BEWARE!
Tauck does not stand behind their product! Recent Milan/Amsterdam cruise had a disastrous transfer to Basel , poorly planned with inadequate response by tauck tour directors! An exhausting long day, not the described beautiful train ride through the mountains. Stood in an aisle the entire time with no contact with anyone from tauck!
In Amsterdam , the W hotel , at $600+ per night, had the worst hotel rooms I’ve ever encountered! No bathroom!
Response for appropriate compensation from tauck completely inadequate. This has not been what I would expect given their reputation and their mission statement.
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Oh dear, we are about to take this tour and staying on in Amsterdam for several days at the W. Is it just that the W is European in style and what do you mean no bathroom? I can’t believe there were no assigned seats on the train. Can you expand on these points?
Jeepers. We had a really nice room at the "Amsterdam W" last year and it was fully equipped.
I have been on 12 Tauck Trips now and in Rome at this 5 star I got a room with a view of a construction site. I took pictures and complaint. I don't blame Tauck but the hotel for even giving Tauck Customers Room 105. Mr. Tauck need to pick up the phone and make things right for their customers. I sent Tauck pictures and was contacted.
The W room was tiny. All hard surfaces with all table tops covered with for sale items, ie logo hats, stacks of books, branded vodka, Spanish wine, no room to place any personal items. It is one room only, there are standing cabinets for the toilet and shower and a overly large sink at one end of the room. If using the sink there is no access to the tiny closet or the shower stall. When using the shower the light would go out, leaving you in pitch dark until the door was bumped open, disconcerting at least, dangerous if you have balance issues. No place for storage of toiletries. Bed very low, thus no place for storage of luggage and difficult to get out of if you have any mobility issues. No turndown service. We asked to see a different room and were told they are all the same. Awful selection by tauck and no response from them re the very expensive totally inadequate lodgings.
Re train transfer. A very poor plan. To start with it is not an express train with multiple stops. We were never given train number or seat assignments. Arrival at Milan station was chaotic , no place for tauck passengers to gather, no seating, aggressive beggars. Train cancelled, not taucks fault, but the transfer plan was misguided from the outset. A money saving option I’d guess rather than a comfortable coach transfer which would take no more time and would allow a leisurely am departure rather than having to have luggage ready for pickup at 5:30 am then a very uncomfortable wait at the station. Very poor communication from tauck tour directors ensued. No one knew what the plan was, there was then a rush to get on an already packed train, which I joined not knowing where we were going or if was even the correct train. No seats! I stood in the aisle for hours, no food ,no water, no access to bathroom, and NO contact from tauck guides! Separated from my wife, not sure she was on the train. Arrival in Basel was of course delayed . Sit down dinner service on the boat was cancelled ( ?why) and we were offered a buffet dinner after an exhausting, frightening day! Terrible transfer plan. Not the beautiful trip through the mountains described in the itinerary. Very inadequate response by tauck, both at the time and since.
Thank you Richard for your full descriptions, especially the train situation. I have been on many Tauck land tours, and a couple of small ship tours, but this will be our first river cruise with them. I learned last year that Tauck hired many new tour directors and they tend to be put on the river cruises and small ships first, so they lack experience but it is no excuse. There have been a few mentions of sub par tour directors on the ships. We have only once had a tour Director who was a little disappointing, he was way past his sell by date and we did make comments in our review. The two times we have had minor issues with a tour and we have let Tauck know they have been kind and generous even when we did not ask or expect anything from them, we just wanted to let them know of the situation and hope they would change things for future travelers.
As far as the hotel is concerned, I will wait and see what I think. If you are not experienced in traveling in Europe you have to realize that hotel rooms there are frequently smaller than in the US. Homes in The Netherlands are very small so their bathrooms are obviously smaller too. In our home in England our bathroom was very small whereas here in the US it’s big and we can both shower together with plenty of room. Tauck priorities location of hotels over luxury in many places and we certainly appreciate that as we only sleep there. But I agree, it’s an expensive hotel. They haven’t changed it, so it must be the best available for a large group. I generally prefer the land tours for this reason although I don’t need to small group tours that so many people are happy to pay extra for. The for sale items we would have just put in a corner of the room and placed our belongings where we wanted. Or even ask them be removed from the room.
Have traveled extensively in Europe, again the worst hotel room I’ve ever had! Quite a contrast to the room in Milan. Tauck has used other hotels in Amsterdam with good opinions expressed by prior travelers. There was universal dissatisfaction with the rooms among our travel group. Additionally I met former W employees, natives of Amsterdam, who agreed the rooms were way subpar. See what you think.
We were on the same Rhine Enchantment tour of May 17. I completely agree with the comments regarding the W. Although the staff was as nice and professional as could be, the rooms are totally ridiculous. The toilet and shower “closets” are horrible. No place to hang a towel unless you walk across the hallway to the sink. The lighting is pitiful. This is definitely not a suitable place for the Tauck demographics.
As far as the train trip from Milan to Basel, there is nothing Tauck can do when there is a suicide on the train tracks for the originally planned trip. I thought the tour directors handled the situation as best possible under the circumstances. The Milan train station is busy and animated. Expecting a special Tauck area to congregate is typical of the elitist attitude certain Tauck guests seem to have. Yes, this was a total pain in the butt but hey, stuff happens and it should only be the worst day I have this year. And, Tauck offered a fair compensation last week.
Wow BSP, you are saying what I often think but even I dare not say outright. But I am still intrigued about the W. I wonder if they are able to change that hotel next year. There are so many river cruises I guess it’s hard to get hotels for such large numbers of people. When we took the two small ship cruises with Tauck, on each we were in two different hotels. Having stayed in one of the hotels before, that one was in a poor location so I was glad to stay in the alternative. As always, location is key. On a Tauck tour last year we stayed in a fabulous Four Seasons but it was a $30 taxi ride from town. Location location location.
British - I think Tauck has a close relationship with Marriott. Thus, the W. Not the best place for people of a certain age (for which we qualify) but the location is good and we survived without a scratch. Don’t let this concern you.