Reviews

I was on the Fall Colours Superior rail,bus tour on September 23 to September 27, 2022. It was a trip to be forgotten and I have forgotten about it already. The tour starting with bus travel was comfortable, the two tour guides seemed friendly enough, but couldn’t give us arrival times for some reason. Each time we got to where we were overnighting, it was dark already. Our first night, one elevator to handle approx. 46 people. Really? It was a very old place, the buffet was horrible, pasta noodles rubbery yuck, I settled for a salad. Early rising, breakfast and back on board. Our lunches consisted of processed meat sandwiches, which I stay away from, sodium plus, chips, and whatever. Arrived in the dark again to our hotel very stinky elevator, wrong room was given to my friend and I, found blood stain on pillow case, great way to go to sleep. Unbelievable. We had no down time, the tour guide kept us isolated, no chance of going to ******* or whatever to break up the monotony of bus riding. Thunder Bay to Sault ste Marie, box sandwich, process meat, hickory sticks, cookies, ginger ale, great stuff to sit in our stomachs. We were left alone at the Parks Canada Canal. Guides left to get hotel keys? It got cold later on, some of us, huddle around an older man to keep him warm, ** ****** ** **** *** ******* Why leave us? My friend and I managed a decent meal at dinner time, late hour, to eat. Our bus driver managed to ground the bus on an incline, holding up traffic, we were told to disembark to lighten the load, didn’t work. Headed to Sudbury, two night stay. Seedy part of the city. Arrived in the dark again.. No five star hotels at all as promised. Via Rail Diesel tour at white river. 8 hours, sandwiches again. I managed to gain 5 pounds, eating lunches on board and not moving, circulation in legs yikes. There so many wrongs on this trip. I cleaned the bus twice, brought extra toilet tissue from our hotel room. **** **** * ***** ** **** ****** ***** ****** ****

While we appreciate our guests taking the time to provide feedback it should be noted these are very similar comments your travel companion shared that, in my opinion, featured incorrect comments.  As also mentioned to your travel companion’s similar posting, I am very surprised to read this review after so many positive comments from the other guests on the very same tour as the following comments;     

