brightwaterholidays.com Avis 

excellent quide and programme but tired lackluster hotel

Total lack of timely information provided regarding this trip. I was not EVER told it was a confirmed departure, never provided with the hotel names or locations until 10 days before departure. As well, the outgoing flight details with which I needed to connect was not provided until I requested them and it was very close to the departure. I did not know that we were flying from Gatwick, as I had assumed Heathrow. My connecting flights were markedly more expensive than they should have been due to my late booking. This is my second trip where the tour manager was not provided, despite when booking, it says they are to accompany us. The itinerary was changed with no notice, and the group size was too small. I believe this tour should have been cancelled.

The bus was comfortable and the driver was always competent and willing to help.
The garden visits were generally most interesting and coffee and cake appreciated.
Hotel Indigo in York had comfortable rooms and a good breakfast but only having pasta for dinner was poor. Brightwater funds 2 external meals and this was appreciated

Driver who picked me up at Edinburgh was not safe, guide did not always allow for comfort breaks and at times had to be prompted to count us back

Friendly informative tour guide but lacking in experience. Good venues but not always enough time to explore and see wildlife. One venue changed on the last day from a nature reserve to a water sports venue which was totally inappropriate. Hotel comfortable but quality of food was poor.

Very interesting tour with well chosen itinery. Hotel lived up to expectations and full marks to the guide and driver.
Was dismayed at the difficult walking conditions on Staffa and particularly Lunga. Think the ascent to see the puffins was positively dangerous and was not properly descibed in the brochure. Quite a few group members stayed near the landing beach and didn't even attempt the climb. Think the tour guide (who was excellent in this situation) was alarmed in case an accident occured. Think Brightwater need to give further consideration as to how they market this tour.

First problem. pick up point. no notification that this had changed. No wildlife guide. great Nature reserves, but left to our own devices. no guide. Tour manager spoke into a hand held microphone. I couldnt hear the commentary, was left out for the whole tour. as hearing loss. advised before I travelled.. people at back of coach couldnt hear either ! safari means to stop and look for wildlife. we didnt do any of that. no interaction with the group from tour manager Brian. had to rely on Tony the driver to interpret. !hotel fine. helpful staff. and food just fine. overall very disappointing. my last trip to Scotland left very sad. .title of tour misleading.

Friendly, helpful and efficient.

I usually give a 5 star rating, but although I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Croatia, I felt that the itinerary was a little thin; not enough to fill the time. It didn't help that one day was a National Holiday, so things closed, and the National Museum in Pula is closed until 2028. Also the optional extra trips were in the event not an option; I would have definitely chosen the frescoes one.The hotels were excellent; well placed, and the local agent, guides and driver were all very helpful, friendly and very good at their jobs. From a purely garden point of view the descriptions in the tour brochure were rather out of date. Also logistically it made sense to eat the evening meal in the hotels, particularly with the Pula one, but it meant that apart from lunch, there were no opportunities to sample a range of restaurants. I hope this feedback has been helpful for future planning.

We arrived at Kelburn Castle as scheduled on the morning of Thurs. 4th June to be told it was closed and in fact NEVER opened on a morning and only in the Summer on weekday afternoons. How much effort had Brightwater holidays put into their planning? Nil it would seem nor could they find anything else for the tour guide to take us to so we had to wander round the shops in Largs. Not what we had paid for when choosing our Castles and Abbeys of Western Scotland holiday.
Both guide and driver were excellent but accommodation at the South Beach Hotel was not worth what we were paying . |Meals were poor and the decor was shabby and outdated.
I have just read your reply. But how could you not be aware of the major mistake in your planning re opening hours of Kelburn Castle? Everyone on the coach witnessed the guide contacting you about what to do when he found the castle closed and yet you have not apologised to us about your mistake and our disappointment which you clearly knew about.

Well organised tour, very good guide, but Hotel standard very average.

Yuo do everything first class and easy

Good gardens & NT house, Good hotels and very knowledgeable (almost too much info) guide.

Discrepancies between brochure and telephone information and actual holiday. Some problems seriously affected enjoyment.

Hotel - good room and tasty food.

Coach was far too big for 29 passengers creating access problems on single track roads on islands. Disappointingly this led to the omission of Luskentyre Beach which I was desperate to see.

Outward journey was overly long because of change to ferry arrangements. This led to difficulties with toilet stops and food stops. Specifically toilets and cafe at Spean Bridge were not open on arrival at 10 am although Tour Manager did manage to thankfully locate somone to open toilets. On our first day of touring similar problems were encountered because of Sunday opening limitations locally. Second day out - had an unnecessarily long 3 hour visit to local museum. Dark isle hotel on Benbecula in need of maintenance and upgrade although bar and dining areas were fine. However U would qualify that comment by saying I acknowledge hotel standards on the islands generally are not great.Guide oversold places we visited. Everything seemed to be ‘wonderful’. Too many churches visited. Compton McKenzie’s graveside visit of no particular interest to most of us.

It starts with the plan…where you will be visiting, how many “moves” you have to make…then the guide, because they are ultimately the one that will see to your needs, give/get assistance should you need it and have answers pretty much 24/7. Brightwater delivered on all of the above.

My only complaint was receiving information about my confirmed itinerary only 5 days out from tour starting.

Overall a super holiday with an amazing guide - Alistair. He was knowledgeable, well organised and ensured the welfare and smooth running of the holiday.
Small glitches re. documentation and incorrect information provided by Brightwater.
First hotel NOT acceptable - no lift and extremely tired rooms! However, the food provided by said hotel very good.
"Full on" holiday with varied and interesting itinerary, could not fault.
Most certainly can recommend Brightwater and most certainly shall travel with them, in the hopefully, near future.