Why One Should ALWAYS Take the Williamsburg Inn Upgrade

imalemon

This video is from our May 2018 wonderful tour from Philadelphia to Washington DC. I highly recommend paying the extra money and upgrading from the nearby OK Williamsburg Lodge to the fantastic Williamsburg Inn. Why you may ask? The three minute video below will answer this question and show you what your upgrade gets for you in terms of increased tour happiness. The Williamsburg Inn is the finest hotel on this tour.

What does a King size bedroom at the AAA 5 diamond hotel, The Williamsburg Inn, Really Look Like? The answer is incredible. Both the hotel and the room itself are fabulous. Certainly the hotel is worth a visit on its own. Being able to stay across the street from the Williamsburg Park is a joy. This is a grand hotel to stay at.

The link to this You Tube video is below.

https://youtu.be/3uCNWKBlXQ4
https://youtu.be/3uCNWKBlXQ4

kpetzelt

Thanks for the great narrated walk through. I think we will enjoy our upgrade!

joycesw

Wow! I didn’t know Tauck offered upgrades at hotels, or is this something you upgraded on your own outside of the tour? If not, I don’t understand why they don’t increase the price and have everyone stay at the same location... this is the first time I have heard of upgrading to a different location. Then again, I have never gone on a Tauck domestic tour. Is this sort of thing common on the US tours?

British

Apparently Joyce, you can indeed upgrade on this tour. I just looked. I have never come across this either and have taken some of the domestic tours, i am taking one in a couple of weeks.
I am amazed how focused Tauck customers are on hotel accommodation when so little time is spent in them. Our number one thing of importance for a hotel is location location location. Of course next to that would be cleanliness.
So many of the hotels we stay with on Tauck tours have wonderful facilities that we wish we could use but do not have the time because Tauck has us up and out to TOUR and that is what we use Tauck for, not the inside of a fabulous hotel, we can do that on an independent tour if we want.
On our most recent Tauck tour, the start hotel was a long walk from the center of town, a half hour for us and we are fast walkers. That's a long way when you have had an overnight flight and want to get some gentle exercise and see some sites but instead walk down a non descript highway to even get to town. I would have much preferred a hotel in the center of what was a quiet city, so no worries of noise or safety there.
Knowing that Tauck customers do generally like good hotels, I am baffled why on Earth Tauck uses the Sofitel in my local city, Philadelphia. I have eaten dinner there once, never stayed, but it is on a so so busy street and I note a poor review on the reviews section of the tour. There are lots of of nicer hotels in better central locations.
If any Tauck employees are reading this, consider staying at the Rittenhouse hotel in Philadelphia, it's wonderful. We have the habit of staying there overnight a couple of times a year, beautiful room, great service, quiet, and we think one of the best restaurants in what is a city full of great restaurants. We always have the tasting menu with wine pairing which is why we have to stay there. We get up late, have in room breakfast and stroll around the city as with the deal we get we do not need to check out until 4pm. The hotel is located on famous Rittenhouse square, right by some great restaurants and it is easy to stroll to the sites. Much nicer than the very narrow and traffic congested street that the Sofitel is found.

joycesw

Yes, British, I completely agree with you about hotel location. It is one of the ( many) reasons we travel with Tauck. We like to set off on our own as often as possible and like to be near the heart of a city/ attractions. Interestingly, when we took our “ half” riverboat cruise we began in Bucharest and stayed at the JW Marriott. In my estimation, it was in the middle of nowhere ( although Tauck dubs it as being in the heart of the city). My husband likened our walk from what we considered the main part of the city back to the hotel to the Batan March. It looked close to the hotel, but we had to walk around the People’s Parliament, not through the grounds, and it is one huge complex! When we went it was a newer Tauck choice. We were told they used to stay at the Hilton, in what we considered the center of the city, but another tour company ( One with lots of riverboats and now ocean ships that has a Norse name...??), and the breakfast buffet was getting too crowded! True or not, we were very unhappy with the location and clearly stated that on the Hope & Trust cards....eight years later they are still there.

Dixie Chick

I, too, am amazed at some of the hotel choices. The Sofitel on our land trip to Paris was a high tech nightmare. We never did figure out how to work the lights. Tauck no longer uses that hotel. On our riverboat trip in April, we stayed at the W Hotel Amsterdam. It can only be described as the hotel from hell. On the other hand, so many hotels have been fabulous.
We were recently offered an upgrade at the Savoy in London for our England, Scotland, Wales trip next June. We plan to be sightseeing as much as possible, so an upgrade seemed to be an unnecessary expense.
So many details!!
Nancy

BSP51

The previous 2 posts bring up the subject to how willing is Tauck to react to client comments and suggestions. I have emailed a reasonable suggestion several weeks ago and should at least have expected a “thank you for your suggestion” or “we will take it under consideration”. To date nothing, zero! zip. No way to treat a repeat customer or any customer.

