Travelsphere Reviews

The itinerary was good all through except for the part involving San Jose It was a pity being in Costa Rica and not seeing the only town which was worth seeing We were given time only to view the National Theatre the Cathedral and the Gold Museum There are numerous other sites to see in San Jose which we were not given the time to view such as the Museo del Jade Museo Nacional Museo de Arte Costarricense Insect Museum at the Universidad de Costa Rica Museo de Arte y dise o and the Parque Zool gico Sim n Bolivar The main problem was the site of the Studio Hotel in Santa Ana Although the hotel was nice including its amenities this was not in San Jose as promised in the brochure This was in a different municipality of Santa Ana If the hotel was in the centre of San Jose then in our free time especially on our last day we could have visited the city Because we were out of centre the last day was completely wasted Google shows you that the hotel was a 20 minutes drive from the centre whilst in reality because of traffic this was 60 to 90 minutes away This was a great pity because it left us with a bad taste I feel that we were sold one thing and given another The Studio Hotel is situated in the anonymous municipality of Santa Ana whilst we should have been allocated a hotel in the city of San Jose There are numerous hotels which you could have put us in in San Jose centre As I said we were sold one thing and given another Now about the Hotel in Monteverde The program I purchased from you showed Jardines de Monteverde one kilometre away from the centre of Sant Elena During the trip we found out that this was changed to the Hotel Burgi Lake view Lodge First of all I formally complain that as a minimum I should have been informed beforehand Secondly if ever I had a hopeless hotel then it was this The surroundings are beautiful but it is in the middle of nowhere So much so that we got stuck in the mud to get to it It is full of steps to come out and into the rooms and there are no amenities whatsoever For a hotel in such a place it should have its own restaurant and its own bar as a minimum There is nothing to do there in the evenings The room was cold with only a tiny heater to warm the room with wind howling outside It was too far away from the nearest town of Sant Elena The supposedly safe in the room was a joke A small wooden cupboard with a key lock that you can purchase from the nearest ironmonger for a pound or so There was nowhere to take a walk without using steps Very bad choice of a hotel on your part

Travelsphere America s Historic East 22 Sept 2022We have been on seven coach tour across the USAThis was the first with Travelsphere and by far the worst The hotels and local guides were very good but the rest was a disasterIt was disorganized we find out the next day itinerary not before we got off the coach but in the evening in the lobby of the hotel The excursion to Charleston Harbour Cruise and Fort Sumter we find outin the morning was only a cruise and did not go to Fort Sumter as advertised on the web site If we had find out at the start of the trip we could have find a cruise that when to the Fort and there were cruises to Fort Sumter At the end of the trip 17 people were flighting to Heathrow the tour managerwas not there so the bus arrived but the driver do not want to take the luggage we arrange for the bell boy of the hotel to bring the luggage to the bus and put it on the bus My advice is not to book with Travelsphere we complained but heard nothing

The tour itself was pleasant all be it that there were a few hiccups the Lucca excursion don t bother I don t even know why we were charged for this as there was no entrance fee or tour guide or lunch included to warrant the amount of money they charged A few of the guest in our group complained about this as did we on our return and Travelsphere gave a feeble excuse Tour manager was great and she tried her very best and was knowledgeable about the history of the destinations Shame that travelshere let her down really as she took the flack for some very poor communication between her and her colleagues We had a Capri trip booked as an optional excursion which was cancelled the day before because apparently their were not enough guests going to the island We wanted nearly 4 weeks for a refund We were also unfortunate to have our flights cancelled among thr NATS issues over the Aug bank holiday but again no communication from Travelsphere no emergency contact numbers were provided Left in the dark for hours on end Very very poor communication even still now with trying to request assistance from them for a claim through travel insurance Complete joke I personally won t be booking with them again Which is a shame as as stated the tour itself was great but attitudes and communication completely lacked

