This tour only had one included additional excursion (the trail ride offered never materialised) and the second day in each town was mainly free time so it would have been so much easier to be centrally situated to enable us to get to all the things we wanted to see, shops, restaurants etc and the possibility of returning to the hotel to enjoy the facilities or take a break and set out again. There is so much to see and do in a short time and the time wasted getting back and forth is unnecessary.

The Tour Manager was proactive in helping people get around but better locations would have given us more choice and independence.

Quite frustrating to be driven past dozens of more central hotels in the town/city! Surely the All Leisure Group has enough clout to negotiate good deals on well situated hotels and still ensure a reasonable holiday cost to us single travellers.

Better start to enjoy the scenery and prepare for our visit to NASA! :thumbup:

I agree with Bob, I wouldn't be willing to pay more for a more central location as I think these tours are overpriced to begin with and do not want to pay any more than I am now. Most of the tours I've been on already involve a 20-30 minute journey to the city centre now, so I do not want to be any further away than that, especially when we have to pay to get to and from the city all the time.

I've also noticed the amount of optional excursions have increased, so has the cost, the last two tours have involved me having to fork out an extra £150+ per tour, this is before you start paying for extras like connecting flights (another bugbear of mine), hotels, spending money, etc, etc.

I too am having to cut the number of tours I take due to the ever increasing cost, and I think JY needs to address this issue more than anything else.

Regards

Caroline

than the evenings, to be honest. After many years of travelling solo perhaps

I need to be re-educated to enjoy the prospect of some nightlife for a change!

Stuck in my ways 😞

I agree with everything that Bob has said. Nothing more to add.

Keep up the good work. It is good that you keep asking for our input.

Warm regards Julie

My experience of JY (6 trips to date with 2 more booked) is mostly positive - have been to some really nice hotels. Even when on tours with one-night stopovers the accommodation may not have always been somewhere you'd want to spend any more time, its always been good enough and practical.

In fact, where I would have criticisms these often no longer apply, for example did the Venice, Florence, Rome trip a few years back when you stayed in a Spa town outside Rome for the last 2 nights which was awful - nothing to do - but now you do stay in Rome itself on the Italy trip. Also did the Canyons and LBH trip last year when we stayed in the Stratosphere in LV - as someone who know LV well I was very disappointed about this as the hotel is miles from everywhere - I note that you now stay in NewYorkNewYork which is much more in the middle of things (although I guess for one night this is a bit nit picking of me). But - off topic - would suggest you offer JY customers the 2-night LV add on that you do in the TS brochure.

On my upcoming trips, the first is to Nice and - after checking on Trip Adviser before booking - I understand the hotel is central, which is important as the evening meal isn't included all evenings, so am hoping this will be OK (tho' the TA reviews about the rooms themselves are mixed!). I'm a bit concerned however about the hotels on the Historic East trip I've booked for June as I noticed that the hotel in central Richmond has been changed for one miles away, + there are one or two others not sure about - unfortunately as this is a new trip not read a review yet so don't know how this is going to go.

Was on the same Chicago to New Orleans trip as Keith, Jan & Steve and agree that the hotels were in good locations. On that particular trip we did have spare time in each city so it was very important.

Year before i did the National Parks (mt Rushmore & LBH) trip which was very hectic but most places were western type smaller towns so wasn't a massive issue where the hotel was although i remember one hotel bar closed early but a couple of us found the local Indian drinking hole which turned out good fun once they knew we weren't American, lol.

The tour is very hectic and after the meal appreciate a large number of people need their sleep. Personally I'm not in that group and a few hours good sleep does me, often one of the last to bed but still a front runner at breakfast.

Other than Vegas the only big city was Salt Lake and the hotel location was fine with plenty of places easily walkable.

Route 66 dissapointed as others have said, hotels in big cities like St Louis & Oklahoma need to be a little nearer the City centre (especially on the 2 night stops). The holiday is advertised as staying at these places but i don't consider 25 miles outside to be actually staying there.

Other American tours I've done are Golden West and Parks & Canyons, found hotel locations fine on those trips.

Mick

Thanks for asking this question! I think it very much depends on the type of holiday in question - for example, if it is a city break or an Escape holiday, where you are based in the same hotel for a good number of nights then a central location is helpful - especially when there is a good amount of free time and people are likely to go off and explore independently.

However, on a touring holiday when you are in a particular hotel for just a night or two and there are excursions during the day, then location is not so important. There does need either to be a decent restaurant in the hotel or nearby, or else JY needs to include the dinner and bring the group there. There is no point in seeking out a hotel in a fantastic central location when there is little or no free time to take advantage of it. I'm not suggesting that JY increase the amount of free time on touring holidays by the way - I think it is essential, especially on long haul tours, that as many excursions are included as possible, as I certainly want to see the best of the area - and most excursions should be included, rather than optional. A little bit off topic - sorry, but I think it's important to say!

Finally I would NOT be willing to pay more for a central location - the prices of most long haul JY holidays have risen a lot over the last couple of years and if prices rise any more I will have to cut back on the number of holidays I take! I would suggest to the holiday creators that given the current strength of sterling (and I gather it is expected to stay strong for the foreseeable future), would there be any room to either make a reduction to the cost of long haul tours or else to include some more excursions or meals? Just some food for thought!

Best wishes,

Bob

Hi All

I am really enjoying the great feedback I am getting from everyone on the questions I have been presenting, so I have another one that the team of holiday creators would like to ask.

When creating tours we are looking for the best price to make sure that you pay the most competitive price for your tour . Im sure everyone is aware that costs for a city centre hotel verses one that is out of town is very different.

What we would like to know is ;

Would you rather be in the centre of the city/town and pay just that little bit more, or be outside of the town ?

For example ; on our America's Golden West, in San Francisco we stay for 3 nights in the Hotel Zephyr located in Fisherman’s Wharf, which one of the most famous areas of San Francisco , yet many other travel companies stay in Berkley out of the city across the bay, which takes about 30 mins to get into the centre of the city.

Feedback as always greatly appreciated

Thank you

Alicia :thumbup:

Hi Alicia,

I agree with Keith, I was on the Chicago and New Orleans trip last year and those hotels were ideally located so that you could go out and see/do things in the bits of free time that you got. When I did the Route 66 a few years ago the St Louis, Oklahoma City, Springfield, Amarillo, Kingman hotels all seemed to be located on what we would call trading estates miles from the city, making you feel as been captive to that area.

I like to get out and explore my surroundings, see a bit more than you would just see from the tour bus, and being centrally located in the city is ideal for that.

I've been with other holiday companies and it is the same, a New York hotel was over 30 miles from the city located on a plot surrounded on all sides by interstates, it felt like you were captive on island, with no way of getting off without the tour bus.

Just my thoughts.

Regards,

SteveW