Things To Do DC

I went to their New Years Eve Party in 2013. It was incredibly expensive and a HUGE waste. It was the worst NYE I have ever spent. If it was free, it would still not be worth it. And because they will not take me off their email list, I am still paying the price for it.
AVOID ANYTHING THEY OFFER.

DO NOT PURCHASE FROM THIS COMPANY. I REPEAT DO NOT PURCHASE OR SPEND YOUR MONEY WITH THIS COMPANY. This margarita cruise they supposedly have on the DC harbor is a scam. There is no cruise and your money will be taken. I repeat, your money will be taken. The guy Ira will tell you they went out of their way to get in touch with you and supposedly has the cruise company providing letterhead as if a cruise took place. This is all part of the scam. I have requested my money back, but they refuse to give it back. I will not stop until this company is out of business so they do not continue to scam other individuals. I only rated them 1 star because you can’t submit without at least selecting a star, but this company deserves no stars and the folks should be arrested for taken peoples money.

Beware: Things To Do DC is a splendid idea, but very poorly and unprofessionally run.
I have been to several events in the last year. The embassy experiences range from engaging and memorable to an expensive waste of time, depending on the embassy itself. The Potomac cruises (run by Embassy Events) are well-​attended, but people are generally disappointed after the event (expensive cash bar with mediocre drinks, dilapidated boat compared to the other cruises leaving from the same dock, etc).
I decided to try one of the other events planned by Things to Do DC a few weeks ago, the Profile Singles Dinner on 7÷23÷2015 at the Outback Steakhouse in Arlington, VA. The event was advertised on the weekly e-​mail sent by the organization. Through the official website, I paid the $ 48 and received a confirmation e-​mail on 7÷21÷2015. When I arrived, I was told by the restaurant hostess that there was no such event. They had a reservation for 24 people, but someone from Things to Do DC had called to cancel it earlier that day. I received no notification that the event had been cancelled. At the scheduled time of the event, it was still advertised on the official website, and no one answered the phone when I called to find out what happened.
I have since called Things to Do DC 3 times, leaving messages on the answering recording each time. I have also e-​mailed. As of 8÷2÷2015, there has been no response from the organization, but my credit card has been charged $ 48 (the credit card company is disputing the charge). I have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.
It is beyond disappointing that such a promising organization in DC is so abysmally unprofessional. This is a great city, with interesting people who are sometimes only here for a short time. I’d advise trying one of the Meetup groups (NOT run by Things to Do DC or its affiliates) instead to meet people.

I have been going to events thrown by this organization and its predencors for years dating back to Decades in the mid 90s. This team puts on awesome events like their New Years bash to really cool Embassy events like the one I attended recently. My only regret is that they don’t have kid friendly events now that I have kids. Many of my happiest single day memories came from their events. Can’t wait for our next date night to visit another cool embassy.

The first event that I attended was the NYE party. I thought it was organized very well, I enjoyed the entertainment, and I liked how nicely everyone was dressed. I had a blast at the event and I look forward to attending next year. The second event that I attended was at the embassy of Saudi Arabia. I enjoyed the presentation and the food. This was another well organized event.

I joined the Embassy events meetup group in March or April of 2014. I’ve been to several events over the past months. Some have been quite good. Last night, I went to Bahrain. The presentation was very good, the ambassador came and spoke with everyone, but I think everyone was most happy with a young music student, Asa — studying in Boston — playing the Oud. He was FANTASTIC!
The Bosnian ambassador spent a great deal of time taking pictures and talking with almost everyone. I spoke with the Capo Verde ambassador’s wife for at least 20 minutes. She’s Cuban, and I lived in SoFL so we had quite a conversation!
The food and drink are better at some than at others. But where else are you going to be able to visit all these embassies with a group of intelligent, interesting people from all over the place? Go, enjoy yourself. Be open minded and open hearted.
I’ve never had a bad time. In fact, I have enjoyed myself on so many occasions, it is now my goal to visit each embassy. Hopefully, through this group. Greg spends a lot of time and effort to try and make each visit a success. Some people, unfortunately, just can’t be pleased.

Unfortunately, I attended another Things to Do in DC event last night which was Oktoberfest at Goeth Institute in DC. The cost was $ 60 for food, drinks and entertainment during 8:30 to 11:30 pm. When we arrived, we were told that we wouldn’t be eating until 9:30. We were then directed upstairs to a room without a single chair. The entertainment consisted of four folk dancers, a woman playing an instrument and a continuous video recording of big breasted woman at the real Oktoberfest in Munich. For wine, they dispensed very small amounts into cups. I stayed with beer, because it came in standard size bottles. I never got to eat any food, because I chose to leave before 9:30. I asked to have food before then, but I was told No.
If I knew Things to Do in DC was organizing it, I wouldn’t have attended. This was my third event sponsored by them and all three were horrendous ripoffs. I’ll be more careful in screening these events in the future. I can’t believe they’re still in business, but they must be benefitting from the continual arrival of newcomers to this area.

