Travel Review: UK Tour, England & Scotland, Hiking & Sightseeing

Initial planning was good but there was a delay in getting billed for reminder of the balance due and there was a delay in getting the final agenda (received 3 days before departure).  Upon receiving the final agenda, I noticed an error and reported it to the agency.  They were not able to fully correct the error (we were supposed to be somewhere for 2 nights, not one), and this resulted in an inconvenient hotel change and significant travel to get there.  I'm guessing this was due to the last minute nature of identifying the error.  Also, the final agenda was super high level and I had to ask for more details twice (like what is the name of the car rental agency, what is the street address of each hotel, etc).  Information came in multiple emails that had to be pieced together versus one comprehensive, easy-to-understand agenda.  I am a super busy person, struggling to get things settled at work before leaving and I found the delays and sloppiness very annoying.

Once we arrived to our destination, there was confusion on the part of the guides who showed up each day.  One guide showed up on the wrong day (he was quite scatterbrained & 2 other guides commented on this being his reputation).  One guide showed up thinking she was taking us places we did not plan for - that was surprising.  And one guide said she never got a confirmation from the agency about us, so she wasn't sure if we were expecting her or not.  Thankfully, she came anyway.  She also asked why we didn't just have one guide for the 3 days; not sure, but that sounds like a much better way to go.  Finally, someone was supposed to meet us at a train station to take us to our hotel and either they never showed or we just couldn't find them.  It was another example of super high level information in the agenda.  The train station was very large and there were no instructions about where to meet the driver.  We went to an Information Desk at the station and they pointed us to possible pick-up areas, but we never found anyone.  It wasn't a big deal, we got back to the hotel ourselves, but I did wonder how much I paid for that driver. Overall, the planning was just very sloppy, last minute, and attention to detail very much lacking.  I would not use this agency again or recommend them.

That said, the hotels were all terrific - except for the one last minute hotel that was added - and we enjoyed our trip very much.