Unfortunately, the tour did not meet our expectations. While the driver-guide was very friendly, knowledgeable, and made a great effort, we found the tour description and the photos to be misleading. Although we drove through the city, the driver-guide mentioned that stopping was not possible anywhere, so we were unable to take photos at the actual city landmarks. A large part of the tour consisted of exploring outer areas such as the harbor and the Docklands, where photo stops were possible. Additionally, we found the car to be too cramped for four people plus the driver. Overall, the experience was rather disappointing.
Hello Meike. It's good to hear from you again. Obviously it's sad for me to read that your experience was disappointing, and for that I sincerely apologise. Different guests value different things in a tour and it seems this tour didn't have what you wanted. I would like to respond to some of the issues which you have raised. 1. It was mentioned from the outset that on a beautiful and warm Saturday night, the type of night on which our tour took place, it becomes incredibly difficult to find parking in the city. It's a two hour tour where we cover about 5 different locations. It's logistically impossible to spend 10, 15 or even 30 minutes to look for parking at every landmark that exists in the city. I explained at the outset, that it's not what the city component of the tour is about. The city component has the aim to show you what landmarks there are, where they are located and how you can easily access them so that in your own time you can spend enough time to check them out, photograph them and enjoy them. especially considering that trams are free in the CBD and the various landmarks can be accessed easily. It is for this reason that we do photos stops beyond the city area since those places are more difficult to access without a vehicle. Logistically it's not possible to cover everything in detail in and out of the city in a two hour tour. So some compromises need to be made. 2. The tour description states that the tour includes a drive through Melbourne (without stopping). The few photos that do show guests taking photos in the city were taken on past tour where we were fortunate enough to find parking. The photos are there to illustrate what you can expect to see, but there is no mention of stops in the city in the tour description, as that cannot be guaranteed. 3. Your tour vehicle was a 5 series BMW. It does cater for 4 passengers, but clearly the comfort of 3 passengers in the rear, particularly if they are not petite in stature, is not as good as would be the case for only 1 or 2. I certainly agree here with you. On the other hand, having 4 guests on this tour meant that each guest paid around $100 per person, which I think is a very, very reasonable price for a 2 hour private tour in a luxury car with door to door pick-up and drop-off, drinks included, a personal guide and driver. In this case the very low price came at the cost of a tighter fit in the rear. I will make a note in the tour description about the potential cramped conditions if there are 4 passengers and the option of us organising two separate vehicles or even a 7 seater vehicle. Thanks for bringing this up. Apart from the disappointment of the tour I hope you and your friends had a great time in Melbourne and that you will come back again one day. Peter Solanikow
