TOTALLY SPAIN CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS

I would highly recommend Belen of Totally Spain as a vacation planner.

We originally attempted to plan our trip of Portugal and Southern Spain by ourselves and it immediately became clear to us that we were in well over our heads. Thanks to Belen, we were able to enjoy exceptional guides, first rate hotels in the perfect part of the towns in which we stayed, and drivers who took us to and from the airports/train station. All this at a price well within our budget!

Hi Olaia. Di and I had a fantastic trip - due in no small part to your assistance. Thank you.
You can see my blog about our trip here: www.psukheblog.wordpress.com/2012/10/25/the-spanish-trek/
There are lots of additional photographs here:
The Spanish trek : www.p a u l p e r t o n.c o m

We have returned from our trip to Spain and I want to report that all your planning went perfectly. We greatly enjoyed the culture of Spain. All the guides were very good and we especially enjoyed our day with Roger……I thank you greatly for all your many prompt e-mails to my questions and hope we have another trip together.

Dear Olaia, I just wanted to thank you again for helping us set up our recent trip to the Basque country of Spain. We were delighted with all the hotels we stayed in, and everything went very smoothly. The highlight of the trip was our Pinxtos tour with Iñaki. He did far more than we expected and made our stay in San Sebastian a truly fun experience. If we have the opportunity to return to Spain (I hope!), we will contact you again, and certainly recommend your services to others.

Olaia, Well, we have completed our wonderful trip to your country and we had a delightful trip. All our plans worked out perfectly and we want you to know that we appreciate your help with the planning and setting up all of our reservations. The hotels and paradors were great. Thanks again for all you did and know that we will recommend you to our friends.

Ken

Just wanted to thank you for everything you did for us. We had a tremendous time in Spain, and were so, so sorry to leave. All our guides were terrific--particularly Federico--and all your advice flawless. Also, the reliability of the drivers made the trip stress free. Thank you again--I will tell all my friends about Totally Spain! All best, Mimi

Dear Olaia,

Thank you for all the bookings you made for us and all the suggestions in the planning process. I would never have been able to do all the plans and bookings myself. The standard of accommodation and their wonderful locations, the information sheets, all the vouchers, just made the trip relatively stress free. 18 days in Spain just wasn't long enough! I hope we can come back again some time. I will certainly recommend your company to others! In fact, I have already. Several tourists we met asked us how we planned out trip, as they were either finding it difficult by themselves, or were part of an unsatisfying group tour.

Ken,

I have been remiss in not writing to you about how wonderful our trip was. The hotels were in perfect locations and charming, our guides were sensational (esp. Oriol, Jim, and Frederico), all the special activities you chose were great. We were in such good hands with you and your team and you all made our vacation one that will be a lifetime memory. They also sent us to fantastic restaurants -- oh, the food! We feel we have only scratched the surface with your wonderful country.

I'm so glad Mimi got in touch with you. I know she will have a great trip. Thanks again for everything, Emily

Hi Belen,

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! We had a wonderful trip and thanks to you everything went very smoothly. With 5 different hotels and 4 different trains, we didn't have any trouble and best of all, no surprises. Your comments and recommendations were very accurate and I felt well prepared before we left.............All in all, a great trip. Again, many thanks! I will be recommending Totally Spain to everyone.

Olaia,

We want to say thank you so much for your assistance in helping plan a fantastic trip to Spain (June 15-30, 2011). You and Totally Spain understood our priorities and put together trip recommendations that fit our budget and our interests—and even exceeded them!..........We “totally enjoyed” our Spain trip. We highly recommend your company to other travelers that appreciate advice from professionals who love their homeland.

Thank you, again.

Olaia

My daughter and I had a wonderful time in Spain. We could not have done it without your help. The travel route and cites were terrific. The trains were also a great surprise in terms of speed and locations. The information packets you provided by city were extremely useful and we did many of the things you recommended--especially the walking tours.    The hotels were in excellent areas of the cities and allowed us to walk everywhere.

I am happy to recommend Totally Spain and you to anyone considering a trip similar to mine. I appreciate all that you did. Hopefully my daughter will spend a semester in Madrid and I can work with you again. Thank you.

