Review: Tour of Ireland, Scotland & Wales

Review by traveler

Andra M.

7.1.2018

General Info

Traveler Review

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

Ireland

Scotland

Wales

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

Let me begin by stating the obvious, one never has a second chance to make a first impression.

Overall the trip was fantastic, however;

We did encounter two problems upon our arrival in Europe. The "Executive Car" that was supposed to pick us up from the airport failed to arrive. After some phone discussion with the dispatcher a very accommodating gentleman showed up and ushered us into an old and poorly maintained "Cab". The unit rattled and rolled around, the seats were duct taped together. It was a generally a poor showing.

Upon arrival at our first hotel, we were informed that our room was not available, it had been given over the night before to a larger than expected group. We were asked to pick up and go to a "Sister" hotel. We refused knowing that once we left the hotel we would no longer be their problem. I explained to the manager that if we did leave we would go to the nearest five star establishment, secure a room and have them pay for it. In the end, the manager relented and provided us with a lovely suite of rooms for our trouble. Later we did contact our travel company, explained what had transpired and from that point on were treated particularly well. Each hotel we stayed at was well aware of our arrival, our preference for rooms, and all of the other amenities on would expect from a top flight establishment.

Transfers between some locations were done haphazardly. One had not been arranged prior to our departing, in addition, arrangements were made for trains that no longer existed. Fortunately, we were in an English speaking country and have extensive experience traveling by rail and ferry. We managed to work out the problem on site, the travel company was unable to act on our concerns and address them. They insisted that they were correct, which of course was no help.

Overall, besides a few "Glitches" we had a wonderful time. The types of places we wanted to visit were well selected, the people we met were lovely.

What were the most enjoyable or memorable parts of your trip?

The private tours arranged for us were very interesting. The local guides were engaging and very accommodating. When the weather did not permit the planned stops, good substitutions were provided.

We asked for local accommodations where possible and our travel company did a great job providing interesting upscale places to stay.

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

If we were to take the trip again, we would check the hotel, travel arrangements and in country transfers prior to leaving the United States. Besides that, we would change virtually nothing else except perhaps hope for a bit less rain.

Travel Companies Comments:

Dear Andra,
Thank you so much for your feedback and for setting aside time to discuss your trip experience with me over the phone. It was a month-long adventure abroad and I am very happy to hear that you would return and use our company again in the future despite the hiccups you experienced that have been addressed below:

Dublin Airport Transfer
These are not the type of vehicles that have been represented by our partners and our company in the past so we greatly appreciate you bringing this to our attention and verifying that the other airport transfers you took were of the standards you expected. This issue has been addressed with our partner in Dublin and will not happen again.

Dublin Hotel being overbooked
Our team was very disappointed to hear this and have addressed it with our respective partner regarding the handling of your booked room at the hotel. It is at the hotel's discretion on where their guests are placed though our company will always advocate on behalf of our clients to ensure a smooth arrival and stay at the hotel that was specifically booked once we are notified on the issue. I am happy that the hotel chose to upgrade you to one of their suites in light of the error in the overbooking of their property.

Train Transfer from Wales to Scotland
Unfortunately, this was a rare and frustrating situation regarding the rail system in Europe where routes can change at any time with no posted notice to the suppliers until the traveler reaches the station. As our team was notified immediately on the issue regarding the train transfer from Wales, we were able to verify the route that was booked with our partner to confirm that the schedule on the voucher was correct to our knowledge. It wasn't until arrival that it was apparent that the route had changed so our team advised contacting an employee at the train station to help with the situation in person and if a new ticket needs to be purchased to do so and send us the receipt for reimbursement once back home. The local employee was successful in helping out with this and rebooked a new ticket at no additional charge due to the train route change.

Thank you again, Andra and please do not hesitate to contact us again if you have any questions!

Photos

Review: Tour of Ireland, Scotland & Wales

General Info

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

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

What were the most enjoyable or memorable parts of your trip?

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

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