My first day, Friday 6 February, was very disappointing. Nothing to see near the hotel, could have been better sited, and waiting for the guide to appear for the welcome dinner. Finally phoned phoned him and he said he was not coming until 9am the next day. At dinner we all felt rather abandoned. The guide insisted the welcome dinner was on Saturday, which was not what the itinerary said! This was a wasted day. There must have been à lack of communication between WW and the guide.
The guide had a huge ego and clearly enjoyed the sound of his own voice. and seemed to think we knew nothing of Islam - not the case and when I questioned something he said he said he would do some research and come back to me. He never did. One day was spent having 2 welcomes at Arab tents. While very nice, too much time was spent and we did not see the Elephant Rock that evening, until the next day. I appreciate that the next day was difficult because of Prince William’s visit to AlUla, but if we had left the hotel earlier the sightseeing would not have been such a rushed job and we might even have visited the site we missed.
Overall I enjoyed the holiday but some clarification was required which would have improved matters.
Our Response
Thank you for sharing your honest feedback, and we're glad to hear that overall you still enjoyed the holiday.
We are, however, very sorry to learn about the disappointing start to your trip and the confusion around the welcome dinner. That is not the experience we want any guest to have on day one and there seems to have been a breakdown in communication between our team and the guide.
We also appreciate your comments regarding the guide's style and the missed visit to Elephant Rock. A guide should be informative and respectful of guests' existing knowledge, and we regret that this was not your experience. The failure to follow up on your question is particularly disappointing, and we will address this with our local partners.
Your point about the timing of sightseeing around the Prince William visit is well taken. We will review how such external events are managed to minimise disruption.
Thank you again for your patience and for bringing these issues to our attention. Your feedback helps us improve, and we hope you'll give us another opportunity to provide a smoother, better-organised tour in the future. Jimmy, Wendy Wu Tours