Not the first time I have read about the dissatisfaction with the W in Amsterdam. We are on the Rhine Enchantment next May 17. Staying 2 extra nights at the end of the tour booked with Tauck at “their” hotel; The W. Of course we are concerned.

No doubt Tauck provides a wonderful product that keeps us coming back. However, there is plenty room for improvement to their customer service and communication.

joycesw

Dixie Chick,
We just returned from this trip last month, and I can assure you you will be thrilled with the location of the Savoy and the hotel itself. We never received an offer to purchase an upgrade prior to our trip. However, when we reached our room, it stunk of cigarette smoke. We called down and someone appeared within minutes ( she admitted it did smell...and it was a non-smoking room), and we were escorted to a different room, which judging from the size, was perhaps an upgrade. Very impressive service. Last year we had a similar situation at the Westin in Kyoto ( worst Westin we have ever stayed in...Tauck no longer stays there on that tour), and getting an alternate room was not as customer friendly, although, we did eventually get a satisfactory room. Then again, we ate in the bar area later on and left there smelling like we had smoked two packs of Camels each, so I guess it was a wash!
Oh, and if you think your Paris hotel had funky lights, wait until you get to the Sheraton in Edinburgh! The lights in the bathroom change color like some misguided circus show, and most of them are so dim that many of the ladies gave up wearing makeup as applying it was such a challenge! And, while i’m at it, the hairdryer is in the desk whose top lifts up. What I did not realize until someone told me AFTER we departed Edinburgh, was that there was a mirror in the lid! Since the plug was a secured one and the dryer could not be moved, I almost strangled my husband stretching the cord across to the nearest mirror! What an adventure! But it is a great hotel, nevertheless, and our experiences and comparisons gave us some great laughs! Then there’s the safe at Langdale, but i’ll Let you figure that one out on your own! All part of the fun of travel!

Claudia Sails

Oh boy, the Sheraton in Edinburgh. You know you're in trouble when the TD who's stayed there plenty of times says he still hasn't figured them out. Worst was when one of us would be near the door and the other the bed each punching buttons until we finally got the lights on that we wanted. Otherwise I liked the place and in retrospect it was my favorite breakfast buffet of the trip. Yep, the safes in the Langdale. My husband - having a Y chromosome and aversion to reading directions - immediately locked himself out of it.

We stayed at the Savoy at the end of our Seine cruise then 2 weeks later at the end of the ESW. The first stay we got a huge room with 2 big arm chairs and funky art deco furniture. On our return, it was a more standard sized room which I actually liked better because the bathroom had a window. They were both nice and no reason to pay extra to upgrade.

My frustration with so many Tauck hotels is the restaurants. Too often the only choice is some gourmet named chef very expensive place or the bar. In either case the menu seems to have little to do with your location but always seems to have a club sandwich and ceasar salad. If there aren't any restaurants nearby then you're kind of stuck.

Dixie Chick

To BSP51
I have two comments for you. 1) Regarding emails, etc. to Tauck, they always read the comment cards, and I have seen changes made because of those. Of course you fill out comment cards before departing the boat on a river cruise, so you could not yet know about a hotel on land folllowing a trip. Apparently emails do not receive the same attention. After our unfortunate experience at the W Amsterdam, I wrote a real letter, with an envelope and stamp, and mailed it to Dan Mahar, the CEO of Tauck. The hq address is in all the brochures. Within a few days, I received a phone call from one of his assistants. She was very apologetic and noted that my concerns were not the only ones they had received. Hopefully, a change would be made. 2) I would never, ever, under any circumstances, stay at the W Amsterdam again. Even if it is the hotel for the tour. I will book something else, even if it is the No Tell Hotel on the edge of the red light district. It would have to be an improvement over the horrible room conditions and the customer service, or lack thereof, at the W. If you have to stay there, make sure it is not in a room on the 5th floor of the Bank building. Maybe the other building has better rooms. Yes, there are two separate buildings on opposite sides of a busy street full of cars and crazy bicyclists. It is an accident waiting to happen.
No matter what, have a good trip. We did on our Belgium and Holland in the Spring trip. It was fabulous in spite of the hotel at the end.
Nancy

BSP51

Thank you Nancy. As with all of our other trips, we are sure the great will outweigh the bad.