Parrys International Tours

This is a superb coach tour company. Great coaches with good staff to run them. I have been on several holidays including Austria and Paris and found them to be excellent value using top hotels. I would recommend them and would use them again.

We have just (May 2010) returned from Parrys 'Cornish Riviara' holiday and whilst the coach was very comfortable and the driver excellent, The Cliff Head Hotel at Carlyon Bay used by the company is one of the worst hotels we've ever stayed in. Poor service, stale or overcooked food, no hot water from bathroom sink tap which despite our requests was not rectified, brown unuseable water from bath tap, no hot water on arrival..............the list goes on. There was no evening entertainment provided and the hotel is rather 'remote' from any facilites and not in a good position for the elderly if they wish to walk to the sea front. There is a swimming pool but this was not available for some reason.
Very early start to the return journey with no real stop for a lunch so not at all relaxing. I suspect Parrys like the coaches back mid-afternoon on Friday so that they can turn them around for the weekend trips.
We've heard a lot of good things about this company but I have to say we'd be reluctant to travel with them again. For the price, poor value.

DO NOT TRAVEL WITH THIS COMPANY!!!!
I have just returned from a weekend theatre break to London. We stayed in the Cheshunt Marriot Hotel and went to see Ghost the Musical. The hotel and the show were brilliant and it would have been a perfect relaxing break if we had not travelled with Parrys International! The service we received from this coach company was appalling. The driver (Tom) made us feel very unwelcome from the moment we stepped onto the coach claiming that we were late arriving (we certainly were not!) and that we were being too rowdy!! We were a group of 15 adults on a mums and daughters weekend. Yes, we were high spirited but I am under the impression that many groups would be after looking forward to the trip for almost a year!

An hour into our travels we stopped at the services. It was at this point that the driver (after waiting for the rest of the coach to depart) announced over the microphone that he would be terminating our holiday if we continued to be rowdy!! After hearing this we were obviously upset (after spending £200 each for the holiday) and he then went on and accused us of bringing our own alcohol onto the coach! It came apparent that his wife (who acted as what I can only describe as a stewardess on the coach) had gone to him and told him that we were drinking our own alcohol and being rude (this is the same woman who had been serving us and taking our money for the past hour!!) How she came to this conclusion is still beyond me as it was a total lie and was obviously winding the driver up!

After this it reduced all 15 of us to complete silence making us feel that we could not speak too loudly or enjoy the remaining two hours of our journey in anyway. During this time we also had to sit and watch a 'safety video' and ordered not to use our phone!!! I am still amazed that were told that we not allowed to use our phone!! It was like being on a school trip with very strict teachers!

Luckily we were able to enjoy the rest of the weekend. Unfortunately this was short lived! When we were dropped off in London on our last day we were under strict instruction to be back on the coach a 1:45. As a group we all agreed to be back at 1:30 so not to get a repeat 'telling off'. Unfortunately one of our group members got stuck the other side of London so did not get back to the coach at 1:30. We were obviously very worried about her as we could not reach her on her mobile and had no idea where she was. At 1:40 (5 minutes before the 'deadline') the coach driver got on the microphone again and announced he would be leaving in 10 minutes regardless of if our friend was back or not. This upset her mother who was very worried about her daughter. She offered to leave the coach and get the train home to Walsall. At this point the driver walked over to us, pointed his finger at us all and said he was fed up of us all being 'rude' and that he had been recording us all on CCTV all weekend and knew exactly what we have all been saying word for word 'so don't bother complaining!'. I still have no idea what he means by this as we had been on our best behaviour all weekend!! Plus since when have we lived in a country where freedom of speech was not aloud and we can be threatened with CCTV!!! Also, correct me if I am wrong, but is it not illegal to record people without telling them first or putting signs up?!
My friend arrived onto the coach at 1:48 3 minutes late and apologised to all the other passengers (who as it turns out are all regular customers and friends of the coach driver and his wife) and she was greeted by rude comments and scowls demanding that she apologise to the driver!
My friend cried all the way home! I hope they caught that on CCTV!
Once we got to the services some of us refused to get back onto the coach and arranged lifts from relatives.
DO NOT TRAVEL WITH THIS COMPANY!!! They are rude, inconsiderate and have no idea what is meant by customer service! We are all professional people who work hard to pay for our holidays. We do not deserve to be treated like unruly children!

Having had so many positive comments about this tour operator I was really looking forward to a fabulous time in Paris, Be warned taken from their brochure (Our Guided Tour includes many famous sights including the Champs Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe, Opera Garnier and a walk to the Sacré-Coeur at Montmartre).
This is very miss leading as they only actually drive past these famous sites, what you pay for is a Coach and the driver whose limited knowledge of these sites is mumbled into the microphone. The limited time allowed to actually go and see these sites meant you didn't.
I suppose the extremely long journey of 11 + hours without any entertainment until the last 2 hours
coupled with typical English weather did not get the weekend off to a good start. If it was not for the great company in a fabulous City the weekend would have been a disaster.
I for one will take the Plane next time and use Taxi or Metro and a guide book.
Parry's sorry you let me down.