Hoover Dam Tour Company

AVOID!
Depending on where you are staying, prepare to spend 7 — 8.5 hours on this tour, for 2 hours at the dam and about 45 minutes driving each way. Uses, at minimum 7 hours for a 3.5 hour tour. How? First the pick-​up, a bus will come, you will check in, then it will continue for a loop and stop off at several more casinos. Then you will be dropped off at their office, where you have to check in again, you will then board another bus. We got yelled at during this process, when the guy said there was one bus there, when there were two and we headed toward the wrong one. The drive to the dam was uneventful.
The Dam was awesome! The guided tour, provided by the government staff there was informative and entertaining.
Then, on the ride back, it was announced we would have to stop at a strip mall pizza place called Vinny’s. We stopped there for an hour… compare that to spending two hours at the Dam. Yup, that’s right, you will spend half the time you at the Hoover Dam at some road side pizza place.
The ride home is like the ride on one of those $ 7 airport shuttles… unlike pick up, which is done in several buses, drop off is done by the same bus stopping at something like 20 casinos.
Do yourself a favor, pay 40 to rent a car, 30 each for the tour at the Dam itself and save your self several hours and several hundred dollars

There were seven of us for the dinner cruise however I feel we were deceived. The cruise ended up being in the dark because the cruise was at 6:30. You should either start earlier in the day or stop the dinner cruise earlier in the month. The food and service however were better than expected from a tourist type dinner

We had a great time in vegas, until it came time to take this tour. We came out early, to the spot we were told to wait for our pick-​up bus, there were several other people waiting there already, so we were early, but not the first. There were probably 3 other groups waiting for the same bus. We waited in front of our hotel for an HOUR before getting picked up, by what can only be figured as a hobbled together tour, it was the first time for the driver, The tour guide (although good) was actually a driver, (did i mention this was hobbled together?) Well judging by the comments previously posted, it seems to be a recurring theme with this company. We, as well as other would be tourees, called hoover Dam tours multiple times, first they said the bus was just around the corner, then eventually told we missed the bus??, really tour company??, that’s your best excuse? Once we finally got picked up, the guide was snarky and made fun at our expense, it was the last straw, almost, we were taken to their office, and once again told we missed our bus (last straw). Grrrrrr. Take some responsibility, we never received an apology, reason, nothing except for a (partial off handed excuse) of it being very busy, seriously? The tour itself was great (hoover Dam co. had nothing to do with this part of it, ha-​ha), I just would recommend taking your own car or at least a BETTER, MORE ORGANIZIED tour company.

Well it started by being picked up in a large luxurious bus. Willy was our driver. After several more stops we were then told that we were going to the main office where we were to get our tickets. We were then crammed into a small van. I don’t know the name of our driver. He never told us but the guy was a little socially awkward. He gave info but not too good at delivering the info.
The Hoover dam was nice and the weather was awesome.
We went to Vinny’s pizzeria afterwards where the larger bus of tourists were also there. The place was tiny and seating limited. One of the waitresses was overheard bitching about the number of customers! Imagine that! A small pizza place in a strip mall in the middle of no man land!
The pizza buffet was decent. The pizza was good and always had pies coming out. The buffet was $ 10 and drinks were $ 2.

Had an amazing time. My two kids and I have never been to the Hoover dam before and Leo B was an excellent tour guide. Super helpful, very knowledgeable, very nice. My only complaint would be that I didn’t know about the gratuity part :/
This is the first vacation I’ve taken in about three years so I wasn’t aware the tip not included thing… is it just me? Does everyone know that? Anyway I only left what I had in my pocket :(waaaaay less then what I’d normally give. Anyway Leo you rocked it! Next time I’ll know better. Highly recommend this tour. Thanks
!!

Read several different comments about this tour, some positive and some negative. The pickup was a bit confusing, but we found it. A few things weren’t clear, they were to provide water bottles for the trip (yes at $ 1 a bottle). there would be a stop to have lunch, a lot of the people thought it came with the package, but no, you had to pay for it. Overall the bus ride was fine, not over crowded, we took the tour, also made a stop at Lake Meade. I’m not one for the heat, at 110 degrees, it wasn’t as enjoyable as it could have been. I have pictures and will post them soon.

Fun time and actually learned a lot! Our driver Jackie was awesome! Ride was comfortable and lunch was yummy! Definitely recommend this tour! Would have liked 15 more minutes before leaving the dam but other than that I was very satisfied!

Good experience. Definitely something you want to see once in your life-​time. Well worth it.

