We had a good experience with charles river cruise in our recent trip to Boston. The boat dock was…read morenext to a shopping mall with access to restroom, dining options and various shops. The receptionist was friendly. The tour guide was phenomenal. Bearing a great, easygoing and a bit sarcastic personality, she was engaging, knowledgeable, funny and honest about her delivery. I learned a few things about the city and the famous schools from her personal opinion. Very steady and peaceful ride. Clean and well-maintained boat with a bar. Be mindful it's hot inside the boat with the scorching sun in PM so bring water, sun screen and hat, dress lightly. It was our second day in town our bodies still adjusted humidity and heat, I felt I was about to get a heat stroke. It'd be nice if they consider AC operated boat in the future.

We took the 90-minute Charles River Tour Cruise on Friday, August 1st--our first time using Charles…read moreRiver Boat Company. The views were nice, but the experience turned sour quickly due to a lack of passenger care and extremely poor customer service. Halfway through the ride, we were filming the scenery at the front of the boat when, without warning, the captain blasted an incredibly loud horn as a "greeting" to another boat far in the distance. It was completely unnecessary, and the sudden, deafening sound startled everyone around us. I almost dropped my phone into the water. We went inside for the rest of the trip because we no longer felt safe or relaxed. Later that day, we emailed the company with our concerns and offered to send them the video showing exactly what happened. They didn't care. Instead, the Director of Operations, Gibson Cushman, dismissed our complaint, quoted Coast Guard rules (irrelevant in this case), and refused a refund. He offered a credit for another cruise, which felt like a cop-out since we're not local. His response made everything worse--tone-deaf, defensive, and full of excuses. He even tried to blame us, saying passengers should expect loud horns at any time. I had ringing in my ear for 48 hours--if we'd known something like this might happen, we could've worn ear protection. Overall, it was a stressful and disappointing experience. Their focus clearly isn't on guest satisfaction or safety--only on covering themselves. We won't be returning and wouldn't recommend them to others.

I have been trying to get here for 14 years and I finally made it. Every other time I've been in…read moreNewport, it has always been closed. You walk in and my jaw dropped looking at the paintings on the stairs. Like they painted everything. Each room is more and more magnificent and I would argue I find this more breathtaking than the Elms. It's the details in the rooms for me, not the size of it. I didn't go on a guided tour but at some point would love to see more of the rooms, there were a certain number available to us yesterday. I think this actually just became my favorite to visit, honestly. I know a lot of people make comments about how dark it is, buuuut have you heard of how you need that for preservation purposes? I also have an eye condition so for me, it was actually welcome to walk through and not feel like I'm being blinded. The soft lighting I found to be wonderful, personally.

Chateau-sur-Mer is a different style of Newport mansion. It's beautiful but not in the traditional…read moresense of gilded age mansions. It's more Addams Family gilded age castle, if that makes sense. It's filled with treasures including the beautiful silk wall paper. It's a must see.

Captain Tom and his crew always do a good job taking customers along the rivers in downtown…read moreProvidence and the waters beyond the hurricane barrier. He is full of facts about Providence and their standard 45 min tour is a great way to see the city from a different perspective. They also have other varied tours like the architectural tour, twilight tour, Waterfire night tour, etc. A fun way to spend an hour in the downtown district.

Took my wife out today for Mothers Day and she had a really great time. Capt Curtis was great,…read moreeverything went well and I'm sure we'll be doing it again soon.

Had a great time on the Downcity Providence food tour! Michelle really knows her stuff and I…read morelearned a ton about the city and its cuisine. I would easily recommend this to anyone either local or just visiting. A great way to spend an afternoon with tasty food, fun facts, and some good laughs.

Michelle was an amazing tour guide! We had such a great time! A perfect mix of food, history,…read morefacts, and jokes! So yum! We will be going back to those restaurants!

Beautiful example of Shingle Style architecture. Built in 1881-1883 by the firm of McKim, Mead &…read moreWhite, it was the summer residence for Isaac Bell, Jr. Bell's brother-in-law was James Gordon Bennett, Jr., the publisher of the New York Herald. The house is a blend of English Queen Anne, New England colonial and Oriental design. The name Shingle Style is due to the white cedar shingles that cover the exterior. The firm McKim, Mead and White influenced the work of Fran Lloyd Wright. The open floor plan is perfect for the current use to display art exhibits. This current exhibition, Pictus Porrectus, shows contemporary art based on classic paintings. Parking is available on site. No furniture is displayed in this historic Newport Mansion. A very unique property, but not as elaborate as the other Gilded Newport Mansions.

