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DAVID URQUHART TRAVEL

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Review of a David Urquhart Coach Tour of the Scottish Highlands

When my sister outlined her plans for my mum’s secret *****-ith birthday (censored information) trip, a David Urquhart Travel coach trip around the Scottish Highlands with a three night stay in Mackay’s Hotel in Strathpeffer, my first thoughts were ‘this is not my idea of a holiday’. However, sharing our pain was my mother, sister, her boyfriend, his mother and three nephews in their 20s (one with his German girlfriend who is a fan of all things Scottish).

Transportation to Strathpeffer After a night in the Thistle Hotel in Glasgow we meet up with the extended family to join the coach at Buchanan Street Bus Station at 9.30am. The coach had three more pick up points, Hamilton, Paisley and east Kilbride, before we headed north. It was full and whilst most of the passengers were in the 60+ age bracket, there were also a few slightly younger people including a couple in their 20s. We were allocated the whole of the back seats area – it felt like being the rowdy party on the school bus.

The trip north was a long one. The plus points were that we could relax, catch up with each other and enjoy scenery that grew ever more dramatic and breathtaking by the mile. The downside was that the tape of an Irish comedian played by the driver was appalling – but had my mum in stitches of laughter. By her own admission, she’s easily pleased.

We stopped off, bizarrely, at a garden centre for lunch at 11.30. Too early for us but it allowed me to stock up on haggis pie, scotch pie and a pork pie from the centre’s pile-on-the-pounds inducing Scottish deli whilst my nephew took the opportunity to bag his first tablet bar .

Mackay’s Hotel, Strathpeffer Somewhere after 4pm we reached Strathpeffer and Mackay’s Hotel . Andy and I had an attic room. It was decent enough with tea and coffee making facilities and a great view of Strathpeffer’s main street. The only downside was that the shower needed some fine adjustments before we could find the right mix of power and temperature – this was only achieved on the last day.

Dinner in Mackay’s Hotel, Strathpeffer There were two sittings for dinner (6.30 and 7.00pm).  The waitresses in the restaurant were mainly young Eastern Europeans and were smart, efficient and friendly (having two, young & attractive single men in our company did no harm whatsoever). Wine was a reasonable £7 a bottle and we had a bottle of red and a bottle of white with each meal. You’re never going to get gourmet food on a trip like this, but what was served was freshly cooked and decent enough. What was particularly impressive was that the menu (which changed on each of the three nights) always had meat, fish, salad and vegetarian options – it was clearly well planned out so that it had something for everyone.

Entertainment at  Mackay’s Hotel You can’t argue with different live entertainment each night. But boy does the quality vary. The first night was an appalling guitarist who didn’t do requests, couldn’t play the guitar and stuck mainly to a mix of C&W type music that’s been popular in parts of Scotland for decades – Patsy Cline and (OMG was I really subjected to this) Daniel O’Donnell. My mother loved it and the cheap bar prices – £1.50 for any drink – helped numb the pain for the rest of us. As a complete alternative there was a Rush tribute band playing in the village’s spa pavilion a few yards along the road. The second night involved a disco featuring music from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s (one song). The DJ looked as though he been let out of the local rest home for the night and his opener to a couple in their early 60s that they might be ‘too young’ for his music and that they’d be better off at the JLS concert in Dingwall down the road didn’t bode well. Neither did his opening song…Patsy Cline…again. The arrival of the waitresses livened things up, especially where my nephews were concerned. After the disco ended (we all ended up on the dance floor to a bit of Robbie Williams and probably the liveliest Gay Gordons witnessed at Mackay’s) they carried on partying with the waitresses until 5am and arrived down for breakfast later that morning happy, but a bit the worse for wear.

Excursions with David Urquhart Travel As well as half board accommodation and transport the package included excursions to Inverness , Ullapool and Pitlochry where we were dropped off and allowed to spend a couple of hours or so exploring each. I much preferred this approach than being herded around. There was also plenty of free time to spend in Strathpeffer itself, a village that boasts a lot of things to do and see, including wonderful little walks, for its diminutive size.

The David Urquhart Coach Tour of the Scottish Highlands was not at all what I’d expected. Being part of a big group of mixed ages clearly upped the fun factor but the whole operation was professional and far more interesting and enjoyable than I had imagined. It was a very relaxing way of getting to see some stunning parts of the Scottish Highlands and overall represented incredible value for money.

Buzz Trips Fact File: David Urquhart Travel offer a choice of tours. The Highlands Leisure weekend that we opted for cost £125 per person for 3 nights/4 days including half board accommodation www.davidurquhart.com

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That was surprising, and when you think about the price it’s really good value, isn’t it. I love driving in Scotland, but you can’t see everything when you the one doing the driving, so a coach is a possible alternative…..so long as you have your iPod from the sound of it!

It surprised the hell out of me. I’m not a fan of coach trips – I hate the idea of being herded around – but it didn’t feel like that. It just felt like it was an easy way to travel from A to B and, like you say, enjoy the scenery en route.

Whilst we visit our youngest son quite often in Wrington North Somerset from South Africa, we dicided in 2008 to go on a trip to the Scottish Highlands also staying over at the McKays Hotel and going on excursions to Inverness where we did a boat trip on Lochness and visited Portree on the Island of Skye thereafter travelled right up to John O’ Groates. The dinners and breakfasts at the Hotel was really something to look forward to every day. The company on the tour was a very friendly crowd where we have made some very good friends There was lots of entertainment in the evenings which we very much enjoyed with a tot of real Scotch whisky. Scotland has sone of the most beautiful sceneries we have enjoyed on a coach tour and we will definitely do it again . We can commend this tour any time to all who would like to do a coach tour to the Scottish Highlands.and at such reasonable fares.

