It‘s sad that sometimes the only chance to get an ear is writing a review here on trip advisor..
Most of the day went as advertised; it‘s just that the company and / or the guides seem to intentionally cut the tour short and take advantage of people‘s laziness to ask questions after a long, LONG day out in the sun! When you book the tour, it clearly states:
—
17.45 Back to Ha Long harbour
- Enjoy sunset party on boat with red wine, fruits, cake..
—
Reality looks like this:
You get back to the harbour at around 17.15, get STRAIGHT to the bus and back to Hanoi! Besides the fact that people stay hungry and are asked to buy stuff at insane prices at one of the typical tourist stops, it‘s funny to see the entire tour crew eat at the same place in a separate room - probably for free..
Now here is the sad part:
Not only gives this an actually good and enjoyable tour a very bitter taste - confronting the tour guide with this issue, he just said „different company, different company...“ Not really understanding what the issue was, that is how he ended the conversation!
Long story short: be prepared to not (entirely) get what you booked!
And to the organizer of this tour: it‘s not the guest‘s problem to advertise/organize correctly! You just have to deliver what‘s in the desciption. Not more and not less. Sad that it is in your own responsibility that an actual 4-star review gets rated down to a 2-star due to the ridiculous reaction of the tour guide and a somehow shady and questionable way to cut the tour short and get people to buy expensive food at an overpriced tourist stop.
Dear Mr Micheal M
We would like to offer our deepest apologies for the trouble you had to experience with our tour.
This situation is not ordinary and these incidents are not typical of us. We are very serious when it comes to our client’s satisfaction and have a zero tolerance policy in this respect. We appreciate that you understand that mistakes sometimes happen despite the numerous checks and measures. We are very sorry that this happened to you but rest assured it won’t happen again.
To make things even better, we have taken a number of measures to ensure that this mistake and similar mistakes do not happen again in the future. It is due to you that we have realized this and we thank you for sharing your experience with us. We prefer to learn and improve under better conditions but sometimes this is just not possible.
One more time we apologize for this error and we hope to keep you as part of our valued customer base for a very long time.
Please do not hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback with us at any time. We are here for you.
Best Regards,
Hanoi Explore Travel Team
First night in Hanoi, and we booked this in advance and so glad we did. Had some amazing food and places we would have just normally walked past. Our guide was great and had good knowledge of the places and dishes. It has got our holiday off to a great start and can’t recmmend this tour highly enough!
We had a wonderful tour with Sam. She was extremely knowledgeable about the dishes we tried and any questions we had for her. We were able to try the most famous of Vietnam home style and restaurant cooking which was really exciting. The tour was relaxed and Sam was flexible to any requests. The food was exceptional and the vibe were amazing. We recommend this tour to anyone staying in Hanoi!
We had a great tour tonight exploring the streets of Hanoi with our guide Sam. We went to some great local street food restaurants trying local delicices and beverages. Overall a great experience and would highly recommend to anyone considering booking a food tour in Hanoi!
Sam took us on a fabulous food tour of Hanoi. She allowed us to experience local food which we would not have otherwise tried and gave us a taste of ‘real’ Vietnamese cooking. The tour finished with a taste of egg coffee surprisingly delicious. Highly recommended with a very infirmary be and friendly guide. Do try it!!