Grand tour of Canada very expensive holiday and unfortunately the standard of hotels was less than acceptable Aso there was a lot of wasted time due to the itinerary not being thought out I could not recommend this holiday The Best Western Plus in Vancouver Island was the worst hotel room I have ever stayed in It was very small badly laid out and next to the lift shaft Toronto hotel has been well documented by other guests I felt that the first part of the tour was badly designed spending 4 hours each way on a coach for a 2 hour meander round Quebec was a waste of time The familiarisation tour of Montreal was done as we were leaving for Ottowa so we never had the chance to get a good look round At the end of the tour the journey to Whistler for a very brief overnight stay again was a waste of time then on the way back to the airport we were dropped in an industrial area for 2 5 hours ro either wander aimlessly or spend the time in a cafe nursing a coffee On the plus side The Rocky Mountaineer was fantastic and the group were wonderful companions

Dealt with Travelsphere direct and found that we could have gone to a local travel agent dealing with Travelsphere and had a better service We had NO assistance in obtaining travel documentation received 3 sets of final information and all different We raised a complaint regarding what we had paid for and what we received e g 15 meals and only receiving 13 here we are 2 weeks later with only an automated response to our email apparently the only way you can raise a complaint They need to change from B A as a chosen airline as they offer a poor service compared to the like of cheaper airlines All of the above having been said the holiday in Tuscany was great with an excellent Tour Director Roberto

The Epic Wonders of the USA National Parks are indeed epic but the tour could have been so much better if it had been better planned My main concern was the variable quality of the breakfasts with too many of them dire who wants a cheese omelette made with powdered egg and a slice of processed cheese eaten with plastic cutlery off a polystyrene plate The complaints department took 5 weeks to concoct a response that was dismissive and failed to address my points

The hotel was very disappointing certainly not the 4 advertised with the pool closed two days of our holiday and the pool bar service very poor The sun beds were old mattresses left out in the rain and unusable after a spell of bad weather The bar in the hotel didn t open until 7 pm No lifts This hotel is not suitable for those with mobility issues The shuttle buses were scruffy and dirty Good food and restaurant service Rooms were spotlessly cleanTravelsphere Tour Director Simona was abrupt and unhelpful throughout our stay The local guide called Sara who came for 3 5 days was excellent There were just too many issues for us to ever consider another holiday with this company

Do not use this company if you have any specific dietary requirements Will tell you that it wont be an issue but add a caveat to say your choices may be limited their cop-out for not feeding you adequately Hotels were either mediocre or charge for everything as extras The only reason for giving them two stars was for the organised tours of places

83 year old frail woman on the tour needed our constant help for 2 weeks to board the bus find her room enter her room walk put on seat belts find the toilet Not what we paid for Company refusing to acknowledge our complaints The tour bus stank of her urine for 2 weeks Like an old peoples home Saga plus EDIT Standard copy and paste reply from Travelsphere completely unacceptable and full of meaningless platitudes

We ve recently returned from a Namibian Adventure holiday with Travelsphere The holiday as a whole was fantastic- we had a very knowledgeable culture history landscape geology and wildlife and friendly guide driver a great itinerary particular highlights were Sossusvlei Dunes and Etosha National Park good standard of accommodation and food We particularly loved Sossusvlei Lodge Twyfelfontein Country Lodge and Mokuti Etosha Lodge However there are a couple of areas of great concern One was that within our small group of 7 we had an 82 year-old woman who was travelling alone who should not have been on this type of holiday on her own Our guide was marvellous with her inventing a separate itinerary when he could see she would be unable to take part in the organised activities due to her frailty but she also expected him to support her physically in getting on and off the minibus As a group we developed a rota for helping her whilst on the mini-bus ensuring she had her seat belt on and belongings stored safely not always a pleasant task due to some incontinence personal hygiene issues Her forgetfulness meant that we often had to guide her back to her room in hotels and even to her table in the restaurant when she couldn t remember where she was Whilst we all helped out where we could this should not be expected when we d all paid around 5000 for the holiday of a lifetime We were all very relieved when our guide arranged airport assistance for her for the flights home so that we no longer felt responsible for her Surely Travelsphere must accept some responsibility for checking that their customers are fit enough to access their chosen holiday Our other issue was whether the minibus we travelled in was actually fit for purpose On tarmacked roads it was fine air-conditioned and comfortable On dirt roads- of which there were many- it was a rattling bone-shaker We sometimes spent 5 or 6 hours a day in this mode of transport Not quite the luxury transport described in your brochure A window shattered whilst we were in Etosha National Park and our guide managed to make a temporary repair and the rear door lock jammed on the last day meaning our luggage had to be man-handled out through the central aisle of the bus