Five Star Tours & Charter Bus Company

Fantastic experience: Five Star Tours is awesome. We arranged to have a 12 passenger van (12 would be a tight squeeze) for 11 of us. Al picked us up in La Jolla at our hotel, drove us across the border into Tijuana, took us to multiple places we wanted to go, including Mercado Hidalgo, Revolucion and some other places. We asked Al about going to a place for straw hats. Al took us to a store that had better quality hats and it was a hit. After 6 hours in Tijuana, using the fast pass, we got back across the border in under 30 minutes. Well worth paying for the fast pass. Then back to the hotel. Al was awesome as he knows Tijuana well and got through traffic with no problem. He was very flexible with our wants and we never worried about our safety. If you want to go to Tijuana for a day trip and do it the easy way, Al and Five Star Tours is well worth it.

Fantastic experience: Excellent, reliable service from Sorrento Valley to Tijuana and lunch in-between for our Executive and team! Communication via email and phone was responsive and reassuring. If we have a need, Five Star Tours will be the go-to!

Negative experience: They cancelled the tour 10 minutes after the tour was supposed to start. We had to call to even find out they cancelled it. Really wasted our time. Mind you, this was for my husbands birthday. How terrible! Really disappointed!

Fantastic experience: Recientemente mi familia y yo tuvimos la oportunidad de realizar un tour privado con ellos y fue una experiencia increíble. Desde el momento en que reservamos el tour hasta el final, todo fue bueno. Además todo fue en línea y la persona que nos atendió nos proporcionó información interesante, y siempre estuvo dispuesto a responder nuestras dudas y preguntas. La organización del tour fue buena. El transporte fue cómodo y puntual, y el itinerario fue bien planificado para que pudiéramos ver todos los lugares destacados. Lo que más me gustó fue la atención personalizada que recibimos, venimos desde México y traíamos miedo que algo fuera a salir mal. En general, quedamos muy satisfechos con ellos y definitivamente los recomendaría a cualquier persona que busque una experiencia turística única y memorable en San Diego.

Negative experience: I wish I had read previous reviews prior to going through this company. Now, I cannot understand why anyone would use this fraudulent company. Like most of the customers writing their reviews, my family and I were misled (essentially scammed) by Five Star Tours. My family suffered greatly by the trauma incurred from this trip. We had arranged for a 49-passenger bus from Five Star Tours to pick us up in San Diego by the border line, spend a day in Tijuana, and then to drop us off back in San Diego at the end of day. The bus arrived with wet seats. We had to lay trash bags on the seats so that we could sit comfortably. There was no electrical power or toilet paper in the bathroom. How can customers be expected to use the restroom under these conditions? The typical seat overhead lights were nothing but hollow, exposed panels. Mind you, this is supposedly marketed as a “VIP” experience? The bus that arrived did not match those that were listed on the website whatsoever. Like many others have mentioned, the bus driver did not in fact cross the border from Mexico to the United States. Nor did he tell us that we would have to cross by foot. Instead, he dropped us off a few blocks from the border patrol pedestrian line, NOT in San Diego as was promised on the itinerary. The driver informed us that we would have to get into line because we did not have the correct I-94 forms. (If you’re not familiar, this form is for international travelers visiting the United States). My family and I are U.S. citizens and were not required to complete such forms. He lied and left my family stranded with no instructions on what to do or where to go next. He did not consider that we had two very elderly women with us who were not prepared to stand in line for three hours (one of which was treated by a medical professional for heart failure exacerbation which he attributes to standing in the border line). When one of our group members contacted Alfonso, the owner or manager, he told us that driver stated that “we asked him to drop us off” which is grossly false. We never once asked the driver to drop us off. As history has proven, this company is incredibly unprofessional and cares less about the safety and satisfaction of their customers and more about how they can make as much money as possible. I would like to share that I have already reached out to Alfonso and informed him of our situation. He admitted fault to each of the points that I made and therefore, cannot state that my statements are false, like he has done with other customers who about their negative experiences. They have no interest in rectifying the situation. They are comprised of liars and thieves. Will definitely be submitting a complaint to DOT and recommend others that have had similar situations do the same (Can find information on the federal motor carrier safety administration website).

Negative experience: Shady business practices. I purchased Grand Baja Tour with $50 in snacks as well. The only way to cancel trip is to purchase insurance for additional $60. After doing all that decided not to take trip was able to get refund for Tour but they said snacks were not covered under the insurance. I would avoid this company like the plague.

Fantastic experience: We had a great time with Alfonso doing a private wine tasting tour in Temecula. He arrived on time and provided water and snacks for the drive, then took us to several wineries and let us set the pace. He was very personable and choose places we had not been to before, as well as very knowledgeable about the area and wine. He set up two private tours for us, which were really cool, and we had a great lunch that was included in the cost. I would highly recommend using Five Star Tours.

Fantastic experience: Reliable, hard-working and efficient. I’ve known Al for a long time and can say he always puts business first. I’d recommend Five Star Tours and Charter Company to friends and family any day.

Fantastic experience: Alfonzo took us to the coolest of all wineries in the Temecula Valley! We had so much fun and had some lovely and tasty wines! Sun h great behind the scenes opportunities too! Highly reccomend the service! He even got us some cokes for the ride to the valley! He went above and beyond! This your service does it right!

Fantastic experience: Very reliable and professional service. I would highly recommend. Make sure to book in advance.

