Some good, some not so good comments
Written: Oct 21 '04
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Pros: Our guide was the best found anywhere. Fun, fluent, knew everything about the area!
Cons: Question hotel contracts getting inferior rooms and very limited special menu's for Maupintour guests.
The Bottom Line: I would look elsewhere for luxury lodgings and dining. The guide and tours were outstanding. My overall rating is excellent for guide/tour and below average for the lodging promoted.
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| kjaete's Full Review: Maupintour LLC |
I have taken one Maupintour (Alps by train with stops in Switzerland, Austria and Northern Italy.) The tour guide was outstanding. The tour was promoted as staying in luxury hotels.
My other two vacations with group tours were through Tauck. These were also promoted as staying in luxury hotels.
Maupintour seemed to have relationships with several luxury hotels and several that fell below that standard even when nicer hotels were available nearby. After a few stops I had the distinct feeling that the group rates being offered to Maupintour included assigning their guests to inferior rooms. Several of our rooms overlooked dumpsters, alleys or did not have air conditioning (a window unit was brought instead.) My experiences with Tauck showed no difference in rooms and all the hotels were true luxury (or the highest standard available in the small town in China we were visiting.)
The dining options were more restrictive with Maupintour. Many lunches and dinners were included in the dining plan. Many, if not most, dinners on the Maupintour plan provided us with a special menu that was specially prepared for Maupintour guests which drastically limited the items we could choose from the regular restaurant menu as well as the number of courses.
Tauck also includes many lunches and dinners with their meal plans. On all occasions, but one, we were offered the regular restaurant menu. Many evenings we were given a choice of several very nice restaurants to choose from. The one exception was staying overnight at the Regent Hotel in Hong Kong, when were were given the regular menu but, asked not to order two specific items (Shark Fin soup and Abalone Soup) both starters showing on the menu at somwhere over $125.00.
At the end of the Maupintour vacation my entire family were each given evaluations to complete. My Father-in-Law was upset about our overall lodging/food service and asked me to return the evaluation on behalf of the family. As a representative for 1/4 of the entire group on this specific tour I sent in an evaluation mentioning all that I stated above.
I recieved a form letter from Customer Service saying that they were sad to hear that I did not enjoy my trip (which I did! I love to travel! I just had to compare their service to another group and felt it lacking. Our guide was fantastic! It was a wonderful vacation!) They gave me a statistical breakdown for all other evaluations on my trip saying they enjoyed their trip so they consider it a success.
On the plus side, I have to say that the guide was fluent in all the languages and knowledgeable beyond measure about the music, arts, history, architecture, geology and more. This was a great trip. I was asked for my evaluation of how Maupintour performed and how I felt they could improve. They seemed thrilled to share with me they do not need to improve.
Recommended:
No
Best Suited For: Seniors
Tour type: Group
Tour format: Bus
Tour length: Over a Week
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Epinions.com ID:
kjaete
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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