Russell and Vreni Hilliard
What did you like best about your trip? We got an excellent introduction to historical Armenia! Also, we feel we have a much better understanding of modern Armenia and appreciated meeting local people and tasting the wonderful food.
What didn't you like about trip? We could have done without the wine tasting in Areni.
What would you add to your trip? It was great as it was.
Guide: Roza was a very knowledgeable and well prepared guide! She never tired of our questions, was warm, patient and flexible.
Driver: very good
Car: very good
Hotels: The Radisson Blu was wonderful!
Would you recommend our company to your friends? Definitely!
03.06.2017
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Kazi Ahmad
What did you like best in your trip? Was perfectly timed over all, very well managed, very friendly & prompt staff.Very helpful & willing to work & accomodate last minute changes.So far the Staff & esp. Lusine Masuryan have been exceptional she was ALWAYS there when needed & she is a person one can trust. Both the guides in Georgia & Armenia were very helpful & accomodating & very easy to get along with had good english & knowledge of the country & local places.
Best In Georgia was Kazbegi & Rooms Hotel in Kezbegi. Best in Armenia was The Dilijan old street & Hotel. As well as Musical fountains of Yerevan, & The Church/Cathedral/Museum of Echmiadzin.
What didn't you like about trip? The cars esp. in Armenia should have been a reliable & excellent condition, the Georgia car was OK , but the car in Armenia was below expectation & standard, it broke down at several places, I was afraid of being stuck at some remote place. Tour of Tbilisi was felt hurried, should have been given more time esp. in the old historic part of town, no time was given to explore or see the old Fort.There was plenty of time but was not well managed.
Hotel in Goris, Armenia was a shock, I think that was more a communication error,than anything else, it should have been more clearly explained about hotels in Goris so people understand & know what to expect, because when U book a 4 or 5 star accomodation U expect it, & unfortunately these accomodations are NOT avaliable in Goris this MUST be more clearly explained.
What would you add to your trip? I would have added IF I had more time, a day in Tbilisi & Kazbegi.
Guide: BOTH EXCELLENT guides with good English & communication, easy to get along, flexible & wiiling to accomodate. Both had very good knowledge of area & country in general.Both very good & safe drivers.
Driver: As Above.
Car: Very Poor Car in Armenia. Average in good condition in Georgia.
Hotels: ALL Excellent hotels EXCEPT in Goris in Armenia & Mestia in Georgia which were very basic.
Would you recommend our company to your friends? yes 1000%
06.05.2017
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Rawan Issa Majdalwai
What did you like best about your trip? Schedule was full in a very nice and effective way. Food was very yummy. Amazing tour guide, Reema is working hard and smart with a lot of passionate. Driver was driving very safe. My mobile for any further questions: Rawan 00971507486262
What didn't you like about trip? None
What would you add to your trip? one more day for shopping
Guide: The right person who made our trip more beautiful
Driver: Excellent
Car: Excellent
Hotels: The first hotel was not very clean. second one was amazing and clean. third one was very nice, but rooms need to be cleaned from insects.
Would you recommend our company to your friends? Yes, very professional and prepared a beautiful schedule
Thank you for all the staff who worked on our amazing trip.
18.05.2017
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Mohammed al Makhmari
What did you like best about your trip? 1 - Generally very well organised. Tour guide and driver had phone numbers of guest houses, places of activity, e.t.c. Who were always there on time to meet us. Rooms were chosen to provide comfort for the family. Activities suited for the children.
2 - Interaction with guest house owners and their families was very valuable. All were kind and some spoke very good English. Our best experiences were in old bridge B&B (Guesthouse and lady owner), Lavash and sudjuk making (Activity & the very kind people), cheese and Gata making (activity & people).
3 - Food quality and variety was great. We had some reservations on the quantity (too much).
3 - Food quality and variety was great. We had some reservations on the quantity (too much).