Negative experience: Beware of 5 Star Tours. Horrifying experience. Would give zero stars if I could. The drive INTO Mexico was easy and comfortable. We got to the destination with no problems. Easy stress-free safe entry. The return was a disaster! I assumed the return trip would be like the arrival, but, boy was I wrong. 1 block from the San Ysidro boarder crossing the driver wakes our party of 30 up to inform us we have to unload everything and wait in line to cross. This is in the middle of busy traffic and the chaos of one of the busiest border crossings in the world. This was unexpected, unprofessional, inconsiderate and frankly dangerous. We were left unguided, unprepared and exposed in our group that included infants, elderly and disabled with dozen of bags, strollers, car seats, etc. we had to abandon several items simply because we couldn’t manage everything to get across. We queued for 4 hours in the sun, no water, no bathroom in a dirty, foul and well-documented crime zone (Google the Tiajuana Monsters border murders). With a little forethought and preparation the tour company could have advised us of this potential situation so we could have researched alternate crossing methods to ensure safe and comfortable crossing for our party. Their poor decisions caused significant and unnecessary distress both physical and psychological, to our party, including one who was hospitalized the following day. The company took no ownership of their failure to serve us, no apologies, no remedies and frankly I’m still considering legal action considering their breech of contract and callous response.

Negative experience: The owner is not taking any responsibility or apologizing. He is just saying this is the wrong company, when it absolutely is the company we spent thousands on to take us to and from Mexico safely.

Negative experience: EDIT: Yes this is the right company and yes this review is true to the experience we had despite what the owner may claim. Absolutely horrible, unsafe service. We booked these guys for a wedding to Ensenada there and back. On the way back we were dropped off at the TJ border to cross on foot, with the driver telling us we could not cross by charter despite seeing multiple charters full of people crossing the border with ease! Once we contacted the company (and the driver already having left) we were informed the drivers shift was over so he did not want to drive us over. We were left as a group of 20 including 10 kids at the TJ border on foot and had to wait 4 hours to cross before having another driver get us on the other side. No money was refunded, the service was incredibly dishonest as we had paid for a safe crossing for our family over the border. Do not use this service unless you don’t value the safety of your family!

Negative experience: I was part of a group of over 20 guests who originally booked a 49-passenger bus, paying extra for the luxury, safety, and convenience that your company promised. Unfortunately, our experience, especially on the return trip, was far from what we expected. Our trip started with a pickup at one of San Diego's airport parking lots, accommodating 26 guests. The driver communicated clearly about everything we needed to know when crossing from San Diego into Mexico. He was excellent—unfortunately, I didn't catch his name. However, the return journey from Mexico was a completely different story. We were dropped off a full city block away from the border, and the driver informed us that we had to take all our belongings with us. Keep in mind, this included 10-15 adults, 10 children, car seats, bundles of water, snacks, luggage, and everything else needed for an entire family vacation. We paid for safety and convenience, but that was not what we received. The driver’s shift had ended, so he dropped us off and left. If the company knew this in advance, you should have had a backup bus ready at the drop-off point, arranged for a driver switch, or provided a driver with a full shift to complete the job. We had to abandon our paid-for water and somehow managed to haul the kids and luggage to the border, where we waited 3.5 hours in line to get through customs. On the bus, we had access to snacks and a restroom, but waiting in line with little to no food, hungry and tired children, and the need to pay for restrooms was an unacceptable situation, especially given the premium we paid for your service. After finally getting through customs, we had to walk another 2.5 city blocks to reach the waiting bus. Our final stop was only 20-30 minutes away, but the inconvenience and lack of communication from Five Star Tours made the entire experience incredibly frustrating. I cannot recommend your company for any tours or travel, and based on what I've seen on Google reviews, many other customers feel the same way. To Five Star Tours: You need to do better. Instead of ignoring customer feedback, start reading, listening, and learning from these mistakes. Show future customers that you’ve improved and are committed to delivering the service you promise.

Fantastic experience: Alfonso was great! Dropped off and picked up and was a great host. We will be using this shuttle service again!

Fantastic experience: Five Star was so helpful in meeting our needs and Al, our driver, was wonderful. Transportation from door to door with no hassle at the border was exactly what we were looking for so we are booked again! Five Stars for Five Star Tours and Charter!

Fantastic experience: I recently use Five Star Tours & Charter Bus Company for a private group tour to Valle de Guadalupe and I couldn’t be more satisfied. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and accommodating. I highly recommend using them for your future tours!

Fantastic experience: We had a wonderful time for our very first wine tour in Baja. Alfonso was an excellent tour guide and driver, he was able to pick us up from our hotel and took us to three amazing wineries in Valle de Guadalupe. My mom, brother and I had a spectacular trip and a very delicious lunch at Esperanza. Well worth the money, looking forward to doing it again in the future. Thank you so much Alfonso and Five Star Tours :)

Fantastic experience: Our tour guide/driver Alfonso was amazing! His knowledge of the wine Valle de Guadalupe was extensive. We felt confident and safe the entire time crossing the board and traveling to 4 different wonderful wineries. He listened to our wine knowledge and changed the tour to show us the best of Valle! Best Tuesday!

Fantastic experience: Five Star Tours and Charter Company provided an amazing experience for me and my friends. We were new to Baja, so it was nice knowing a trusted source, new places to go and see, and the experience was one of a kind. Alfonso was great with communication from the beginning. Gave us options and told us what he recommended. they picked us up at the hotel in Baja and dropped us off back at the hotel after the tour was done. Excellent way to explore and drink up without driving. Being able to explore the wineries and drink, and not have to worry about driving, Gives the security that you are cared of, cared for, and Safe, which is a big deal for those who don’t know anything in Baja. Definitely recommend, worth every penny . Thank you for Giving my friends and I an amazing tour.

Fantastic experience: Un súper tur increíble

Fantastic experience: "¡Increíble experiencia con Five Star Tours en el tour a Valle de Guadalupe! Desde la selección de viñedos hasta la degustación de vinos, todo fue excepcional. Los guías fueron amables y conocedores, y nos brindaron una experiencia inolvidable. ¡Recomiendo este tour y paseo con Alfonso para descubrir lo mejor de Valle de Guadalupe! ¡Cinco estrellas!"

