Please DO NOT book your Umrah with this agent, had a very bad experience.
In Makkah, stay will be at Hotel Swiss Al Khalil which is ~850 mt from haram.
1. Hotel rooms are missing AC remote, when you ask the hotel staff, they say Arabis(owners) have confiscated the remotes so switch off the AC if you don't like the preset temperature.
2. Hotel washrooms are tiny and smell like gutter. Poorly laid pipelines are clogged and nobody will come to unclog them even after multiple requests.
3. Rooms service done once in 3 days.
4. All Bed sheets are stinky and have oily stains.
5. Cafeteria is the worst place in the entire hotel. Very dirty, super packed with people all the time and unhygienic. The staff washes plates in the washroom, the plates aren't cleaned well, the wash basins are dirty and damaged, the chair covers look like they haven't been washed in years.
6. They say it's buffet but the staff will serve you the non-veg food (limited quantity) so you don't actually have the freedom to eat how much you want.
7. 3 times a day, you will be served burnt, cold and thick rumali roti for food. By the end of the tour (or even before), you will be sick of eating rotis. No curd even after multiple requests.
8. Basic amenities are missing in the rooms - no cloth hangers, no water kettle, no night lamp(you have to sleep either in the dark or leave the main light on).
Initially, they will say 7 days in Makkah and 7 days in Madinah. After reaching Makkah and staying 4-5 days, they will say 9-10 days in Makkah and 3-4 days in Madinah.
All travel happens during day times so be ready to waste 1 day travelling from Makkah to Madinah and 1 day from Madinah to Jeddah.
The worst of your nightmare will begin once you reach Madinah.
While booking and on your ID card, they will mention hotel name as Karam al hejaz but once you reach Madinah, you will be forced to stay in 'Al Mukhtar Tower'. This is the most dirty, unhygienic, old, broken hotel you would have ever stayed in your life. It does not even have attached bathrooms. Be ready to ask your women to use common washrooms in front of other Hajis. The beds are broken, the AC is broken, no Wifi in the hotel, no kettle, dirty carpet, dirty everything, you will feel like puking once you enter the bathrooms. Housekeeping is non-existing while you stay, but on the day of your checkout, they will make sure that they make your life hell by forcefully barging into your rooms and make you vacate. They don't care even if there are ladies inside and unwell. Lifts are barely working and might collapse any day anytime - just pray you aren't inside when they do.
The tour operators are supposed to arrange group permit to visit Riyaz Ul Jannah in Madinah. They will simply waste your time and won't do anything. You will have to book visit for yourself through Nusuk app, so please do it in advance as the slots are mostly full.
Special thanks to their representative, Mr. Shahid bhai for making our stay the most memorable torture in Madinah. Literally, he does nothing, takes no responsibility, has a very rude and arrogant behaviour. May Allah bless his soul.
Only good thing was Farooq bhai in Makkah, he listened to the concerns of Hajis and tried his best to address them.
