Budapest weekend exceeded all expectations

Jay's  (best man) answers to our usual questionnaire:  

1. Were you satisfied with the location and quality of your hotel and its staff?

Staff were great, location was great, room was nice enough and exactly what we needed.  Breakfast was rubbish – you should just get the guides to say turn left for McDonalds or if you want some good food go right and right again to Chili Bar.
 

2. Did your guide(s) do a good job? Please comment on areas where they performed well or poorly.

I wish Sophie and Julie were my real friends.  Cool, funny and always in control.  I think everyone of us felt the same which shows just how well they move around the group while they are keeping an eye on us.  They are both far more intelligent than me so they won’t care that I think they were gorgeous too.
 

3. Did you enjoy the pub crawl? How would you have improved it?

Nothing could have improved the pub crawl, it was perfect.
 

4. What did you think of the events you booked (if any)? The venue, instructors/entertainment?

Shooting was excellent, very serious and more professional than the place we had been to previously in Prague.  The instructors commanded respect but the atmosphere was spot on.

Loved the wine cellar restaurant.  The food was good, the gypsy style band were absolutely brilliant and took requests so the Slovaks could sing along.  The entertainer left a lasting impression J

4playlounge is a classy place with very fair prices and I’d recommend the laid back, low pressure atmosphere any day of the week.

5. Were you satisfied with the transport provided? Why or why not?

Fine

6. Overall, did the weekend meet, exceed or fail to live up to your expectations?

Exceeded all expectations.  You read stories about what can happen to stag groups but we were well looked after both by you and all of the Hungarian people we met everywhere you took us.  I’ll always remember just how nice the Hungarian ‘Red Team’ that were out on their own stag were to us when our ‘Blue Zissou Squad’ arrived at Vox Cafe.

Steve's (brother-in-law) answers:

1. Were you satisfied with the location and quality of your hotel and its staff?

Hotel was well located and fit for purpose, it was clean and the staff were efficient.  They were sensible in putting our party as far away from the reqular tourists and guests as possible(not that we made any noise). 

2. Did your guide(s) do a good job? Please comment on areas where they performed well or poorly. 

Guides did a very good Job, particularly impressed witht the selection of Pubs and venues for the saturday evening activities.  They were also very good at offering advise regarding places to avoid.  Basically they read our group well and advised accordingly.

3. Did you enjoy the pub crawl? How would you have improved it?

Have ro recomendations for improving as it was as good as it could be, venues were very good and small walks in between pubs worked out very well. During the  shooting session she canvased opinion regarding the sort of pubs and locations we would be interested in visiting that evening and more than exceded our requirements, clearly there are many different sort of pubs and venues available and it was important that she tailored the evening around the group.  This was achieved.

4. What did you think of the events you booked (if any)? The venue, instructors/entertainment?

The shooting event was fantastic, the organisers were professional and gave instruction very well.  The venue was fantastic and added to the experience.  This was the highlight of the trip and I would recomend this to anyone. Nice to end the session with an ice cold beer, great way to end.

5. Were you satisfied with the transport provided? Why or why not?

Traansport was a bit basic but good enough, drivers were polite and respectfull, again this added to the experience and was as good as it needed to be.

6. Overall, did the weekend meet, exceed or fail to live up to your expectations? 

It exceeded my expectations and I would recomend this.
 

Matt's (the Stag) answers:

1. Were you satisfied with the location and quality of your hotel and its staff?

Definitely.  We were close to everything we needed.

2. Did your guide(s) do a good job? Please comment on areas where they performed well or poorly. 

The guides very quickly integrated into the group, to the point where it just seemed like they were part of the group.  Albeit, a part which knew where to go and what to do. They also "went with the flow" during the pub crawl, allowing us to merely hog up a single bar for a little while, rather than force us to march to the next one when we were clearly enjoying ourselves where we were.

3. Did you enjoy the pub crawl? How would you have improved it?

The bars were very well selected. I wish we could have a crawl like that in my home town.

4. What did you think of the events you booked (if any)? The venue, instructors/entertainment?

The shooting event was everything I hope it would be - for everyone.  I've never seen a group go so quiet before something and then come out so bouyant and chatty.  I got a bit worried when the smaller calibre "starter" rifle jammed every other shot, but the "proper" weapons seemed perfectly maintained and were as reliable as they were adrenaline-pumping.

5. Were you satisfied with the transport provided? Why or why not?

Functional and practical.  Although quite why our driver didn't drive Sophie back to the gun range when she remembered she'd left her phone there after we'd driven 250 metres away, I'm not sure!  (She coped, she's fit).

6. Overall, did the weekend meet, exceed or fail to live up to your expectations? 

Expectations were exceeded.  Perhaps because I was still a little nervous about the weekend, whilst everyone else seemed much more up for it.  I did feel more responsible for how it went. Once we were underway, I was relieved.

• Destination: Budapest
• Date: 8 - 10 July, 2011
• 7 lads
• Guide(s): Zsófia
• Hotel: 3* Twin Rooms
• Activities:  Ak47 and Rifles  Greeted Pick-Up  Guided Pub Crawl  Stag Dinner