City Unscripted Avis 71

I worked as a tour guide for this company and would like to share my experience.

I fully understand the importance of punctuality, safety, and professionalism. If a guide is late for a tour or causes serious inconvenience to guests, that should absolutely be taken seriously.

However, I felt that this company placed too much emphasis on internal procedures rather than on the actual quality of the guest experience.

One example was the issue of reporting meeting spot changes. Changing the meeting spot itself was not mandatory, and I often voluntarily picked up guests from their hotels to provide a better experience. In other companies, guides are appreciated or even rewarded for providing this extra service. Here, however, it felt as though a voluntary effort became another item to monitor and evaluate.

I also found it difficult to understand why this issue was treated so seriously when the company guidelines stated that reporting was required only if the meeting spot was moved more than 5 km away, which was not the case.

I acknowledge that I made mistakes during my time there. Every guide has strengths and weaknesses, including myself. However, I do not believe a guide should be judged primarily on one weakness or on operational details that are not directly related to guiding skills.

I also question whether all responsibility should have been placed on the guide. If guests need to confirm the meeting spot with the guide, management and agents could simply remind guests to do so, regardless of whether the meeting spot has changed. Relying only on information written on a website is not always sufficient.

Ironically, the guests involved in one of these situations still enjoyed the tour, left a 5-star review, and even sent me a follow-up email afterward. This suggests that the actual guest experience and internal evaluations were not always aligned.

Another thing I learned is that support systems vary greatly from company to company in this industry. Some companies actively support guides by arranging transportation, helping with tickets, and assisting with guest requests. Others seem to expect guides to support the company's operations instead.

This experience taught me that being a good tour guide and fitting into a company's internal management system are not necessarily the same thing. Future guides should carefully consider what kind of company culture and support system they are looking for before joining.

Our host was outstanding!

Cillian picked us up at our hotel and took us on a walking tour in Dublin. He was a wealth of knowledge, not only about history, but also art, culture, music, food and more. He even serenaded us with a couple of his favorite Irish tunes! We are senior citizens, and he spoke loudly and clearly for us so we could understand all he was saying, , and also walked a little slower so we didn't feel rushed. He is a kind and very smart young man. I would recommend him without reservation.

We had a great time. Senna was flexible and set up a tour that really followed our interests. He obviously loves showing off the city. We enjoyed Brussels very much.

Guide was great. Fun and knowledgeable.

James did an excellent job as our tour guide at dachau. He was very informative and was patient with all of our questions. This tour had a lot of walking, if you have mobility problems, this tour may not be for you.

Joel was a pleasant knowledgeable and friendly guide

We enjoyed his tour greatly

Tom Moloney

Our tour guide was nice but the food tour was very unorganized. I expected it to be a bit more structured especially with the communication we exchanged prior to the food tour. We also only went to 5 places in total. It was just okay.

Our tour guide Csabi was very personable and easy to chat to with. We didn’t have any specific things that we requested to see but rather we asked Csabi to take us wherever he felt was interesting or unique to see. We enjoyed the tour but would have liked a bit more structure, perhaps that was something we should have given guidance on. We seemed to wonder without a real plan of things to see. It was a bit random and haphazard but despite we did get a sense of different areas.

Ai, our guide was GREAT in every way! She was the most communicative and provided a most personalized food tour for us in Fukuoka. As seniors who have traveled the world and done a food tour in almost every city/country, we have never had one this "tailored-made" for us!
All the communication with City Unscripted was very efficient. We will definitely pursue this company again.

Fantastic guide. He should do more of these tours!!

Working for City Unscripted is really enjoyable! It is a company that cares about the people who work for it and it cares that customers have a beautiful and insightful experience in the cities they visit, it feels to be part of a family. There's no distance, managers and support are always available to help with effectiveness and a smile!

I have been hosting with City Unscripted in Munich since 2022. In that time, I have appreciated CU's growth and development, enabling hosts to prepare for each guest properly, and thus ensure conditions are ready for a great experience on the day, for both the guests and the host. Payment structure and conditions are clear, and fees are paid on-time. Support staff are polite and rapid in responding to queries and issues.
Attempts at innovating their booking management platform are also seemingly always ongoing (with mixed results, IMO), but this is clearly a company that is aiming to improve the experience for all involved, which I appreciate greatly, and why I continue to enjoy collaborating with them.

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of Kanazawa with Loïc. He gave us a lot of background information on the history of the area of which he seemed very well informed and prepared. He was also very thoughtful to make sure we were comfortable in our surroundings before he left us at the end of the tour.

We had a three hour walking tour of Sorrento with Gabriella. It was an amazing experience, very laid back and extremely informative. I highly recommend this experience especially in the very capable hands of Gabriella

Ive been cooperating with them for years now and I'm super satisfied!!

Being a host in Singapore, City Unscripted enables me to share my city the way I would with a friend. Instead of following a fixed script or itinerary, I create personalized experiences based on each guest's interests, pace and curiosity. From iconic landmarks to hidden local gems, I love helping my guests discover the authentic side of Singapore through local stories, culture and local food.

As a host in Singapore, I'm grateful for City Unscripted Team's support in attending to and resolving unexpected situations on the ground. It definitely helps to alleviate a lot of stress from these situations.

As a host in Singapore, City Unscripted is an ideal platform for me to list my profile online to connect with travellers from all over the world. It's a straight-forward portal for me to use and the tours offering are varied - food tours, layover tours and private walking tours. The staff support is always prompt and it is a breeze to work with them.

As a host in Melbourne, Australia, I find City Unscripted pretty good to deal with. Bookings can be set to automatic, so can be updated any time without having to sit at your computer all the time. Good support in general and booking staff are quite accessible.