smarTours Reviews

Name: smarTours
Address: 500 7TH AVE, 8TH FL, NEW YORK, New York
Rating: 4.42

4.4 Rating 1,663 Reviews

86 %

of reviewers recommend smarTours

4.4

Based on 1,663 reviews

Customer Service
Communication Channels	Telephone, Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Under An Hour
Customer Service	3.8 out of 5

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Phone:

800-337-7773

Email:

info@smartours.com

Location:

500 7TH AVE, 8TH FL,
NEW YORK
New York
10018

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smarTours 5 star review on 14th December 2024

Diana Potts

smarTours 5 star review on 20th November 2024

Michael And

smarTours 5 star review on 12th October 2024

Michael And Bedelia Sachelari

765

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Sort by: Most Recent Most Recent Highest Rated Filter: None None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“Guide very knowledgeable - very accommodating -”

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Posted 6 years ago

“Just came back from Egypt. Hotels were outstanding. Our guide, Kaled, was one of the best I ever had. Would recommend this trip to anyone.”

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Posted 6 years ago

“It is a very good trip. The tour director and manager is excellent.”

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Posted 6 years ago

“Excellent guides, and drivers. Too many undisclosed surprises (NOT the tour guides fault). Far too long waits prior to travel at airports, train stations etc. No ability to choose or upgrade seats on aircraft. My wife's name is different that mine and our airline seats were not together no changes were available. Hotels were told we were two singles so room changes need to be done. On one excursion we were informed we might be required to share accommodations and bathrooms. We did not, others did. This needs to be clearly spelled out on the itinerary. It was not. On a tour of this quality halfway around the world surprises of this nature are unacceptable and I felt tricked, like a bait and switch deal. Itinerary stated we were flying to Auckland and we eventually did after a stop in Sydney for an undisclosed plane change. Again a surprise. Optional tours prices went up steeply as minimums numbers were not met. We need to be told this in advance of actually being there that our tour was below minimums and surcharges would be added. This also put more pressure on our excellent tour guide having to explain again and again all the latest costs. Hotels were well located offering good breakfast.”

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Posted 6 years ago

“The Trip itself was good and the tour Guy Ron was very impressive, and knowledgeable. But my experience booking the trip, dealing with the staff in New York, lack of professionalism was unbelievable. I wish that the staff would have been more organized and did not ruined our group trip as previously planned. I had to call the company on several occasions for my invoice which I paid for prior confirming my trip.”

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Posted 6 years ago

“You did not let me know the eta of SAA’s flight back to JFK for me to book a continuing flight. I also wanted to book our seats in advance...This could not happen ass we had group tickets!”

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Posted 6 years ago

“The Northern Lights Iceland Tour was fabulous!! Iceland is a magical place and our tour guide,Oli, captured Iceland’s essence for us in his tales of the Sagas and infamous Hidden People...entertaining us as we traveled from Reykjavik to Vik, seeing the stunning waterfalls and the black sand beaches, geological wonders and Nordic historical sites. Such a great trip. Thanks smarTours!”

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Posted 6 years ago

“Loved Colombia! Great trip! Hotels/meals very good. Our trip leader, Leon was excellent. Learned much via his many commentaries regarding history, arts & culture. Local guides gave a personal touch and well informed. Only negative was the 12 hour bus ride to Medellin. We all would have preferred a flight as OAT tours provides on their Colombia tour, even if it meant a price increase. Buses were outdated too, with broken recliner seats & twisty, narrow entry/exit. Drivers, however, were excellent. Looking forward to Smartours smaller groups as 29 was too large.”

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Posted 6 years ago

“Egypt trip was great. Very busy. Smartours did a great job”

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Posted 6 years ago

“China Eastern Air poor service , trip itself very good”

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Posted 6 years ago

“After 2 pleasant trips with SmarTours, I decided to go with them again to Iceland in January 2019 instead of their competitors. After a good start, our tour guide Gudney was wonderful, and the airport pick up as described, I was looking for a good trip. Then things began to unraveled. The first two nights, the weather was uncooperative, it snowed and windy, so waiting for Northern Light is a no-gamer. The third night we were in Vik, it's raining and cloudy, and our hope for Northern Light sighting was again crushed. But coming back to Rekjavik on the fourth night, the sky started to clear, and everyone in the group were hoping to see the Northern Light, that's when we were told that the tour operator would no longer take us out for sighting because they had already tried 3 times. WHAT? My friend and I ended up booking with Gray Line on the side, and we were able to see the Northern Light on the Fifth night! SmarTours should negotiate with the "Tour Provider" to assure next group has the opportunity to try and see the Northern Light at all time during their visit ! To make my trip worse, the trip was arranged on Iceland Air, despite my paying extra legroom and choosing the aisle seat for me. The airline changed plane on the way back to Seattle, and put me in the middle seat of the middle row!!! For more than 7 hours, despite complaints, all I got was avoidance and a refund for my extra legroom pay, no formal nor courteous apology! Please, SmarTours no more Iceland Air, too many complaints on the review.”

