Grand New England Tour Was Not Grand
Our recent Grand New England trip was a huge disappointment from the quality of services provided by our Tour Guide, the quality of Hotels and services provided by them and food services at hotels and optional sites. This was our first and last experience with Tauck. Their management was advised in detail of our complains and their response was a verbal apology and a certificate for a $250 discount on future Tauck tours as an incentive to use their services again. I'm pretty sure they knew we would never book a tour with them again so they really offered nothing to compensate for their failure to provide a high quality trip that warrants the prices they charge for services provided. This company is seriously relying on repeat customers and the reputation they had in the past. If you want a 1 Star travel experience, book with Tauck!
Comments
Could you give some details, just saying that you were disappointed doesn't provide readers with anything useful.
We have taken 8 Tauck tours and have been pleased, but if you have problems, we would like to know.
We’ve taken 12 Tauck spectacular vacations and we are delighted to travel with Tauck. We’ve travel with other high end companies too and Tauck Is considered as an exceptional tour company.
I'll second this. Please Sitero527, provide a bit more detail if you have time. This is the third time in a month or so that a poster has come to the boards with a negative experience with a Tauck Tour. Positive reviews are plentiful, but it is information browsers of this forum are interested in, good or bad.
Please Sitero527 provide more information about your problems with the tour, I've taken 24 Tauck land and river cruises and have never been disappointed. 9 river cruises and 15 land cruises.
Some people just want everything perfect according to their unattainable high standards without being a bit flexible. Simply, some people just like to complain. I remember a tour that we went on many years ago, a couple complained that their shower in a 5 star hotel had a step or lip in to it. I didn’t hear the end of that complaint until the tour was over. There are just going to some glitches on any vacation.
It's really not fair to shoot the messenger, unless he/she does not come back with details.
I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that New England was Arthur Sr.'s original tour. It could be that long standing relationships are trumping a needed refresh. Another possibility is that there are limited options in the area for large groups. In any case, it's a shame that this person had a bad first experience with Tauck. We regulars know how outstanding most Tauck tours are.
I guess the resort has really changed. I took the Grand New England tour twice and loved both of them. Since it has been over twenty (20) years, perhaps it is in need of refurbishment. I do remember the hot hair ballon ride was disappointing because the balloon was tethered; the views, however, were spectacular because of the vibrant fall foliage. That's really all I remember.
I agree with BKMD that it is only fair and appropriate to see if the originator of the post replies with more detail. If no response then I would agree that some people are never happy.
This is not an excuse, but many resorts and restaurants have had a terrible shortage of help this year. Partly due to the difficulty of getting foreign youth to come here, and the very high cost of short term housing in Mass.
I took a look at their website, cathyandsteve, and as soon as I saw the picture of the room, it brought back memories. It looks exactly like the one we had! Modest but certainly acceptable. I think your assessment is correct.
I returned from this tour a few weeks ago - I had a great time. The fall foliage was beautiful and the tour director did a great job. There were lots of interesting days (home of Edith Wharton, estate of Robert Todd Lincoln, Shelbourne Museum, the fabulous Clark Art Institute, the lobster boat experience, and others). The hotels were much more modest than those I experienced in my last Tauck tour (Bali where we spent a number of nights at Four Seasons hotels with private pools), but you can't compare apples and oranges. I hope anyone considering this tour will review the itinerary and not be put off by the negative comments without doing personal research.
This ‘person’ has visited once, and posted once, on the date they joined this venue. The ‘devil is in the details’ … there are none. So poster, prove to me this is not ‘spam’. We are all ears. (;-)
I live in New England. New England is not full of flashy hotels like other places in the world. The hotels look fine. The third day from Boston to Manchester, VT looks very long. They could stay in Lenox instead where there are some very nice spa/hotels and go to the Clark the next morning. Seven hotels in eleven nights is too much moving around for me personally.
Agree with Cathy, I also live in New England. There are lots of places in the Berksires that are very nice, We have stayed at the Williams Inn in Willamstown MA, a first class hotel
We very much enjoyed the Omni Mount Washington in New Hampshire, as well as other fine establishments throughout New England; some rustic and some more refined. The Langham in Boston is one of our favorites. I don't know if they still have the chocolate brunch on Saturdays!
I was born in Boston and often worked trips to Boston. I liked staying at the Parker House due to it’s location near the Quincy Market. There were many good restaurant options. The Parker House had lots of history including ‘Booth’ and ‘JFK’.