We came from USA and did 5 day tour of the Highlands with Discreet scotland tours and are providing…read morean objective and transparent review. Scotland is beautiful, but we would recommend you think twice before booking with this company as you may be drawn with the awards they list. We have gone on privately curated custom tours to 8 different countries, and so have something to compare our experience to other tours.
The positives of this company are- the driver was on time, most of the tour places were covered, and the car was new.
The following are the negatives of Discreet Scotland.
-The driver was smoking during the entirety of the tour- while Smoking technically happened outside the car, he was sitting on the seat with the door opened, and as soon as the car started , the air in the car would be full of smoke and it almost made us suffocated during the entire tour. This happened during every stop, every day- imagine having to put up with this for whole 5 days. When you realize this after half day, you also can't change the driver or the tour so we were stuck. If you book with them, please have in writing that you would be provided a non-smoking driver (if you do not smoke)- as on their website, they do not guarantee a specific driver.
- When we book a private tour, we expect the tour company/Matthew and his driver to be doing research on the locations, and the timings, it does not fall on the customer, otherwise you'll miss the locations of the tour mentioned and agreed upon in their itinerary. The driver was more a 'driver' and not really a 'guide'. You should have an itinerary and map in your hand- the driver will likely omit some parts depending on his mood. During our tour, the driver had no clue when the train passes over Glenfinnan, so we missed that. For the Balmoral castle, it was apparent Matthew and his driver had made no effort to find out whether it was open, the timings, or even the directions, For the Loch Ness Cruise, Matthew and his driver did not bother to know the timings of when the cruise departs, leading us to miss the cruise at first, and only when we firmly told the driver did he bother to take us there. So, the company and the drivers do not bother to know the fine details of the tour. Driver needs to have professionalism and etiquette, and we felt these people were 'too casual' . Also, their guide/driver do not have the Guide Certification, so keep that in mind, as the driver would just mumble things about places we visited, which were not directly related.
When we booked, we had specially wanted to visit balmoral castle, this was confirmed with Matthew, and despite that, the driver kept insisting that there is not much to see there - the tour company needs to respect each customers preference and not be 'too pushy'- it made us feel uncomfortable and we had to remain politely firm on where we wanted to visit. In the balmoral castle, it was apparent that the tour company had not done their research, and I had to practically guide the driver on the parking space and when that was not found, he became little agitated and moody on us.
There was overall very poor communication from Matthew and this company. For example, Matthew did not share the contact information of the driver/guide, and neither did the driver himself. On the first stop at Stirling castle, the driver didn't inform us where he had parked- when we came out, the car was nowhere to be found. We searched for a while and my mom and I were very disturbed Trying to figure out in a foreign country. I had taken a photo of the license plate which I showed to their castle security who helped us find them. I called Matthew and texted him, but till today , he didn't bother to respond to my messages asking to share the contact. Another example is that there was an option of buying a Scotland Explorer Pass to cover entry fees, Matthew and Margaret did not bother to inform us of this, even when we had asked in an email to them, and we had to do the research ourselves. It almost seemed that Matthew does not like to cater to customers who are non-white. We paid full money just like any other customer.
The driver was good at heart, but it appears the tour company needs to train themselves and their drivers on communication and professional aspects. We did not feel the drivers were well trained and they were certainly not 'guides'. We are not trying to have the driver lose the job during this economic crisis - he needs training - but we do have to provide an objective review .
We were in a foreign country and did not want to argue with Matthew and his company, and we departed with a smiling face, and gave a generous tip to the driver. We would not choose them if we had the option again.