Ken,

just found time to let you know how fabulous our trip was! Every detail was planned to perfection. Having Christine guide through the Prada was amazing. Manuel was wonderful. He not only got us safely from destination to destination, but suggested menus and such along the way.

Allison and I very much enjoyed both our hike and bike ride.  All in all a very pleasant, enjoyable vacation for all three generations. Thank You so much! Kathy

Olaia

I would like to thank you from the very bottom of my heart for the absolutely wonderful holiday you helped us plan to Spain and especially the Camino. Each place was super , some a little better than others but more than I ever expected . The accomodation in Santiago, Sarria and El Sedor were particulary fantastic. Next year I would like to return and walk on my own - perhaps from A Coruna – and I would like to get to Finisterre – I hope you will help me once again plan an incredible journey - I fell in love with Spain all over again and for a brief moment believed I was the 18 year old who had lived there in 1968.

Muchas gracias. Sandi

Hola Ana,

Matt and I arrived back from our marvelous trip to Spain. We had a great time in Madrid and on our UNESCO World Heritage Parador tour. Everything went smoothly and even the weather cooperated quite well. We walked around a lot, saw so much art, toured old castles and churches, and of course drank much solo café! We want to thank you for all of your assistance with the arrangements and guidance with planning and reservations for our Madrid/Spain holiday. We’ll definitely recommend Totally Spain as a resource to contact when travelling to Spain.

Kindest Regards, Sondra & Matt

Olaia

Just returned from Spain on Thursday. We wanted to drop you a note to thank you for all the work you did to make our vacation a success. We especially appreciated you getting us an upgraded accomodation in Sevilla. The two-bedroom apartment overlooking the Plaza de Triunfo and Sevilla Cathedral was a delight. In fact, all our accomodations, train tickets, rental car, and tours went beautifully. We enjoyed the vacation of a lifetime.

We will definitely refer you to all our friends considering travel in Spain.

Dear Olaia,

I just wanted to send you a brief e-mail to say thank your for arranging such a perfect holiday for us!! We loved Spain and hope to return again in the near future. The hotel properties were excellent...especially the one in Cordoba.

Dear Ana,

My wife and I arrived back from our holiday in Spain last night and I want to thank you for all your arrangements regarding itinerary, hotels and car hire. Your service to us was excellent, including the choice of accommodation, the length of stays and the amount of travel between different cities.

The Paradores were wonderful, especially that in Trujillo, and we have never stayed in hotels so beautiful and well run. You also provided us with excellent materials concerning each location and offered good advice in response to specific questions.

Although we had originally planned to stay in Caceres we were so glad that we actually visited there from Trujillo which turned out to be the highlight of our entire visit to Spain. Also, we arrived in Burgos on the day of a festival to celebrate El Cid and so enjoyed a large market, a medieval festival and a historical pageant in the main plaza which brought our visit to a great conclusion. We loved Spain and its warmth and wide open spaces, also the sense of community in the evenings as families turn plazas into demonstrations of social and community life.

We also made it to Madrid and I fulfilled a long-held desire to see the collection in the Prado - it did not disappoint!

One small suggestion: it would have helped to know in advance that many of the hotels charge for parking. This can mean significant additional costs and we would have liked to have been aware of this from the start. However, this did not detract from a brilliant trip and we are extremely grateful to you for all your help. We will certainly recommend TOTALLY SPAIN to other friends here. Warm good wishes.

We had an excellent experience through out Spain and Portugal. We very much enjoyed all the hotels and Paradors you selected for us. Thank you for helping to make our Spain/Portugal adventure and memorable and enjoyable experience. We will contact you for help in arranging future trips to these countries.

Olaia,

I just wanted to tell how much we loved each parador and the lovely hotel, Casa del Marques.  Thank you for all of your wonderful suggestions. I will definitely contact you again........ I continue to recommend your services and Totally Spain to any friends who might be travelling/planning a trip in that area.