Fantastic experience: I recently used Five Star Tours for a group outing in San Diego and I couldn't be happier with their service. From booking to drop-off, everything was seamless. The bus was clean, comfortable, and on time. The driver was friendly and professional, ensuring a smooth ride for everyone. I highly recommend Five Star Bus Charter for anyone looking for reliable transportation in San Diego. Thank you Al for the quick response time for the quote and booking!

Fantastic experience: Altamente recomendados, contratamos un tour para mi y mi familia, nos llevaron a los lugares que solicitamos y también nos sugirieron otros lugares increíbles, son bastante accesibles en en temas de horarios y traslados, muy buena comunicación y excelente charla. Sin duda alguna tu mejor opción para tour

Fantastic experience: Best service in town.

Fantastic experience: For my first time in San Diego, I contacted Five Star Tours for a city tour and It was worth it. Highly recommended, clean transportation, safe drivers, passionate and responsible guide (Alfonso) made my tour a wonderful experience :)

Fantastic experience: We had Alfonso take us on the private 4 person wine tour to Baja Mexico. Although he was a little late in the AM, he made up the time and got us to wine country safely. He was a great tour guide—attentive to us, got a special pass for us to cross back over quickly and let us play whatever music we wanted. The vineyards were simply stunning and the lunch was a 5-star experience. I cannot recommend this tour enough! My friends and I want to stay in that area for our next trip.

Negative experience: Failed to perform per contract. I booked a 56 people private bus to tour breweries for my husband big birthday. All was confirmed a month in advance, in writing. I had used this company before and it was a great experience so no reason to be doubtful from the get go. The day before the party I receive a text reminding me of my booking. The day of the party I do again. All those reminders were welcome and made me feel safe with my purchase. I decided to call the day of just to double check. Nobody picked up but I wasn’t worried due to multiple confirmations. Rolls in the time, the bus never showed. Called multiple times, left messages the day of the debacle and afterwards. I still don’t know what happened, nobody had the decency to call me back. I actually looked up to see if they folded or if their building burnt down… nothing. In the end we had a good time and I saved myself a couple grands by not having this service so not complaining but my husband and guests were disappointed. Will not recommend and tell everyone I know about this.

Fantastic experience: Highly recommend Five Star Tours! They were on time, helped with the scheduling, and very clean and professional. Top notch bus charter for sure! Thank you Alfonso for a great experience!!!

Negative experience: Five Star Tours at the Santa Fe Depot are unreliable. They are often not there when they are supposed to be. They cancel tours frequently. If you call, it's always a recording. They advertise that they store luggage but no one is there to take it.

Negative experience: Booked the tour & had confirmation. Showed up, no one was at the office. Called & texted the company & got no response, even after sending confirmation.

Negative experience: Consumer BEWARE!!! This place is a SCAM I wanted to give this place the benefit of the doubt (even after reading all those bad reviews), but unfortunately, everyone else was right. This place has the absolute worst customer service I have ever encountered. The woman that helped me on the phone was rude, disrespectful, and flat out hostile. I booked the Valle de Guadalupe Winery Tour that was scheduled to go out 08/27/2022. However, due to the current violent outbreaks in Baja, we no longer felt safe to participate in this tour. I emailed multiple times and received no response. By the fifth day, I finally got a call from a woman, who claimed to be a supervisor with Five Star Tours, who explained to me that after no circumstance I was going to get a refund for my booking. I tried to politely explain the circumstance and she just kept getting louder and louder and told me she didn't want to argue with me and that I wasn't going to get a refund. PERIOD. I even told her that the State Department had issued a travel warning for U.S. Citizens for Baja. The best she said she could do was give me a 6 month credit or swap the tour for a Temecula tour...Now...the whole reason for me booking the valle de guadalupe tour was because I have never gone down there and thought the safest way to do so would be via a tour...and then with all these violent outbreaks in Tijuana and Rosarito, we no longer feel like risking our lives to go to the winery. As far as for Temecula, I can drive myself there and have been there multiple times, so her offer was just unacceptable. I never accepted the 6-month credit or the swap for Temecula. I was very clear when I told her I only wanted the refund. Given that woman's hostile attitude and the fact that Five Star Tours won't reimburse me, I'm going to report them to the Better Business Bureau. Please stay away from this company, it seems very fraudulent. I'm just sorry I didn't believe all the negative reviews on here! I wish I could give this place 0 stars. I don't ever write reviews, but this situation with this tour company needs to be known. **Update as of 08/25/2022** Five Star Tours are also unresponsive with the Better Business Bureau. **Update as of 08/31/2022** Five Star Tours is unresponsive. **Filed a complaint with Consumer Complaint Against a Business with the Attorney General.

Negative experience: I booked their San Diego City Tour a week ago I emailed them about the pick up time, they didn’t reply me at all. On the day before the tour, they sent me again the confirmation email, which is a automatically system email. I went to the pick up location on the scheduled day earlier, no one was there. I called several times, a lady picked up the phone. I said that there was on one here for the tour. they took a while to figure out the situation. It turned out because I am the only one who sign up that day, therefore the tour got cancelled. But no one informed me, i had to call them by myself and my schedule got cancelled in the last minute. They only give me full refund without any compensation.

Negative experience: HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE! Please stay away from this company. The owner is very unprofessional and rude. His office is always closed even when his hours are posted on yelp as open. I called and left a voicemail after waiting over an hour at his Santa Fe Depot office. He said, we changed our hours, not even a sorry. There is only one phone number available and when you try to talk to a live person the phone just rings. Talked to the gentlemen in the information booth, ask him for an alternate number, he even said that the office is barely open and they only show up right before a scheduled tour. Please, please stay away from this company. The owner insulted me and cussed me out on the phone and even threatened to not give me my tickets for an event I had paid over a month ago. I was ready to the call the police and report this as fraud. After I left his office, an older couple was having similar issues as me, (bad customer service), the owner also was being rude and unprofessional. I believe the owner might be bipolar or something. Hope this was helpful, and again please stay away to avoid upsets, disappointments and frustration.

