Castle And king
Castle And king
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
5.0
36 reviews
Excellent
33
Very good
1
Average
0
Poor
0
Terrible
2
Kerry K
1 contribution
Sep 2022 • Couples
We booked and paid for a tour before Covid and our trip was canceled because of Covid in India. We are from Australia and the trip was a major expense for us. Other canceled holidays that we had booked during this period gave us a full refund. We also got our full refund from the airline going to India and the first night accommodation that we booked on our own from Australia.Regrettably despite the best efforts of our agent Panos Laskarakis we have requested a refund of money paid to this company but it is not forthcoming. We understand from our agent that a credit was available for a period of time but the cost of the tour has now increased so substantially it is unaffordable to us and so this company has kept all our money and not provided any service to us.
I would not recommend you use this company - very disappointing.
I would not recommend you use this company - very disappointing.
Written September 18, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sarah
Paris7 contributions
Apr 2022 • Couples
We had an amazing trip in India and later Nepal thanks to Arvind and the Castle King team. Everything was thought of, the organization extremely thorough and even when we asked for last minute changes everything was possible. It was truly an amazing way to discover India & Nepal.
Written December 16, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
shay b
San Diego, CA20 contributions
Nov 2023 • Friends
Our 16 days trip organized by Castle and King Tour agency was amazing. Our group of 7 had the pleasure of being accompanied by our very knowledgable and personable tour guide Dashrath and our lovely driver Ajay. The two of them made sure that not only all of our needs were met, but made every effort for our trip to be unforgettable! Every time we changed our original plans - which was often, their response was "sure! This is your trip and we want you to enjoy it" and they set out to make the necessary changes without a fuss and with professionalism. Our trip was enhanced because of Dashrath's warmth and openness, as he openned door for us to see the real culture! His first words when we met him was "I want to show you India through my eyes" and so he did!
Our tour organizer, Arvind who helped with planning the trip was also very knowledgable and patient. He answered every question and every concern in detail and timely. He provided many suggestions to ensure that the trip would fit our group. It was a pleasure to meet him and his family who came to the airport to meet us before our departure.
I would not hesitate to recommend Castle and King.
Our tour organizer, Arvind who helped with planning the trip was also very knowledgable and patient. He answered every question and every concern in detail and timely. He provided many suggestions to ensure that the trip would fit our group. It was a pleasure to meet him and his family who came to the airport to meet us before our departure.
I would not hesitate to recommend Castle and King.
Written December 2, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Canadventuring
1 contribution
Nov 2022
We used Castle and King to book a 3 week personalized trip pre-covid and it was fantastic. Arvind's recommendations, ideas and service were all excellent. Our itinerary was well planned and we were happy with the hotels and guides. Our drivers were excellent as well, in particular Krishna who drove us around for our Golden Triangle portion of the tour. We hope to go back to India and will definitely use this company again!
Written December 12, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Panos Laskarakis
Ioannina, Greece3 contributions
Sep 2022 • Business
I traveled with this terrible agancy twice.
The first time it was with my family when we had booked a trip 2 weeks.The hotels even four stars.were dirty and the guides on wildlife safari were unexpected and lazy with results to not see the animals like Tigers.
The second time I booked a trip with this agancy as I was tour leader guide.
The trip postponed because of COVID-19.We had made the deposit of lot of money to Mr.Arvind.
After two years and more... India was open again and we reschedule again the same trip.But this guy demand from us the double money for exactly the same trip.Of course the people couldn't pay the double price and asked from the agancy their money back but Arvind never made the refund.We lost the money for ever.Of course I don't recommend this agency as the risk to lose your money and your time is high.
The first time it was with my family when we had booked a trip 2 weeks.The hotels even four stars.were dirty and the guides on wildlife safari were unexpected and lazy with results to not see the animals like Tigers.
The second time I booked a trip with this agancy as I was tour leader guide.
The trip postponed because of COVID-19.We had made the deposit of lot of money to Mr.Arvind.
After two years and more... India was open again and we reschedule again the same trip.But this guy demand from us the double money for exactly the same trip.Of course the people couldn't pay the double price and asked from the agancy their money back but Arvind never made the refund.We lost the money for ever.Of course I don't recommend this agency as the risk to lose your money and your time is high.
Written September 4, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
IWebster
Lincoln, United Kingdom7 contributions
Jan 2022
So glad we made our bookings through Castle & King, they organised everything, we had a wonderful guide in Mumbai - a fantastic day - he was interesting and knowledgeable and friendly. We also loved our hotel which they sorted out for us while we were in Mumbai. Then they organised our transport to Palolem. We would certainly use Castle & King next time we visit India. Thank you so much!!
