid extra myself.

When I was traveling in Rajasthan, During my stay in Ranthambore, I found out that my driver was drunk and could not drive me back to my hotel. The drunk driver demanded a cut in one of the textile stores I had placed an order. Since the driver was drunk, he could not drive my husband and me to Jaipur. Another Driver had to be found and our trip got delayed. The drunk driver was dismissed later from the travel company.

The inner flights in India were also organized very badly. Instead of booking all our flights with Air India which would have allowed us to have 25KG for person, since we have Star alliance membership, most of our flights were booked with chipper airlines that only allow each person 15 KG. The 15 kg is not just for the checked in luggage, it is a combination of the checked luggage plus all the hand bags. We ended paying thousands of Rupees extra for our luggage.

Although I was billed and paid to a luxurious trip, my travel company cut in every corner and booked us a trip in a one to two stars many nights of the trip.

If you could take your trip again, what would you do differently?

TRAVEL COMPANY COMMENTS:

Hello Sarai,

Thank you for your feedback and comments about your India trip. While it is unfortunate that you felt that the trip was not organised well, and there are many aspects that could have led to the cumulative feeling in the overall perspective.

Your concern regarding the choice of accommodations : -
- On a month long trip, we chose a combination of five star deluxe, luxury premium and heritage hotels for your stay. In fact most of the hotels are the best rated in each city

- In Varanasi, people consider staying at a hotel on the ghats of Varanasi, on the banks of the river as as experience. So we chose this hotel for your stay there, which is a heritage hotel known for its local charm. While the hotel offers a great location, has authentic taste and character, it is not luxurious.

- There was a curfew in Varanasi – the day you arrived there. Such situations cannot be predicted. We took immediate action on knowing about the situation from assuring local assistance for your transfers to check in at hotel and safe visits around the city.

- The major highlight of the hotel in Jodhpur is its proximity to the magnificent Mehrangarh Fort which is the main attraction of the city. Being in the old city area - the noise from nearby mosque and its location within the centre of the city does result in guests getting disturbed each time the prayers are announced - which is the local traditional practice. While indeed, this could have been informed to you in advance - it is part of the charm of being in a different place with a different culture. That said, on your complaint -

- The Ilark hotel is the best appointed properties in the desert city of Bhuj. In fact, there are not many options to consider there. We chose the safest and best choice available. We did not know about the construction (rather call renovation) work going on at the property during your visit, should have checked and keep you informed.

- The late check out rooms at the hotel in Aurangabad was not foreseen, since you had an earlier flight onwards to Mumbai (which later got postponed for reasons beyond control).

- The incident with the driver when you were in Rajasthan was completely unfortunate. The driver appointed for your travel was in fact one of the best reviewed drivers. It was sad how it worked out in this case. As you rightly said, we investigated the matter - and dismissed the driver immediately from the company and appointed another driver for your entire trip. To assure you of the seriousness of how we take such matters, and the emphasis that we lay on the safety of our travellers, one of our senior Managers personally came to meet you during the trip.

While many things about your trip - about which we spoke about extensively as well on your return may not have been "perfect" and conforming to clock-work precision, we still hope and believe that you carried back good memories from the interactions with the people who eventually matter. The parts of India that you travelled in are so different from your home in Phoenix, and from your roots in Israel, so it must still stand out, rather starkly.

We wish you well in your future travels,

With warm regards…

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India Tour Review: Rajasthan, Mumbai, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Agra, Bhuj, Aurangabad, Varanasi, Ranthambore, Taj Mahal

General Info

Which Country (Countries) did you visit on this trip?

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

If you could take your trip again, what would you do differently?

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