Coo-Adventure — Attraction in Stavelot

We had a quite disappointing experience at Coo Adventures.

We booked a horseback riding tour for 1 adult and 1 child (7 years old) for Wednesday 11am. The lady was friendly and spoke Dutch very well.

On Monday I called if we could change the tour to Monday 4pm. This was no problem. That afternoon we arrived but the lady looked surprised because she had understood that we wanted to come Wednesday 4pm. This can happen and was due to a misunderstanding. We had traveled 1.5 hours for nothing however. We agreed to change the tour to the next day.

When we arrived at the equestrian center/manège we saw the 2pm group finishing their tour with ponies and horses etc. We entered the manège but were not greeted by anyone and it was a bit confusing for us and the other customers where we had to assemble. This would be a point to improve. Put up a sign "Assemble here, somebody will be with you 5 mins before the tour starts" or something.

When the employee came to us he was quite surprises because firstly, he expected 4 people and not 6. Also he had not understood that there was a 7 year old child and had not saddled a small horse, but only 6 adult horses. He had to spend quite some time saddling up 2 additional adult horses but apparently it was not possible to saddle up a pony for our daughter. He complained that nobody had told him a child would be joining as well.

In the end our daughter tried to go on the adult horse and on we went. After some time our daughter got quite scares because of how high she was sitting and wanted to stop. Because of this she had to spend the rest of the tour (1 hour) walking next to the horse instead of riding one, while the rest of the group was still riding. Imagine her face and disappointment when I came to pick them up after the tour. The employee Julien was very understanding and tried to do his best by saddling up a small pony after coming back from the tour. Even when he was finished working he spent 20 mins helping our daughter on the small pony. We were very glad he did this because our daughter was completely in tears after the tour.

We called Coo Adventure while she waa riding on the manège to tell them and complain about the situation. We were told to send an e-mail, so we did. I asked for the money back because we had booked 1.5 hours of horseback riding through forest and countryside, but had only got 20 mins in the manège and our daughter had had to walk an hour next to the rest of the group.

The owner of the manege was apparently called by Coo Adventures and directly came to us from her office. She asked us why we had called Coo Adventure and had not asked her. Well, we didn't know of her existence and nobody of the employees had told us to do so...she told us that the pony had been saddled up and our daughter could spend a little time on it.

After 2 days with no reaction from Coo about our e-mail we decided to go to the office to get our money back that way.

What followed was a long discussion. The lady told us it had not been an adult horse but a big pony, which absolutely was not true. Then she said we had got 20 min on the horse and this was a compensation for the tour. She complained we had not called Coo at the start of the tour but only at the end. Of course this was the case because the people at the manège told us there were no ponies available and the other people were awaiting us to start the tour.

In the end we got a refund for both my wife and my daughter but we spent more than half an hour arguing. We got really upset because of the whole discussion.

We would really advise Coo not to blame customers for miscommunication on their behalf. Mistakes can of course happen, but please, just say sorry and apologize show some understanding and give a refund for all the time lost and the disappointing experience, instead of immediately putting the blame on...

Kayak with Coo Adventure has been one of the worst experiences in my whole life. I and my girlfriend arrived in Coo very enthusiastic to do Kayak for our first time, and we booked 2 tickets for the afternoon (we were told approximately from 1pm onwards, when the level of the water would be sufficient to do kayaking). At 12.30 sharp, we get to the starting point, where all we hear is: "you have paid already, you can take a kayak, we will push you into the water. Enjoy!"; no questions, no explanations, no indications, NOTHING. Just like that. Being my first time, I didn't worry as I thought "it's maybe easier than what I think"... but there the nightmare starts. I and many other people get continuously stuck and trapped among the rocks due to the absolutely insufficient level of water, a superhuman effort to move on just a few meters before getting stuck again. I am not expert and perhaps not even good at all, I know… but that was too much. Additionally, the effort was even bigger as all the time I had to take care of my belongings: phone, sunglasses, wallet… because nobody tells you that there’s a chance to get flooded or even to fall down into the water, so I brought my valuables with me. The total route is about 8 km and there’s no signal along the river on how much is left… at some point, I was exhausted, and even discouraged after I understood that I was only at half the way… and after falling down into the water, loosing my glasses, getting totally wet, even my phone (luckily still working) and my wallet, I decided to give up and call them for rescuing me. At this point, their help on the phone was first: “if you are not feeling well, call a doctor” (but I was in the middle of a river!!!) and then: “just get out when you can, when you spot a house or such, call us back and we will send somebody to pick you up”. And I did. I got out in the surrounding field (God only knows how! Let’s just skip this part…), managed to get to the main road and called them back, but nobody took my call. Several calls, zero answers. At some point, one of them just passing by (by chance) saw me and picked me up, so my nightmare came finally to the end. I am aware that the level of the water only depends on nature, but I would expect a service provider like this to be more honest on the real conditions of the river and to comply at least with the basic rules of safety and not just throw people into the water and God bless them… at least some basic indications, some assistance to those people who have never experienced this sport and would like to enjoy an alternative afternoon… not to live an unforgettable nightmare. Totally not...

Bought a 4 hour mountainbike tour for two people, as well as a separate kayak activity in the first week of July. Everything can only be paid cash. While we had fun with both, the following points should be noted:

MTB: The good-looking red Specialized bikes are stalled out front, you are however not renting those. They have a shed full of heavier older specialized bikes. We had our own equipment (since we are both race cyclists) and noticed that not all bikes even had a bottle cage (no luxury on a 3-4 hour tour). The blue route is challenging, and not suitable for people who haven't ridden a bike before, due to both steep ascents and tricky steep descents. During a flat part of the route we noticed the heaviest gear of one bike wasn't working, but the others were fine, and you spend most time in the lighter gears anyway, but advisable to check all gears before you leave. The route misses some signs, some just aren't there, some have been weathered down to a near invisible sign - a little check would be a good idea.

KAYAK: Kayaking was fun, we knew about the low river, but had checked the water levels (2,5m3/s). This was sort of enough for a person around 75-80 kg, we got stuck a few times (didn't have to get out), but that costs a lot of energy. We passed several people who had fallen over and had trouble emptying their kayaks and getting back in. The quality of the kayak seating is not in anyway decent enough for a 2 hour trip, so be warned (your legs and back will hurt, a lot). We had some fun and the scenery is pretty, but it's way more intense on low water than previous kayak experiences. At the stop, no one speaks to you when helping you get out of the water, it's a little awkward. Be prepared to wait for a unspecified amount of time for that busride (they are in absolutely no hurry), and if soaked standing around is a lot less fun.

A specific CORONA /COVID-19 issue: Coo adventure states masks are obligatory on the busses (and even sells them for 4€), but does nothing to actually ensure this, or talk to people if they do not comply. This resulted in a group of girls on our bus not wearing masks, and not being corrected or denied boarding. The employee didn't seem the least bit interested in upholding the mandatory corona safety protocol for their...