I have recently attended two events with this company — Embassy at Bosnia & Herzegovina and Embassy of Cabo Verde. I’ve been in DC for four years, and I had never been invited to an embassy event before. So when I found this group that regularly has events at embassies, I felt extremely fortunate because I love to travel virtually through experiences, food, drink, education. And I think both events were lovely cultural and networking experiences.
Interesting that one gentleman who wrote a poor review thought that the Ambassador would greet him at the door. Sir, in diplomatic circles, you wait for the Ambassador’s entrance. As an attendee, I was able to meet ambassadors to both countries and have conversations and even a photo together.
And now I am looking forward to the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in October 2014.

I was at the Embassy of Bosnia last week and I disagree with what others have written about the event. I was personally greeted by the Ambassador. She spent a lot of time talking to me and my friends. She gave a very eloquent speech and it was well received. I also spent time talking to the Deputy Chief of Mission and another diplomat from the Embassy.
I thought the food was amazing. I spoke with one of the waiters who was clearly from the region (Bosnia and Herzegovina). It was very popular with everyone and very tasty.
The staff at Thingstodo were very well dressed, the embassy personnel were very friendly, there was a large range of music playing, and the wines were fantastic. It did not matter to me whether or not they were served in «glasses» and I did not hear anyone else complaining. If you see the pictures on their Facebook page, everyone appears to be having a great time (as did I).
I have been to many events thrown by ThingstodoDC and I have loved everyone one of them. I have met many diplomats and enjoyed incredible cultural experiences. I have participated in many of their parties and scavenger hunts and always have a lot of fun. I have made many new friends and can only say wonderful things about their services and the events they throw.

Unfortunately I did not read the reviews on Unilocal before I went to an event put on by this company or I would have saved myself the 30 minute drive and $ 96 (tickets for two). I wrote a review in the form of a comment on the
group page, from which this business primarily operates, and had actually considered trying out one more event but once I noticed that my comment had been deleted and I had been removed from the group shortly after posting the comment my decision was reversed.
This company markets itself as one that hosts exclusive events for young professionals in the DC area who are interested in foreign cultures. The
group members are called «diplomats.» This was the first red flag and I should have looked no further but the idea was enticing. Get exclusive access to embassy parties with a group of young professionals. Meet ambassadors and discuss politics with foreign diplomats. Wine and dine on authentic food prepared by native chefs, even the embassy chef himself sometimes. What’s not to like? Well, as they say, if it’s too good to be true…
Tickets to the event, Evening at the Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the Ambassador, were $ 48 per person. I had a date bringing my total to $ 96.
While guests were promised a personal greeting from the new Ambassador of Bosnia Herzegovinian, Jadranka Negodic, in reality we were greeted by an American woman, one who most likely works for the company, who checked to make sure we had paid. Her attire was hardly what I would expect for someone at any function hosted at an embassy. No ambassador was to be found and we certainly were not personally greeted by her, nor any other member of her staff.
The heavy buffet of native Bosnian Herzegovinian food prepared exclusively for this event by a native chef that was promised turned out to be little more than cheap party platters that appeared to have been purchased from a local supermarket. Flat soft drinks and cheap wines were served in plastic cups. The native Bosnian music that was supposed to be playing in the background — there was none.
While I was promised an extravagant embassy function, what I got was not even worthy of a 5^th grade graduation party. Bottom line: This company caters to those young professionals in the DC area who think that by forking over a sizable sum of money they can buy their way into the elite crowd, wining and dining at embassies, and brushing shoulders with the diplomatic corps of foreign countries. Reality is, you can’t buy this.

Make sure you pay attention to not what is being mentioned in their descriptions. And also do not believe everything said in their descriptions; they have a habit of not following through with what is advertised. Two out of three events have not been as advertised and have NOT at all been worth the money. I have given Things to Do DC plenty of opportunities to redeem themselves but each time I have been disappointed. So I will no longer attend their events. They are unorganized and not very professional when it comes to getting what you pay for or what is advertised. If you decide to attend their events, go at your own risk. Good luck!

I participated in the Smithsonian scavenger hunt and had a great time! It was well worth the $ 20 we each paid. There were a decent amount of participants and there were a lot of items to either take pictures of with team members as proof, or questions to answer based on the exhibits. I would do this again.

Went to the Italian Embassy Halloween Gala — wow for $ 95/​person you got to stand in line for 20 minutes for a thimble of wine or a warm beer, really patchy antipasta that you can buy out of the frozen food section at Safeway, and music that was terrible on a dance floor so crowded you knew they oversold on tickets. Literally the best part was dressing up, but that didn’t make up for the time we spent on transportation or anything else really.

Events have all ages, which is really awkward when everyone is trying to party it up and grandpa is breaking it down. The event was 21+ and there were young kids who showed up late in the night. Oh and no refunds unless the event is cancelled, which happens. Our bar crawl was cancelled with almost no notice. Now I’m trying to give away other tickets because no refunds or credit sucks.

DO NOT USE This service they are THIEVES! I paid $ 198 for VIP tickets for a Luau at the French Embassy. The event did not take place. I showed up and the embassy guard said there was NO event. I and 4 others were stunned and furious we were never notified the event had been canceled. Now they — Things to do DC — are ignoring my calls and emails asking them to refund my money. I have reported them to the Better Business Bureau. An investigation is pending. American Express is also investigating them. This so-​called business DOES NOT deserve your patronage.