smarTours Reviews

4.4 Rating 1,657 Reviews
86 %
of reviewers recommend smarTours
4.4
Based on 1,657 reviews
Customer Service
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3.7 out of 5
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About smarTours:

smarTours is a leading provider of direct-to-consumer, affordable travel experiences to exotic global destinations. The Company offers travelers curated, pre-packaged itineraries to over 50 destinations across the globe. By offering tours directly to consumers, the Company provides premium-quality experiences at value prices, and as a result, has cultivated a highly passionate and loyal community of repeat travelers. More than 200,000 travelers have taken a smarTours trip since the founding of the Company in 1996. smarTours is… the smarter way to see the world.

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 18th January 2023
Cynthia R
smarTours 4 star review on 2nd January 2023
Rekha S
smarTours 5 star review on 28th December 2022
Jasmin N
smarTours 4 star review on 3rd December 2022
Jake M
smarTours 5 star review on 24th October 2022
Michael Z
smarTours 5 star review on 24th October 2022
Michael Z
smarTours 5 star review on 24th October 2022
Michael Z
355
Anonymous
Anonymous  // 01/01/2019
The Radisson Hotel was old and dank and not acceptable. The other hotels were fine.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hello, Thank you for sharing your feedback regarding the hotels on your tour. We'll be sure to keep your feedback in mind as we look at the hotels for our future departures. We hope you enjoyed the rest of your tour experience and if you have any additional comments about your tour experience that you'd like to share, please email feedback@smarTours.com. We hope to see you again on another tour! The smarTours Team
Posted 2 years ago
Our tour director Marcelo was very good.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hello Manuel, We're happy to hear you had a good experience with Marcelo as your tour director! We hope you'll join us on another tour soon! The smarTours Team
Posted 2 years ago
Guide was excellent. Hotels were very good and the sites were good> Your insurance is poor. Insurance should start when you bbook the trip.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hello Howard, We're so happy to hear that you had a great guide and an enjoyable tour experience. We're sorry for any frustration regarding the insurance. As travelers have until final payment to make a decision about whether or not to purchase the travel insurance, coverage does not begin until the premium is paid. While many insurance providers are looking to expand their offerings, we want to let you know that if you have a preferred travel insurance company you like to work with, you can always contact them about insuring your smarTours trip! We'd be happy to answer any questions they might have. We hope you'll join us on another tour in the future! The smarTours Team
Posted 2 years ago
While the tour was good, it was not what I had expected when I departed on the trip. From activities to packing, it could have been described better in the literature. All in all it was a good trip and Nicolas Patti was an excellent tour leader.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hello John, Thank you for your feedback, and please know we'll be taking a closer look at our documents for clarity. We're glad that you did enjoy the tour and that you had such an excellent tour director! We hope you'll travel with us again soon. The smarTours Team
Posted 2 years ago
The tour was good. The hotel accommodations were clean. The food was not so good. Same breakfast everyday. Not many choices for dinner. Guide Victor was very professional and was knowledgeable.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hello Janice, Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We'll keep your comments about the meals in mind as we look at our future departures. We're glad to hear that you enjoyed the tour, accommodations and that you had a great tour director. We hope you'll travel with us again in the future. The smarTours Team
Posted 2 years ago
We had good hotels, guides and very interesting and well-traveled fellow travelers on our Smartours trip to Oman, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. I was most impressed with our jovial, Palestinian guide, who had a wonderful outlook on life despite his standing as a non-citizen in the UAE. I learned so much about this part of the world and the entire trip more than met my expectations.
smarTours 4 star review on 13th March 2020
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hello Carol, Thank you for your kind comments. We're so thrilled you enjoyed your trip to the UAE and had a great experience with your tour director. We hope you'll join us on another once-in-a-lifetime tour! The smarTours Team
Posted 2 years ago
I've taken a number of trips with SmarTours. Overall, the experience has been fantastic. Hotels are always in a great location and it's nice handing over the responsibility of planning visits to all of the major sites to someone else.