Written December 19, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jeanette
1 contribution
Jan 2022
I was interested in visiting Rajasthan and asked Castle and Kings for help in organizing our tour. We spent 14 days in India: a great experience. We selected where to go and visited Delhi, Agra, the Ranthambore Natl park (TIGERS!), Jaipur, Jaisalmer and the desert, Johdpur and Udaipur.
Excellent hotels and meals, excellent drivers and guides. We enjoyed many additional activities.
Mr Arvind was always available to answer my multiple requests.
Excellent hotels and meals, excellent drivers and guides. We enjoyed many additional activities.
Mr Arvind was always available to answer my multiple requests.
Written December 12, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kimberly
1 contribution
Dec 2022
This is review for a trip of the GoldenTriangle in December 2020.
Arvind is polite and helpful. We knew exactly what we wanted to do and see. I asked Arvind numerous questions prior to the trip and felt that he was committed to making sure we had a hassle free experience; hence we are using Castle and King again.
In December of 2020, we traveled to New Delhi and the Golden Triangle: Delhi/ Jaipur/Taj Mahal. We were paired with Krishna for the duration of our stay. He was punctual each day and personable. The trip was great!
Arvind is polite and helpful. We knew exactly what we wanted to do and see. I asked Arvind numerous questions prior to the trip and felt that he was committed to making sure we had a hassle free experience; hence we are using Castle and King again.
In December of 2020, we traveled to New Delhi and the Golden Triangle: Delhi/ Jaipur/Taj Mahal. We were paired with Krishna for the duration of our stay. He was punctual each day and personable. The trip was great!
Written December 11, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Gerald E
Bowdon, UK53 contributions
Dec 2018
I have used Arvind and his company on two separate trips; firstly in April 2014 when he planned and helped execute an eight day trip for us and our two grown up children to Delhi, Amritsar, Shimla and back to Delhi. We used flights, trains, taxis nd, of course, the famous "Toy Train".
And the again for Christmas 2018; a two week trip to Delhi, Udaipur, Jodhpur and Goa - this time ten of us with an age range of 5 to 69!! A challenge but one that this company dealt with brilliantly. Choice of sensational hotels, meet and greet throughout was truly seamless. Skilled recommendation of guides, tours, stops - combining to give a great feel for that amazing country and its people. All this and a beach holiday in a world class resort at the end.
My brother first recommended Castle and King to me and I now recommend the company to anyone contemplating a visit to India - thank you.
And the again for Christmas 2018; a two week trip to Delhi, Udaipur, Jodhpur and Goa - this time ten of us with an age range of 5 to 69!! A challenge but one that this company dealt with brilliantly. Choice of sensational hotels, meet and greet throughout was truly seamless. Skilled recommendation of guides, tours, stops - combining to give a great feel for that amazing country and its people. All this and a beach holiday in a world class resort at the end.
My brother first recommended Castle and King to me and I now recommend the company to anyone contemplating a visit to India - thank you.
Written August 9, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Sir,
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience and positive feedback on TripAdvisor and thank you for sharing it. Positive recognition is a tremendous source of motivation to us and it will encourage us to continue provide the memorable trip to our future guest.
Once again, I am very thanks full for your feedback.
Thank you and warm regards,
ARVIND
Written January 10, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
slj60
cheshire482 contributions
Jul 2019 • Couples
We used the services of Castle and King throughout our tour of from India and I cannot recommend them more highly.
Choosing a Tour Guide.
I initially found a company, with offices in the UK and USA, who were at the top of the Google listings. They seemed very good; they had won awards and put together a good but somewhat rushed itinerary. However the hotels they suggested were neither Heritage or particularly high in the Trip Advisor rankings. After doing some research myself I asked them to re quote for hotels I had selected after doing my research on Trip Advisor. They also suggested we take the overnight sleeper from Agar to Varanasi but said there was no first class sleeper, only second class, which is very open plan and as we would have suitcases with us we didn’t want to do this. I started to look for other companies and eventually chose;
Castle and King who are based in New Delhi – this proved to be the best decision I could have made. My reasons for choosing them were thus,
1)Excellent references from previous customers
2) They communicated very quickly and answered my questions with detailed answers
3) The itinerary they put together was not rushed and very well thought out
4) They advised me honestly. I wanted to go to Udaipur and three other companies said it would be fine. Castle and King said the lake would be dry and it would not be a good time to go, so we didn’t. While we were in India the lake was completely dry so if we had gone it would have been a huge disappointment.
