My family and I have traveled with Swarthout for a number of years, especially including the last…read morecouple of years when my mother and I have gone down to NYC to celebrate various events. The fact that there's a NYC trip pretty consistently available is definitely a highlight of traveling with Swarthout. I think they're raising the cost of the NYC trip (from $62 per person to $64 per person), but it's very minimal - and the ticket is still very much worth the cost. Generally, the experience is very organized. The driver I think we've had for every (or almost) trip down to NYC, Chuck, is fantastic and knows exactly how to maneuver the bus through heavy NYC traffic. Drop off and pick up is also well organized. While I haven't experienced any of the other tours that Swarthout offers in quite some time, I am hoping they continue to plan for at least one Yankee game trip during the 2016 trip schedule. I won't hesitate to buy tickets for that trip if/when they offer it next. While Swarthout is pretty organized about their communications, I have noticed that people who are new to traveling with Swarthout can be confused about the bus seat numbers - even though most are clearly marked. The last trip I was on, a family got on board the bus at the first pick-up spot and looked for their seat numbers before the husband gave up and told his wife and kid to just sit down in a couple seats. They were the wrong seats, unfortunately, and when people got on the bus later in the pick-up schedule, they couldn't find their seat numbers because this family had already sit in them - also covering the seats numbers that are usually on the window space. Perhaps this is something that has been addressed recently (my last trip was in May 2015), but, if not, this is something I would advise Swarthout look into - enhancing visibility of the seat numbers (or, alternatively, get rid of them entirely). TL;DR Love these tours. Will be joining Swarthout again 2016. Seating seems to be somewhat confusing for some, though the trips are otherwise very organized - and fairly intuitive in terms of joining them, etc.

Swarthout Bus Company is extremely professional and reasonable. We hired the company for our…read morewedding and they were responsive and easy to work with, as we decided our final schedule. Their buses are very clean and our guests were pleased!

They changed locations at the last minute and we couldn't get there because of standstill NYC…read moretraffic. The answering service was unable to help us contact the bus so we missed it by two minutes. After missing the bus, we called again to see if we could transfer the ticket to a later bus. The answering service again proved unwilling and unable to help out in any capacity. Overall, very disappointed in the quality of service.

Even if there are other buses to go in to the city, I'd say that this one is definitely the best…read more For the price (aprox 84$) you get a comfy and very spacious seat, free wifi, free snacks, and a plug to charge your phone. All of these plus no stops along the way make that 4-5 hour trip pass by fast.

Good ride and save , Indianapolis Airport to Bloomington very nice trip ,…read more thank you for your good driving

Jay is terrific. He is reliable and always on time. He has even helped me out on short notice when…read moreI needed a ride to or from an airport when I was stuck because of bad weather or a missed connection.

Ithaca Is Foodies was arguably one of he best food tours that I've ever had the pleasure of…read moreattending. Our guide Seth showcased Ithaca's diverse food scene (a lot of which was locally sourced fare, which was super impressive) while tying in interesting historical facts about the city of Ithaca--which was totally unexpected but definitely well received among the group as well as very much appreciated. A decent bit of walking, which was fine, but it's good to point out for our less mobile friends looking to partake. At every stop we had small drink and food portions, which after the 2-3 hours I was relatively full, which is always nice after completing a food tour. We started off at Moosewood Restaurant and worked our way through the Ithaca Commons to 6 total different spots, stopping along the way to point out fun facts about certain areas, murals, general historical tidbits as well as highlighting local business practices that may not be commonplace elsewhere (did you know that Ithaca commonly uses a "Collective" business model versus the generally practiced "Cooperative" business model, where individuals in charge share equal responsibilities/shares and others are welcome to work their way up through work efforts and such). I'm sure the general order/selection of restaurants rotates given time of year and availability so I won't go into much detail about where we went here, but all of the choices were awesome and accompanied by narration from either Seth or the owner of the restaurant about the food we were enjoying as well as a small history of the establishment. Overall a wonderfully thorough tour that left me wanting to know more about the city of Ithaca and it's quite interesting history. Would highly recommend to anyone visiting the Finger Lakes Region!