Lots of Excellent information. The train scenery was like riding through paintings by one of the group of 7”
“Thank you for showing us the gorgeous wilderness of Northern Ontario and giving us a trip to treasure forever”
“It was an excellent trip. Our guides did a great job and I would certainly recommend this trip”
As folks who have done a lot of travelling the tour was a real treat.  We recognize the amount of organization needed and we applaud it.”
“We really liked the guides narration during the trip. It gave us a little info prior to each stop and during the bus ride of places along the way. Thank you to both guides for the patience with us seniors”
“For the fantastic dinner you arranged for the 2nd night in Sault Ste Marie, I was not surprised the restaurant that provided it was featured on the TV program “You Gotta eat Here’ as the entire meal from salads to main courses was delicious and what portions!”  
There are still many challenges the pandemic has created, and they are still negatively affecting travel experiences. All travellers must be aware about and patient with this as I mentioned at the start of the tour.   Other guests commented gratefully how many healthy and fresh meals, notably the lunches, were provided as many other package tours do not include as many meals as this tour did.
The hotel in downtown Thunder Bay had most if not all our rooms feature great views of Lake Superior.  Yes, they had a Pasta Buffet (served in heated trays that you said you did not try so the comment about it being cold was also incorrect) along with salad and garlic bread, meatballs in sauce and noodles. I noticed most of the guests going back for more. I am sorry it was not to your liking as compared to the other members of the tour and will address this with the hotel if it can be improved for future groups guests.  I can only presume you did not notice that the restaurant was only accessible to just our guests so we limited interactions with other locals and visitors to the area to endeavor to keep our guests safe as we are still living in challenging times
I make NO Excuses for not visiting a Walmart on tour as we are coming out of a pandemic and again endeavored to keep our guests in their own bubble, where possible, to keep them safe.  Also, in my opinion, we are not known for visiting chain stores and guests did and do not expect on a package tour to visit a Walmart but local attractions and scenery like the places we experienced on this tour. There was time in the evenings if you wanted to jump in a taxi/ride share service and visit a Walmart on your own time.   The guides also did multiple garbage pickups on the bus each day while on the tour and the guides also asked the driver to re stock the bathroom supplies as we did not have access to these items.   One couple also noted how detailed the itinerary was that featured numerous times when to be ready and told when we expect to be where and when, but we are happy to review the itinerary for future guests. 
There was NO mention of “5 star hotels” in any of our descriptions of the tour and this was never “promised’ so this is another incorrect comment.  The comment about blood on a pillowcase was never mentioned to myself during the tour or on the tour feedback forms regarding the different hotels (each hotel was asked to be rated) we used on the tour. I was not informed by any of the hotels that a guest called asking for a new pillowcase due to stains on one in their bed. On a tour or travelling on your own, if you have an experience like this, to be proactive I would encourage anyone to call the front desk immediately so they can, from my experience, get a replacement pillowcase from the housekeeping storage area.  Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a situation on a tour once before where I joined a guest for a couple hours in the Jasper Hospital as she also thought there was dry blood stains on the pillowcase found in the morning. In this situation it was actually her that was bleeding from an open sore on her ear that needed to be addressed in the hospital. If the blood was found on the pillowcase in the morning that was clean the night before please see your doctor for your own health.  
I don’t recall a “stinky” hotel elevator in any location nor was this mentioned in any of our feedback forms from the remainder of guests.  Also, I can confirm this was not at the hotel on the 2nd night as it did not have an elevator (most of our guests were on the main floor) so again another incorrect comment.  The comments about arriving in the dark every night was also incorrect as we arrived most of our hotels at dusk with yes the exception of 1 hotel that we unloaded in a well lit parking lot.  It should be noted that this tour was for the fall colours and it gets dark early the time of year we were travelling.  Lastly, we did request handicap rooms for those that noted they required rooms like this but these types of rooms are limited.  Especially as there is limited accommodation at some of the places we visited and we like to support family-owned local businesses and hotels with a railway connection.  All of which have been inspected before our visit.  
Again False, guests were given an opportunity to visit the #1 attraction in Sault Ste Marie WITH a Rail Travel Tours guide was with the group the entire time during the visit here. We also requested Parks Canada to do a presentation, but they sadly were not on site and for that we are sorry.  Yes, the bus had challenges in the parking lot of the hotel we were arriving at (in daylight) and while this was out of our control I am very sorry for this situation and have been addressing it I can assure you. What was in our control at the time, as we knew guests had some free time in the schedule, we unloaded the bus when it was safe to do so only steps away from the main entrance. Guests claimed their bags that were already unloaded for their convenience adjacent to the front desk and in the lobby so the hotel employee watching over them could go on to other duties.      
We were VERY clear in both the advertising and in the itinerary that we were travelling (as Ontario is so large) considerable distances to connect with the trains in the Superior Region.  The comment about not stopping to stretch our legs while travelling by bus is very false.  We sopped in Schreiber’s new Visitors Discovery Centre, a convenience store and adjacent Tim Horton’s in Blind River, Ignace Museum which is adjacent to a Heritage Park & Visitors Centre, Winnie the Pooh Park and Terry Fox Monument to name a few places where guests were allowed to walk around at each location.    On both trains, guests could get up at any time and explore the train to stretch their legs.   We also had 90 minutes to explore the Agawa Canyon Park and its stunning scenery which many guests also did during the extended stop here.
The hotel in downtown Sudbury that we stayed at for only 1 night, when we arrived, had one person on the FAR side of the parking lot, near an adjacent park loudly moaning/rambling (presumably substance abuse issues) that Is very prevalent coming out of the pandemic. This person did not approach our guests or the hotel entrance and sadly was more harm to himself then any of our or the other hotel guests here.  Sadly, this is a fact that is being seen in all communities across Canada, and worldwide, as we come out of these terribly times and I fear will be prevalent for years to come. I am sorry it saddened you and hope it will help that you are aware we have supported the programs of the Sudbury homeless shelter to help these people as they are not able to travel and hopefully assist them to improve their situation. 

This package tour was not an open bar resort or beach type holiday but was a comprehensive package tour with learning, experiences, local attractions, wilderness viewing, scenic views, and chance to meet locals.  I am sorry it was not the trip you and your travel companion were looking for and choose not to take any positives, like the majority of guests took away, as shown in some of the comments at the start of my response, from the same tour.  In fact, we have had numerous guests on this tour wishing to join us again next year confirming RAIL TRAVEL TOURS motto: Others may sell you a seat; we provide an experience.