David Urquhart Travel Reviews 

Buyer beware. Let me begin by saying I have had many good trips with DU. I live in Canada and return almost annually at which time always book a DU tour. I booked two trips with them this year - a 4 day tour to Ireland and an overnight to Dunoon. DU called today to say that both trips have been cancelled due to low numbers. They are refunding the money for the trips as they have no others suitable for the dates. My compensation will be a whopping 10 pound voucher towards my next David U trip. Taking into account air fares to Scotland etc. huge financial impact on me - I realize that DU is not responsible for my air fares but a 10 pounds credit is disgusting. A year of planning and coordinating down the tubes for 10 pounds, Shame on you DU.

Just back from a 3 night trip to the Highlands and Skye staying at Garve Hotel. Driver, Davie, was excellent and had fantastic knowledge of local area and provided fab commentary. The twin room was a little dated but had everything that we needed. The breakfast was first class, help yourself to cereal, porridge, juice etc and served with tea, coffee, toast and cooked breakfast. 3 course evening meal was very good variety and served quickly. Waitresses were very helpful and nothing was too much trouble. The entertainment was fabulous with musician/singers on two nights and bingo on the last evening. The barman called the numbers and was an absolute hoot. Would highly recommend this trip.

Just back from 4 days trip to dunoon. Hotel a bit dated but all areas clean including bedroom. We were on 3rd floor with a fantastic Clyde view. Food good choice served hot and on hot plates. Staff ALL very friendly and helpful. Thanks to driver Jim who coped with single track roads and a detour very admirably.

Went to Glen Usk in Llandrindod well we were very disappointed the first room they gave us was filthy and in need of updated thread bare carpet blankets on the bed bath window was clear glass with a net they did give us a much better room although the bathroom floor was still dirty I will say the staff were al very friendly meals were good a bit cold sometimes entertainment was ok the coach trip up was very cold the driver said he had to have the air conditioning on and we where not aloud to use the toilet while the coach is moving the day trips were not very good

Just back from a trip staying at the Garve hotel which I have stayed in a few years ago.
Enjoyed all the trips especially the trip to Skye. The food at the hotel was excellent and the staff worked really hard. Entertainment was very good. Our driver was very knowledgeable and very friendly.

Just come from spending a 4 night mini break at the Glenmorag Hotel in Dunoon with David Urquarts. Cannot fault the company at all. Neil our driver was fantastic and really made the holiday. He was knowledgable about where we were going (interesting and funny facts) He was polite and helpful, we had my 87 year old mother with us and he was always there to help her on and off the coach. Have to say he is a huge ambasador for the company. The day trips out were fantastic, we had great weather which no doubt helped but the places we visited were all different and interesting in their own right. First coach trip I have ever been on and will certainly be booking again. Thank you Neil, we loved you.

I was just on the trip to the Garve hotel travelling to Skye, Tain and Dornoch. Had a lovely weekend, ok hotel is dated and badly needs upgraded and it would be gorgeous if Mr Urquhart did that, it’s in a beautiful location albeit very quiet, but it’s a stop off for visiting other places. I thought the food was really good apart from a dodgy poached egg which wasn’t cooked right through. Skye was absolutely amazing and Dave the driver was so knowledgeable telling us all about the history and surrounding areas, he took us to places we’d never find if on our own and did photo stops which was great too. Entertainment in the hotel was good, Ian on the Friday, on keyboards and accordion, but Ian you need to liven up a bit and get the crowd going, and smile a bit more. Shane on Saturday had us all up dancing in no time and he was great too. Sunday was bingo and quiz which was a great laugh! I never expected this trip to be as gd as it was, we were very lucky with brill weather which really made it. I would recommend this trip to anyone, it’s not 5 star but fantastic value for money and we had a great crowd on our bus, thanks to everyone oh and the staff at the Garve were fantastic!! Will definitely go one again.

Ihave been on numerous urquart tours and find them very good value for money abd i really like the garve hotel good value for money what do people want !!

We got a leaflet from David Urquhart in the post advertising a £59 mini cruise to Amsterdam. Seems a great bargain but what do you get for your money?

We got picked up in Livingston on the Saturday morning by a clean and comfortable coach and taken to Newcastle for the teatime boat to Holland. The price includes two nights accommodation in the ferry. We got into the Dutch ferry terminal about half past ten on the Sunday morning and the coach took us into Amsterdam and dropped us off near Central Station. We had four hours to spend in Amsterdam before getting picked up and taken back to the boat and home-ward bound to Newcastle and the coach back to Livingston.

