What our guests have said
Is it really 22 years since we did our first tour to the London Marathon?
What has not changed in that time is the genuine interest WRP Tours take in the welfare of every single guest and so whilst positive feed-back may be flattering, more importantly it can often contain germs of ideas or truths which can be incorporated into the next tour so that, year upon year, the standard of what we can offer our guest can not just be maintained but improved.
WRP’s two prime aims remain simple and identical to those in our first year:
Feedback is both encouraged and carefully reviewed and, where appropriate, shown to both the hotels and coach firms. Any adverse comment or criticism is assessed and discussed. If necessary we go back to the guest and ask for further details or comment.
We are especially proud of our 25 strong staff team – both for their commitment to give top quality service but also for the responses they generate from our guests who universally praise their marathon expertise and advice as well as their unflagging efforts – even when a number of them run the marathon and then come straight back to work! The Walking Tours and Race Clinics that they run on both Friday and Saturday win universal praise. Many say that they will recommend WRP not only to other runners but also their charities.
We are proud to offer, below, just some of the many comments from customers who travelled with WRP last year.
Hi John
Just wanted to drop you a very short line to say a big thank you to you guys for making the whole experience.
Please pass on my special thanks to Mike, Nigel and Sam who went out of their way to ensure we had a great weekend.
I will have no hesitation in recommending you guys to any one that is thinking of running the marathon in the future
Vince – running for Team Oxfam
A week has now passed since the London Marathon & I am still reeling from the experience! Phenomenal! I still can’t stop grinning about it all & feel so chuffed to have been a part of it.
Anyway, the reason for the e-mail is to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU to Gordon & Carol who made our stay at the Novotel, Paddington so enjoyable. They were incredibly helpful & kind to us all & made the whole experience really relaxed and good fun. Please can you pass on all our thanks to them?
It has been said I am hard to please, thus to exceed my expectations even left me a bit speechless
Many best wishes
Sian
Dear John and Katie,
I am writing about the London marathon tour that you put on at the Waterloo hotel.
It was my first London Marathon and I was very nervous for myself and my spectators. Despite all my concerns you all had patience with me and answered all my questions, and believe me I had a lot of questions. Everyone was there night and day to answer any questions people may have had. I was very impressed of the knowledge and friendliness of all the staff who work for WRP. Nothing was too much trouble or question too trivial.
The tours are such a simple yet brilliant idea to inform everyone what is happening on the big day so that spectators can make arrangements for meeting up at the end. The buffet and massage at the end just made a perfect end to a perfect weekend. Attention to detail is what made our weekend so memorable and something we will never forget. It was also our first time to London.
I would like to say a big thank you to everyone involved with the London marathon tour. Although I will not be running next year I may the next and will not hesitate to book a WRP tour and recommend anyone else who is thinking about running the London Marathon to book with you as well.
Dale
Dear John,
I want to thank you and your very special team for all the hard wok they put in for Matthew and us- his mum and dad. I just do not know what or how we would have coped without the support your team gave us. Matthew achieved an impossible dream and we are so proud of him.
Thank you - and your team at Novotel Waterloo – just brilliant.
Julie
Just wanted to say how pleased I was to have booked a package this year for my first marathon.
I would like to say a big thank-you to Carol and especially Gordon at Novotel Paddington. Even though I was unable to attend the race clinic on Saturday he took time to go over all that the clinic would cover on a separate occasion. I arrived in London not entirely confident that I would survive Sunday, but I'm sure the smooth organisation and support over the weekend played some part in me running the whole course and finishing well under 5 hours! Thank you all very much,
Alison
Dear WRP Tours
Thank you so much for the great experience I had at the London marathon. From the first phone call to the goodbye at Hammersmith hotel it was first class. It took all the hassle out of the London marathon. All I had to do was think about running it.
With the spectator coach it was a complete trip. Thank you for an amazing weekend that will always be in my memory.
Carl
Dear John,
We all had a great time down in London this year again and thanks for all the hard work you do to make sure everything goes smoothly.
We would like to provisionally book 5 double rooms for next year in the Novotel Tower Bridge for the three nights (Friday, Sat & Sun). There was myself and Stuart running this year but now our friend John who was inspired by the whole event wishes to run next year too.
Mike
John
Just a quick note to thank you and your team for a faultless service in organising everything for this weekend for the marathon. The service has been fantastic and I am so glad that I booked with WRP at Novotel.
