Hayleys Tours (Pvt) Limited in Colombo 10

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comments 5

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  SS M

  :: 21 February 2018 09:25:49

  Worst experience ever . Don't waste your money by opting this team. If you travel by yourself using Google maps and some trip advising websites like Tripadvisor you can explore more for sure. If you opt this team they will provide you just a Mini bus with a guide . Language proficiency of the guide is so poor that most of the times he fails to understand what we are trying to tell.They will take you to the places where they get benefits or commission such as Herbal plantations, Gem museum and so on. The worst trip I had ever in my life .Not at all recommended. Don't get trapped.

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  anup sriram

  :: 14 February 2018 11:43:47

  Don't waste your money. Better go on your own rather than depending on these guy who are more bothered about taking you to some plush shopping or to some dubious herbal shops - all those places where they fleece you and these guides get plenty of $$ as commission. Use Trip Advisor/Google Maps and Booking(dot)com to book, travel and see places on your own.

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  Amith Sriram

  :: 14 February 2018 07:24:04

  Never ever opt for this tour agency. They arranged a guide named Shantha (or something like that) and a mini coach with a driver. That's all they did for the 4 day tour. The guide spoke poorly in English and took us to places where he got commission. We barely visited any place in Sri Lanka and most of the time was spent either on transiting between Colombo and Kandy, or in our hotel room with nothing to do. On the last day, our frustration forced us to ditch this guide and his coach, and visit a few places on our own. The whole tour was poorly planned with little or no time alloted for the vast Royal Botanical Garden at Peradeniya, Kandy. We also spent several half-days in the coach and in hotel rooms while we should have been out sightseeing. Upon arrival at Colombo airport at noon, we were made to sit hungrily for 3 hours en-route to Pinnawala, where lunch was arranged. Other than been shown a herd of elephants being bathed in the river below, there was no activity. We embarked on another 2 hour drive to Peradeniya and reached the Royal Botanical Garden at 5.30pm, an hour before closing time. The orchid garden was already closed and we ran around getting to see about a small fraction of the park, before being informed of closing time by the staff there. The next day, we spent about 45 minutes at the tooth relic temple and about 7 hours on the coach traveling back to Colombo! We weren't shown anything else at Kandy, including the lake view. However, the guide made sure that we visited a tea factory and a herbal garden, both of which sell products at exorbitant prices to tourists. The herbal garden sells snake oils (purported medicines that quacks sell), making tall claims about curative effects of their medicines. These are not medicines and don't cure anything. The salesman even made a tall claim that the government has banned modern medicines for diabetes, that no medical shops sell insulin, and that only a herbal medicine that they prepare is being given to Lankans who have diabetes - which is a BIG LIE. I wonder how quacks and con men can operate with such impunity. Several tourists are conned into buying useless "medicines" at highly exorbitant prices. Our Hayleys guide confessed that he gets commission for bringing tourists there. We were made to pay for getting him commission. The whole tour was a horrible experience with us gaining nothing but losing money and three whole days draining out everything we had. Hayleys makes sure that you gain nothing for what you pay and they gain every time you buy something from these shops. At Colombo, we had more such experience when he took us, yet again, to a "Gems Museum", which is no museum but a jeweler's. Having been conned, we then begged the guide to take us for some street shopping. He took us to a useless place so that we'd never complain again. We had to press him to stop at the beautiful Marine Drive, which was not included in the "Colombo City Tour". Our pleas to take us to Gangaramaya and Seema Malaka weren't heeded to. In fact, this so called city tour is a sham. You are taken in a coach and shown some buildings. There are no halts. We broke the tour half way through and went on our own to Gangaramaya temple, the park and Seema Malaka - places which no one visiting Colombo would skip. I'm surprised that even with two days at Colombo, all Hayleys had to offer was a ride around a part of the city in an air conditioned coach.

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  Martin Mcgrath

  :: 24 September 2017 12:51:05

  Great to have a car and a driver but that was the only thing. We found that English was often very limited. The driver had an agenda to knock off as fast as he could so we got rushed everywhere, except where we went on safari as he came along because it was free... Would only take us / offer to take us to places he was getting a kick back from for food. Best experiences we had were when we ditched him and went off by self. So glad we did. Would I use this again. I doubt it very much. After speaking to other guests at hotel they had similar experience of company. There was also some dodgy dealing over our rail travel sorted by the Hayley's guide. Looks like our ticket was counterfeit, but lucky we got to our seat first so guard let it go as he wasn't sure. Shame for the other paasangers...

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  Helen Plumpton

  :: 15 May 2017 13:17:47

  Left stranded at the airport for nearly two hours on arrival. Prior to departing hotel tried to contact them for pickup time for most of the day and they did not answer telephone. Eventually got through and gave me a pick up time of 1.00 pm waited over an hour hotel contacted them again to be told now 3.00 pm. then contacted again and told 4.00 pm. Totally dissatisfied with the service and really distraught as lost all trust in company. Don't usually write a review unless I have something good to say but in this instance felt I should as I would not want anyone else to endure this.