In a nutshell, you get luxury coach travel there and back, a skilled and experienced, friendly coach driver, two consecutive nights on the boat and four hours to spend in Amsterdam. All for £59 a head. Extraordinary value for money. So, what's not to like about it?

If you are a bargain hunter and not been to Amsterdam before and don't mind roughing it, then this is just for you. As I say, great value for money - but, remember you need to eat as well and that's an extra. So what are the extras?

We paid an extra £20 a head to have side by side bunks rather than a bunk bed. It also gave us a window although there was not a lot to see when you sailed off. It was dark. The cabin we did get was two bunk beds two feet apart. I don't think I would buy the upgrade next time.

The shower in the cabin was tiny. My bedroom wardrobe was bigger. I just couldn't get into it, but that was no hardship.

We paid £54 a head for the meal deal on the boat which gave us two dinners and two breakfasts and this was cheaper than paying for it on the boat so money well spent as you still need to eat and the food was quite exceptional. It was a bit like the world food buffets you get on the high streets, great selection of food and very tasty, I have to say.

So, all in, £59 for travel and accommodation, £54 for meals and £20 for a cabin upgrade. Total £133 each. It is still a bargain. You could save more if you took your own food with you. There were plenty places in Amsterdam selling pizza or pasta for lunch for five Euros. If you were careful with your money and food and could put up with a tiny cabin, you could get change from £75 for the whole trip.

So what were the downsides?

We got picked up at 10am right outside the Beefeater which gave us a great breakfast before joining the coach. The Glasgow folk had been picked up at 8am. For them, this was a long day. The driver has to watch his break times, so we spent an hour at a Berwick garden centre. Because we had a hearty breakfast, we saved on not having to pay for lunch. We got to Newcastle in plenty time for the boat.

The cabin was fit for purpose but had little in the way of luxury. The cabins are small. Smaller than our kitchen. But the beds were comfy and the cabin warm. It would be a tight squeeze if there were four of us. There were no toiletries or television, or even a kettle, but I expected that and came prepared. You do get a single duvet, small pillow and a towel each, and that's that.

The boat is a ferry with several facilities such as a huge dining area, a cinema, a casino, a disco and bingo. The casino sounds great but it comprised one roulette table and a card table. The only film that appealed to us started at 11:45 at night, so we didn't bother. We did have a 2 Euro, five minute shiatsu chair massage which was great and good value for money.

We had a good sleep but I came prepared with earplugs and sleep masks. The ferry does make a throbbing sound. Another thing to remember is that once on board, it's ship time until we got back and that meant you had to add an hour every time you checked your watch. Breakfast was at 7:30 ship's time but 6:30 on your body clock, so it's an early start.

Virtually everything on the boat was chargeable. Drinks, coffee etc. And it was expensive. There was a steward wandering around the breakfast tables punting freshly squeezed orange juice which wasn't too expensive at 2 Euros and 60 cents and it was nice juice. At breakfast, pots of coffee were freely available.

Some of our party had brought drink with them and there didn't seem to be any restrictions on taking drink with you on the ferry, but be careful, one of our group had their bottle of wine confiscated by one of the stewards on the boat. If you have your own drink, best to drink it in your cabin, not in any of the lounges. You could buy wine in the ship's shop and you could get a decent bottle for less than ten Euros. The same bottle bought in the bar was 35 Euros.

You can't smoke inside the ferry, but we were on deck 11 and was maybe fifty feet from the open decks where you were able to smoke. There was quite a scent of weed on the open decks, but that didn't bother us.

Queueing was an ordeal. It was fine getting on to the boat at Newcastle but there was a wait to get off the boat in Amsterdam, but no big deal. Even getting back on board in Amsterdam was not bad. However, getting off at Newcastle was awful. You queued to get off the boat and joined a long snake of hundreds of people trying to get through passport control. Two people checking passports for hundreds of people. It really was bad. When you finally reached sight of the passport control, you were confronted by two cops with firearms, a sniffer dog and a warning about drug smuggling. It is at this point anyone who had smuggled drugs would be panicking. There is a toilet just before the control and there seemed to be quite a number of people dashing to the toilet and, presumably, ditching their illicit items. In fact, there was quite a queue for that toilet. It took at least 45 minutes to get out and then you had to wait for the others in the group. It was really bad getting off the boat, and we were exhausted with it. That was not Urquhart's fault, it's Border Control's fault.

Another stop at the garden centre for lunch and then dropped off back at Livingston by 4pm. A ten pound taxi to get home. The Glasgow folks would maybe have another two hours before they got home.

