Feb 2018 14 day tour: Like many others, we booked this as part of a "trip of a lifetime".

Regrettably the experience did not live up to expectations. The hotel accommodations vary wide from wonderful to run of the mill. In Nelson, the Trailways hotel did not open the restaurant on time and left us scrambling to make our pick up time for the tour. And the room was appointed as a college dorm except for a nicer bath. The Chateau, while in a lovely location, has seen better days. The laundry facilities were spartan and hidden away in the basement.

We knew that many days lunch was on our own. What we didn't know was that those days meant an early morning stop at a grocery store or sandwich shop to pick something up to eat at some rest stop along the way weather permitting. That limited food options as your selections would be on the bus with us without refrigeration. And, as you can imagine, the weather did not always cooperate which meant eating lunch on the bus then smelling the assorted choices for the rest of the afternoon.

Our visit to Abel Tasman National Park in Nelson was also problematic. We were picked up by the tour service for the hour drive to the park. Then we waited an hour for the boat. We chose the cruise options rather than a hike due to mobility issues. Unfortunately, having intentionally chosen an option that was NOT A HIKE, we ended up walking over mile back and forth from the boat to the lodge because that information was not disclosed. Then we get back to the meeting point and find we have to wait 2 hours for the return bus ride. Had the timing and the hiking been disclosed, we'd have stayed in Nelson for the day.

We wrote to Moatrek at the midpoint of the trip with of our concerns. They dismissed our comments and told us any further communication should come through our travel agent. That is poor customer service.

Reviewed over 6 years ago and experienced in February 2017