Audley Travel
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It’s was a mediocre Australian Trip
My husband and I are retired in Texas and we’re excited about planning and going on a month long vacation to Australia and New Zealand. About 8 months prior to the time I wanted to travel, I took much effort to speak with several travel agencies who specialized in these areas. I decided on Audley, had used them in the past. Our exciting vacation became a mediocre experience. I chose Audley because in speaking with the original Australian specialist he seamed to be in line with my expectations but little did I know he would leave very shortly after I had spoke with him and paid my deposit. The new agent assigned to us lacked in responsiveness and follow up. I felt there was no enthusiasm in helping us plan our trip. She was just handed over another client. At one point I was pretty frustrated and contacted a Audley supervisor. I received a call back from the supervisor a couple of days later. I was told I could copy him on any emails to her and he would be sure they was follow up. That was not the response I wanted or expected. Second, I had done some research on my own and asked that three specific named 4+ star rated hotels be included in the trip. One of the three was a wonderful experience (it had 15 tents/rooms with the exact same view and floor plan, lucky for us). The other two hotels were amazing properties with harbor or ocean views but Audley booked us with a room looking into parking garage or at the base of the hotel. Most of the room choices at the hotels were average, definitely no WOW! factor . Third, regarding the general scheduling of our itinerary activities, most were a touristy type that you can find on a google search. I will give Audey credit for the Quoll Patrol Tour. Bushy our guide and chef took us to see some great sites and animals. I believe if you are engaging a specialty travel agency to plan your trip they should be able to provide some WOW experiences and or hidden gems not just the activities that most can find on the internet. And you would think their relationships with the hotels they choose, booked so far out would have been better room choices.