A great venue and met some great people and shared some ace stories of determination in completing the marathon. Thanks to Jim and Elaine for their support and encouragement over the weekend too. The hotel was brilliant.
Thanks once again for making my marathon experience so smooth which added to such an amazing and inspiring weekend.
Matt
As I arrived I was completely lost as this was my first Marathon and first experience of a Marathon tour. The staff that greeted me were extremely polite, patient and helpful, I instantly relaxed and started to look forward to Sunday for the very first time.
I would just like to mention one particular individual who stood out , I think was called Sam, he greeted me a couple of times and I must say what an exceptionally polite well mannered young man, he was very cheerful and a delight to speak to …and funny!
He is a credit to your company. I have 5 children and would be very, very, proud if that was my son!
Anyway thanks very much for a wonderful experience and I look forward to booking with you all for next year!!
Jane
Dear Mr Joyner,
I just wanted to say a big thank you for the weekend.
The WRP staff at both the Excel and Tower Bridge hotels were great, really helpful. The staff leading walking tour of the start very useful in preparing us for the size of the event. Once again a big thank you for a very memorable weekend. All the very best
Ian
John,
We just wanted to thank you once again for going out of your way for us.
I am trying to get Cathy to run the marathon next year.
I regret not having enough time to chat and do all we wanted, thanks to that volcano no one can pronounce, let alone spell.
Cheers
John and Cathy (from Chicago)
Hi John and WRP
I would just like to take the opportunity to thank you and your company for the weekend in London. I completed my first ever marathon in 4 hrs 37 min, not the quickest but I ran for CLIC Sargent and made a lot of money for the charity.
Hope to see you again next year.
Simon
Hi John
Just a quick email to say a huge thank you for your support in the weeks leading up to the marathon and special thanks to your staff who were absolutely brilliant in looking after us during our stay in Tower Bridge.
WRP really did make the whole weekend stress free, thanks so much.
Hopefully see you all again next year!!
Emma
Dear all at WRP
I would just like to say a big thank you to everybody at WRP for making my first marathon so enjoyable. The hotel was fantastic, the staff there were all friendly and helpful. The food was very good especially the buffet pasta party on Saturday night.
The walking tours were invaluable to a novice London marathon runner, everything was explained in detail about the start and finish. Our tour guide on Friday (Neil I think, he'd run in the Paris marathon and his wife was running in London) gave some really good advice especially to my husband about spectating. He managed to get a great view on Tower Bridge and he took a couple of photo's of me and I was able to stop briefly to let him know how I was doing. I finished in 4 hours 42minutes and had no problem finding my way back to the underground thanks to the instructions in the final detail booklet. The massage at the hotel when I arrived back was excellent, no aching legs the next day and no problems getting up and down stairs!
I would recommend WRP to anybody running in their first VLM the whole experience went smoothly and without any hitches because of WRP's help.
Thank you very much
Emma
Dear All,
Just wanted to thank you sincerely for your excellent organization at the weekend. Hope you can pass on our appreciation to Gerri & Neil at Novotel City South for their kindness,
Many Thanks,
The P family
Dear Folks,
Just a line to say thank you for last weekend, you were all such a very great help. When one is contemplating a marathon it concentrates the mind, it is nice to have someone to help with the thinking and planning. You most certainly ensured the whole weekend was enjoyable. We shall certainly meet again.
Haydn
Thank you and your staff for all your assistance last weekend and for a very enjoyable trip.
Paul
John
Just a note of thanks to Kate for the pre-race help and information, and to Elaine and Jim for this weekend, as before, excellent.
Very wishes to all the WRP team.
David
Sorry it's taken me a week to get round to sending this email but just wanted to say thanks for a good London marathon weekend. We stayed at the Paddington hotel with Gordon and Carol. Very nice hotel.
Please could you pass on my thanks to them both for a very smooth running weekend.
Hope Gordon didn't get too much grief. Porridge was great - thanks for getting up at 4:30 Gordon!
Gill and Rod
Kate, John and Mike,
We would like to thank you for the excellent service WRP have provided us on the build up to and over the weekend of the London Marathon. Everything was like clockwork and the fantastic team in Waterloo made our stay welcoming and enjoyable.
We were so well looked after and if we get into London again, we will be calling you.