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Posted 4 years ago
Hello Paul, Thank you for traveling with us and for your feedback! We hope that as the world opens up, you'll be able to join us on another once-in-a-lifetime journey! The smarTours Team
Posted 2 years ago
Good tour for the money. Tour guide at Capetown was poor.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Thank you for your candid feedback, Richard. We're glad you felt you received good value and will be taking your comments about the guide in Cape Town into consideration as we look at our future departures. The smarTours Team
Posted 2 years ago
We had a group of 10, so the bus was small and not that comfortable as the regular bus. The hotel in Dubai was good but the location was not great. Our tour director Muhamed was very good. Overall we had a good time.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hello Joseph, Thank you for the candid feedback on your UAE tour. We've noted your comments regarding the Dubai hotel and the bus that was used for your small group of 10 people. We're happy to hear you enjoyed your trip and had a great tour director! We hope you'll consider traveling with us again as the world opens up! The smarTours Team
Posted 2 years ago
This review is 4 stars rather than five due to the overall rating of Colombia rather than the tour. This was an invitation tour run by Betty Levin. As usual, having Betty as the overall tour director was excellent. Her ability to work with groups, keep us informed, and provide insights throughout the trip was superb. The tour director, Alejandro Garcia, was truly great. Local guides were also very good, especially in Medellin. Hotels, overall, were very good and well-located in areas that were comfortable, close to stores and restaurants (The one exception was in the Coffee Triangle where the resort was some distance from anything and all dinners were had there). Note that hotels were not in the historical centers of cities as those areas are not yet developed for handling foreign tourists and are not as comfortable for meandering around on your own. That said, Colombia is unfortunately ready for prime time traveling. Bogota was disappointing in many ways. The visit to Zipaquira and the underground salt cathedral was time consuming and not very special. A visit to the city's botanical gardens would have been more worthwhile. Equally disappointing was the trip to the top of Guadalupe, where the views were partially blocked by electrical wires and the church (the only other thing there) was closed. The Paloquenao market was fun to visit, and the Botero Museum was great. The rest of La Candelaria area was somewhat interesting, but much of the area has been stripped of its Spanish architecture. The Coffee Triangle was superb, a full-day of coffee-related activities. The drive from the Triangle to Medellin was UNBEARABLE. 11 hours on a bus over bad roads. UNACCEPTABLE. Commercial rates for a flight between the 2 places was $100 per person the day before the drive (I checked online) and entailed about 3+ hours. A much better way to get to Medellin when this drive was a full 10% of the entire tour. Medellin's Comuna 13, the Metro Cable, and Metro were are outstanding. Downtown Medellin had little Spanish influence left, leaving only the city's Botero collections were of interest. We left the tour after Medellin but did go to Cartagena on our own: the highlight of Colombia! Great city, great people, great food, great sights.
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Posted 4 years ago
It would be nicer to have other attractions included in the iternery rather than just mostly buddhist temples in Bangkok. Should include more attractions in Bali.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Thank you for sharing your feedback, Chai-Yan. We rely on traveler feedback like yours to help us continuously curate and refine our tours. We hope you'll join us on another adventure soon! The smarTours Team
Posted 2 years ago
This was my first trip with Smartours. I felt it was a good value for the money. Our tour guide, Jeremy Poole, was excellent. Very knowledgeable, very patient and kind. I highly recommend him. My mom got sick and we ended up off the tour for a few days. That was scary but I was able to keep in touch with Jeremy's colleague Ron McGregor (Jeremy was in an area with minimal cell coverage) and that was very comforting. Ron was a huge help. One thing I would recommend changing about this tour, leaving Capetown and flying to Durban, we had a very early morning flight that required a 3:30am wakeup to get to the airport in time. I understand schedules need to be set but that one was unacceptable. It was a very long day with less than adequate sleep and with most travelers between 65-85 years old, it was very difficult. it adds to the exhaustion that already comes with this kind of trip (long plane travel, jet lag, on and off buses, on a very fixed schedule). I recommend you adjust this and find a more appropriate flight schedule from Capetown to Durban.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hello JoAnn, Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We understand that early morning wake-ups are difficult and as we look to our future departures we will try to minimize any early flights. We're glad you enjoyed your first smarTours trip with Jeremy and that Ron was able to step in and help when your mother wasn't feeling well. We hope you'll join us on another once-in-a-lifetime trip soon! Thank you, The smarTours Team