Negative experience: I booked a shuttle from San Diego to LAX and got the confirmation. 5 Days before the scheduled pick up they increased their price by 20% Stay away from them. Not reliable business

Negative experience: Do not use this service. We waited one hour at San Diego airport and our scheduled driver never showed up. We called only to get a voice message saying text us. After 1 hour wait and 4 text messages and 2 emails, someone finally texted us to say they couldn't pick us up and would notify Expedia to refund our money. Worse customer service ever. BEWARE.

Negative experience: UPDATE: Response from Five Star is just as unprofessional as expected (Wrong company! We looked for your name and your not in our manifests). Attached is my confirmation and cancellation email from Five Star Tours & Charter Bus Company....are there 2 different companies in San Diego under the exact same name? I clicked on the direct link from my confirmation email which took me to a website matching your exact name and address. But of course If the manifest logs were accurate to begin with maybe they would have shown up for our tour. I have the confirmations and cancellations, if you're positive that a different San Diego based company named Five Star Tours & Charter Bus Company is at fault please feel free to provide a contact email and I will forward you the confirmation email I received to confirm. I'm happy to remove my review if you are in fact a different company with the exact same name, location and google business account. Five Star Tours should actually be Zero Star Tours. My group of 4 traveled from Texas so that my friend could enjoy a Cali wine tour for her birthday. Having paid and received confirmation notices no one showed up for our tour. We each had booked separately so it wasn't as if they simply misplaced one client; they completely proved themselves to be fully incompetent. This tour was the reason for our trip which required significant airfare and lodging expense. Having been dressed and waiting for over 30 minutes at the train station, the representative we had contacted, emailed us a cancellation notice. If anyone would ever book with this company after all of the negative reviews they probably deserve to have their trip ruined. This constitutes the worst review that I have the words to describe! If you DO book, good luck.

Fantastic experience: We hired Five Star Tours for group transportation to and from a private event in San Diego, CA. I was skeptical about booking through any of the large bus transportation companies; however everything with Five Star Tours went smoothly. They returned a quote quickly. Understood our needs, were competitive in pricing, and followed through with great service from the bus drivers. The only complaint, one of the six busses didn’t have working AC. I would work with Five Star Tours again for group transportation. (February 2020)

Fantastic experience: I am a senior citizen -was traveling alone - and had a free day in San Diego before meeting up with friends. We traveled in a van and the guide was extremely informative and fun. It was a perfect day.

Fantastic experience: There are not enough words in the English language to express how positively I feel about the staff – particularly, Juan - and my experiences with Five Star Tours. March 2, 2020 was my second time traveling with Juan to beautiful Baja, California via Tijuana. Two other guests were also on the tour. With the approximate ten hours of the four of us spending time together, it felt like we were family. Juan was so passionate and knowledgeable as far as all things Mexico, Tijuana, Baja and the surrounding areas. It felt like we were given a history lesson about the country and its rich culture. In addition to that was his kindness, his beautiful spirit and his willingness to go the extra mile to ensure that we all had the best experiences possible. I will forever be indebted to him for contributing to my best birthday ever. I look forward to my next Five Star tour. #fivestartours #bajacalifornia #rosaritabeach #traveler #tijuana #vivamexico Janice G. Washington

Positive experience: Had a very nice trip to Temecula wine region with 5 star company. Don't give it 5 stars only because during the booking online they didn't mention the tips to bartenders and the driver were not included in the price of the tour. They only gave this info after I booked the tour, so the price was actually higher that advertised. Overall the tour was very good, on time, informative, excellent lunch in the restaurant at one of the wineries, even though there were just the 2 of us, the tour took place as scheduled, so it was basically a private tour. At the last winery the Calloway we were given a detailed tour of their facilities. Would definitely recommend taking this tour to anybody interested in exotic wines testing. The wines of Temecula are available only by mail or locally.

Fantastic experience: We I learned so much about the city, we have been coming here for years and there were so many things we never knew, or things that we never even saw. We will definitely do this again, and better yet come back to San Diego enjoy all the places that Ana or “Anna” showed us! She was a great tour guide, and spoke very slowly and clearly so we understood every place that we were going to how much she was very patient with us and would definitely recommend anybody go on a tour with her again.

Fantastic experience: We took a San Diego City Tour during a recent visit. We were amazed by how much we saw. The tour gave us a number of stops that permitted some time to wander around a little. We stopped at Hotel Coronado and saw the beach, saw the seals in La Jolla, and bought handmade tacos in Old Town. We had a wonderful driver and guide, Ana, who was very knowledgeable about the local history. It was a clean sprinter, a safe driver, and a comprehensive tour of a beautiful city. Highly recommend.

Fantastic experience: Ana was great. Got to see the city in 4 hours. Great spots.

Negative experience: I’ve bought 4 tickets for a pizza and brewery tour in San Diego for two different couples for Christmas. When the first set of couples called, the company said they did not have their names down for the date I had reserved the tickets for and offered to reschedule. The couple said that was fine. The lady at the company insisted that they email her instead of rescheduling over the phone. So they did and they’ve left tons of voicemails and no one has gotten back to them about a rescheduled date. The second couple called for a week before their reservation to confirm and no one answered the phone. Needless to say, neither couple was able to go on their tours and the company is refusing to refund me my money I paid for the tickets.

Negative experience: I had booked baja California. The evening before I received a reminder of the tour. After I paid lyft and got up early, I found out it was cancelled.

