Our TripAdvisor Review

Our decision to use Jordan Select Tours was initially based on the positive Tripadvisor reviews.  We worked exclusively with Elisa Papi in planning our trip to Jordan for the last week of September.  Elisa was extremely helpful and responsive to all questions and any changes to our itinerary.

We traveled to Jordan on a mixed trip to tour Wadi Rum and Petra as well as to visit relatives.  We were very pleased with all of the hotels suggested and booked in Amman and Petra.

We stayed at the Rahayeb Camp in Wadi Rum that included tents with attached bathrooms, which can come in very handy in the middle of the night.  This was our second stay in a camp in Wadi Rum, and I must say we did enjoy the atmosphere of our first camp best.  We stayed five years ago and it was called the Lawrence camp.  While the accommodations/tents and the food were nice at the Rahayeb Camp, after dinner it was off to bed.  During our previous stay at the Lawrence camp, after dinner the host sat around a campfire and visited with the guests and it was very entertaining.  After the lights were off guests could stay out under the stars and some even pulled their mattresses from the tents to sleep outside. I missed this interaction at the Rahayeb Camp.  However, if you desire a “hotel” room in the desert this is the camp for you.  We also rode camels from the camp back to our vehicle the next day and it was quite a fun experience.

We stayed at the Movenpick at Petra and this is a wonderful hotel.  Again, this was our second visit here and it was still as nice as it was five years ago.  Great staff, rooms, food and free wi-fi.

Petra is a place that everyone should experience and even though this was our fourth visit, it was still magical.  Select Tours arranged for a horse ride to the Siq and a guide for us.  This was the first time for this and, I would suggest, that the money spent on the horse ride would be best used at the end and to ride the horse out because by that time you are so tired from walking it’s hard to make that last walk up the final hill.  Be advised that everyone offering services at Petra, ie horse rides, carriage rides, guides, etc. expect tips.  The person guiding my horse kept telling me how much to tip him the entire ride.  He started out with “10 JDs or $10” and by the end it was “5 JDS or $5” tip.  If you don’t tip them what they want they will let you know they are not pleased.  This is the bad thing about Petra and I wish the government would do something to control the harassment regarding tipping.   It puts quite a damper on the whole experience.  It would be nice if the government employed more professional people as guides and providing transportation in and out of Petra or offered better training to the Bedouins.

We had a special request of Select Tours to arrange a sort of “family reunion” or outing for around 50 to 60 people.  Elisa suggested that we rent a large bus and go to Mountain Breeze Country Club in Al Salt.  This turned out to be a fantastic idea and resulted in a memorable experience for everyone that went.  It could not have been better!

Our driver, Nabil Abeda, was also an excellent choice for us.  He was extremely knowledgeable about all of the historical aspects of Jordan as well as being a great driver and very nice person.  It turned out that he had lived in the US for many years so he spoke very good English and there were no communication problems at all.  I would certainly recommend requesting Nabil if you use Jordan Select Tours.

Over the course of several weeks of finalizing our itinerary for Jordan, we made many changes and even canceled at one point because of the situation in Syria.  As soon as that situation turned around from potential war in the region to Syria agreeing to UN inspections, we made the decision to go ahead with the trip and we are so happy we did.  Elisa was very patient and receptive to all changes and in the end made our visit to Jordan one of the best ever.  We would absolutely recommend Jordan Select Tours, Elisa Papi and Nabil Abeda for anyone considering a trip to Jordan.