What didn't you like about trip? 1 - Long driving day (Tsaghkunk – Chambarak – Berd – Idjevan). This might not be an issue on longer summer days with adult tourists, however the drive was a bit long for the children. Arrived at Berd late and there was little time for the activity. Had to drive back at night in foggy conditions which did not feel safe. Suggestion: Sleep over in Berd instead of Idejevan or sleep over in Idjevan and allocate an extra day for Berd.
2 - Sanitation: Overall we were very happy with the cleanliness of facilities. Idjevan guesthouse: owner must have done her best to keep place clean and was a very jolly lady however lifting the toilet lid there were unpleasant stains below the lid.
Berd: Toilet available during toy making event was not sanitary and had no door.
2 - Sanitation: Overall we were very happy with the cleanliness of facilities. Idjevan guesthouse: owner must have done her best to keep place clean and was a very jolly lady however lifting the toilet lid there were unpleasant stains below the lid.
Berd: Toilet available during toy making event was not sanitary and had no door.
What would you add to your trip? NIL comments.
Guide: Haykuhi did very best to convey information about places visited and was flexible to change program, e.g. time used for children to play with snow as we found out "Caravan Seray" was not accessible due snow, dry fruit market and jewelry shop on final day. She also interacted with the children and always translated other people's conversations around us and that kept us comfortable.
Driver: Driver was very good. Drove safely and kept comfort of passengers in mind. He always helped with the bags and would like to thank him for that. He was also very helpful to other people (helped preparing wood for Lavash making)
Car: Comfortable. No breakdowns.
Hotels: Cascade: excellent location and amazing staff (no wonder the good reviews online). The only two issues were the sound proofing and smoking rooms (smoke enters from other rooms). Suggestion: Inform tourist of those two issues as they can not be fixed, while recommending the hotel at the same time for its good location and staff.
Would you recommend our company to your friends? Yes, definitely
08.04.2017
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Bart Van Reybrouck
Perfect service and reliable!
Thanks! Bart - Belgium'
11.04.2017
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George Carpouzis
Trip Highlight: Our guide, Ani Hayryan, was just an amazing person. The beauty of Armenia and Georgia cannot be written in just a few words.
Would you add to trip: Nagorno Karabakh definitely
Guide: Ani is a very intelligent and professional guide. Ani knows what she is talking about from the churches, to the landscape to the Armenian history. Her knowledge of the English language is impeccable and she was able to show us and tell us everything we needed to know. She is an AMAZING person and anyone who has Ani as their guide is extremely lucky. Gio was also a very good guide with good driving skills (albeit a little bit too fast) that took us up to Kazbegi safe and sound
Guide: Ani is a very intelligent and professional guide. Ani knows what she is talking about from the churches, to the landscape to the Armenian history. Her knowledge of the English language is impeccable and she was able to show us and tell us everything we needed to know. She is an AMAZING person and anyone who has Ani as their guide is extremely lucky. Gio was also a very good guide with good driving skills (albeit a little bit too fast) that took us up to Kazbegi safe and sound
Driver: Mr. Ashot in Armenia was a true professional being able to maneuver those pot holes on the Armenian roads. He drove safely and got us there on time. Gio was our driver/guide
Cars: Both cars were in great condition
Would you recommend our company? Of course and YES!! Thank you to ARATOUR for their great service. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip.
25.03.2017
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Randa and Badran
Dear Araratour Manager:
My wife and I wish to thank Araratour for organizing our recent successful trip to Armenia. In particular, we wish to thank and recognize your excellent employee Ms. Lusine Masuryan for her professional work, attention to details and her follow-up. She was truly one of the best travel executives we dealt with in our lifetime of travel. Ms. Masuryan responded on time to over 35 emails and offered workable solutions to our needs. Part of the success of the trip is owed to her excellent ability to respond to our needs. Another person who deserves credit is Ms. Anna who was our guide. I know that she is a freelancer and not part of Araratour, but she was an incredible source about Armenia and its history. Anna and her driver were punctual, helpful and excellent sources about your lovely country. I will recommend your agency to my friends and mention it on Trip Advisor soon.
