TakeToursReviews of taketours.com

First of all it was very difficult to reach them to ask any questions before booking. By chance, we got someone on the phone, it was very hard to understand their english. We just booked blindly without reading any fine prints. They only took bookings online and after that they kept saying that it was not their responsibility, just go through the booking policy. They pointed out to NGH tours but they intern pointed out to Take Tours. They do not protect their passengers in terms of any kind of insurance. Even at the time of serious illness, the managers said that they are not responsible for any refunds. Besides they were very rude and disconnected the phone many times. It was very serious health issue that we had to cancel the tour well ahead of the travel date. However we requested with proof like medical certificate from Doctor, they did not care to even ask what happened but being very rude all the time. On the other hand they sold our seats and hotel booking to some other passengers and made money but they did not consider even a little refund at that serious illness condition. Everyone will not have travel insurance. Tour company should either insist or take care of the travellers` interest. It is a worst tour company.

Okay just to start off, this whole entire trip was very misleading from when I booked it. I took the 4 day Canada trip for my birthday and it was the worst decision you could make. The tour guide was very pushy and rushed you during everything you did. There is barely any free time. Majority of the people on the bus are Chinese, and they are favored and tend to be the main priority of the trip. The hotels were dirty and weren’t even hotels, more like motels. The buses are very uncomfortable and 95% of the trip is you in the bus. Every time you went to something on the itinerary you were rushed and they would yell at you if you were a minute late to meeting the whole group up. The bus driver was unbelievably rude and told my friend that she was going to have to catch an Uber to the United States if she was late again. He had a very horrible attitude with everyone that was not Chinese. One lady was 2 minutes late and the bus drove away with her and her family’s luggage... they were running after the bus. He was throwing everyone’s luggage on the sidewalk when we arrive at the hotel which was totally unprofessional. The Chinese people on the tour with you are unbelievably rude and impatient. They push and shove you out of the way, and made one of my friends fall. My friend reclined her chair not even an inch and the Asian couple was screaming and punching my friends chair. Reclining up a little bit and leaving them a lot of room, the woman put her feet in between me and my friend’s seat and kicked my friend in the head. We got into multiple argument on this trip. There were hidden fees and the trip was very expensive... IT IS NOT WORTH IT!!! You could use the money and go on a nice, beautiful trip yourself. This is the best advice I could give.

First off my tour did not start out on the right footing. Partly to do with the tour and with the subway system. I checked online two days before the trip to make sure there is no weekend train work scheduled on my line. I printed it out. When I got to the train station there were no trains going into Manhattan to my surprise. So this cost me a lot of time to go around then get to 47 Chrystie Street in Chinatown. I still happened to arrive for 8 AM but my bus was gone. Also I was told they had me scheduled to meet the bus in Flushing. The night before they sent me an email to confirm pickup is at 47 Chrystie Street. However I got lucky. Another bus heading to NJ took me there and dropped me at Target in Jersey City to meet my bus. I found out that the restroom on the bus would be closed because they claim that with the A/C running the interior of the bus will smell. I smell a rat when I heard that. I've been on long distance buses and the restrooms are made for that purpose. So the deal is we would stop every two hours to use a restroom. That was never true. When I was a young boy in school I could probably go most of the day without having to pee. But as I'm older my physiology changed. I need to pee more often. The guide gave us a total for the optional attractions. Only problem is some of what he mentioned were not on the list I printed for the tour. Also they are optional so who says I need to go on all the tours he read out? I should mention that this was a 2-day tour to Niagara Falls. The Maid of the Mist was supposed to be the first day but changed to the 2nd day. We stopped at the food court building near the Rainbow Bridge after stopping a museum that was not on my list. The food court prices are ridiculously expensive. I paid with tax over $19 for a small piece of grilled fish with rice and about four small pieces of pita bread and salad. That place is so crowded that they make enough money there that there is no need to rip people off. The hotel we stayed at was Quality Inn way out in Batavia about 40 miles away from the Falls. No water in the room so be sure to buy your water and bring if you need to drink bottled water because there is none in the room. The saving grace was there was a buffet breakfast in the morning at the hotel. I did the Maid of the Mist and Cave of the Winds tours. Be mindful because the tour guide said if you're late the bus will leave you. Going home our first stop was for lunch along the interstate more than two hours later. After that it was about close to three hours before the bus stopped at a rest stop that has only vending machines. And no urinals for men. So the line was long for the men. And the line was about three to four times longer for ladies. It's the worst stop and I told the tour guide that. He said that is the only stop but I told him I saw Burger King and Denny's back up the road. That stop took us about 50 minutes. A waste of time. It would have been better spent at a regular food stop with restaurants and regular restrooms without the long lines. You have to wonder what are these people thinking? The next stop was at Target where they had to drop off passengers in Jersey City. I wrote a review on their website but I doubt they would print it so I came here where I am free to write a review without it being left not printed. I also complained about the driver, who is a good driver, but did a lot of talking on the phone, sometimes in agitated conversations and speaking loudly in Chinese. And at night on that dark highway he did more talking. I take driving seriously where the driver most pay attention. If someone on the other end makes you angry you could easily run off the road and kill many of the people on your bus. So they need to clean up their act. Have a short conversation on the phone but not a long, laborious one. I gave a 3-star rating because I accomplished what I needed to see and the pictures and videos I needed to take. Other than that without rehashing what I already said they need to clean up their act. And they should not be confused thinking the meeting point is in another borough and not where the customer stated. Don't waste your time posting a review on TakeTours website if you have some complaints and you give them less than 4 stars. Two weeks later since I reviewed and posted a comment with 3 stars they never posted my comments. I stand by what I said. You could never trust the reviews on their website. It's always good to put the name of the company into a search engine then + reviews and you will get a website like Trustpilot to give you reviews that TakeTours or other companies will never post on their site.

