Starline Tours — Local services in Los Angeles

I rode their hop on hop off bus service this past Saturday May 3, 2025. This is an extremely disorganized and unprofessional company. Their time table is merely a suggestion and not even close to what time the buses actually come. I waited 45 mins for a bus and then another almost 25 mins at a connection point because the driver didn’t want to keep driving. Since she was already extremely late instead of continuing she decided to wait to match the schedule, so this was equivalent to one bus on the schedule not even showing up. We were at the stop for 18 minutes and had hopes to leave on time but even that didn’t happen cause the driver was eating snacks, reorganizing her grocery shopping that she had stored under the seats (seriously) and chatting to her coworkers. The company says delays can happen due to LA traffic, that is absolutely not the reason. The reason is they have a very poorly run service with staff that don’t care. I called the office at one point to ask if a bus was coming and they said yes it was and there was no point in trying to go to another stop, by coming they meant 30 min wait time. But they of course didn’t say that. Also when we finally got on and got to a connection point the driver said there were buses people could get on to connect to another route but as people got out those buses drove away. One of the staff said to the driver “why didn’t you call us?” And she didn’t respond and just raised her hands up. I guess she was too busy eating snacks. I could see in the mirror that she was opening and eating snacks as she was driving the bus around. Drive how you want when it’s your own car and life but she’s supposed to be working and keeping the passengers safe.

The constant delays is the reason they say you can only do two tours per day. But you won’t even manage that because like I said the buses just come whenever. Then after 3 pm they stop running to the connection point so you can get around even less. So you basically have to start at 10:30 am and hope they’re somewhat driving on time-ish if you want to do two tours and make it back to where you started. Then in the evening the last buses don’t even finish the route and stop in Santa Monica and then you have to get wherever you’re going from there. A total hassle.

I experienced 3 drivers, one I didn’t speak to and the other two seemed bothered by questions. We’re tourists, we have questions. Also one of the buses was extremely dirty, I felt like I was on a LA city bus. For $50 per ticket that’s absurd.

I experienced more professional driving and better experience on some of the city buses. Those cost $1.10 to ride. Imagine that? Spending $50 on a hop on hop off bus with worse service than a city bus. Please save your money and if you want a hop on hop off bus research another company. I’m not sure where these good reviews are coming from, maybe from other pre booked tours but the hop on hop off is a disaster. 1 star is sufficient since I did get to ride around but the frustration was not worth it.

I don’t even usually leave negative reviews but this was too expensive and too disappointing to leave...

STOP, don’t waste your money —- You won’t see a single celebrity home

Terrible and unprofessional experience from start to finish.

We bought tickets for the 4:30 tour. Showed up early and waited. When 4:30 came around, they told us they didn’t sell enough tickets for the 4:30 tour so we would have to wait for the 5:00 one. Not a big deal, we waited and at 5:00 the tour van parked in a different location than where we were waiting. By the time they told us, the van was full. They did squeeze us on (literally), but we didn’t get to sit together and the earbuds they gave me weren’t long enough to reach the input… so I essentially couldn’t hear any of the tour. The only reason I was able to hear anything is because the stranger next to me was nice enough to eventually share half of his ear bud with me.

The tour tells you a long list of celebrities that you will be able to see their homes. Technically, I suppose they are not lying… you can see them, but it’s from miles away. The guide will drive up on a scenic overlook and tell you “down there in that valley you can see Katy Perry’s home, Bruno Mars, etc…”. You might as well just look on google earth from 20 miles away, you’ll get the same experience. You may see a sliver of their roof if your camera zooms in enough. There may be 1 or 2 homes that the tour will get close enough to see, but it’s literally a large gate and fence is all you actually see. I get that it’s not the tour’s fault that you can’t see more of the home, but 99% of the names on their list, you are basically seeing from outer space.

The tour guide is nice, but it’s very expensive (cheaper in person than online), and you literally see nothing at all. Trust me, I could show you every photo I took on the tour, and they all pretty much look like the 2 I shared (which are literally from the tour).

Complete waste of money and time. I wasted my time and wrote this review so you can save your time and money. Please take my advice, this tour...

A truly awful company from the start, so be careful and stay away. We booked three tickets for the "hop on, hop off" service. The first bus was very much delayed, and the app with the code never worked, so there was no ability to determine where or when the bus would show up. The "location" of pickup is also a bit vague. However, we did get the first bus and got off at Hollywood/Vine, with the intent to take the tour of LA that afternoon. The bus at Hollywood/Vine also didn't arrive at the time designated on their PDF on the website, so I called the number and talked to a woman in customer service. After referencing the problem, she offered a refund, which seemed abrupt. Thinking that was a good idea, I took the offer, and she asked me for the code on my ticket, "as I have to cancel it," she said. I gave her the code and then, just before hanging up, she said the refund would have to be run by management.

None of this struck me as odd until two days later when I received an email saying the refund was refused. I emailed several times, but their logic made no sense; after all, they waited until the ticket expired to tell me they were refusing a refund they had already offered. Thinking this was very odd for a public-facing business, I called when I got home from the trip, assuming this would be a simple fix. The woman I spoke with—who seems to be the only person at the company (named Cha'Niya, with no last name) and was also the person who emailed me—said there would be no refund and the ticket was never canceled. This appears to be a simple bait and switch—say they are canceling the ticket so you don't show up in person to complain, and then wait until the ticket has expired and tell you they aren't providing a refund when you've likely already left LA.

It is a very odd way of dealing with the public. Cha'Niya encouraged me to document my experience, so hopefully I can save someone else from dealing with this pathetic excuse for a business. Avoid...