5)When getting quotes and advice from other companies they gave us the wrong information about trains etc whereas Castle and King planned our tour very carefully giving us time to rest between each city and not be rushed. We only used the train between Agra (actually Tundra) and Varanasi and the rest of the time Castle and King's drivers drove us and they were excellent. From Varanasi back to Delhi they booked us on a flight which again was very good indeed.
We could get a First Class sleeper from Agra to Varanasi – it departs from Tundra in the late evening – giving us a full day and a half in Agra.
6)Castle and King were less than half the price of the original company I contacted for a better itinerary and far superior hotels. Since doing this tour I have discovered that several high end tour/travel companies in the UK and US use Castle and King and other companies in India so charge you double what you would pay if booking directly with a company based in India.
The Experience
Castle and King lived up to their promises and far exceeded our expectations
We were met at the airport and driven to our hotel – our driver was exemplary.
It is not easy to get good drivers in India; the people we were doing business with told us this. Driving in India is very chaotic and noisy. Prior to our trip with Castle and King we had several drivers while doing business and you felt like you were sometimes in a Hollywood car chase, if not stuck in a traffic jam. Going through a red light or driving the wrong way down the street is not unusual. Everyone toots their horn constantly which is very grating.
The driver we had throughout Delhi to Agra with Castle and King was amazing. The car was cleaned each time we got in it, he never got flustered, he never sped, only sounded his horn when entirely necessary and on the long drives to Jaipur and Agra gave us information about the villages we were passing through and the areas we were in. We told our business associates about him when we returned to Delhi and they all wanted his number to offer him a job with them.
The tour commenced in Delhi, my husband was delayed in a meeting so we were late setting off and asked to skip lunch and went through the day without stopping. Our guide said –whatever we wanted to do he would go along with.
All the guides were extremely informative with good English; they clearly enjoyed sharing the history of their country with us.
They were also very protective and caring of our needs. Bottles of cold water each time we got back in the car, they would always check us into each hotel and make sure we were happy and then would guide us around.
At Tundra Railway station, it was dark and they have frequent power cuts. The guide got us to the platform early (Indian trains tend not to run to time) and waited to put us on the train, which arrived over half an hour late. There were several power cuts while we were waiting and it was very dark which was quite scary. The stations are very busy and crowded and all the guide books tell you to beware of pick pockets etc. The guide stood by our side the whole time and then saw us onto the train and into the carriage. The train arrived into Varanasi over half an hour early and another guide was waiting for us on the platform, right by our carriage to take us to the hotel and check us in. It was 5am and our room was not ready so Castle and King arranged for us to have a temporary room to rest and wash in before we could check into our room at midday.
Coming back from Varanasi our guide waited at the airport, as our flight was delayed and stayed until the flight was called. When we arrived back in Delhi the driver who had been with us all the time, except in Varanasi was at the airport waiting to meet us to take us back to Delhi for our final night.
Throughout the tour Arvind, from Castle and King called us to make sure we were enjoying ourselves and were happy with everything.
I am giving this information not to “plug” Castle and King but so anyone planning a tour can see the standards of service you should get from a reputable company and what to expect. There are several companies out there, many use the same guides as most of the guides are freelance anyway but without the co-ordination from a good tour company, however good the guides you could have a disastrous tour.
Tips for Travellers
Choosing a tour guide/operator in India can be a gamble so do get references first. I cannot recommend Castle and King highly enough and I am very fussy indeed.
Money changing
Travelling from the UK you cannot get rupees in the UK, you can only get them in India. There are two exchange points at Delhi airport and they both charge quite high commission rates. We did change money at the airport but oddly the best rate of exchange and lowest commission charges were in the hotels. We saw very few ATM’s on our travels.
Toilets
Take some packs of Wet Wipes with you, when you get back into the car after each stop of sightseeing you will need a cool wipes just to freshen up.
Carry either tissues or a toilet roll in your bag. Most of the toilets we stopped at were clean but this was because our driver knew where to stop but at some of the attractions they are literally holes in the ground with no toilet paper or washing facilities, hence the need for the Wet Wipes too.