Thanks for leaving the comment Amanda. Sounds like you enjoyed it as much we did. We had great fun on the trip and couldn’t believe the value for money. The Highlands scenery is simply stunning.

Please do not use this travel company! They obviously do not train their staff in customer service at all and their Coach drivers do not obey the Highway Code. Travel with this company at your own peril. For example, they nearly ran over a woman pushing her baby in a Pram on the promenade. The woman was walking on the path when a David Urquhart Coach mounted the pavement and forced this woman to take drastic avoidance action otherwise the Coach would have hit her and her baby. The Coach was using the promenade and the road to turn round rather than use common sense and driving a little bit down the road to turn around. The Coach driver didn’t even apologise to this woman nor did his fellow coach driver who just shouted after the woman when she confronted him about his fellow coach drives driving. On the coach it said Britannia Mystery tour, well does that also include a tour to the local hospital too! We are all absolutely disgusted with what we saw from this company. I will definitely not be travelling with it.

I need to use a mobility scooter does you buses accommodate for this

We’re not the coach company Mary, this is just a review of one of David Urquhart’s trips. And a most enjoyable one at that.

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David Urquhart Coach Travel to become trade-friendly following acquisition

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The owner of trade-friendly Alfa Travel and Leisureplex hotels has acquired the David Urquhart Coach Travel brand and database for an undisclosed sum.

In addition to its coach holiday brands, Alfa Leisureplex Group (ALG) also owns 22 Leisureplex hotels in popular coastal destinations across the UK.

Employee-owned ALG intends to take advantage of the post-Covid 19 rise in staycations by focusing purely on the domestic UK and Irish coach holiday and self-drive break markets in 2021.

David Urquhart Travel announced the winding up of its coach tour operation in May as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

ALG secured a £17 million credit facility, including a £5 million Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme loan from Lloyds Bank in June.

Managing director Emma Russell said: “We are delighted to be able to announce that ALG will be bringing the iconic, David Urquhart name back and to be able to welcome some of the former team back as employee owners.

“David Urquhart Travel fits perfectly into our expansion plan, as the heartlands of David Urquhart Travel are in areas where Alfa Travel does not currently pick up.

“We have been welcoming David Urquhart customers to our Leisureplex hotels for many years, so we know that the David Urquhart Travel customers enjoy our Leisureplex Hotels, where our fantastic employee owners go that extra mile to make memories for our guests.

“Whilst David Urquhart has always been recognised as direct-sell brand, the group are keen to develop relationships with agents once the 2021 programme is on sale.”

Alfa Travel has also extended its reach in the south of England for 2021 with the introduction of a new departure region and interchange at South Mimms to complement its existing Reading operation.

This has seen the operator introduce new pick-up points to its programme, includin the Midlands, south and Yorkshire at the request of customers and travel agents.

Russell added: “At the start of the year, we had already announced to our employee owners that our strategy was to expand our southern England network and we took the decision to concentrate on the UK and Ireland from a destination perspective.

“I am very pleased that even in these unprecedented times that we have been able to not only achieve this, but also to grow our third party hotel partner relationships to support further expansion of our programme and to extend our geographical reach across the UK. We are also introducing a brand new range of weekend breaks in 2021”.

Alfa Travel took the decision to refund customers from the outset of the pandemic.

The company believes that this has been instrumental in helping it retain and grow both direct and travel trade sales during the crisis.

Additionally, Alfa Travel products are bonded by Abta, providing financial protection on self-drive accommodation breaks as well as coach holidays.

Russell said: “Everyone at Alfa would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to all of our incredible travel agent partners for their support over the last few months.

“Our new 2021 Alfa Travel brochures will be arriving with agents shortly, with our low deposit of offer of only £25 per person continuing to run until 31 October.”

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Alfa Travel is awarded the Visit Britain ‘Good to Go’ accreditation

Leisureplex Hotels are awarded the AA Covid confident accreditation

David Urquhart Travel is hitting the road once more!

David Urquhart Travel is hitting the road once more!!We are delighted to announce that David Urquhart Travel is joining the employee owned Alfa Leisureplex Group, whose other brands include Alfa Travel and Leisureplex Hotels. For 37 years, David Urquhart Travel has been providing quality and outstanding value coach holidays and we are delighted to be bringing these great holidays back for you to enjoy!

Emma Russell, Managing Director of Alfa Leisureplex Group commented, ‘We are delighted to be bringing this iconic name back and to be able to welcome some of the former team back as employee owners. David Urquhart Travel fits perfectly into our expansion plan, as the heartlands of David Urquhart Travel are areas where Alfa Travel does not currently pick up. We have been welcoming David Urquhart customers to our Leisureplex hotels for many years, so we know that the David Urquhart Travel customers enjoy our Leisureplex Hotels, where our fantastic employee owners go that extra mile to make memories for our guests.

Finally, a special mention must go to the man who started it all; Mr. David Urquhart. 37 years of providing memorable holiday experiences to over 6 million customers is a remarkable achievement. Thank you for putting your trust in us and allowing us to carry your brand forward. May we wish you a well deserved and happy retirement.

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