North Morocco Adventure Tour

Traveler Reviews

• K

  Kate

  January 21st, 2020
  1.0
  I do not recommend this company to anyone wishing to have an enjoyable tour of Morocco. I recently undertook a...
  I do not recommend this company to anyone wishing to have an enjoyable tour of Morocco. I recently undertook a 9-day tour with Moroccan Discoveries in December 2019. The tour began well with the airport pickup by a driver (who spoke little English but was very nice and punctual). The next morning at what I expected to be the “meet and greet of fellow travellers” I discovered that I was the only person on the tour. At no stage before the tour commenced was I informed of this. Most of the tour was just me and my non-English speaking driver. The first day I had a guide but the remaining days of the tour were confusing and stressful as the itinerary was loosely followed, promised guided tours did not occur, cultural experiences did not take place, and hotels that were on my accommodation vouchers changed each day. The tour was spoilt by a lack of guides and promised cultural events listed in the itinerary. Some guides did eventuate, and except for one were good quality. However, I constantly had to ring the tour company and ask what tour guides would be available the next day. My tour loosely followed the itinerary but I did not experience any of the cultural experiences advertised (eg tea ceremonies, attending medina auctions etc). I was looking forward to these and was very disappointed they did not occur. Additionally, my hotels did not match those on the voucher. I don't mind the occasional changing of hotels, things happen, but every hotel being changed and the lack of communication from the company was extremely stressful. Added to this was being the only person on the tour. For example, on one night I was driven 30 mins out of the town I was supposed to stay in with no explanation that the new hotel was so far away from the hotel on my voucher and the town I was supposed to stay in. The new hotel was in a very isolated country position with no phone reception, very limited Wi-Fi and seemingly no other guests. Although my driver was very nice he spoke very little English. All I knew was that I was dropped at a hotel miles from where I thought I would be staying. Upon my arrival 8 local men were watching tv in the common room and the two male staff members spoke little English. The car park of the hotel was empty and there were no other guests in sight. It was very clear that there were very few, if any, other guests in the hotel. While the hotel was of a good standard as a single female traveller I felt abandoned, isolated and vulnerable because no one in the hotel spoke good English, I had no idea where I was or exactly what was going on. Needless to say I did not sleep well on my first night there. The accommodation issue became worse in the final days of my tour. On my third last night the company had failed to pay for the hotel. Luckily I was able to catch the driver as he was leaving. It was twenty minutes of negotiations between myself and the hotel with support from the driver as the company rep before I was finally given a room (which was supposed to be for the next three nights). The following morning I was told to get my bags as I was not booked at the hotel that night. However that evening I was back at the same hotel who again confirmed no room was booked for me. Another lengthy discussion took place and I again made phone calls to the tour company before I was moved to another hotel. The next day I found out that this hotel did not have a booking for me that night (New Years Eve). I made yet another phone call to the tour company. It was confirmed that no accommodation been booked and it was “suggested” that as my flight was at 1pm the day after I might like to move cities to be closer to my flight. It was very clear that my three nights’ accommodation in Marrakesh had not been booked despite me booking and paying for the tour months earlier. I agreed to the change as I was worried I would not have a room at all on New Year’s Eve if I did not. I felt the company didn't tell the truth or support me during my trip. During one call asking why guides weren't appearing for tours I was told they weren't needed for me that day – yet there was a guide specifically mentioned in the tour itinerary. The day certainly would have been more enjoyable if a guide was on hand to tell me about what I was seeing and experiencing. On another occasion the company rep I spoke to on the phone promised to organise a guide for me the next day. However there was no guide the next day. In yet another phone call I was told this guide had been booked but disappointingly had not shown up and that the company would not book him again. It would have been nice to be told this by the company instead of me having to ring them to find out. I tried emailing the company just in case I was missing something in our telephone conversations. I received an answer saying that “all guides had been provided”. This definitely was not the case. I sent an email back saying this and received no answer. My saving grace was my driver who while not speaking good English accompanied me into markets and around towns when guides failed to appear. He helped me when dealing with failures to pay accommodation bookings or when there was no accommodation bookings. He was unfailingly polite and helpful and I am very grateful that he was my driver for the entire tour. The van I travelled in was good and hotels were of a good quality. I am a regular traveller and often travel by myself. However I booked a tour in Morocco because I was a single female and thought that a tour would provide company and safety in a country where females travelling alone is often not recommended. When the itinerary was followed and a guide showed up I did enjoy myself. However any enjoyment of the tour was certainly lessened due to the stress associated with accommodation problems, missing guides and not experiencing promised cultural events. This was made worse by a tour company who did answer phone calls but failed to fix daily problems that occurred. This did ruined the trip for me. I did not book a tour expecting to have to complain almost daily about lack of guides, lack of information about changes in accommodation or accommodation not being booked or paid for. I did expect to experience everything that was listed on the itinerary and this did not occur. While I appreciate that the company went ahead with the tour even though I was the only person booked on it I would have appreciated the tour company contacting me and telling me this. Offering some alternatives or asking if I was happy with this would have been very helpful as I probably would have gone on another tour that had other people booked on it. Communication is definitely not a positive aspect of the company and given the difficulties encountered on my tour it actually took away much of the pleasure I experienced in the trip. I would caution anyone booking with this company.Show more
  Traveled in December 2019
  

  Reply from: Morocco Discoveries

  We hope you are back home safe. It is with sadness that I received your tour report on the Tour Radar platform. We are all very sorry for the stress you have encountered during your tour with us. But allow us to explain to you exactly what happened. You were booked on the same tour with other four travelers who were in Spain and decided to spend Christmas there and delayed their tour to Morocco by one week. This happened at the last minute before your arrival. There was no way to convince them otherwise. So we had to cancel their participation. We thought of you in goodwill and how it could be disappointing for you to cancel the tour on you. We thought also of your financial loss how much just your flight would cost. So we kept the tour on for you, though everyone knows that one passenger cost would not cover even transportation expenses. We took the tour on loss to avoid disappointing you. Christmas and New Year are the busiest time in Morocco. Good hotels are overbooked and everything becomes costly. The mistake occurred when we canceled the two doubles some hotels canceled your single as well. By the time we found out you were already in Marrakech. We did all we can to provide you with the best accommodation. We even upgraded you to Hotel Meriem which was much better than hotel El Andalous. We sincerely did all we can to make a comfortable ride for you. Sometimes things go against the current but we mean well. Again my personal apology and that of all my staff, for what happened.

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