Negative experience: There was nothing grand about the Grand Baja Tour. Here are some of the letdowns: 1. It was advertised as a 10-hour Mexico tour. We were picked up at 9:00 a.m. Dropped off slightly past 4:00 p.m. Only 7 hours. 2. Our second stop was the very rundown Rosarito Beach Hotel. We were left there by ourselves for 1.5 hours. There was absolutely nothing to do there. I can understand if it was the last stop, as in the itinerary, since people tend to get tired toward the end of a tour. But the second stop? For 1.5 hours to do nothing? It was complete pointless and a waste of time. 3. It was advertised as a cultural sightseeing tour with stops at the Cultural Center, the Tijuana Bullring, the Tijuana Zoo, the Tijuana Tower and shopping along Avenida Revolucion. No, we DID NOT stop at the Cultural Center, the Tijuana Bullring, the Tijuana Zoo, or the Tijuana Tower. We DID NOT shop along the Avenida Revolucion. We drove by these places in a crowded and stuffy van. Our feet never touched the ground of Tijuana, but the driver told us, "Now you can tell your friends you've been there!" The Grand Baja Tour is a grand rip-off and a huge disappointment. I want a refund.

Negative experience: Booked a tour of 7, from 9AM on Saturday January 4th- received a text message at 8AM that notified me that the tour was cancelled. We are all from out of town. So, not only did we woke up early, paid $50 for parking and got cancelled without a reason; I called them and no one picked up!!! Terrible service.

Negative experience: Do NOT book through this company! They are a SCAM!! We paid for a $450 / person 3 day New Years Even trip to Baja California. This included a tour of Tijuana, Rosarito Beach and Puerto Nuevo. Overnight stays at Rosarito Beach Hotel. A 5 hour vineyard tour with wine tastings and lunch and New Years Eve dinner and party and then finally a return back to San Diego at noon on the 1st. In total, there were about 15 people on the trip - 4 in my party alone. Our hotel was changed last minute and the hotel we ended up at was at best, a $25 a night roach motel. It was DISGUSTING. Had no ventilation of any sort - so no heat or AC. It was suuper run down and just scary. The sheets, mattresses and carpet were stained. The bathroom was falling apart - the paint was bubbling up everywhere and peeling. My parents who were 3 doors down from us had their entire bathroom flood every time they showered. The light fixture was cracked in half. We tried to contact Alfonso (the owner of the company and who we booked through) and of course - had no response. A group of us ended up just booking our own accommodations at different hotels out of our own pocket. Our wine tour was cut by almost 2.5 hrs. We were told everyone and everything was to blame besides themselves. NYE crowds (there were none), 3rd world country organizational issues, Vineyard issues. Point is, we had very rushed and not great wine tastings. This was supposed to include lunch and more wine. Instead we got breakfast - without the option to pick what we wanted. The few people who had dietary restrictions were given a bowl of fruit. At this point everyone started to voice their frustration about the whole situation. Our "tour guide" Lupita informed us that she was actually NOT a tour guide, she is a good friend of Alfonso and would be telling him our frustrations. I'm not sure what she told him because to end this nightmare of a trip, the entire group was abandoned in Mexico. They never showed up to pick us up! We had to hire a private van (more money out of our pockets) to get us to the border where we then had to walk across! If you plan on booking through this company, please do your research and find an alternative tour company. This company is a joke and a dangerous scam!!

Negative experience: I’ve been trying to reschedule my tour to another date for a week now and no one is answering the phone lines

Negative experience: We got RIPPED OFF for Christmas IT WAS A JOKE - we took a San Diego Holiday Lights Tour for 2 hours for $73.56 - we were supposed to have some wine and cheese and we had a pack of mini cupcakes to share. We thought we were going to upscale neighborhoods, but instead we went to 2 neighborhoods that were maybe a football field long that were decorated like something out of the movie Vacation...a cluster of blow up characters and lights. Actually seeing the 2 neighborhoods took 10-15 minutes each, the rest of the 2.5 hours was driving to pick up others for the group at another location and getting to the neighborhoods! What a DISAPPOINTMENT!!!!

Fantastic experience: We had a great trip in a Mercedes Sprinter Van with a group of 8 people from Oceanside, CA to Rosarito & back, over a long weekend. On the way home from Oceanside we also had several hours of car service in Mexico before returning home. Ana was the best driver!! She is so kind and funny - we really enjoyed her and gave her a hug after she dropped us off at home :) The owner of Five Star Tours was incredibly accommodating to us - even last minute changes as there was a ton of rain on the day we were returning. I was happy to get a hold of him and he made everything right for us! Thank you for making this joint birthday/vacation awesome for us and our friends! Like

Negative experience: Be careful! Don't trust the tour guide. Marco took us to the tequila shop, he said his friend (the owner) "is a good guy, i trust him". I bought a bottle of tequila and when I got home and inspect the packaging in FAKE! So please don't drink anything, Counterfeit alcohol can be dangerous and deadly, as it in Mexico there is nothing US govt can do. I was very happy with the whole trip, even though we stay in van most of the time and we didn't get taco workshop. Mostly they make us shop. Just be careful. Your health is very important! Also they don't use visa to get in to Mexico! And there is no cell coverage. So let someone know prior to taking the trip, that you're in Mexico. IF you decided to take your trip. God bless you!

Fantastic experience: Really really enjoyed the San Diego City Tour. Our tour guide, Anna, was very friendly and full of cool facts and information about San Diego. She got us in time to see the sunset in La Jolla. It was gorgeous!

Negative experience: Wow. All around bad. I don’t write reviews, not even after bad experiences, but this is a different level of bad experience. Bus broke down and the driver blamed the aux cord. Don’t expect to listen to music if you book this company. They sent a smaller bus than we PAID for, didn’t fit everyone and 2 people had to end up driving. To Mexico. BTW, they refused to refund the price difference, even though their contract says “equal or greater value”...not lesser value...never again. Hope this helps you book someone reliable!!