Shopping
India is a fabulous place to shop, in Delhi and Noida there are some really good Malls but the guides will take you to reputable merchants who can sell you anything from Kashmir carpets to marble table coasters. It is customary for each guide to offer to take you to a reputable merchant in each town. You are under no obligation to go or even to buy, but if you do go, just to see how a carpet is made for instance, you will not get a “hard” sell but a pretty persistent one. If you don’t’ want a carpet, they will show you a rug. If you don’t want a rug they will show you a bedspread and if you turn that down they will show you a tablecloth. It is never pressurised, they are proud of their wares but obviously want to sell you something. However if you say no, there is no hard feeling and they are still welcoming and gracious. In Delhi we went to the Kashmir Co-operative and bought a carpet, in Jaipur tailor made clothes and in Agra some marble. The carpet was shipped back to our home and arrived on the day they said it would be delivered. The quality is all good, but you do need to negotiate on price. On average we negotiated between 20-30% reductions on original prices quoted. This was low season and we did buy high value products so in the high season (October – April) these reductions may not be possible.
With hindsight it would have been good to know that at each stop there are more shopping opportunities. The further we went from Delhi the cheaper goods seemed to be.
Street sellers will offer you a whole host of wares – it is really up to you if you want to buy. A lot of the stuff is not good quality at all but I did buy some strings of painted wooden elephants in Jaipur and I am delighted with them.
In Varanasi we were taken to the Golden Temple, you have to leave your camera at the local shop before you enter. They sell silks, scarves and clothing. When you go back to get the camera they say they don’t charge for looking after it but have a look and see what you want to buy. I bought a top and trousers which seemed pretty reasonable 800 rupees, (£10.00, US$17.50) but I saw the same outfit at Varanasi airport on a stall for 350 rupees. The quality is not great, the colour has faded in the wash, so I would suggest if you are taken to this shop buy some scarves as presents instead. My husband’s shirt from the same shop (again 800 rupees) is much better quality and has survived several washes.
We declined the offer of going to the silk merchants in Varanasi because we were totally spent up and our guide didn’t mind at all. The guide did say if you are looking for silk go to a reputable merchant rather than some of the shops on the Gants as the quality will be much better and you probably end up spending less money.
Accommodation
I have reviewed all the hotels we stayed in, they were all very good The Imperial in Delhi, Rambagh Palace Jaipur, Amarvilas in Agra and the Rashmi Guest House in Varanasi. I would stress, do your research if you have the time, read the reviews on Trip Advisor and also ask your tour company – they often know some lovely Heritage Hotels that don’t cost a fortune and are very good. If you are on a tight budget or want to experience the “real” India a good tour company can arrange for you to stay with a family or in a good quality guest house – so whatever your budget a good tour company should be able to accommodate you.
Tipping
There have been lots of postings about tipping on these Forums. Castle and King provided us with an excellent fact sheet giving information about everything from vaccinations to tipping. Really tipping should be down to the individual,. To me, the suggestions seemed terribly low compared to what would be expected in the UK and especially the USA, but then wages are considerably lower in India. For instance the average wage of a government licensed tour guide is around 750 Rupees per day ( around ÂŁ10 or $17) Our Indian friends said they never tip in hotels when they travel and would not tip drivers etc, but then they do employ their own.
We did the following.
Tour Guides we tended to give 100-200 rupees per day above the maximum amount suggested our the fact sheet C & K gave us..
Our driver, who was superb, we gave the maximum amount suggested by Castle and King plus an extra day’s tip. When he collected us from the airport on our return to Varanasi, we tipped him again especially as he had looked after the luggage for us.
Porters in hotels we gave 50 rupees per case.
Maids (all the guide books say don’t tip them – I cannot understand why not) we gave 100-150 rupees per day.
Most of the restaurants we ate in added a service charge on but if not we left between 10- 15% in cash.
All I will say is if you can afford to (I guess most of us can if we can afford to go to India) then do tip. Everyone we met was sincere and caring. Nobody expected a tip, not even in the 5* hotels but please realise these people earn nothing like their counterparts do in the UK and USA. The average working day is at least 12 hours, they do their jobs with pride and great passion. I do know that some people reading this will disagree with me, certainly our friends who are Asian say they never tip but if you tip in your own country then do tip in India – it will be received graciously and appreciated greatly.
Finally, since our trip and our return Arvind, who owns Castle and King stayed in touch and wanted feedback of our tour. Considering his company has been established for many years this shows that success has not made him complacent and he still really cares about his clients.
Written August 1, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Madam,
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience and feedback on TripAdvisor and thank you for sharing it.
Positive recognition is a tremendous source of motivation to us and it will encourage us to continue provide the memorable trip to our future guest.
Once again, I am very thanks full for your feedback.
Thank you and warm regards,
ARVIND
Written January 10, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
No questions have been asked about this experience
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