Dave, Lesley, Ellie and Chloe
Dear John and Company,
I went down to London with Denys this week end as he did his London Marathon. We had an amazing time! Den did exactly what he thought with his relevant training etc...and was pleased with his time... He went on your very first trip many years ago! He enjoyed a career organising trips and running Sporting Activities etc...and understands the business very well.
DM
Ps Told everyone how good your weekend is....and applied for next year!
Dear John and team,
Just to say thank you so much for a fab weekend in London for the Marathon, all the help and organisation made for a relatively stress free weekend, which enabled me to concentrate on doing the marathon.
Many thanks,
Donna and Clive
Hi John
Just a quickie to say you will be having to put up with us again next year!!
Could I say thanks for everything you have done for Me, Lucy and Julia and for providing such a great service again. It is nice to be able to run (as you say stress free!)
I must admit that I was not too sure how my performance was going to be having contracted a mild Plantar Fasciitis last month, however, I will take a 2.43!
Could I please ask you one favour, that is to say a huge thanks to Mike as we had a couple of things we had to sort out when we arrived. He was very patient with us and an asset to your team!!
Thank you again John…see you next year (for a 2.37!!!!!)
Gerry
Hello John,
Just have to say a Big Thank you to the WRP team, every member is so friendly and very, very helpful!.
Please particularly my big thank you to Nigel and Phillip, they are really, really helpful and solved all my problems.
I will definitely join the WRP team when I am running London marathon next time!
Love from Silvia
Hello John,
This a BIG thank you .. yet again .. for a really perfect weekend for VLM 2010.
The “run is simply not runable” without WRP`s brilliant organisation and friendly, knowledgeable skills.
Elaine and Jim are totally reliable in every way and maintain a great enthusiasm throughout the whole weekend .. a BIG THANK YOU to them as well ..
So for VLM 2011..
We would like to reserve 2 x double rooms this time back at Novotel Waterloo from the Fri through to the Mon please. Please let me know when I should send the deposit ..
Very Best wishes .. and thanks as ever
Fiona
John
Dear John,
It was lovely to see you again this year, and we would like to thank you for making sure that once again our stay with WRP at Novotel Waterloo was enjoyable and stress free. Again, we very much enjoyed the tours, which we found informative, and in particular, (as we live out in the 'sticks' and not being used to the underground), being guided to the Excel Centre for registration.
Would you please be kind enough to pass on our special thanks to Kate for all her help, and also the team at Waterloo, we really enjoyed our stay there… the team were excellent and overall made our stay relaxed and enjoyable. I have attached a photo of Kate with Surinder after the marathon.
Very Best Regards,
David & Surinder
A pleasure meeting you the other day and my complements again on a well organized marathon weekend.
Kate and I are back in San Antonio and recovering nicely.
David
Just a note to say thank you very much again for your help in providing such a great weekend.
Going with WRP takes away a lot of the stress and worry of an already fretful event. Knowing that WRP will take care of us – from the coach to the start, the post-race reception as well as a fantastic venue such as the Novotel at Tower Bridge just makes it so easy. Please convey my special thanks to your staff at the hotel – they were great. I would like to reserve 8 rooms for next year please – people were so impressed that I will have larger party of runners next year. Dotty Allan
Just want to thank everyone at WRP and the Novotel Tower Bridge for a wonderful weekend. Your staff there were just fantastic and nothing was too much bother for them…. and no, they haven’t paid me to say that! Could you please reserve two rooms again for 2008 – in the Tower of course.
Gaynor
I can’t thank you enough for all the excellent information, hotel, walks, jottings and the team in the office. This weekend has been my first experience of running in a marathon and it’s definitely not put me off!
The whole experience was brilliant!
There were no problems. Everything happened just as you explained and I’ve left London wanting to do more! A special than you to Gerri and Neale who were so kind, helpful and full of really good advice.
Di
Just had to say thank you for another great weekend. This was our third year with you and your team. We decided this year to have a change of hotel and went to City South for the first time where we found your team to be, as always, very friendly and helpful. The hotel was lovely and the food delicious.
It was nice being nearer town and we even made time to go and see a show.
Well done to you and your team for all the hard work that went into organising this and making our stay so enjoyable and hassle-free…. 10/10. Hope to see you next year.
Tracy
We stayed at Novotel Waterloo and the location is great – as were your staff team.
Nothing was too much trouble – from initial booking, the comprehensive notes etc – all was absolutely spot on and took so much stress out of what could have been and even more stressful time.
Our thanks to everyone who helped make this a fantastic weekend.
John