Negative experience: Five stars?? More like 1/2 a star. If I could leave less than one star I would. Rented a sprinter van for my best friends wedding. Where to start... Problem #1 - Morning of the reservation, they call us and let us know they only have an 11 person van when we reserved a 13 person. We said fine because we simply had no other option. Problem #2 - they showed up about 45 mins late. Problem # 3 - the van ends up breaking down about 4 minutes down the road where we have to wait an additional 45 minutes to get a replacement van. (Totally not the drivers fault) Problems #4 & 5 - I call the day I get back to try and reconcile the additional cost of the 13 person van since we only got the 11. I didn’t even ask for anything off of the trip aside from that as I’m aware the breakdown was not their fault. They said they would call me back and just simply never did. The following day I call them back and the woman states they’ll call me back..again never did. Called back one final time to figure out what was going on. The woman explained that no refund would be issued which I find a little insane. Needless to say, I will never use this service again and I would not recommend this service to my worst enemy.

Negative experience: These people are scammers. They gave us an online price a month ago. We tried reaching out multiple times. They never responded. Then 2 days before my wedding they decide to tell us the online price was wrong and it’s going to cost more. I called them to discuss the matter and they were hands down the rudest customer service rep I’ve ever dealt with. If you want to rent a bus in San Diego go to Epic limos. They picked up the slack from this awful company. Thanks for nothing 5star tours. Your name is far from what you are. You literally shouldn’t be in business.

Fantastic experience: My wife and I took the Grand Baja Tour on Saturday October 5. It was a great trip. We started out at the Santa Fe station and we left right on time. Headed down to Rosarito the apuesto Nuevo and back to Tijuana. Ana was our guide and she was awesome. Even took care of the concrete lizard my wife bought. Excellent service.

Fantastic experience: We hired a 12 seater coach to take a group of friends from San Diego to Rosarito for a wedding. Prior to booking, we had at least 4-5 changes in the number of passengers/size of bus required and each time I had an updated quote within a couple of hours at the most. The booking process was really easy: they send a link, you click to confirm and add your payment details and then your transport is confirmed. They arrived bang on time to the pick up point in San Diego (a private address), loaded everyone up and then they were on their way. Border crossing was simple; the coach was stopped and x-rayed but no issues and arrived in Rosarito promptly. I know they have some negative reviews for some of the excursions etc but I honestly couldn't fault them for the coach hire side of things - we're already talking about doing another trip next year and I'll 100% use Five Star Tours for the coach hire if we do.

Fantastic experience: Ray led the Pizza and Brewery Tour. We had an amazing time. We stopped at Ballast Point Brewery, Bolt Brewery, and Landini's pizzeria. All were fantastic. I would definitely recommend this tour. Make sure you ask for Ray. He was amazing

Negative experience: We did the grand Baja day trip . What wrecked the trip was Juan the driver constantly reading and replying to texts while driving. Very scary veering from one side of the road to the other and hitting the brakes because he wasn’t watching the road . Not cool with a bus load of passengers!!!!!! A disaster waiting to happen

Fantastic experience: My mom and I had the chance to have Atala as our driver and tour guide. She was the nicest and her boss needs to know! :P She gave us all the best information about the different areas of San Diego! For a 4 hours tour, the San Diego city tour, we were able to see amazing places! My mom is still talking about it! Totally worth it! The lady at the front desk was also very nice and helpful!

Fantastic experience: Best tour guide there is !! Ray is awesome this was our favorite day in San Diego!!

Fantastic experience: Wir haben die Baja Mexico Tour gebucht und sind begeistert. Der Tourguide Juan war sehr freundlich und wusste so viel über Mexico. Wir haben an wundervollen Orten gehalten und tolle Sachen gesehen. Juan ist ein toller Reiseleiter und top Busfahrer.

Negative experience: I rarely write reviews but our experience with Five Star was so awful and unprofessional that I had to share so others can avoid this company. Don’t book through this company if you want to have a peace of mind on your vacation. We were supposed to have a 9a tour. I received a call from the company the night before that our tour was cancelled. After a long discussion, I was able to reschedule to the 2p tour that day. We had to reschedule our whole first day of vacation to accommodate the tour. On the day of the scheduled tour, we received a call that someone was en route to pick us up in 20 minutes. Literally one minute before the tour was supposed to start we received a call from someone else from the company that our tour was cancelled for unforeseen reasons. The company showed no remorse. It took me three additional days to get a hold of someone to request a refund. I was told that I would only get a partial refund. Senior management did not show any sympathy for their mistake and failed to show basic customer service and said they would only give me a partial refund. I was flabbergasted. After talking with The Grand Hyatt concierge, he echoed that they’ve had several other guests who have had a similar experience with Five Stars. Please read the other bad reviews and notice how 5 Star Tours inappropriately respond to them. That's the same experience and customer service you will get if you use this company.

Negative experience: If I could give zero stars, I would. I booked a last minute trip to big bear with five stars tours in march, I called to see if I could change the date and was unable to. I never mentioned cancelling, the after hours customer service never mentioned cancelling. I show up in the morning to catch my bus and it never shows up. So it's now almost July and I'm still trying to get my money back for services that were never rendered. Also, every time I call them, they hang up on me or tell me a manager will be in touch later. I cant reach them via email either. Basically they took my money, didn't pick me up and are telling me to pound sand. Worst. Company. Ever.

Negative experience: The web site made it look like we would have a tour bus but it was a filthy passenger van with a missing back row. The driver / guide was hard to hear and not very knowledgeable. After our stop at Balboa Park the driver lost the van keys and abruptly ended the tour, leaving us stranded. Fortunately San Diego is a big city with plenty of transportation but for the driver to tell us to take Uber at our own expense was very unprofessional. I was credited for the tickets but the return transportation was at my expense. I had a boat tour scheduled after the bus tour and couldn't make it In time and I was not compensated for this. Stay away from this company.

Negative experience: READ THIS REVIEW AND EVERY ONE BEFORE THIS.. Don’t not EVER book a tour through this absolute rubbish of a company! I can’t believe that they are still in business. They demand you reconfirm with them 48 hours before the tour departs but cancel with only 30 minutes notice ( looking at other reviews, this seems to be normal for this company). Don’t waste your time, money or effort on these idiots!!