I went on a Take Tours holiday from Denver, through Yellowstone Park, Utah, Mt Rushmore, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Las Angeles - it was 8 nights. The first part of the trip was fine. They don't stop anywhere nice for lunches and you have to find your own evening meal. Being a woman on my own I didn't want to walk around places I didn't know at night so I relied on fast food places near to our hotels. The hotels were average - Best Western standard - with the exception of the SLS Las Vegas which was a very nice hotel but I didn't get the $200 "Welcome package" advertised in the brochure. The first part of the trip was fine - we saw some amazing things which is why I wanted to go on the trip, but be prepared to hand over the daily charge to the tour guide in cash! I had to swap coaches to go to Las Vegas, Grand Canyon and Los Angeles and the new coach was full of extremely rude, inconsiderate people. I was one of 2 English speakers on board and we had allocated seats but they didn't seat us together! Every time the English commentary started, the 2 women in front of me started talking loudly in Chinese so I couldn't hear what the Tour guide was saying. When we had to get off the coach, no one would stop to let me out of my seat, I had to wait for the coach to empty. I would be standing trying to take photos and would be pushed out of the way. I booked to go on the Las Vegas night tour - it started at 5.30 p.m. in broad daylight! The guide took off without waiting for everyone to get off the coach, we eventually caught up but he'd taken us to a dreadful mall and by the time I got there, he'd told the other English speaker what to do/where to go and wouldn't repeat himself - in fact he thought it was funny that I had missed out! I was not impressed by him and didn't want to be in his company any longer - a night tour in daylight was not what I was expecting - so I found a cab (he refused to help me find one!) and went back to the hotel. They didn't refund me. Sadly the last few days of the tour were ruined for me and I complained to Take Tours but they couldn't have cared less and told me to contact CTours who they had subcontracted. I would not recommend this tour unless you really can't afford anything better. I have read the other reviews below and agree with everything being said - particularly Gill's review.

Firstly, you will be tempted to book a tour because, let’s face it, it’s cheap right? My advice is, if you can afford it, spend a little more with another company. If you do book expect.... Chinese guides, these tours are for Chinese people so don’t expect to be able to understand everything that is being said. Around 80% of your time sat on a coach...you will get minimal time at any of your destinations. Poor quality coaches....one of ours was pouring water from the roof. We had to sit on plastic bags (the Chinese guests were given the dry seats!). Poor quality hotels (not chain hotels as advertised). The hotels are 1*/2*. If you are staying more than one night, don’t expect to keep your room...you will need to check in and check out every night. Don’t expect the hotels to be in great locations...they are miles from anywhere. Don’t expect the hotel to serve breakfast. On one day we had to wait till lunchtime to get food and drinks. On another day we had to buy breakfast from a garage! Expect to get up very early...6am starts are the norm. Expect to be taken to a cheap Chinese buffet every single day of your tour! They will try to sell you tours you don’t want....don’t fall for it! The price you see is not the price you pay. Check the small print, expect to pay double Have a great time!

Do not go to Niagara Falls 4 days they have hidden fees. They say price covers hotel and bus but never say you have to pay $10 per day for the tour guy. Per person. The itinerary Is so bad you pay to see a stadium prices for everything they double. Take my advice go on your own. It’s way cheaper.

Do not travel with this company! There were so many things wrong with it that I'm just going to list it. 1. It is very unorganized. Our bus picked us up a block away from the meet-up spot which was so inconvenient for the people traveling with them. A lot of us have a big luggage and it was just inconvenient. And then, after walking to the bus, our tour guide refused to walk to the bus and informed us (through the driver) that we have to walk a block to the original meet-up place to meet with her. Guess what happened after? We walked back again. 2. Our tour guide (Rebecca) was just plain rude to a lot of the people. She constantly yelled at everyone to use the restroom or else we won't be able to go for two hours (even though there is a restroom on the bus). At one point, she grabbed one of the people by the arm and yelled in the person's face. She also kicked my aunt out of her seat because it was "reserved for her" but she didn't even sit there! Our second tour guide was way nicer and more patient. 3. It was dangerous. Our first bus driver to Las Vegas from LA was not qualified at all to drive the bus. He took up the whole street trying to turn into a parking lot and even hit a tree branch. He also kept swerving while he was driving and hitting curbs. 4. They rush you too much and threaten to leave you if you're not in the bus on time, which is hypocritical because there were times when the driver and the guide was late. 5. They try to milk out all the money you have. ($9 tips every day regardless of service?) 6. Language was a problem because we weren't informed that this tour was made especially for Chinese tourists. Tour was mostly in Chinese, and English instructions were unclear. 7. They took us to places that are in the middle of nowhere, with no food options. 8. On the way back, they played an inappropriate movie with a crap-ton of sex scenes knowing that there are many children present in the tour. There's probably more I can write about but this was a horrible experience for me and my family. If you're a tourist and just want to see stuff and take photos just so you could say "I've been there", go for it. But if you're actually a person who loves to travel and appreciate your surroundings, just drive yourself. It's 100 times better (and safer) than going on this crappy tour.

I will not recommend take tour if you really want to explore the area. They give you very little time to visit places. Also they merge FOOD Time with attraction time. The driver of my tour was very rude. They suggested that we should all have lunch before 11:20AM (remember most of the restaurants open to 11:00). Worst experience of my life. Thanks Abhishek