Tea Around Town — Local services in Austin

I have seen most of the reviews and so I was apprehensive when we showed up.  It was a rainy day for us, so the bus was quite cool when we arrived, while it did warm up considerably as people boarded and the bus go underway, I can see the AC issue being a much bigger deal on a sunny day, bring a fan if you can. As for presentation, it was spot on. The bus was over the top with flowers and butter flys, the tables and seats were clean, it all looked great. I even loved the cup holders in the table tops so the cups did not slide around as we drove. The bus driver was great, no lurching stops or starts, nothing slid around as we drove. As to the food. I know there are tons of reviews talking about how it looked or tasted. Yes it looked like it was plated and set out before guests arrived, if I had to guess maybe even plated and stored in a fridge over night, and then set out when the bus arrived  about 30 min before the tour started.  When we boarded about 15 min prior everything was plated and on the tables.  TO me it looked like standard tea set up - a plate of scones, a plate of mini sandwiches and plate of desserts.  Maybe not up to tea at the Ritz standards, but I didnt pay tea at the Ritz prices.  The bread on a few sandwiches may have been a bit crusty on one edge, but the temp was fine even for the egg salad, maybe a wilted cucumber garnish? At no point did I feel they were unsafe or unsanitary.  Again, expectations are key here. its tea on a bus.  I didnt think the tast on the mushroom bites were that great, and its was not my favorite egg salad, and i feel the cucumber could have used more seasoning, but to say it was disgusting or unsanitary is a bit far in my opinion.I am aware people left our bus tour before it started due to thinking it looked like the food was bad, but I wonder if they just have never had a tea service before and didnt understand it would all be preset? or they dont like the look of egg sandwich bites? My major complaint in this was there was not any black tea with cream and sugar to be added. I was hoping to end with a nice cream scone with a black tea with a hit of cream and sugar. The tea they did serve were nice,  almost the perfect amount if you planned to taste them all as they brought them around. Staff were great, food was acceptable,  tea was good and we had a great time driving around town to some wonderful music and...

I got swept up by the cute photos and didn’t read the reviews first - lesson learned. We purchased the most expensive “Luxe” package for a 6 pm departure, which was supposed to include "priority boarding, an enhanced menu, and a spring delight mocktail". We didn’t receive a single one of those things. We asked about priority boarding after verifying that the people ahead of us in line had standard tickets, but we were still boarded after them.

We followed the instructions to arrive 15 minutes early, yet the bus showed up 15 minutes late, leaving us standing in full sun on the side of the road for 30 minutes. Then it didn’t depart until nearly 30 minutes after the scheduled time at 6:27 pm. When we asked again about the Luxe amenities, the staff told us they “weren’t available in this area yet” and showed us a support email on their phone to follow up with.

The bus was extremely hot. The server was drenched in sweat despite using a giant handheld fan. My friend and I were both uncomfortably overheated, and my face is visibly red in all our photos. There was no decaf tea available, so I didn’t drink any tea. My friend burned her tongue on her first sip of hot tea, then finished the small water provided. She asked for more and never got it.

The tour guide missed most of the advertised stops, and my friend had to help her identify major sights, including the Capitol and the Governor’s Mansion. Not a single place I attended the tour to see was pointed out.

The food was concerning: egg salad, cream cheese, tuna, etc., were all served warm in a hot space with poor air circulation. Multiple other reviewers mentioned similar concerns about food safety and extreme heat, both here and on other platforms.

After the tour, I contacted the company via Instagram, six emails, and a phone call. I received an email reply only after the call and was promised a partial refund, but it never came. My four follow-up emails were ignored. It wasn’t until I contacted my credit card company three weeks later that someone finally responded the next day, now also offering free tickets.

I wouldn’t attend this again even for free. The bus didn’t look like the photos, the “Luxe” experience didn’t exist, and the conditions were highly uncomfortable. I wish I had read the reviews here and other places first, and I hope this helps someone else avoid the...

This idea has potential but needs improvement. The good: creative idea, beautifully decorated bus, comfortable seating, lovely/attentive staff.

The bad: The bus is so blasted hot that that the trip was miserable. Seriously, this is Texas in the summer. Fix the air conditioner; remove some of the flowers blocking vents. While the staff treated us great, we didn't really notice any perks of "luxe" version. I guess we had some extra food. No difference in boarding. Tour part was minimal. Food/tea was okay; not worth the the extravagant pricing.

Tour: The tour part was disappointing. I didn't understand that there were no stops at some of the iconic photo spots, like the murals. The tour itself was bare bones, occasionally pointing out a building or such. There was little information, no history given. So it would be something like, "look on your right and you'll see the XZY museum". Well, half of us faced different directions, so for them it was "left". And since we were simply a bus in traffic, we'd see the dingy wall of a side of a building. Or something in the the distance across 6 lanes of traffic. Really not much to view. The guide's voice was pretty soft and kind of faded into the background noise. After awhile, we mostly enjoyed talking to each other.

Food: There was a creative selection of tasty bites, so that was fun. It was visually attractive. However, I really worried about the safety of eating things like egg salad, fish, tuna salad in prolonged heat. The tea was "ok". Some nice flavors but tiny portions and half were hot. Our water bottle was quickly gone, so we were thirsty.

Bus Layout and Decor: The bus was festooned in the flowers and decorated to the hilt. The table/benches were comfortable. We wondered if less flowers blocking the vents would have helped with the A/C. Steps super steep.

Value: At $159pp, it seemed expensive for the hour-long, sweaty experience of riding around on a bus. I appreciate the "all-in pricing". No extras, no surprises. That was mostly true but did not include tips. Staff stood at the exit with a tray for cash tips and a screen showing a QR code for electronic payments. They worked hard and earned their pay. So I don't begrudge them that. But I thought they were being paid from the inflated admission fee.

It was interesting to experience once. Would I do...