This was one of the smaller homes of the "Newport Mansions" in Rhode Island, but is one not to be…read moremissed. It was an architectural tour and it didn't contain most of the furnishings as most of them were sold off years ago. They chose not to buy period pieces though instead focused on many of the interesting features. For one, the outside roof is covered in wood shingles in all types of interesting designs which is why the style of the house is classified as shingle style architecture and is one of the few in the country. Because the owners traveled quite extensively, they incorporated many design details from France, Japan and China mostly, but also from other areas of the world. One that that surprised me is that the main floor has a fairly open floor plan with wasn't standard for that time period. This concept was borrowed from Japan. I had also not seen pocket windows before - they disappear into the walls completely to bring in lots of fresh air! Much of the wallpaper was custom designed for them. The designer also was very creative. He framed bed warmers and used them as a feature in the dining room. I now realize that if all the period pieces were in the house, it would almost overshadow all the design features of the house itself.

Laurie is an amazing guide. She is detailed and brings a lot of visual from the Worcester…read morehistorical society. We did a tour a few months ago and we still frequent the places that she introduced us to. From birchtree to Stillmans. And we keep going to the farmers market every week. Can't wait to go on another tour. Laurie if you are seeing this...we need to start the beer tour soon!

I go on a lot of tours - and I mean A LOT. Pizza tours of NYC and Boston- done it. Ghost tours in…read moreany city in the US - check. I even do underground architectural tours to look at how infrastructure is built. This means I know the elements that make a good tour and I believe that Worcester Canal Food Tours gives a great tour. Whether you're a native of Worcester or just visiting, you will learn a lot of interesting facts about the city and the north of industry here (with sepia toned photos and everything!). This is all set against the backdrop of 4-5 food stops in the up and coming canal district. You will eat. It is a wide sampling of foods and very big portions. Bring a food storage container in case there are extras. I went on this tour yesterday and I'm still full. It was a great night, the tour guide was fun and knowledgeable, and I am sated.

The owner said "not fancy, but good place." I can tell you the view was fabulous, great sunrise /…read moresunsets. Not being fancy would have been ok, however, this house is need of some serious upgrades! Fill up the hand soap bottles The american flag is in shreds outside sliding back door, shreds. Get a new one, show some respect! Furniture must be 20 yrs old, sunken in, hard to get up, and that's the sofa, loveseat and chair. We were afraid to use the fireplace. Big windows, great for viewing. However, the sun glares right in. Although, there were blinds available sitting in the bedroom closet, none up on windows! The plug outlet in master bdrm, is pulled halfway out of socket / wall. (Fire hazard - scary) Big hole in ceiling above bed main bedroom. It was a comfortable king mattress, however, get a running start so you can jump up to get in. I am 5'7.5" and truly mattress height goes up to my hip. Sheets come off because the pocket isn't deep enough to tuck all the way in. Main bath shower doesn't work. The lower floor shower works, unless you are taller than 5'8". And the door won't close all the way. The game room was fun, again the view fantastic. The game room chairs are raggedy though and the sofa was ripped at seat back. Again, doesn't have to be fancy, CLEAN though would be a good thing.

Consumer experience warning:…read more I recently booked a vacation rental through VRBO and canceled the reservation shortly afterward. Based on communications I received, I believed a refund would be processed, but the matter remains unresolved and approximately $5,335 is still in dispute. Over the past several months, I have spent significant time attempting to resolve the issue through customer service channels. My purpose in sharing this experience is not to attack anyone, but to encourage consumers to carefully review cancellation policies and retain all written communications regarding refunds. If you've had similar experiences with vacation rental platforms, I'd be interested in hearing how you resolved them.

My family of 5 visited Provincetown recently and booked a sunset dune tour. The owner, Rob, was…read moreour driver. He was very sweet, funny and engaging. we learned about his family history and how the dune tours started, the history of how the dunes came to be, and even about some of the famous people who stayed in the dune shacks. He had books and photographs to show us as he drove us through the most amazing landscape. He was a wealth of knowledge, and very personable. I tend to get a little nervous with off road activities and water, but I felt very comfortable, his skill level of driving in that terrain and his knowledge of the tides, etc made me feel very safe. It was a very chilly night so he took us on a slightly longer ride to the lighthouse so we would end up having a little less time to sit in the freezing cold for the sunset. He even took photos for us. our teenagers enjoyed this tour, and our guide. The sunset was amazing, Rob had chairs for us to use. This is a must do activity if you're visiting, we have already recommended it to several people.

We had a fantastic morning on the Cape starting strong with a really cool tour on the dunes through…read moreArt's. We've always seen the big Chevy Suburbans near commercial street with partially deflated tires and wondered about the tours but never pulled the trigger, so glad we did! Our tour guide was awesome full of knowledge and facts about Provincetown, the dunes, the beach shacks on the dunes, and the flora & fauna of the landscape. He fearlessly drove us up hills of sand and took cool pictures of our group of 5 at pretty picturesque points. I'd highly recommend it was well worth the time and money.