Mild disappointment. Ithaca known for great food and interesting venues. 3 of the 6 stops hit the…read moremark. Moosewood, Ethiopian, and F. Oliver's achieved on both. You could skip Ten Forward, underwhelming Star Trek theme and basic sandwich. Coltivare was an excellent tour and an even better tour guide, but surprised to see basic flatbread as our sample. Ice cream shop was ok but nothing special to make it onto Foodie tour. Not a bad way to spend a day, just needs a little work.

I have stayed here many times since the property was purchased by the University and Alumni…read moreAssociation and have always enjoyed my stay, but have never yelped. It is an 1890's style mansion built by Mr. Wickwire, an iron magnate. There are a handful of rooms and a couple of suites all very quant and accommodating. Apparently his family also built a few of the neighboring mansions. As a Cortland Alum I try to book a room every five years or so for my 5 year Reunions. The college holds many events here for alums and I would suggest calling ahead to check busy weekends. My wife and I have stayed in almost every room here - our favorite is the Rist suite. It is large and has a spacious sitting room for entertaining and relaxing. It overlooks the back gardens which are lovely. A modest breakfast is provided with the room and coffee is always available. The staff are delightful and accommodating. It is a nice B&B. We always bring a few bottles of wine for personal consumption. There is no liquor license. There are many outside spaces to relax in and the front porch is a great spot. It is perfect as a home base when visiting town. We will be back. Mark & Nancy.

Seriously the best kept lodging and event secret in New York State~…read moreRun, don't walk to this amazing B & B and event space in Central NY. Full disclosure; I am an alum of SUNY Cortland and have a serious affection for this spot but I challenge any objective human to have a different experience. Stunning period antiques, magnificent decor and impeccable attention to detail and service are just some of the features to love about a stay here. Conveniently located to downtown Cortland and a quick drive to the Finger Lakes Region, Ithaca and even Syracuse. A quick walk to the SUNY Cortland campus of course. Each room is magnificent and the staff leaves no need or want unattended. The rooms are quite reasonable and you can event rent the entire house for a family, reunion or group! We rent out the entire house every year for a group on an annual Finger Lakes motorcycle trip. There is no place like this. The staff is practically invisible and yet every need is met. No meddling owners bothering you; they are there if you need them but leave you alone to enjoy every room in this historic mansion. There is ample off-street parking, verandas to relax on, stunning gardens and great breakfast. Events are incredible and they do it all; graduation, christening, showers, weddings and business meetings. Truly the best of the best.

What a nice experience!…read more Laura was a wonderful tour guide. She owns the company and is just so passionate about all things wine and the Finger Lakes. it was such a relaxing day filled with good wine and good food. Our tour included three winery stops, tastings at each winery, lunch at one winery and some cheese pairings at the other two. We didn't book a private tour but got really lucky because our hotel was an included pick up / drop off point. We spent a good amount of time at each winery and learned alot from all of the wine makers and Laura. If you want to spend a day drinking wine without worrying about driving or having to think about where to go / what to taste then this tour is definitely for you. Leave it to the experts, relax and have a good time and eat and drink well. You can't go wrong!