Fantastic experience: Great company , friendly, great service. Busses arrive on time . Great service in the office.

Negative experience: Canceled on me the day before our charter. Totally unprofessional and worst bus company I ever worked with. If I could give zero stars I would have.

Negative experience: Walked in to get a booking and the person running the front kicked out the people in front of me because they wouldn't give them a refund on a canceled tour from a month earlier... I don't write reviews but this was the saddest service I've ever seen and I do not recommend it.

Negative experience: They canceled our trip the last minut, so the star is for the sweet lady who helped us, plan our own trip to Mexico Tijuana

Negative experience: I booked the Baja Tour from the five star tours. They decided to cancel my trip 5 minutes after departure time. They did give me the refund at least, but with no warning or explanation they cancelled my trip. The one star goes only to the lady in the reception who tried to be helpful but the company sucks big time!!!

Negative experience: Horrible company. Wife had to sit in my lap for the trip because they overbooked and would not provide full refund. Originally suggested the lap situation would be short, but after we left, it was then “for the entire trip.” Suggestion was also to have kids in the back cargo area with out restraints.

Negative experience: This is easily the worst company that I have dealt with anywhere. We had vouchers for the beer and pizza walking tour from Groupon and they refused to honor them. They insisted that we had to pay them additional money to take the tour and after we finally agreed to pay it, when we showed up for our scheduled and confirmed tour, they had no tour guide available and no tour for us. We took time off work to do this and got nothing in return for our money and effort. Do not buy vouchers for this business from Groupon because they will not be honored. Believe all the previous one star reviews. This company is a scam. I see the owner's reply that they didn't have the tour because of rain. Easy to see who is lying here. There was no rain in San Diego on Friday March 8 during the tour time at11:30 a.m. Easy to check weather records.

Fantastic experience: excelente experiencia con la compañía, dos viajes con ellos, uno a legoland y otro a six flags, fue tan grato el trato que ya estamos planeando otra salida! Muy recomendados :)

Fantastic experience: As an Event Planner, I have use Five Star Tours for my clients personal and corporate events with great success. The Baja Wine Tour is the most requested by my clients. I'll keep using Five Star Tours and Charter for all my clients events transportation needs.

Fantastic experience: Great experience and great service!

Negative experience: UPDATE: As you see from their response, more effort was put into the reply to my 1 star review than was actually offered at the time of cancellation. ORIGINAL REVIEW: Very poor customer service throughout the experience. 1. You must call 2 days before the tour to confirm your attendance. When I called, over the space of 7 minutes, I was put on hold and passed through 3 different operators, before someone finally confirmed my tour details and pick-up location. 2. Two hours after my confirmation I received an email to tell me I would no longer be collected from my hotel, as agreed, and that I would need to make my own way to the tour office. Never mind that I'd already made plans with friends for breakfast... 3. Less than an hour before the tour I was emailed a cancellation notice that the tour would no longer go ahead as planned. Never mind that I'd already checked out of my hotel and it was too late to arrange with another tour guide. When I called up, after dealing with the operator's sassy interruptions... I was offered to reschedule or accept a refund. With no room in my schedule, I accepted the refund. 4. Two weeks later and I am still waiting for a refund. No one is answering emails either...

Fantastic experience: Booked the 4 hour city tour on a whim. Great overview of the city and excellent guide (Ana). All staff I communicated with were friendly and helpful!

Fantastic experience: I went on a shuttle from San Diego to Ensenada and everything went good. On time service and clean vehicles. The only way to travel in and out of Mexico.

Fantastic experience: I booked a charter bus for my brothers wedding and everything went prefect. The sales team did their best to accommodate my request. I was very please with the bus and the driver. I would highly recommend them for charter services.

Negative experience: If I could give them 0 stars I would. Their customer service is awful. I gifted tickets to someone and they said they were cancelled due a double booking, however, I only received one set of tickets. I called the number provided, and from the first person answering the phone, their tone makes it perfectly clear that you are bothering them. The man I spoke to last was the rudest customer service rep I've ever spoken to. I will NOT EVER RECOMMEND this guide company for any of our travelers. The way they talk to customers is ridiculous.

Negative experience: This company is a SCAM! Do not ever book a tour or even do business with this company ever! They sold us a Universal Studio tour and did not show up and never even want to answer any phone call, text nor email! They have charged us $207.56 each person for the tour to Universal Studio and did not show up at all. SCAM! SCAM! SCAM! #fivestartours

Fantastic experience: Five Star Tours provides great services at good prices. I have used them for both business and personal trips with great satisfaction. Feel confident booking with them!

Fantastic experience: Amazing Customer Service/Experience. Definitely recommend them! I will continue to use them for all our upcoming activities. Thank u Five Star Tours.

Negative experience: SCAMMERS!!!!! Be very careful booking with FIVE STAR TOUR & CHARTER BUS!!!! bad Horrible experience I’ve ever had. Im just lucky that I made it back home ok after They left us stranded in Vegas on New Years Day 4am 2019 without our luggage. They aren't there the hours they posted the were an hour late. The bus was more like 0 stars. They’re just using the name of five stars but BOTH of the buses ended up BREAKING DOWN! Luckily we barely made to Vegas and as soon as we arrived they left us on our own with no guide at all and on our way back they Left us stranded with nobody to talk to cause nobody answered our calls the tour guy and the driver ended up disappearing on us living us stranded. We ended up on our own and paying our way back to San Diego cause they couldn’t get another bus to picked us up. I’m in disbelief at the customer service I experienced with Five Star Tours & Charter Bus I always wanted to go to Vegas on New Year’s Eve I was super exited and It was ruined by their lack of professionalism I promised to myself I’ll not keep it in quite and I’ll do everything to Close this place. I do not want this horrible experience to happen to anyone else. “ Five Star Tour “They shouldn’t be operating at all it is not safe at all.

