Tribes Travel

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Tribes Travel, 12 The Business Centre, Earl Soham, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP13 7SA, UK

Tribes Travel

The art of travelling with respect

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    Review

     

    1. Maureen and Mary - UK
    2. 03/03/2010
    3. 2
    4. India

    5. Overall level of satisfaction

      • Excellent

      Excellent

    7. We are likely to use Tribes again for any major trip abroad.

    8. Tribes service

      • Excellent

      Excellent

    10. We were particularly impressed with your agent in India. We were rung half way through to check on our satisfaction and as soon as they heard about my damaged luggage they were checking that it could be mended.

    11. Expectations

      • Excellent

      Excellent

    13. We want to acknowledge the excellent quality of the drivers we had; all were calm efficient, friendly and very competent. Similarly the arrangements went without a hitch - the only 'blip' was when the agent failed to turn up to put us on the train at Bharatpur. However, he phoned a colleague also putting a group on the train who took us under his wing. We cannot single out any of the staff - they were all equally good. But congratulations to the agent at Cochin who got my case mended for 20 rupees in an hour!

    14. Guides

      • Good

      Good

    16. We had female guides in Delhi and Cochin who seemed to understand that we were also interested in social and cultural matters. The guides at Agra/Fatepuri Sikri and Jaipur were very well informed and tried to convey a lot of detail at great speed. Given their excellent but heavily accented English this was difficult to take in and one went into information overload!

    17. Social & Environmental Responsibility

      • Good

      Good

    19. In parts. Clearly the social and environmental responsbility was greater at Khem Villas and particularly at Coconut Lagoon which was very eco-friendly but it was impossible to tell in other places although clearly jobs were provided for local people.
      There was a lot of driving - carbon footprint(!) - even for very small distances.

    20. Other comments

    1. Accommodation

    1. Brunton Boatyard

    2. Brunton Boatyard
      • Excellent

      Excellent

    4. The general accommodation/welcome/service was excellent. However, this hotel - in common with most of the others - only provided very formal eating arrangements e.g the coffee shop was a misnomer, it was no more than a small bar with formal dining. All hotels had restaurants but had no menu outside which would enable you to judge the type of food available. Once in you were unlikely to retreat! On occasions we asked for the menu in advance.

    1. Coconut Lagoon

    2. Coconut Lagoon
      • Excellent

      Excellent

    4. Relaxed dining arrangements and more laid back staff - although the service was excellent. We would recommend others to go there. Accommodation in lovely bungalows with everything you could want. Liked the idea of being shown around the site and providing explanations about environmental matters. Saw an Osprey!

    1. Kerala Houseboat

    2. Kerala Houseboat
      • Excellent

      Excellent

    4. The staff could not be faulted although we did not do justice to the meals. However, we were not sure that spending the night on the boat added anything to the experience; we would have preferred another night in Cochin.

    1. Khem Villas

    2. Khem Villas, Ranthambhore
      • Excellent

      Excellent

    4. Very welcoming and the lay out encouraged visitors to interact. Lovely accommodation in bungalows. Would recommend anyone to go there - but see comments on wildlife viewing. Would have been happy to stay longer

    1. Samode Haveli

    2. Samode Haveli, Jaipur
      • Excellent

      Excellent

    4. Excellent accommodation and it was nice to be on the ground floor after the 120 steps at Samode (from entrance to our bedroom!) Dining experience in the central courtyard was good and again it was easier to meet other people.

    1. Samode Palace

    2. Samode Palace
      • Good

      Good

    4. This was an experience. It was a lovely building but it was all a bit OTT especially the obsequious service. The number of steps within the building - especially with the dim light - and even within the bedroom made it a hazard. It would have been all too easy to fall over and break a leg getting out of bed in the night.

      We thought this building - which is certainly worth seeing - could have been visited in a day trip from Jaipur. It was a very long journey from Khem Villas here.

    1. The Claridges

    2. The Claridges, Delhi
      • Good

      Good

    4. This had the advantage of being very westernised for our first night in India. Accommodation fine. Same comments re eating arrangements. You always seemed to bump into a security guard in the corridor when you left your room which one of us regarded as a threat rather than a comfort! Given the attacks in Mumbai last year it may be that this degree of security was necessary. (Having said that we met one visitor who felt the security in Delhi wasn't good enough - but he was an ex-policeman!)

    1. Trident Agra

    2. Trident Agra
      • Excellent

      Excellent

    4. We found this the most relaxing of the City Hotels and the courtyard outlook was very pleasant

    1. Experiences

    1. Agra and the Taj Mahal

      • Don't even think about missing this!

      Don't even think about missing this!

    4. Taj Mahal is certainly an experience of a lifetime. We were recommended a restaurant here which was fine. It is certainly true that the city had nothing to commend it and one night was sufficient.

    1. Cities of India

      • It was OK

      It was OK

    4. We felt a bit cocooned from life being driven around so much although we can understand the difficult of doing otherwise.

    1. Kerala backwaters

      • Don't even think about missing this!

      Don't even think about missing this!

    4. It is illuminating to see how the backwaters are used as thoroughfares and 'normal' life goes on by use of boats. Kerala is a different country after Rajasthan.

    1. Rajasthan

    4. It is difficult to rate this. We were disappointed to see how, despite the massive amounts of tourist money flooding into the area so little seems to have been done to improve the lot of the people although we realise we speak from a lightning visit. Millions of rupees had been spent on restoring the Samode hotels (necessary to achieve the quality of the workmanship) but this all seems to stop at the door of the hotel although there is clearly a knock on effect on local employment.

    1. Wildlife viewing in India

    2. Wildlife viewing in India
      • It was OK

      It was OK

    4. Yes we were at a tiger game reserve but the guides were not interested in telling us anything about the wildlife and the ecosystem. There was a strong competitive element between the jeeps to be the first to see a tiger so the game drive was nothing more than careering around in vehicles with the guides shouting at each other.

      Yes, we did see a tiger but this should have only been one element of the trip. We cannot describe this in any way as 'wildlife' viewing.

      Tribes RESPONSE: This is unfortunately sometimes the case in Ranthambore, where the wildlife experience tends to be focused on the tigers to the exclusion of other wildlife. We do not have any control over the jeeps and guides which are assigned by the park authorities. The National Parks in Central India are less busy and with better guides attached to the lodges, and although there is still a focus on tigers the guides do explain about the rest of the wildlife. We're sorry this was a disappointment.
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