Another great Yelp review filtered but not stopping the high demand! January 18

We’ve been getting a lot of calls/emails with people interested in our services and added value so we’re not fretting that Yelp continues to filter our reviews.  Here is the latest from Shobit A in Atlanta:

“Nick, my main contact with Spark Parties, was really helpful. He provided us with a number potential daytime activities in the Austin area in addition to the regular outdoor stuff everyone already knows about.

For the bachelor party, we decided on doing skeet shooting since most of the guys in the group had never been and thought it would be cool. We arrived at a ranch about 1.5 hours northwest of Austin and were greeted by the shooting instructors who were very down to earth. They provided us with everything we would need and also kept tally of how many skeet each of us shot.

Overall, it was a great event and we couldn’t have done it without Nick’s help! I would definitely recommend spark parties to anyone looking for unique bachelor party ideas.”

For the Yelp version, click here and scroll down to Filtered Reviews in the bottom left.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/spark-bachelor-parties-austin

High speed gokarts are back! January 13

Seems like every couple years a new track pops up.  We’ve been to the last two and it’s always fun – the newest one is up and running now.  We’ll go check it out and write back!  Feel free to book some racing sooner though…

Lake Travis vs Lake Austin December 5

So, there are a number of lakes near Austin but Lake Travis and Town Lake (aka Ladybird Lake) are where most people hang out because they’re the closest to the city.

Lake Travis is the wakeboarding and getting drunk like there’s no tomorrow lake.  A part of Lake Travis is named Devil’s Cove (we assume because of the debauchery that takes place).  This is where you want to be from mid May until mid September.  Stick to Town Lake the rest of the year.  Here’s a visual:

Town Lake is more of a kayaking, stand up paddleboarding, and scenic boat ride place — that’s because it runs along the south end of downtown which means good skyline views but no one really swims in it.

 

What is SXSW (South by Southwest)? November 29

South by Southwest or “South by” is one of the busiest times in Austin and is a ton of fun if you like live music, film, or just free booze. Basically, for 10 days in March every year, thousands of people from around the world come to Austin for a music, film, and digital/interactive festival.  Anyone who’s anyone related to those industries is here and partying their asses off!

www.sxsw.com

SXSW Music was always geared towards up-and-coming artists but it’s become so big that everyone is starting to come — Kanye, Coldplay, etc rumors begin!  Every bar, record store, and boutique in town has bands playing for free for a week.  It’s insane.  For example, last year we were at the MTV party on top of an old parking garage and the whole top level was bouncing to the music while they handed out Stubbs BBQ/premium vodka/Coronas.  It was all free just for waiting in line and we saw Matt and Kim, Friendly Fires, and Tinie Tempah on a gorgeous day!

Come party with us and we’ll get you into the best parties!

High season is in full gear! And we’re killing it! October 3

For the last 4-6 weeks, we’ve been planning 2-3 parties a week. As we approach our one year anniversary, we now know when peak season is and agree with the best men for picking this time of year! Still warm enough to hit the lake but great temps to hit the bars in the evening. If you’re contemplating a party, we suggest holding it in October/November. Decembers are usually nice too but January/February are a little less predictable in terms of weather.

By the way, we’ve been asked about good weekends for parties in Austin. Honestly, every damn weekend. Not sure how this city does it but it’s great!

Another 5-star review! August 24

Here’s the latest from David W. in Houston:

“Spark Bachelor Parties provided great service, knowledge and information on our recet Bachelor Party. No pushy sales talk, easy to deal with accommodated changes even on the day of the event. Highly recommended for your Bachelor Party, or any day out you want organized.”

Yelp filters reviews again! August 8

Screw them. Business has never been better and for those who make it to this blog page, you can read the reviews word-for-word here. Here’s the latest 5-star review from Jed in Los Gatos, California:

“Nick did a great job helping us with our bachelor party. Never have been to Texas, Nick help provide ideas and point us in the right direction. He did a great job finding us a shooting range, a boat to drink on as well as some great BBQ for lunch – and even took care of transportation! Very reasonably priced and being able to make one lump payment up front made it easier than having to collect cash from everyone at each stop. Definitely made the trip great!”

Yelp Reviews: We’re back from the dead but for how long? June 21

So one of our filtered reviews came back up on Yelp — and it’s the most recent one.  Making progress!  Check it out here:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/spark-bachelor-parties-austin

Yelp sucks May 21

The headline says it all.  We’ve been getting great reviews on Yelp but since the people who use this service are those that are too busy to sit on Yelp and review all day, their reviews have been “filtered”.  They basically don’t show up on our Yelp page unless you click on “Filtered Reviews”.  To make it worse, we don’t have a rating even though our average is 4.75/5 stars.

Anyways, we thought we would post the reviews here to show the overwhelming responses we’ve gotten.  Thanks to everyone for the kind words!

“Nick did a fantastic job helping plan our event.  His tips were excellent, and every one of his recommendations really added to the experience.  He clearly knows his stuff around Austin, and didn’t hesitate to tell me when he thought I had found as good of a deal as he might be able to arrange.  In all, his expertise led to one hell of a bachelor party.”  - Chris R from Atlanta (4/20/2011)

“Our party planner Nick did a fantastic job planning and executing our party. He made sure we were on schedule without making us feel rushed. As the evening unfolded our transportation was right where we needed it to be. He was professional in every way and kept in communication with us to ensure we were all having a great time. I highly recommend Spark for any Bachelor party needs.”  - John J from Round Rock, TX (2/22/2011)

“I live in Houston, and I was in charge of putting together my friend’s bachelor party in Austin.  Although all of us had been to Austin before, none of us knew Austin well.  Since I was swamped with stuff at work, and at the same time I didn’t want to procrastinate the party planning, I contacted Spark Parties to help me arrange the bachelor party.  Spark was great.  They put me in touch with a party manager.  We discussed the things that I wanted to do for the bachelor party, and my party manager took care of all the logistics.  Even though we drove to Austin from Houston, I had Spark arrange a van service so that we would not have to worry about having a designated driver.  We did a lot of things over the weekend such as we ziplined in the Hill Country, we hung out at some cool bars, we ate delicious bbq, and we did the things that guys do at a Bachelor Party.  We had 9 guys in our party, and for accomodations, our party manager suggested and put us up in this mansion off of South Congress.  It was pretty awesome, and memorable.  South Congress is in the happening part of Austin so we felt that we were getting the most of our stay.  The nice thing was that I did not really have to do anything once I contacted Spark, and if I ever had any problems or questions during our time in Austin, I could always contact my party manager.  Saved me time, and I wish I could outsource all my work like this.”  – SS from Friendswood, TX (2/7/2011)

“We had a great action-packed three days with 7 of my best friends.  Spark took care of planning non-stop activities including outdoor and nightlife for a great weekend.  This including tubing down a river and followed by some great Texas BBQ.  They know their way around Austin, so we were even able to change gears on the fly if we wanted to try a new place.”  - SB from Smyrna, GA (1/11/2011)

Couple more parties coming up March 31

This Saturday, we’ve lined up an indoor gun range with a booze cruise right on Town Lake after.  Good thing it’s not the other way around.  The waiver would have to be a lot longer!  Should be amazing weather — highs in the 80s with lows in the 60s.  Can’t wait!

In a couple weeks, we’re helping with a four day extravaganza.  Starts out with a BBQ tour through the hill country.  The next day is a dude ranch or maybe Enchanted Rock.  Saturday is going to be Reggae Fest or the Old Settler’s Music Festival.  And of course, great restaurants and bars sprinkled throughout!