The thing to remember is that you only have four hours in Amsterdam and you need to cram as much into it as you can. We did a canal boat cruise for an hour for 11 Euros each which was good, we enjoyed that. We sat for a while, admiring the scenery and watching the hundreds of cyclists. If I were more able, I would have loved to get on a bike.

I intended buying my favourite tobacco but had to try several places before I found a shop with 30 packets for 150 Euros, the saving alone paying for the trip.

You should bear in mind that if you miss the coach, you have a big problem. We were told to be at the back of the Hilton Hotel, not far from Central station, for 3:30 pm and if you aren't there, you will be left behind. All you can do is get a taxi to the ferry terminal. If you lose your passport, you have an even bigger problem. If you miss the boat, you have a huge problem.

You were able to leave your luggage in your cabin, while you explored Amsterdam, which was really good. It would have been worse if you had to lug your bags around Amsterdam. If you miss the ferry, your luggage will end up back in Newcastle without you. If you do get stranded, which is a possibility if you don't plan your trip properly or encounter some bad luck, you will be hoping your insurance can get you home again.

It is important to have insurance. We bought it for £15 a head from Urquhart and then realised we had travel insurance bolted onto our house insurance so we got our money refunded before we even sailed off. No problem at all to give us the insurance refund. We agreed to spend the refund at the casino. Five minutes later, we were down to our last chip, lucky number 27 came up for us and we cashed in. We did not enjoy the casino, there was nothing enjoyable about watching your hard earned money disappear in minutes. We were lucky to break even.

We had a friendly group with quite a number of Glaswegians. I enjoy the banter with the Glasgow folks and it made the travelling more enjoyable for all of us. What was interesting was that there were very few pensioners. Most of us were around our age, in our fifties.

So, would I do it again? Yes, I would. It's great value for money at £59. If you can put up with some discomfort you will enjoy it. Students would love this for the cheap cost of it. Do your homework before setting off and make sure you plan what you are going to do in your four hours in Amsterdam.

I say it again, three days, two nights with all travel included to Amsterdam and back, it is a stonking bargain at £59. There were 36 in our bus so plenty spare seats and, to top it all off, beautiful warm weather throughout.

I've been on about a dozen Urquhart holidays and I am seeing more and more non-pensioners on these holidays. I think this Amsterdam trip would appeal to students wanting a great experience for not a lot of money.

To put it into perspective, our trip started at 10am on the Saturday and ended at 4pm on the Monday. A total of 54 hours for 4 hours in Amsterdam.

Checking DFDS web page, they offer the same mini cruise for £84 per person, without the travel to and from Newcastle. For a group of four, it drops to £58 per person based on four people sharing a cabin. But, you have to make your own way to Newcastle and back, which will be quite costly. In fact, I'm not sure how Urquhart can make a profit on this deal.

When you weigh it all up, this £59 deal from Urquhart is hard to beat.

Hope this is helpful for anyone else who might be thinking about a £59 mini cruise to Amsterdam.

Just returned from Isle of Wight magic short break.Lovely driver Yan but what a long journey to get there all around London to pick up 4 people,over 9 hours to get there and the same back!Check your travel time when going on a coach holiday !

My family had booked a wee break to Dunoon for my 50th this weekend,but my father died on Wednesday. So my sister called them to ask it could be rescheduled due to this and that we could provide proof. The woman she spoke to was extremely uncaring and said no but we could see if someone else could use the tickets and that we could pay £10 to get the names changed on the tickets or we could get in touch with head office but we would only get a small refund. Absolutely disgusting way to treat grieving people and will advise everyone I know and beyond not to use them.

Booked a Monday till Friday David Urquhat break for my mum and dad for a Christmas present as my dad has been a loyal customer for years and books 2 to 3 holiday a years with them , as my mum had some sad news that her nephew at the age of 36 has died suddenly and his funeral is the same day as the holiday starts I am absolutely appauled after a phone call to there customer service to explain the situation and to see if it would be possible to reschedule another date for there holiday to allow my parent to attend the funeral I was told no that this cannot be done as the hotel room would still need to be paid and if I cancelled I would only receive 10 percent refund when the last holiday my parent went with David Urquhart at the end of last year was cancelled due to not enough people to fill the holiday and it is not the first there holiday has been cancelled due to the same reasson

Went with David urquhart on 23rd December 2018 to isle of white to the medehamstede hotel got on the coach at notts it was a school bus no toilet on it seating was that tight couldn’t sit properly it was that cold full of condensation on wind screen driver had to use a rag to clear it to see to drive the door wouldn’t shut properly no lifts in hotel And there were stairs every where First night I fell down a step as it wasn’t marked ended up at hospital with a badly bruised leg and foot they gave me a Zimmer frame so I could get around couldn’t go out not one of the management came to see if I was ok while we were there Meals were so so but Christmas Day dinner was awe full three burnt roast potatoes three burnt pieces of parsnip the meat looked like braising steak and the gravy was just brown water when staff asked about it was told we had first batch the other was better couldn’t wait to get home. Signed Marlene holmes