A group of 5 of us leveraged this tour (private, winter tour) and we were sadly very, very…read moredisappointed. 1. Transportation - this was one of the only pluses to this overall experience. We were picked up and dropped off door-door for this tour. The van that we were in was comfortable and clean. It was equipped with water bottles (one of two souvenirs) and snacks. We were charged a driving fee based on our distance - an extra $82. 2. Guide - our tour guide, George was very nice and well-informed. He clearly had passion and experience. The BEST part of our tour was the "off script" stop George made to one of the wineries en route between "planned" stops. This off-script stop was how the entire route should have been. Modern, clean converted farmhouse with gorgeous views, amenities and great vintages. Absolutely tragic that the rest of the stops were NOT aligned to this really perfect place. He was super eager to help us with pictures and answer any and all questions we had with the region and wine in general. Our second souvenir was a really great printed pic he took of our group. Again, one of the only highlights was George. I think the company should absolutely leverage his hospitality experience to help curate better partnerships and stops for the Seneca route. 3. Snacks/lunch - the winter tour advertised snacks, water and lunch was included/provided. The water was in a reusable water bottle (that we got to keep)- fine but I guess I would have expected additional bottles in a cooler. Maybe even some seltzer or soda for the price point. Snacks were just individual serve baggies from Costco - decent variety but again, for the price point not aligned. We expected snacks to be food pairings at each stop. We really only got that with chocolate bites at the first stop. On site lunch - this was a huge disappointment for the price point. At our first winery we had bites of chocolate for a flight pairing. The pairing and chocolate were nice. The second stop we had three cheeseboards to split between 5 of us - again, fine but no meat (so no significant protein) and we each got a bowl of soup. That was it. That was lunch. For a 7 hour tour this was simply not enough. And we aren't big eaters generally but definitely expected way more for a 7 hour alcohol tour. This was honestly terrible for the price point. I would have expected cheese/bites pairing at all stops with an actual lunch (at least a full panini or sandwich). 4. The wineries - this was where it really all fell down. We stopped at three places on Seneca. First stop was Damiani. We were NOT brought to the tasting room but rather the barn where the wine was made. Let's just say having your first stop pull up to a metal barn when you've paid ~$400/pp is NOT the best first impression. The wine itself and the staff member, Noah, were actually the best of the three stops. But the aesthetic of it was again, not it. Second stop was red newt - this was at least a more "expected" tasting room set up. We were brought to the back and had our flight/tasting there. The wine was OK at best - sadly we did buy a bottle with our "wine bucks" to have with lunch (again not great considering the price point that lunch didn't just come with a complimentary full glass) and one of us in the group got a whole mouth full of legitimate sediment (like straight grit she had to spit out). It was off putting to say the least especially since we had to buy this to have with "lunch". The pours themselves at ALL the stops was exactly that - a tasting pour. It wasn't more "generous" - just a standard 1oz pour and no one was pouring more. When we had "time" at the end we weren't offered more or even a half glass - we instead felt very pressured to buy bottles (and sadly, none of the vintages were really purchase a whole bottle worthy). Again, not expected for the price point - we thought with the "curated" experience and "lasting partnerships" the tour has with these stops we'd at least get heavier pours or extras. Def did NOT happen. The last stop was Flatt Rock - again, sold as a farm/mom and pop shop - that's what it was. The tasting room was not aesthetically a vibe. The wine was also not great and we were told they had a great champagne style drink - we didn't get any. Overall, we were looking for an all-inclusive. No one in our group wanted to plan the itinerary because we didn't want to invest the time but I think it would have been much more worth it to just do that. The three "on route" places we were brought to were old and just not what we expected for the price point. Maybe their public tours on other lakes is better but I can say with confidence the Seneca lake, private winter tour is NOT the vibe for the price per person.

Writers! I spent the…read morelast several day at La Tourelle Inn in Ithaca doing a self imposed writers retreat. I've done this before, but THIS place is everything I've never found before. The pic below is just one of at least 12 places where you can sit in total silence and write. There were gazebos, benches, nooks inside, a tent covered breakfast area outside and that's before you get to the fireside camps where other people were "glamping" but hotel people can go sit by one of 12 fire pits! I also went out there during the day and took a nap on a leather couch in an outside tent covered living room in TOTAL SILENCE. Well not total silence. There were birds, frogs, and crickets. There were people if you wanted people (and I met two dogs!) but what struck me was the absolutely silence and solitude I could find. I desperately needed it, and I've NEVER found it like this before. If you go and don't want a balcony, room 104 is the quietest. There's a double door (room and hallway) so any children screaming in delight or adults laughing in the common area is blocked twice. Oh! And there's a trail head to buttermilk falls on property and it's right across from a Buddhist temple which just adds to the ambience. Plus the most delicious food and cider and lake views are found in Ithaca. If you need this, GO.

It's almost 9pm, & several folks staying at the hotel are complaining about the extremely loud &…read morebooming noise we can hear in our rooms-even on the second floor. Was informed by the desk person-who is very nice, that her hands are tied & provided me the mobile number of the manager Jason who was already headed home. Left a voice & a text message for Jason. No return call or text??? Informed music will go on till 10pm.