Travel reviews by M family from West Sussex
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
1
Countries visited
3
Lodges stayed in
6
Excursions taken
0
Great safari in some beautiful lodges
Kenya and 2 other countries between 5 Jul 2009 and 20 Jul 2009
We had a problem with flights at one stage and tried ringing the Sunvil '24 hour helpline'. I rang 10 times and left at least 3 messages but never received a reply. In the end i had to ring Claire on her mobile early in the morning to get help."
Feedback response
We always aim to be contactable if our travellers need us – 24/7 on 365 days per year.
Hence the Sunvil group has a 24-hour emergency mobile number which is always carried by a member of the group. (This is usually one of the group’s senior team, working on a rota.) This means that in an emergency overseas our travellers can speak to a travel professional who works for Expert Africa or one of our sister-companies - not a clueless call-centre employee!
In addition, each of our travellers is also given a list of the home and mobile telephone numbers for all of the Expert Africa team, for emergency after-hours calls. Such emergencies are thankfully rare.
On this occasion, the traveller had called us at 3am to look into a flight connection issue. We’re very sorry that our 24-hour contact telephone number had a problem: the phone malfunctioned. We’ve now rectified the problem and apologised to this traveller.
However, we are pleased that this traveller managed to use these numbers to get hold of the Expert Africa team member who had booked his trip, Claire, at 7am the next morning.
We are sorry for the inconvenienced caused by not getting through to our 24-hour telephone number; it was a one-off problem which should not reoccur.
Note that all after-hours numbers are for emergency use only.
Arranged By Claire Scott
Macushla House
"Macushla House review"
E Unoto Retreat, Tanzania (this camp has since closed)
"E Unoto Retreat review"
It is a 15km drive off the main road over some rough terrain but you do pass through a lot of Massai villages with smiling/waving children. The main negative point is that the generator is only on for a few hours in the morning and evening so you have no light after about 9.30 in the evening.
The showers barely worked on our visit even though there were only a few people staying there. You would not want to stay here for more than two days as there is not much to do apart from eat/drink."
Not currently featured by Expert Africa
Gibb's Farm
"Gibb's Farm review"
At dinner they ask you if you would like them to light a fire in your room and you come back to lovely log fire.
Early morning tea/coffee ( their own beans ) are brought to your door at a time of your choosing.
A tour of the farm is good fun."
Mbalageti Lodge
"Mbalageti Lodge review"
We were there for 3 days and the first day was idyllic. However on days 2 and 3 a tour group of over 30 arrived made up of 50% adults and 50% children. They sat on two tables at meals and made a huge amount of noise - which completely ruined the ambience of the outside dining overlooking the Serengetti below. Everyobne else asked to be moved as far away from them as possible!.
The food was good on day one but after the large group arrived they had to resort to buffets at every meal which meant the standard went down. After lunch when most people wanted to relax for a while the children went to the pool and played 'Marco Polo' ( for those who dont know this involves shouting at the top of your voice ).
A wonderful place but unless you are told there will be no large groups staying at the time i would not advise going here."
Breezes Beach Club
"Breezes Beach Club review"
A trip into Stone Town is well worth it but not using the hotel provided service ( we used the people who did our transfer and it cost about 25% of the hotel price). Food is good but buffets 50% of the time.
Plenty of room for guests on the beach and around the pool."
Macushla House
The staff and owners are very freindly and helpful. When we had a medical problem with one of our daughters the owner drove us into town to visit a pharmacy. They even made us early morning tea when we were leaving for the airport at 4am on one accasion!
The only drawback is that it is some distance from the airport so you need to leave a long time before your flight. Nearby elephant sanctuary is worth a visit if you have time."