Been to the Garve Hotel Garve for the Xmas holidays.My husband & myself went on Sunday 23rd December till 27th December. We were picked up by Dave driving a Parker executive bus .with blacked out windows .Dave said that no one could see in but we could see out .well we couldn't .Dave was describing different things on the way but we couldn't see anything .Then when we got there no one came out to the bus to introduce themselves .So when we entered the hotel we were given our key. My husband tried to get in the lift with 2 cases and 3 people but he couldn't fit in .The lift is to small for the hotel .So my husband had to carry 2 cases up to the first floor .We were at the far end of the hotel .It was doors and steps up and down to get to our room.It was like a maze .Only found out of Dave the driver that the woman who gave the keys out was the woman who was running the hotel .I think Dave said you called her Gemma & never saw her husband who I think Dave said you called him Mike .Now to
Christmas day no entertainment on till the night time .We all thought that there would be something on .But from getting up for breakfast till about 8pm there was nothing on .So boring .there wasn't even anywhere to walk plus the proprietor never even came in to wish anyone a Merry Christmas Two days we went on excursions one to Ullapool and the other to Inverness so that passed a few hours away .
.Then to the meals that weren't up to much .One night the carrots were cold and the broccoli was hard pork loin was nice.But Christmas dinner was bloody awful There was a couple that we knew who lived near us .so we sat with them at meal times .The parsnips sprouts and roast potatoes were fine but asked for beef thinking we were all going to get slices of beef .but it wasn't .slices more like a steak and tough as anything We did have a Yorkshire pudding but no pigs in blankets no carrots or peas Couldn't cut it with the knife and when I did manage to get a small piece I couldn't chew it absolutely horrible .We won't be going back there again .We had it booked since May we were really looking forward to it but our Christmas was ruined by going to garve .Wont revisit this hotel x

5day trip to Blackpool for christmas 10 hour journey in a coach not fit for purpose, broken seats wet seat no bulb in reading light and no back seat table

I am so disgusted with all hotel services at Blackpool the first thing was to have hotel over booked so had to stay in another hotel food was awful as it was supposed to be a Christmas dinner room was so cold with window not closing bed was so bad as needed new mattress room was dirty and full of smoke as they said it was the only room left having asthma has made me feel quiet I'll never been so unhappy with a days holiday in my life Mrs Bailey Mrs gough

We went to Scottish house party .last Monday we got on the coach at 5 45 am did not arrive in hotel untill 9 pm that night we were exhausted .The driver was like a robot The second day we were going to Oban after about Twenty mins Bus stopped driver told us to get off bus and wait for another Bus he had been sacked ....He had a argument with the manager in the hotel Glenmorag .lt was raining so we got back on Bus to wait for new Bus it arrived hour later in the meantime Police came took a breatheliser of the driver .we did not know what was going on .The new bus driver took us to Dunoon then back to hotel.our day out was spoilt .We did go to Oban the following day that was fine 😀Way home it took 4 Buses and 16 hrs we were exhausted yet again .We have had no apologies no nothing feeling so bad .Mr Mrs w Russell kidwelly

Terrible holiday. Hotel, staff and food not acceptable couldn't wait to leave. Worst Christmas I've ever had.

stayed at the henson hotel in blackpool 29 oct to 2nd november no heating no hot water food cold and naff bedroom cold and smelled of danp ask for compensation not a word from urquhart
dont use this company they don,t care about their customers

Henson Hotel, Blackpool. 22/10/2018 - 26/10/2018.
Absolutely terrible. The hotel was dirty. Bathroom was not cleaned all week, but it would have taken a week to clean it. The showed head just hung in mid air. Room not entered (I don't think). My first experience in the room before I even got my coat off, was a spider hanging at eye level from dirty ceiling tiles (which I did not think were legal anymore, fire risk) made me wonder what was under these tiles. I must say the food was alright, the young staff excellent (got a good tip when we left). The décor in the hotel could be doing with an upgrade, what you expect in these times. But beyond the front door it was very dirty. The friend, the other passenger was on a trip with you to Blackpool in June and had a wonderful time at the Manhattan Hotel, this is why we booked for this holiday. Most of the other passengers complained constantly about a lot of faults. David Urquhart should visit this hotel and see what they are sending their clients to.