HORRIBLE!
No, just don’t bother. You should just drive yourself and get the better tour at the Hoover Dam on your own. The bus broke down, the company doesn’t care about you after they have their money and it was an expensive terrible bad experience. for my parents, brother and I.
If you have at least 2 people going it is cheaper, and I guarantee a better experience to rent a car and drive there yourself.
The drive itself is beautiful but on the bus you don’t get to decide when and where you can take pics. Also you don’t drive over the high suspension bridge or get to walk that to get the amazing upper aerial view. With the Hoover Dam Tour Company you get the small tour, but most people will tell you to do the larger dam tour at the Dam. YOu are not able to upgrade at the Dam. This was a waste of money and I had even gotten a Groupon for it so it was about ½ price. Still way too much money.
When I emailed the company for a refund or some sort of damages they pointed out that they make everyone sign a contract negating them from liability of their buses breaking down. For the extra hours of sitting out in the heat and having to spend more money there on lunch because we were delayed so long this was a very terrible waste of money. The Dam itself is amazing though and worth the trip to, just use any other company or drive there yourself.

Worst customer experience! STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!
We were told to meet in front of the El Cortez casino at 8:45. We were there at 8:30 when 9 rolled around and not one bus had drove by I called the company. The lady told me we missed the bus and we would have to take a cab to planet hollywood to make the tour.
To make this short save your money this is a complete scam.
Thankfully Groupon showed how a company should treat a customer and refunded the money.

This was a horrible experience!
We purchased tickets for the 9:30 AM shuttle, we arrived at the tour lobby by 9:10, the bus, however didn’t get there till about 9:40, no big deal. We then headed over to the mall where we would be transferred onto a more comfortable and larger bus. We made a line, they processed us and gave us an ID sticker and we proceeded to make the line to enter the new bus. We were probably 9^th or 10^th in line, we picked our seats, felt comfortable and settled in.
After the bus is about 90% full, our name is called and we get pulled off. For what reason? A different party brought an unexpected guest, therefore OUR accommodations were hindered to make way for other individuals who did not plan accordingly.
After we de-​bus, we’re taken to a van that has already been cramped with people. Upon inspection, my partner and I notice that we would not even be able to sit together, rather we would be expected to sit next to random strangers for a pretty lengthy ride. Furthermore, the seats were fit for a first grader, not a grown man.
When we took this to the manager, he stated «oh! you want to sit together??» Um… YES. We didn’t realize that was such a shocking request. Ultimately, he was unwilling to accommodate us, so that was a day completely wasted. Sadly, they didn’t even offer us a lift back after all the hassle they put us through.
So be warned, you probably don’t want to waste your money on this tour unless you want to be treated like a third-​rate human being.

I saw my life flash before my eyes at least twice on this Dam Tour.
Let’s start at the beginning: they were late picking me up. They said they would arrive at 9, but they didn’t show until close to 9:30. The bus driver was really nice, but something was either wrong with him or the bus, because the bus stalled many, many times. Including on a steep hill near the dam. And the bus started rolling backwards.
I not only found the dam that day, but I also found religion.
The tour guide was nice, but not spectacular. I appreciated his «dam» humor, and he seemed pretty knowledgeable. We had a couple on our bus who had paid for a rafting part of the tour, and neither the guide nor the driver had any idea where they were supposed to drop them off.
The whole thing was kind of a hot mess, and I was pretty happy that I only paid half price thanks to Groupon.

Most stressful experience of my Vegas trip!!!
Had reservations to be picked up at 9am. After waiting outside the hotel for 15 mins we called the company asking where our ride was. They said they already picked up at our hotel and we weren’t there. I’m a workforce planner who grew up military, «if you’re on time your 5 mins late, if you’re 5 mins early you’re on time». You can probably imagine my disbelief when they said we were late and it was our fault we missed the shuttle. We then had to pay to take a taxi to planet hollywood (which we were not reimbursed for), and then mis directed multiple times until we finally found the tour meet up location on our own. The highlight of the morning was the lady who answered my call at the Hoover Dam Company who kept asking me questions about where I was and then would talk over me every time I tried to answer. The tour itself was satisfactory, but this poorly run operation had a horrible start which elevated my stress level to an unreasonable level so early in the day.
My overall recommendation, find a different company to go through or rent a car and drive out on your own.

We lived in LVH, a hotel in Paradise. They just ignore people who do not live on the strip. We were supposed to leave at 10am and return by 3pm. The shuttle didn’t show up on time and we waited more than half an hour. After several calls, the shuttle finally shown up and drove us to the bus. And when we returned, the bus driver spent 1.5 hrs on the strip and dropped us off after all the other clients. I’ll never try their service in the future.

