smarTours Reviews

Name: smarTours
Address: 500 7TH AVE, 8TH FL, NEW YORK, New York
Rating: 4.41

4.4 Rating 1,665 Reviews

86 %

of reviewers recommend smarTours

4.4

Based on 1,665 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 1 star review on 27th May 2025

Dominion

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

766

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Filter: Rated 4 None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“Excellent tour guide. Good hotels.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“I have always been pleased with the tours I have taken with smarTours (I have taken 3). However, this trip to Egypt, although fantastic, was a bit disorganized. I realize this is in part to the culture of Egypt but also, I think our tour director contributed to the confusion. Soja had an immense knowledge of Egyptian history but she did not always impart this information to us in the best fashion. Suggestions: 1) Soja would start talking before all in the group were there and information would be lost on some. 2) Soja used a microphone around her neck so when she turned her head, you could not always hear her. I believe this microphone was supposed to be on her head so when she turned her head, the microphone would move with her. 3) Soja would just point or say over there instead of right/left, etc. Those of us who could not see her, would not be able to tell what she was talking about. 4) Many times, Soja would tell us something and then later, the information would be different. Often made for much confusion. Wanted to bring this to your attention as I think there are easy solutions to making this trip VERY GOOD instead of just GOOD in my mind. However, it was a fabulous trip with amazing sites. I will still always use smarTours for my international travel!!! Thank you smarTours!!! I believe there are simple solution.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“This would have been an outstanding tour if not for two things- (1) We had a group of 20 people many of whom were disabled and needed wheelchairs (never on all the 6 previous Smartours we have taken where so many people in need)-this made it difficult for the rest of the tour having to wait for them and (2) their group leader seemed to think the tour should accommodate her group's wants rather then the itinerary we paid for. There was some tension between their leader and her demands and our tour director. I am glad Smartours is limiting tours to 30 people in the future. Hopefully the new activity rating will help people make better decisions about what is appropriate for them. This group slept through most of the tours and game rides and showed no interest in the history/culture or events that shaped South Africia. The tour director, Ron McGregor, was excellent and hotels were truly 4-5*”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“I just came back from Thailand your. Overall it was a great tour and the guide was absolutely amazing but I have couple of suggestions. The hotels we stayed in need to be much better, smartTouts need to negotiate with new hotels. Bedding was bad and air conditioning was horrible and noisy. Some optimal tours must be included in the package and not be optional. Need to include more attractions, like city clock in Chang Mai or Chang Rai, blue tower and more. I took the Peru tour with this company last year and the tour was terrific, but should have included island with penguins on Galapagos as optional tour, extra 2 days. As I said before, it’s a good company to travel with.”

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Posted 6 years ago

“Long layover in Shanghai was a problem. Anne 14 day tour to Vietnam and Cambodia”

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Posted 6 years ago

“Hotel in Calafante, Argentina, although lovely and a beautiful town, is located adjacent to hostels. The noise from voices and motorcycle engines went all through the night of the 3 nights we were there. SLeep was impossible. Random assignment of seating on flights from Miami to Chile/Buenos Aires to Miami was miserable. We could not sit with our travel companions, we had no choice on where in the seating chart, even when checking in well within the 48 hour allowance. Connections in Miami en route home were thus made very stressful. We lucked out with a terrific tour guide for the majority of the trip that made the experience excellent. Tour guide in BA was just ok. Balance of activities, selection of what we saw, and modes of transportation were all handled well.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“Very interesting country. A lot to see and absorb. Ambitious itinerary. Might be a bit exhausting for some folks. Great tour group and the absolute best tour guide ever (Khalid). Some hotels could could be better. They wouldn't meet most of our standards for quality and safety.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“At the end of the tour we provided responses to a lengthy survey handed out by the tour guide. If you received it, we do not feel compelled to repeat ourselves. In brief, we enjoyed ourselves but the trip would have been made even better if more information was provided on what to expect -- specifically with regard to level of physical activity and the time spent on the bus. Also the tour guide needed to do more to bring the group together at the start of the trip especially at the welcoming dinner. He indicated that he was told that he could not attend the welcoming and for that matter the last dinner. Too bad!”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“Good hotels, experienced tour guides. The flights schedule is unpleasant- too early or over night.”

smarTours 4 star review on 11th March 2019

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Posted 6 years ago

“Too much flying, it takes up times away from visiting the countries. Its too many country visited for such short days.”

