African Tours
African Tours – A Huge Disappointment
We travelled to Tanzania and Zanzibar over Christmas and New Year, but unfortunately, our experience with African Tours was a major disappointment. We were recommended a hotel in Zanzibar that did not meet our expectations—nor what we would expect from a travel agency claiming to be professional. Even our guide questioned the choice of hotel. We have tried to get a response from African Tours, but to no avail.
The Hotel
The hotel we were booked into was far from acceptable. The rooms were full of large ants in the walls and on the moldings. Despite the staff spraying daily, it did not help. The air conditioning worked poorly, and in one of the rooms, it was so inefficient that the room was barely usable. The pool was dirty, and the water was murky. Considering the tides, the beach was unusable. We had been very clear that quality accommodation was a priority for us and were even open to paying for a better option, yet we were placed in this substandard hotel (southeast instead of north).
African Tours’ Initial Response
When we expressed our disappointment, African Tours acted quickly and arranged for us to change hotels after two days. We were relieved but still tried to understand why we had been placed in such a low-standard hotel in the first place. We offered to pay extra for a better alternative, but it was difficult to determine the cost since African Tours was still waiting for a refund from the hotel we had left.
Issues with the Solution and Subsequent Handling
When we finally got an alternative, the only option available was a five-star hotel, which resulted in our entire trip becoming 25% more expensive. We accepted it and were promised that we could discuss compensation once we returned home. However, when we got back to Sweden, African Tours insisted that we should pay 50% of the additional cost, even though we believe the full responsibility lay with them. We offered to cover 30%, which was not entirely fair either, but this was not accepted. After six months, we received an invoice for the full amount without any real dialogue or willingness to compromise.
Conclusion
We understand that hotel pictures do not always reflect reality, but this hotel was completely unacceptable. We also want to highlight that it was not made clear in the description that the beach was unusable throughout the day, which made the hotel significantly less appealing. Many other guests at the hotel were also disappointed. One woman we spoke to was in tears, saying they had tried to switch hotels without success.
We have travelled extensively and believe that a serious travel agency should have handled this much better, both in terms of financial resolution and customer communication. We attempted to arrange meetings with the management but received no response. We recommend choosing a different travel agency if you want a safe and positive travel experience.
Reply from African Tours & Safaris
Hej Åsa,
Tråkigt att ni är besvikna på er resa julen 2023. Vi förstår att ni hade exceptionell otur då flera i ert sällskap blev sjuka och missade delar av safarin, vi är dock glada att vår personal på plats kunde hjälpa er att komma till läkare och lösa ett alternativt boende för er.
På Zanzibar fick ni de rum som ni själva hade önskat, och vi informerade er i förväg om hotellets läge, tidvattnet och vad som ingick. När ni kom fram och var missnöjda skickade vi vår personal direkt för att hjälpa till på plats.
Ni ville dock byta hotell och var beredda att betala extra för ett annat hotell. Vi bokade ett annat hotell som ni var nöjda med och efter hemkomst föreslog vi att vi skulle dela på merkostnaden vilket ni gick med på.
Vi är mycket tacksamma för att ni tagit er tiden att skriva om ert missnöje som vi tar på fullaste allvar. Vår VD kommer att kontakta er om hela denna händelse. /David, African Tours & Safaris