Fantastic experience: Ray is your guy for sure! His walking brewery tour included it all. Beer. History. Games. Trivia. I've never done one of these before but this was really fun and not that much of a walk! We had the longest walk from the start until Ballast point but that was great. Ballast point was the real reason we came here. It was perfect. We felt like VIPs with the tour and Ray picked us after we finished. The timing was really well done and they included food midday which was nice to break up the tour. The pizza was incredible and we played games while eating. Ray brought some interesting brews to have while we ate. Finally finished up at Bolt and had a flight and some bar games. The good thing about they way they plan this is you'll end in a part of town where you can grab food or dessert before calling it a night. You'll become best buds with your group as we did since you spend 4-5 hours drinking with them.

Negative experience: Ripoff. I am sitting in front of their office with my children waiting to be picked up for our prepaid trip to Disneyland. They where supposed to be here 45 minutes ago ! Last night their General manager emailed me twice confirming this trip. This morning no response to emails, phone calls or texts. I paid twice normal price for tickets to only watch my children crying because they were not going to be able to go to Disneyland because of this company. Text and email records available for anyone to view. TG

Fantastic experience: Took the morning tour for San Diego day tour. Small group and great knowledgable guide. Driver is the guide and we have a group of 11 people. Went to many places and guide is passionate about the city and his job. Wishing to stay at places longer but sure is a great introduction of the city. Seeing the sea lions and seals sure is the highlight of the tour. Highly recommend and really don't have to shop around. They located inside the sante fe and is super easy to find. Love the tour and the van is super clean as well.

Negative experience: SCAMERS. WARNING! Please be aware these people are liars and thieves. I bought tickets online for a bull fight in Mexico. I was told that the tickets would be waiting at the office at the train station. I arrived in San Diego and went straight to the office. They did not have my tickets. I was told they would be waiting for me at the event. That was a lie. There was no one at the event. The owner is rude and unprofessional. The bus station is a appropriate place for this “business” because that’s where all the drug addicts and bums hang out.

Fantastic experience: I took the 5 hour Tijuana tour on 10/28/18 and it was simply amazing! The tour guide spoke excellent English and Spanish and knew so much about the city! There was never a down moment, he could tell us the history on things, showed us things that no one has ever thought of and got us very up close to the Mexican culture. He knew the area inside and out and it was a very comfortable safe feeling experience, and the border crossings a breeze. If you ever get the opportunity, I highly recommend going!

Fantastic experience: Tichuana Tour : Just a day before we booked a tour to Tichuana from San Diego. And everything was perfect. Tour Guide Juan was great, very helpful and kind. Juan thanks a lot ! We were a small group and all tour was funny and interesting. Juan showed us very interesting places. Tichuana is crazy and amazing. I recommend.

Fantastic experience: I did the Baja California tour with Marco, the tour was great, we visit many places, eat Mexican food and bought very chip souvenirs, Marco was very nice, he was telling us alot about the mexican history and culture while we was on the road, thabk you!

Negative experience: I didnt die so that got them a star but the fact that the driver bragged about bribing police officers, texted and drove the entire trip, turned the tour van; which was a shuttle from SeaWorld, over to some man with guests belongings in it, visiting a random tire shop on the side of the highway, and then waiting for our driver to return from crossing the border after sitting outside the immigration gate for over 60 min....my ptsd has been in a tail spin ever since...

Negative experience: worst tour of my life!!!10 hours in a SeaWorld shuttle van, could not see well out windows , sitting in super small sets 3 across. The driver/ tour guide spent much of his time on his phone talking and texting while driving. When we got to various stops we let out and were on our own, no tours were offered. Very expensive tour that had no guide or even recommendations. The lunch was the best part, but once again the driver let us out and disappeared until it was time to get back in the van.

Negative experience: Today we did the Baja Grand Tour. Driver (Juan) spent most of his time texting and talking on his phone. Finally he interacted with us between text messages. On our last stop, when he picked us up he had some guy with a guitar in the passengers seat. All he did was talk to him until one of the other guest asked some question. After we dropped this guy off in Tijuana he was ready to talk to us. Once we got back to San Diego he seemed a little choked I did not give him a tip. This guy is no tour guide that’s for sure.

Positive experience: We have just come back from the Great Baja Tour with Five Star Tours. It was not exactly what we expected. The tour started twenty minutes late due to a change of bus, and then it was further delayed by about thirty minutes because we had to stop to buy diesel additive as we could not drive without it. I was not comfortable with the speed we had to do to make up the lost time. The tour description mentioned a stop at Rosalito beach but we did not go there as we were given a choice of staying longer in Tijuana or go to the beach. The 'longer stay', the whole stay in Tijuana was one hour which meant there was no possibility of doing both visits as advertised. The food was very disappointing. The fish we chose had hardly any meat on it, the beans were very runny, the rice lacked taste, the salad was just a plate with lettuce, onion and green pepper. The service was nothing to write home about. The only enjoyable event was the Mariachi band. All in all, it was a quick dash across the border without visiting any cultural venues. To be honest there would not have been any time for that unless the tour had left San Diego at 7 am and Mexico at 7 pm. Thus, this tour is basically greatly overstated just to get one interested and get one's money. Our guide Juan was enthusiastic, knowledgeable and entertaining but it was always going to be difficult for him to deliver what was promised.

Fantastic experience: I was very happy with the tour! Highly recommended!

Negative experience: SCAMMERS!!!!!!!!! Don’t you ever order something from them! Bad bad bad experience I’ve ever had. Me and my mom , tourists with good English came all the way to San Diego California , we called them early in the morning to confirm the tour and a woman name Monica (the rudest person I’ve ever met, a lier liedin front of my face and keep saying I didn’t talk to her to the phone even though I have proofs!!!and a funny guy who thought he is the manager laugh from the side, little clown ) I promised to myself after this day that I’ll not keep it in quite and I’ll do everything to Close this place. Don’t do my mistakes!