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Posted 6 years ago

“The only problems with the tour was LATAM. Long lines missed flight even when they knew that the flight with 24 passengers to go from sanpalou to Miami was delayed due to extreme weather, they didn’t wait for half an hour causing 36 hrs delay for the tour passengers. Otherwise the tour itself was great with a fantastic tour guide in Bernardo. I will probably use other smart tour destinations but not to South America.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“We enjoyed the experience but were disappointed with our guide. We didn't think he gave us as much information as past guides have done.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“Could have shortened trip by one day”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“SmarTours is very good. QUANTAS on the other hand was terrible. You need to find another airline!...........Constructive advise: It would be nice to have had the opportunity for a tour of JUST Australia, and another one (before or after the chosen dates) of JUST New Zealand. We would have seen more, had the chance to have more time in our favorite places......and had the chance to 'add on' the other country if we wanted. Keeping the trip we just experienced, and adding these other choices would really go over and above what anyone else is offering.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“Overall, the South Africa tour was INCREDIBLE and our tour guide, JEREMY POOLE was organic, knowledgeable, incisive, passionate, and patient. Highlights included the natural beauty of South Africa, interacting with the cheetahs in Hsuhsului Preserve, seeing the BIG FIVE in one afternoon, and all things Mandela—from visiting his home in Soweto to going to the apartheid museum, and then, on an optional trip to Pretoria, seeing the courthouse he was held in and the cell where he wrote the Freedom Charter on the wall. Negatives were as follows: 1–the small van we were in for most of the tour. We were told that we would have a BUS that had bathroom facilities on it. However, because there were only 12 on this tour, I guess that SmarTours decided to economize and we had a van that could seat 15 people, albeit uncomfortably. Two seats were situated over the wheel well, which made it difficult for anyone to sit there. Additionally, the seats were uncomfortably narrow, and the seatbelts dug into the bones of my rear. Two people on this trip suffered from Crohn’s disrase and one had an episode on the bus. It took a while to find a restroom for him, and while he remained good natured, if the bus had the promised facilities, he would not have had to go through this public embarrassment. For the last two days of the trip, in Johannesburg, we had the promised bus and then on the optional tour—with only seven of us—we had a van which had much wider comfortable seats (and a narrower aisle—which was a much better use of space.) 2–while the hotel in Cape Town was lovely and modern, it was in a HORRIBLE section of town. I was traveling with another woman, and when the hotel manager asked us our evening plans—which would have involved walking two blocks—he advised against it, and offered us a ride in the hotel limo—suggesting that we call him when we finished dinner so he could send a car to bring us home. The amount of homeless and drug addicts around the hotel was appalling. Needless to say, my friend and I opted for a restaurant across the street from the hotel—where Mr Poole wound up dining as well. The presence of so many security guards and warnings sent out red flags. Yet despite the precautions, an unbalanced homeless woman somehow got into the grounds and into the pool where she yelled for hours. Once I determined she was not being attacked, I went to bed, but several others on the tour were kept awake until the fire department took her away in an ambulance around midnight. 3- Swaziland. Why did we go there??! And the hotel was HIDEOUS. Mildew, tipped carpeting, stains on just about everything...disgusting in every way. I don’t know who awards stats but this one shouldn’t have any.”

smarTours 4 star review on 27th February 2019

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Posted 6 years ago

“Not happy to wake up at 1:30 am to catch plane. All staff connected to the tour was very friendly and helpful. Good security provided in Egypt. Food on Royal Lily was very good.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“I believe SmarTours need to include all expenses in the total cost. Too many expense after arriving to include the tips. Too many mornings up by 1:00 or 5:00 am to get to see everything. We felt rush throughout the trip with little or no personal time to rest.”

smarTours 4 star review on 25th February 2019

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“Tommy our Tour director was great. The Hotel in Hue was not poor, not what was expected, as well as the food, we did not know exactly what we were eating. The terrible experience at the VIP Lounge in Shanghai was not acceptable, they did not speak English, they were not expecting us, they did not know how to charge us using our credit cards, the food was not good at all. TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“This was our fifth SmarTour. For the first time I felt ripped off with the Abu Simbel tour. The very short flight or nothing else justified the $335 cost. We were hurried thru the exhibits. Even if we had more time, it was way overpriced. Many other participants felt as I do. It should be included with at least four hours spent there as a stopover on the way to Aswan.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“In general this was an excellent tour. It would have been better if there had been a Smartours guide for the entire tour in addition to the local guides as I have had on every other Smartours trip I have been on. That said, the choice of sites for the city tours and the optional tours was excellent. The pace was pretty intense, but it helped to take a spa day in Bali. We had a great time.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

smarTours is rated 4.4 based on 1,665 reviews