Traverse City Wine & Beer Tours — Local services in East Bay Township

Pros: Bill was a very informative driver and gave us brief history of the wineries and even pointed others out on the drive. He was very friendly and helped load and unload. We shared our packed lunch with him and enjoyed his company. The wineries were beautiful and good choices. Bill even let a couple know in advance we were coming so they could keep our group together. There were 12 of us and we rented the Funky Bus. The bus was comfy and lots of fun. It does say max of 14, but I would not recommend it unless they are tiny people. 12 was perfect fit.

Cons: Looking back it was a costly venture. The bus was $549 and then Jody informed me the driver expected 10-20% tip. 20% would have been over $100! Do they not pay their drivers? I gave 15% and still thought that was excessive, basically paying him $20 an hour for tip. The farthest winery we went to was less than 30 miles from their main building, so it’s not like they drove hundreds of miles for us. We met them on the corner of 4 Mile Road and US31, so they did not have to drive far to meet us either. Normally the tip would not bother me, except when he dropped us off and unloaded so fast and was pulling out even before we were in our vehicle. He barely acknowledged me when I gave him his tip and said Thank You. I understand he had another tour that afternoon, but we made sure to stay on time for him as far as I know. I received a call on our way back from Bill saying in mistake their cooler ended up in our pile. He asked if we could come back and we were too far north for that, but I told him someone would be back to TC at least by the following weekend and could return it. We also had a few coolers and one was almost identical to theirs. Someone in our group mentioned they would be down there sooner so I gave them Bill’s number and did not think much more about it, until the next day. I received a text from Jody mentioning that the cooler was mistakenly taken from the bus (like we did it) and if someone could bring it back by Friday or she could charge my card $25 for it. I know it’s only $25 but it soured my view on the whole thing. We did not take the cooler on purpose and we did not unload it. He should not have been in such a hurry. Also, why are they still holding my credit card info after I had made the final payment days before? They basically charge $137 an hour for the bus, less gas and maintenance, and they are coming after me for a $25 cooler?

In the end, we did have a lot of fun and it was a beautiful day and that’s really all that matters. Would I use this company again, I am not sure. As far as recommending, Bill did a good job. I would only warn about what is expected for driver tip, that they keep your credit card information on file, and unload your own stuff, haha.

I originally rated this higher but Jody's lack of hospitality awareness made me drop it. She finally replied by text and has not offered any apology or affirmation that the driver was also in error. She did reply with their address so we could drop cooler off anytime. No confirmation that she shredded my credit card number either, just TELLING me what to do with the cooler. Super nice when taking my money and setting it up, don't expect much if there is a problem though. All this over a...

I’m going to try and just be as factual as possible so that anyone, trying to decide if they want to take this tour, should w/out my personal feelings getting in the way. If you have ever enjoyed a taxi or bus ride to the airport you will enjoy this tour. Our driver had what seemed a concrete block on his foot. It was Gas to the max or full on brake (and for no apparent reason). These are curvy roads. There are only 3 seats that face forward. Motion sickness is a real thing on this tour. The seats on our bus were uncomfortable and slippery. There are no handles to hold onto so you get a work-out trying to stay in your seat. We were told where the barf bucket was. Air conditioning was nice and cold. We were told the 3 vineyards we were going to. There is no tour-like talk on the drive. No interesting details about the area or the orchards. Nothing. Our driver was very nice and gave us his arm when we stepped out. He also told us there was water and snacks available. Doug also came around to help people get a picture. The last vineyard we went to, our driver stared at his google map on his phone the entire time (one hand on the wheel, one hand holding his phone). Very narrow and curvy roads. Thankfully we didn’t die but it felt like we could at any moment. I have pictures of that to prove he did that. My husband and I tried to get a uber driver to pick us up at the first orchard but none were available. We were willing to take a loss on the $ because we didn’t want to get back on that bus. We didn’t drink much wine b/c we feared it would make that bus ride unbearable and that we would be forced to use that barf bucket. We tipped our driver properly because he was kind and did his job. We will never take a wine/bus tour again. This was in celebration of 22 years...

They are the BEST!!!! We did two days in a row!!!! Had the most incredible experience!!!! It's not easy to find a get away in Michigan during the cold months during lock down and to do a last minute bday trip during covid. But they were absolutely amazing...professional, above and beyond kind of service and made us feel super special the whole time. Another company we were booked with cancelled due to lack of people and when we called TCWB within hours of arrival, Mollie was great enough to add us on for the same day and when our driver Jody arrived we knew we were in good hands. She was professional, courteous and super fun!!! Jody arrived at our hotel to pick us up in an beautiful new Cadillac Escalade and it was immaculate!!! The day was chilly so she had mapped us out a really nice route of wine tastings that had heaters and igloos. We had the best time...Jody wanted us to have the best time and felt like an hanging with a best friend!! She even checked on us to see how we were doing from time to time and make sure everything was going great. The second day we awoke to 4" of new snow and advisories for the day and wasn't sure what to expect, but when we talked to her she had an idea that blew us away!!! Jody had done some research and came up with a whole new plan on the spot and we loved it..(since it was snowing so hard we had requested only tented, heated or igloo locations) and she managed once again to pull it all off. We met the nicest people while on our trip in Traverse City, the birthday excursion was a huge success and we have the great people at Traverse City Wine & Beer Tours to thank for it all. We never could have pulled off the amazing stops with no worries at all. Highly recommend!! Wouldn't want anyone else after having them and their rates...