Best wishes,
Randa and Badran
Dubai, UAE
31.03.2017
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Joem
Me and my 2 friends (Donna and Catherine) enjoy your itinerary including the tranfers from Armenia to Georgia and vice versa... Very nice tour guides in both country... Super love it.
18.01.2017
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Donna
Thanks a lot for this wonderful trip... we enjoyed a lot, this Arara Travel tours made our trip memorable, our tour Guide Arthur in Armenia & Demetre in Georgia is so nice & very accomodating. 5 star to our hotel Silk Road Hotel & Shine Hotel, staff are very helpful and kind, with good foods and wines. I really love it, Im gonna miss this place soooo much.
18.01.2017
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Emily Rusk, Paul Drake, Tricia Vos
We had a fabulous time! Even though the weather wasn't great, we had enough sunny moments and lots of laughs. Thank you for all of your help with the arrangements, I'm glad we were able to work together!
21.10.2016
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George Roos
What did you like best about your trip? We had a great time in Yerevan and we left with great memories. Tour guides were great. Execursions were great.
What didn't you like about the trip? The hotel in Georgia. We were promised that the hotels will be walking distance from restaurants and shops. In Georgia the hotel was located in a dodgy area far from everything. It was dark at night and we could not leave the hotel. We were told everything is 10 minutes walking distance. When we confronted the tour guide she said they actually meant 10 minutes by car. I'm highly disappointed and will definitely NOT recommend Arara tours due to this.
What would you add to your trip? Get a better partner in Georgia and select your hotels based on what tourists need and not the cheapest so you can make more profit. in the long run this will damage your reputation as guests will warn other potential guests about this
Guide: Guides were excellent, no complaints regarding them.
Driver: Drivers were good as well
Car: Excellent
Hotels: as stated before - hotel in Georgia were highly disappointed. Location is terrible - far away from restaurants, shops. located in a dark dodgy suburb.
Would you recommend our company to your friends? Defenitely NOT - based on the misleading information about the hotel in Georgia.
AraraTour's response: Thank you, dear George, for your feedback! We highly appreciate your opinion and won't cooperate with this hotel anymore.
03.10.2017
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Zachery Biddles
My sincere thanks to you for organising my holiday to Armenia, Artsakh and Iran. I had the trip of a lifetime! I am very fortunate to have seen so many wonderful places and experienced the culture of all countries.
I very much enjoyed Narek’s company, he has a deep knowledge and appreciation of Armenia and Artsask’s history, culture and historical sights. I am very thankful for his service as a fantastic guide and I cannot recommend him highly enough.
Thank you for your work in arranging my Iranian visa, I had no issues with crossing the border. It was great to see Iran again! I particularly loved Masouleh and Rudkhan Castle. I was pleased to see that Iran has improved since I was last there 3 years ago as the society seems more organised and relaxed, perhaps with the new president. I was extremely surprised to see the American Embassy is now open as a museum, last time it was closed and guarded. I highly recommend the American Embassy as a must see in Tehran!
Armenia and Artsakh are incredibly beautiful countries with interesting history, strong tradition and warm and kind people. I was particularly taken with the natural scenery of Lake Sevan, Areni/Norovank Monastery and Gandzasar Monastery. I will return to Armenia, hopefully in the near future, to see Artsakh again and northern Armenia. In the meantime I will be promoting Armenia as a terrific and ‘must see’ holiday destination and will refer all interested to AraraTour.
Many thanks for making my holiday materialise, organising my requested additions to the itinerary and arranging transportation to and from the airport. It is hard returning back to work and reality after an incredible holiday! Nonetheless, it was truly the trip of a life time and I have many wonderful memories to think back on.
Cheers and all the very best,
Zachery Biddles
02.01.2017
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