You can do it on your own it is easy to do
you do not have to do it with your
It is great place to visit but do it on your own

I just want mimic Josh O’s review. As funny as it sounds that guy is spot on. I too got on the bus and saw the guy’s name was Steve and a leaned over and told my girlfriend «this is the guy!» And sure enough Steve started babbling your ears off. What took me by surprise is that Steve is both the tour guide AND the bus driver. So it seemed kinda unsafe to navigate a 50ft bus in Vegas while holding a mic in one hand and talking like an auctioneer. If your native language is not English there is no way you can understand this guy. But off we went on the 50min ride, Steve hacking and all. (But to the guys’ credit, he has a lot off neat info if you pay attention)
We went on a Monday so 2.5hrs was enough time to take the power plant tour and see everything at the Dam. But I wouldn’t say enough time to lolly-​gag around. I would suggest bringing some sandwiches. You can’t take them off the bus, but you can eat them when you board to leave. The snack bar at the dam is a long line and over priced.
On the ride back you stop at a chocolate factory where you can buy a single chocolate for about $ 5. So this was about a 30 min waste. The choc factory «tour» took all of 45 seconds to see.
Then Steve takes you back to your hotels. Along the way home he actually gives some useful tips on where to eat and what to do in Vegas, so that was nice for me since this was my first time to Vegas. For us he started at the south end of the strip and zig-​zagged his way back to the north end. I guess from here it depends who is on the bus and where you stay. We stayed at the Circus Circus (c’mon I had a free room offer) and it took forever to get back. We left the dam at 1:15 and got at the hotel at 4:00. (This includes the choc de-«tour»). If you have $ 15 to spare I would hop off at Mandalay Bay and take a cab north and save yourself and herky-​jerky hour in a charter bus.
Overall I still say 3.5−4 stars. It wasn’t bad or terrible. I’d say it’s worth the money to see the Hoover Dam. If you have a warped sense of humor and a little patience, you won’t be disappointed. If you are kinda uptight and have no patience, I can see this tour being quite frustrating for you.

I would like to start by saying that I researched this tour and its reviews before booking so I knew what to expect. Now I know that there are a good number of bad reviews and alot of them are about Steve who supposedly babbles on and on and constantly coughs into the microphone for the entire 50 minute ride to the dam. Well I can now confirm for you that this is true.
I found a deal on Groupon where the tickets were half price. with that being said I paid $ 29 each ticket. At first I was unsure weather to make the purchase, but despite the negative reviews I read about this tour company I figured I would be on vacation so why not. Best case it would be an great tour and worst case it would be a memorable experience. I think that because I went with an open mind this set the stage for my experience.
CUSTOMER SERVICE:
Before arriving in Vegas I called the tour company, gave them my groupon purchase confirmation and reserved the date. The phone operator instructed me to go to the west wing at the MGM grand (where we were staying) where they would pick us up for our tour. The phone operator was helpful, friendly, and accommodating and helped to plan our tour.
TOUR DAY! Fast forward to the morning of the tour. We made our way to the west wing at the MGM as instructed and were somewhat confused to if we going the right way as the MGM is a very large hotel. (asking for directions from hotel staff is advised). We made our way to the west wing tour lobby. We walked out the door (still confused if we were in the right area) and a guy asks if we were going to a tour. I respond yes (expecting the guy to be some kind of promoter trying to sell me something like everyone else in Vegas) but to my surprise he pulled out his list and greeted me by name and then pointed over and said «That’s the dam bus, we will be leaving shortly». Our pickup driver was great! very personable and had a great sense of humor. Overall It was a good start and certainly set the stage of what to expect.
REGISTRATION:
After being picked up from our hotel, we stopped at a couple other hotels before being dropped off at registration at the miracle mile shops where we signed in, picked up our name badge, and were assigned a bus.
THE TOUR:
We were assigned to «Bus1» and immediately upon climbing into the coach I saw the driver’s name tag on the driver’s shirt that read «Steve». Based on the reviews I have read online, my initial reaction was «Oh god, Here we go» So we climbed on to the bus. The driver, Steve, closed the door, stood up in the isle way and over the microphone started to instruct everyone on what not to do and how we should keep our voices down while he was talking over the microphone. He then began to start talking about the bus and how old and elaborated about how bad it was (the bus was average, it had AC and was clean). So with that interesting start, we began our 50 minute trip from the las vegas strip to Hoover dam. Steve talked continuously and he did not pause between his sentences for the entire 50 Minute ride there. Steve loved to ramble about random topics and would then ask rhetorical questions such as «Well Steve, how did that happen» to which he would answer himself with an even longer explanation. The best part is that Steve spent our entire 50 Minute ride to the dam hacking and coughing mid sentence. He literally never stops talking and maybe that is why he is always clearing his throat as other reviews suggest. Either way it was hilarious. Once we got to the dam, we offloaded and were given 2.5 hours to do the tour and wander the dam, I was interested in taking the power plant tour however the lines inside the dam tour were ridiculous (Run by a different company, please read my hoover dam review for more information) after waiting in line for over an hour we decided to cut our losses where we went back outside, walked the dam, did the tourist thing and grabbed lunch at the dam café before heading back to the bus. we took another bus ride this time for about 40 minutes where we stopped at a chocolate and going to our hotel.
Steve our driver, while he talked non-​stop, was loaded with information about vegas history. You can ask him questions and he will tell you a story, and he has a wicked sense of humor that kept me laughing almost the entire ride.
CLOSING:
Simply put, if you have a planned agenda, high expectations, like to be in control, are hung over, or are an overall boring person, then I’d suggest you not be on bus1.
If you are adventurous, whimsical, and have fun with whatever comes along then I highly recommend you take Steve’s tour bus as it is hilarious.
As for myself, I know that I will have to take this tour again the next time I am in vegas.

