Good Tour Companys

Hi I%26#39;m flying to Sri Lanka for Xmas and am trying to find a good tour company to go on a Sri Lanka tour with, as I will be a single female traveller. Does anyone know a good company and the sort of price I should expect to pay. Thanks!

Good Tour Companys

Hi

Red Dot, Diethelm Travel or Aitken Spence are reputed inbound tour operators. Or you can arrange directly with %26#39;free-lance%26#39; drivers/guides.

Expect to pay USD 65-70/day for transport. Depending on you choice of accommodation expect from USD 25 (simple guesthouses) to USD 100+ (5* hotels).

Hans

Good Tour Companys

Hi

Please contact lankavacation@yahoo.com very good tour company organizing personalized tour according to your budget .

Thanks,

Sarha

DISagree with Mark. All independent drivers that we know of could be very capable of arranging the tour but can%26#39;t get the best hotel rates. E.g. %26#39;our%26#39; driver, through an operator he cooperates with, gets rates 10-20% above the block rate - which is still much better than the rate you get from the hotels directly.

For the block rate, either use one of the larger operators as mentioned earlier in this thread or book the hotels yourself through sites like asiarooms.com or sri-lanka-hotelguide.com (and even then compare between the sites, not all have the block rate for each hotel!) Then for the driver, either get it through the operator or independently.

All the best,

%26lt;Erik%26gt; %26amp; [Sandya]

I agree totally with Erik, the best hotel deals will be via the larger tour companies who have blocked booked accommodation.

I would actually take this a stage further. You will able to negotiate the best discount rates with a tour company if the particular hotels you want happen to be part of the same group.

For example, Keells Group (who own Walkers Travel) own the Cinnamon Grand, Lodge, bentota beach and Trans Asia.

Aitken Spence, own the Earls Regency(Kandy), Heritance, Neptune and Tea Factory(Nuwara)

Jetwing own the Lighthouse(Galle) and the St Andrews(Nuwara)

We normally ask for bespoke tour quote from 3-4 companies and then haggle hard via email.

To give you an idea of the price you can get, 2 years ago we had a 22 night tour(driver/guide) with Jet Wing directly to/from the airport for a family of 4 half board 4/5* hotels (2 double rooms)and all entry fees for US$6,664 which we through was very good value. We stayed at Hilton Colombo, Cinnamon Lodge Habarana, St Andrews Nuwara, Yala Village and the Lighthouse Galle.

Hi,

I%26#39;m an advocate of the self employed , Ceylon Tourist Board approved, driver/guide.

The last post would frighten me if I was booking a tour . $6,600 dollars ?. If I paid that much I%26#39;d be able to visit Lanka about once every two years instead of the usual three times I go now and of those stays is usually for 6 weeks each.

I know the 4/5 star hotels make a huge difference but there are many 2/3 star hotels around the country which are excellent for touring over night stops , some available for about 2000 to 2500 rupees a night for a double room and breakfasts.

I usually stay in great family run guest houses for about 1500 rupees a night for the double room with breakfasts included. They don%26#39;t have a big pool and marble floors but are clean and comfortable , friendly and personal.

Most of the previous answers assume that every one wants to pay top dollar for a 4/5 star hotel.

I don%26#39;t and neither do, many other travellers so when giving a first time visitor advice on costs, the complete range should be mentioned not just the top end of the market.

Don%26#39;t forget, when you book a big company, you%26#39;re paying for the luxury offices and their air-con , the executive wages, the big fleet of cars and their drivers to be kept waiting during slack periods plus all the other expences associated with a big company.

So, Camn, I%26#39;m not saying it%26#39;s what you want but there are excellent driver/guides, tourist board accredited, charging about 6000 to 7000 rupees a day for the air-con car.. the driver.. and the fuel.

Good guest houses are plentiful starting at about 1000 rupees a night , maybe 1500 with drivers free accomodation and food.

Plus of course buying lunch and dinner and paying site entrance fees.

It can be done in comfort for much , much less that the $6600 dollars mentioned.

Rod.

Hi

That is the paradox about Sri Lanka (and other Asian countries).

You can find good, clean and cheap accommodation for less than LKR 3000/night including full English breakfast.

You can also spend LKR 100000+/night staying at posh 5* or boutique hotels.

In the latter you will be isolated from the real Sri Lanka and not get to meet the friendly and hospitable people of Sri Lanka. What you spend for one night is easily several months%26#39; wages for the hotel staff.

When I tour in Sri Lanka a hotel is only a place where I have a shower, eat and sleep. I don%26#39;t care a hoot whether they have a guy in a fancy uniform to open the door every time I enter or leave the establishment.

asiarooms.com and sri-lanka-hotelguide.com do not always offer the best rates. I know several free-lance drivers/guides that can offer you better rates for hotels including half board than asiarooms.com or sri-lanka-hotelguide.com offer including breakfast. Besides asiarooms.com and sri-lanka-hotelguide.com offers only a limited percentage of accommodation available in Sri Lanka.

Hans

Just to add:

';asiarooms.com and sri-lanka-hotelguide.com do not always offer the best rates. I know several free-lance drivers/guides that can offer you better rates for hotels including half board than asiarooms.com or sri-lanka-hotelguide.com offer including breakfast. Besides asiarooms.com and sri-lanka-hotelguide.com offers only a limited percentage of accommodation available in Sri Lanka.';

True, but GENERALLY freelance drivers don%26#39;t have access to the block rates (which are same as, or only slightly above, the rates for locals). So a word of warning was needed for people relying on these - I%26#39;d recommend NOT to go hotel booking with a freelance driver unless you%26#39;re doing a thorough comparison with prices for the same hotel offered elsewhere!

%26lt;Erik%26gt; %26amp; [Sandya] - already owning a 2nd house in the %26#39;real%26#39; Sri Lanka plus tons of similar friends houses to stay, so WHEN going on tourist trips opting for the star-class hotels!