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Posted 6 years ago

“Excellent guide, Khalid. Wonderful itinerary. Great value.”

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Posted 6 years ago

“The trip and tours was amazing, our tour guides was awesome, and the hotels was great. I took my 12yr old granddaughter with me, She was amazed and had a wonderful time.”

smarTours 5 star review on 2nd April 2019

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Posted 6 years ago

“As always, accommodations were good. I did find that a room with a sleeping loft at El Establo hotel in Monte Verde was strange. There were glitches due to scheduling that were unavoidable and that the tour leader handled very well.”

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Posted 6 years ago

“The tour guide was a friendly one, but first time undertaking a Smartours group. There was no first day of booking the optional tours, thus we missed out on the waterfall and horse back riding tour optional tour. This was due to lack of planning on the tour guide. Also, there was no one page contacts list in case people in the tour wanted to share contact info., We have always had out Smartour guides provide this service and we have taken 9 or 10 Smartours trips now. The hotel in Tortoguerro was subpar. Nice locations but rooms were dark and dingy and since there were now windows you could hear conversations of your next door neighbors. The hotel in MonteVerde was a lovely place however there was no insulation around the doors on the back deck and so the winds slammed the doors all night so huge lack of any sleep. One suggestion is to have an optional 3-4 days in an all inclusive resort on the Pacific side at the end of the Costa Rica tour and utilize an experienced Smartours guide,”

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Posted 6 years ago

“Both our primary guide and the local guides were terrific. However, the hotels were not. The rooms at the business hotel we stayed at the first weekend were well furnished but very small for 2 people. The second resort was a wonderful property, but we were never given time to relax there. The third beachfront property rooms were ok, but we looked directly at construction. More important was the food. The smartour meals were awful. The food was always overcooked and almost unpleasant with no alternate choice to the selected entree other than vegetarian. This resulted from having the food precooked since we had very specific set times to eat. We were rushed us in and out, perhaps to be gone by the time other diners arrived at normal time.. I would have much preferred having food cooked to order so it was edible. If the purpose of meals was for us to bond, why rush us so we can then go do nothing for the rest of the evening. The bus quality got worse and worse, with the last bus having 5 broken seats. More important, there was no basis for a 13 hour bus ride (originally promised to be only 7 hours, The 7 hour ride was justified by calculations of arriving at airport early and waiting and luggage limitations on the planes.) I would rather spend 7 hours in air conditioned luxury involved with flying than bumping over roads in too small seats and being delayed by much construction which delay was compounded by numerous bathroom stops not planned for with the additional 6 hours. The solution: fly us and have excess luggage driven in a small van. It would have been easy to bring overnight provisions on the flight if the luggage was delayed. The salt mines were a real disappointment and waste of day. The best activities were the coffee plantation and the Botero museums, but we were given little time at the latter. It is my impression that this tour was wholly on the cheap. I paid the full amount, but even if I had booked early and received a discount, I would feel "ripped off" by this tour. I will not recommend.”

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Posted 6 years ago

“Highly recommend Egypt tour with SmarTours. Our tour guide Tarek was very knowledgeable, provided excellent commentary with good command of English and very helpful. Security on bus as well as site tours was provided which was reassuring safety. Hotels were of high quality and cuisine was appetizing. Shaikh’s”

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Posted 6 years ago

“Excellent tour Guide for the entire trip Vietnam & Cambodia (Tommy) Excellent Guide in Cambodia (Dee) Excelent excursions. My favorite was the cable car to Buddha Hand. Very much impressed. Smart Tours gave us a lot of sights to see for our money including a rickshaw ride, boat rides. Hotels were spectacular. Food on tour to Vietnam Restaurants were great. Also enjoyed the food in Cambodia. Also enjoyed going to the caves.”

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Posted 6 years ago

“Amazing trip; beautiful scenery. Our guide was extremely friendly and knowledgeable. I highly recommend this tour-there is some hiking so get in shape first.”

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Posted 6 years ago

“GReat accommodations and you see the treasures of a foreign country with knowledgeable tour leaders.”

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Posted 6 years ago

smarTours is rated 4.4 based on 1,663 reviews