I’d say this tour was worth it. Two people got to see the Hoover Dam for $ 58 with a groupon. Not bad. But I really would have appreciated the following:
1) A heads up that the tour guide would not stop talking for the entire drive. He repeated himself a lot. From reading other reviews it sounds like some people appreciated his incessant anecdotes and opinions, but I was disappointed that I didn’t bring any headphones or ear plugs to drown him out sometimes.
2) A heads up that security on this bus is extremely tight. No luggage, even small luggage, is allowed on the bus. You also cannot bring food into the Hoover Dam site, but you can bring it on the bus. And there is food on the Hoover Dam site available for sale.

What a fantastic tour guide! A much older gentleman that had a wickedly funny sense of humor! I mean, I laughed the entire trip, got lots of great information… and truly appreciated a «dam» good tour! I purchased my tickets through Groupon and had no problem once in Vegas redeeming them for my actual tickets. To be honest, it looked like over half of the people in line had Groupon!
The tour guides at the Hoover Dam were equally as hilarious! By far out of the trip (gambling, drinking, club hopping), the tour was the BEST!
I would do this tour every visit to sin city!
* Note, the previous reviews are probably regarding a different tour bus operator that is no longer doing the Hoover Dam Tours… or they just went on a bad day :/

If I could rate this lower than a single star, then I definitely would. Money NOT well spent, to say the least.
I purchased two Premium Express Bus Tours from this company through Groupon a few months ago. Oct. 22^nd is my parent’s 29^th wedding anniversary and my mother has been wanting to go on a tour of the Hoover Dam ever since I can remember. I thought this tour would be the perfect gift for their anniversary, but unfortunately my assumption was terribly wrong.
My parents do not go to Las Vegas very often because they do not know their way around so the hotel pick up option made them decide to plan their entire anniversary weekend in Vegas so they would not get lost. They were supposed to be picked up in front of the Embassy Suites Hotel on Saturday the 20^th at 9:15 a.m. They went to the front of the hotel at 9:10 a. m so they would be there before their bus arrived to pick them up. They waited out front until 9:20 and no one had arrived. They asked the valet who was out front and were informed that the driver showed up at 9:08 and then left. So my parents would have still been left behind if they had showed up at the 9:15 pick up time. After they learned that the driver had left, they called the company and were told that the bus was to arrive at the hotel Planet Hollywood by 10 a.m. and to take a cab over there so that they could catch it. They were also told that they were called to see where they were, but my parents both had their phones with them and they had received no missed calls all morning. They were also told that when they arrived at Planet Hollywood that the hotel clerk would reimburse them for their cab fare; needless to say the hotel clerk had no idea what they were talking about. They arrived at Planet Hollywood at 9:45 and waited out front near the sign that said busses. At 10:10 a.m. no one had shown up and they called the company yet again. They were then instructed to wait at the entrance of the Miracle Mile Shops. My parents have no idea what The Miracle Mile Shops are, nor do they have an idea of where they are. My parents were also not given clear instructions as to where the entrance was and where the busses were supposed to arrive in front of it. After this whole rat race, it is needless to say that they were never picked up and never went on a tour of the Hoover Dam. They also had to pay a second cab fare to return to their hotel.
I do not understand why it is so difficult for a driver to wait until his pick up time to make sure that even early arrivers are able to get on the bus; especially when he had a whole 45 minutes to be somewhere else that is only 10 minutes away, maximum. If there is a scheduling error then this definitely needs to be looked into and corrected immediately. Sending my parents around the strip on a wild goose chase for a tour bus is very poor customer service, and by far the worst customer service I have ever heard of. Upon hearing that their driver made a mistake, and left before his pick up time, an offer should have been made to come back and pick my parents up; especially since he obviously had time to spare since he was ahead of schedule. My parents wanted a guided tour of the Hoover Dam that I had already paid for, not a frantic tour of the Las Vegas strip at their own expense that they had not planned for. After being left behind, without a care, my mother tearfully called me from her cab back to her hotel and informed me of her and my father’s terrible experience with this company. She said that her anniversary was ruined.