Posted 2 years ago
My only complaint was too many early wake ups. One morning 3:00, another 4:00, another at 5:00 and most every other day 6:30. I did like the number of free days or half days that we could either rest or go on an optional excursions. The included meals were great. I particularly liked the safari in the open vehicle in Kruger. Our guide and driver was superb. Jeremy Pool was a great guide. Our accommodations were great. I felt it was a good value for what we received.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hi Marie, Thank you for your feedback, and we appreciate your comments about the early morning wake-ups. We rely on feedback from our travelers like you to continuously refine and curate our tours. We're so happy you enjoyed the general pacing, meals, and sightseeing on tour, and we hope you'll join us on another adventure soon! The smarTours Team
Posted 2 years ago
I was told by others that the quality of Smart Tours has gone down in the last several years. I would have like to have seen Vila de Leyva, Boyaca, and Santa Marta and more about Simon Bolivar especially since the Netflix series is very popular. However, our guide Carlos was beyond outstanding, he became everyone's friend and is an expert at everything he taught us. One coffee plantation is enough! Airline delays are ridiculous and Smarttours should NEVER book late flights out for senior citizens. The pace was far too strenuous for many people due to airline delays.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hi Linda, Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us, as we need your feedback to help us improve our tours. We have made updates to our Colombia program which we hope will improve the traveler experience! We're happy you had a great tour director like Carlos on your trip, and we hope you'll consider traveling with us again soon! The smarTours Team
Posted 2 years ago
Our guide was exceptional and really made the tour fun! Keshara made the tour. Very knowledgeable, and caring. China east airlines was probably the worst airline I have ever flown! Lousy service. The food was inedible and the seats uncomfortable. After 15 hrs this experience did not put us in a good frame of mind to begin the tour. The elephant camp was a huge disappointment. The sites were great and the cooking lessons were really fun. Other than China East, the elephant camp and the awful air pollution we had a good time. Hats off to Keshara.
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Posted 4 years ago
An amazing safari experience! Guide worked hard to help find the animals. Lodges and food were good. I would travel this company again.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
We're thrilled you enjoyed your safari experience and we hope to see you soon! The smarTours Team
Posted 2 years ago
Great tour guide - Tariq.
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Posted 4 years ago
Thanks for your feedback about Tariq! We hope you'll travel with us again soon! The smarTours Team
Posted 2 years ago
Only reason tour not “very good” is last night at hotel on Dec 17 I received over 30 bites from bed bugs that I am still treating.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hello Theresa, We're so sorry to hear that you were bitten by bugs on your last hotel night of the tour and we can't imagine that was the way you wanted to end your tour. We have made updates to our tour itinerary and our guests no longer stay at that hotel. Thank you for sharing your feedback with us as we rely on traveler feedback to continuously update and curate our tours. We hope you'll consider traveling with us in the future. The smarTours Team
Posted 2 years ago
The itinerary was planned well. The stay in Rio was short. I would have enjoyed staying two or three more days there.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Thank you for your feedback. We'll keep your suggestion in mind as we look at our future departures, but we're happy to hear you felt the itinerary was well planned! We hope you'll join us on another adventure soon. The smarTours Team
Posted 2 years ago
I recently completed a 8 day tour to Cuba. The trip and activities were very fun and informative. My tour guide was very nice but needs a little more training I feel. She has been to Cuba several times so I heard a lot of her experiences sometimes her trips were a little more interesting than what we did or were able to do, so she could have kept that to herself. She also left our group to figure it out more than once so she could do what she had planned for herself.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hello Lynne, Thank you for sharing your experience with us! We're glad that the tour was fun and informative, and we hear your comments about the tour guide. As we plan our future tours we'll keep your comments in mind! We hope you'll join us on another once-in-a-lifetime journey soon! The smarTours Team
Posted 2 years ago
smarTours is rated 4.4 based on 1,657 reviews