Very irresponsible people, although good tour ideas

I contacted the Kote company because they are currently the only ones on the Ukrainian market who offer budget tours to Georgia. The program that they offered was very tempting, the ratio of the promised and the price was pleasant, in addition, a comfortable bus was promised.

The work of the company's employees has its positive and negative sides, although, if you do not take into account the fact that Georgia itself is beautiful, their work has much more disadvantages.

What I liked. Pretty good idea and balanced program. The availability of water, as well as the ability to get boiling water and tea on the bus without restrictions. The location of the accommodation in the places of overnight stays was really close to the center and after late walks it was convenient to get there. Georgian guides were pleasant to talk to, gave good information and generally pleased with their high professionalism. The drivers were also pleased with their professionalism and drove us safe and sound along rather difficult routes, especially for a double-decker bus.

The work of employees in the office at the stage of the sale of the tour is excellent - they will tell everyone, promise everything. Unfortunately, the information provided by them is not always true. Employees do not warn about the real time of the trip (the site indicates the "ideal" 30 hours), the possibility of standing 3-18 hours at customs. They do not warn about the features of the place where you will go. In our double-decker bus, there were seats at tables that were located with their backs to each other. Such places, firstly, did not have the opportunity to recline, and secondly, some of them rode backwards. Passengers were not warned about this, the discount for reduced comfort was not made.

They keep the tourist in the dark until the very departure - whether the group will be typed and for what number, no one guarantees the departure. In the end, I was offered a cheaper tour (from Dnipro, not from Kyiv), but the price difference was not compensated, referring to the fact that “the one was for early booking, and now you are booking the tour at a different price.”

On the way, our bus broke down. Drivers repaired it for 7 hours. Downtime was not compensated in any way. The firm referred to this as "force majeure". I emphasize that the breakdown was internal, not related to the road. Thus, we see that the company is not responsible for the technical condition of the bus.

The toilets at the sanitary stops were terrible, the choice of roadside cafes also did not meet the needs of such a large group (we were 70 people).

The description of the program does not always indicate additional fees for incoming tickets. Thus, the program states that a visit to the botanical garden in Batumi is a gift from the company, although in fact it was necessary to pay another 8 GEL for entry. It’s not a question, transportation to the place of excursion and accompaniment of a guide is also a gift, but why can’t you honestly indicate

Accompanying from the company showed high unprofessionalism. The first is Catherine. She accompanied us to the border with Georgia. During the repair of the bus, and it was at night on the highway, she did not control the movement and safety of tourists, she avoided communication with tourists in every possible way. At first, she stood over the drivers with a lantern, then she called on the phone. She repeated the same memorized phrases to the questions. As a result, a riot and panic began among the tourists.

The selection of music and films was very specific - we listened to chanson and watched films with Schwarzenegger and Stallone. There were no films on Georgian themes. There were also no stories about Georgia, about the places where we will visit, about the places where we go on the road.

The second escort, Aleksey, accompanied me for the entire stay in Georgia. He tries to win over the tourist and establish friendly relations with as many people as possible. We must give him his due, he is more creative in choosing films and music on the road - films and music were more interesting and pleasant than Katya's. Cheerful, positive, but completely irresponsible guy. I got the impression that he rather rests and hangs out with tourists, and does not work. The cafes recommended by him did not differ in the optimal price / quality ratio. Rather, we can say that it was quite expensive with an average quality. If you walk a little around the neighborhood, you can find much tastier and for less money.

The interests of tourists are not defended, but rather strive to maintain good relations with the host country. In Batumi, after a night move, we were settled at 14.00, and the linen was given only by 24.00, because there was a very large group in front of us and the hostel owners did not have time to wash the linen. They apparently do not consider it necessary to have several changes of underwear. Alexei did not react to this situation in any way, even to my remark that it would be good to defend the interests of tourists here, he just shrugged his shoulders. No one ever apologized to us for this situation, neither Alexey himself, nor the hostel owners.

In Batumi, although breakfasts were provided for by the program, the company did not pay for breakfast either to the owners of the hostel or to any cafe. Alexei just bought groceries and put them on the table in bags. Plates, spoons - who managed to grab it, that was enough. Butter asked to spread a girl from the group on bread, appealing to the fact that "they need women's hands so much." And the girl Sveta spread sandwiches for the whole group. Since Aleksey did not want to go to the evening for groceries, he postponed breakfast from 9.00 to 10.00 in order to have time to get up and go shopping. That is, thanks to him, people got to the sea an hour later.

Also in Batumi, a boat ride was provided. I don’t know at what point Alexey came to the conclusion that no one wanted to go there, he didn’t ask me personally if I wanted to ride, I asked other tourists too. In the end, we didn't have a boat.

In Kazbegi there was a disruption of the program. Part of the group had to go to Mount Gergeti on foot, part - to go by jeep. The possibility of a trip by jeeps for an additional fee was stipulated by the program. It was raining at night, Alexei did not lead the group on foot and did not organize the people for a trip in jeeps. Whoever figured it out himself, grouped up with other members of the group, learned from local residents that it was possible to go to the mountain, he went. Who did not have time, he saw Mount Kazbek. I was lucky, I was there and it was one of the highlights of my trip. The weather, by the way, quite allowed to climb the mountain by car.

Conclusion - if a more respectful, responsible and honest attitude towards the tourist were added to the work of the Kote company, they would not be worth the price. I would like to wish them good buses and a competent personnel manager.

Will I go with Kote next time? Perhaps, if there comes a moment in my life when I can’t do without a trip to Georgia and I’ll be ready to go like a Jewish parrot from the joke “at least a stuffed animal, even a carcass.” If I have the opportunity to use the services of a more responsible carrier, then I will bypass Kote on the tenth road.

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