Central America discovery Traveller Reviews

We are very disappointed you were unhappy with certain aspects of the tour and we shall be responding to you directly once we have fully investigated. We aim to use characterful and authentic properties described in our documentation as a variety of simple hotels and guesthouses which at times may be purely functional. However, I am sorry that the hotel in Panama City initially allocated a room that had not been cleaned. I also regret the room you were assigned in San Jose faced the internal courtyard and that breakfast was not up to scratch. It was also disappointing to read there were external noise issues at the hotel in Copan. Our Central America tour is one of our most popular and well-established trips though in light of recent feedback we will be making changes to the accommodation.
We are always as transparent as possible with regards to additional costs and daily expenditure. We provide daily budget guidelines in our documentation based upon previous client and tour leader feedback alike whilst our group tour trip dossiers and tour webpage list a variety of optional excursions including the approximate cost of participation. Similarly, we present tipping suggestions in our documentation though do try to emphasise it is entirely down to individual discretion based upon the enjoyment of the service provided. As border entrance and exit fees can only be paid in local currency on the ground in person, they are accounted for in the aforementioned daily budget guidelines.
Thank you for raising your concerns regarding the transport used. Our tour leaders always request rear seat belts from transport providers and we will also be following this up and your comments about leg room

1)The single supplement price is an exact calculation of the extra costs we incur from the hotels, though we endeavour to obtain the lowest possible cost for single travellers. In most cases it is the hotel that determines room allocations though in most colonial buildings, the rooms are of different sizes and dimensions. However, when a hotel offers a choice or indeed room upgrades, tour leaders should always designate these fairly among the group. We are in the process of following up your concerns with the tour leader to ensure this continues to remain the case.

2)We employ both UK and Latin American tour leaders to oversee our group trips throughout South and Central America. This tour of Central America covers six different countries though in the varied destinations, we use specialist local and indigenous guides with an in-depth knowledge of the sites and locales.

3)I regret the disappointment of missing out on the brief stop-off in Managua which was the only small change when we published the 2015 tour itinerary. We had felt it to be operationally beneficial by reducing the road transfer time between the key colonial sites of Granada and Leon.

4)We are always as transparent as possible with regards to additional costs and daily expenditure. We provide daily budget guidelines in our documentation based upon previous client and tour leader feedback alike whilst our group tour trip dossiers and tour webpage list a variety of optional excursions including the approximate cost of participation. Similarly, we present tipping suggestions in our documentation though do try to emphasise it is entirely down to individual discretion based upon the enjoyment of the service provided. As border entrance and exit fees can only be paid in local currency on the ground in person, they are accounted for in the aforementioned daily budget guidelines.

We’re most disappointed to read this. On our Discovery Journeys, we use a variety of simple family-run hotels and guesthouses, several with authentic character though, as we endeavour to make clear in our literature for this holiday, we are required to use more functional properties at times in off-the-beaten track areas where tourist infrastructure is more fledgling in nature. That said, we expect all hotels to be comfortable, clean and fit the tour profile. Feedback from this tour is generally very positive. However, on the basis of your feedback we are undertaking a thorough review into the particular properties you were unhappy with.

We’re also sorry to read that you didn’t enjoy two of the destinations in Panama. People do normally enjoy Bocas del Toro (though I understand that your visit unfortunately coincided with torrential rain and high winds). The highland town of Boquete is largely a necessary positioning night.

We’re genuinely sorry you have been left with the impression that we are not interested in your comments. We welcome feedback and observations of every kind, and indeed, it is our policy to investigate and respond in detail to all customer correspondence within 2 weeks. We are currently obtaining updated hotel inspection reports, feedback from the tour leader and liaising with the hotels themselves and will respond to your completed questionnaire directly once our investigation is complete.