Hi Ana

We have just returned from Spain. We had a lovely time. The weather was perfect and the area was beautiful. Thank you for all your work and brochures. All the hotels were just as described. You were perfectly right not booking breakfast in Deba we had lovely breakfasts in the café on the beach – coffee, buns and freshly squeezed orange juice.....We loved the hotel in Somo and would recommend it to everybody - wonderful beach. We also enjoyed Gijon as the hotel was so well located...... Thanks again – till next year.

Hi Ken

Just to say we had a glorious holiday..... Everything worked smoothly and we very much enjoyed getting to know this part of Spain. Many thanks for your advice and help in booking. Best wishes

Dear Olaia

Just a note to say we really enjoyed our holiday in Noja. We thought your company & you were great and have told everyone how inpressed we were. Fab break thanks again.

Hi Belen!

We arrived home late Sunday after a wonderful trip. Thank you for your help. The information packets for each city were very helpful. The advance tickets for the Guggenheim were priceless! The trip to the Dali museum was amazing......The hotels were very nice.....my praise for your advice and a job well done!

Hi Olaia,

Thank you so much for all of your effort in putting together our fabulous trip to Spain. We loved everything! The hotels were clean, quiet, comfortable and in great locations.......The tour guides were also excellent. We had substitutes on the first two tours 1/2 day city private tours--they were great though. The last two, as you had scheduled were fantastic......The group tours were also good. We enjoyed the Avila and Segovia tour very much.... The pacing was also perfect....... All of our connections worked perfectly. We loved the fast train--a very efficient system. We returned Wed to a ton of pictures, and lots of memories. Thank you so much--we very much appreciate your efforts!

Hi Ken,

Thank you for all your help with our Spanish trip. Everything went so smoothly. I can't believe how efficient the buses were - thank you for the timetables. Hotel in Bilbao was great, we did the old town, funicular and of course the Guggenheim.  Honestly, everything you arranged for us was so perfect that I will not hesitate to call you again if we are lucky enough to return to Spain and will certainly point other folk in your direction.  Best wishes

We arrived home yesterday from the trip you so ably planned for us.

The hotels were all great, and so were the guides you arranged. My one daughter, who normally is pretty lukewarm on things, called the trip "magical."

Again, thanks for all your help and patience with my many questions. Please feel free to use me as a reference anytime. Sincerely

Hello Ken,

Just a short note to say how much we enjoyed our break in Spain and to compliment you on the excellent preparatory notes which you provided. The menu translations were invaluable - still didn't avoid the odd unrecognisable meal reaching the table - and the maps and other notes were really helpful...........all told, a really good visit to a part of Spain which we've never thought about visiting before, but will probably revisit sometime in the future. Thanks again - hope the business has a good Summer.

Ana

THANK YOU for a SPECTACULAR trip...we loved each stop....Segovia magical....Lerma a beautiful hotel and the visit to Burgos stunning....the next day we toured castles with the ones in Coca and the Castle de la mota...I think...?? The one in Ribera Del Deuro with the wine museum in it..our favorites....then on to Laguardia...the one in the North...a perfectly preserved walled town in the middle of Rioja...wow...we also had the good fortune to stumble on the summer palace in La Granja on our first day..and drive through soaring mountains and the national parks in Northern Burgos...lakes and mountains that rival Yosemite Park in the US...but that barely rate a footnote in Spain...then on to San Sebastian....a wonderful hotel with great service...great walks up the mountains...legendary beaches and wonderful food!!!! Amazingly through all of this time the weather was cool and sunny...then finally Madrid and the tour with Frederico...the perfect way to see Madrid in a short period...in short Ana...it was Superlative in every way...and your notes and the effort that you put in shone through at every turn....if you or Totally Spain ever need a reference...let us know!!! Thank you for a spectacular 20th anniversary trip....and lest you forget!!! You put the trip together with 1 Weeks notice!!!!!

Dear Olaia,

We feel that we must write to tell you of the immense pleasure that we have from the trip. Our previous trips to Spain and Italy were nice but there always was the issue of checking in to our hotel and checking out. Your voucher system made this the simplest of procedures, no confusion and quickly handled everywhere we stayed. The Hotel Domine in Bilbao, each Parador and the Hotel Monumento in Santiago de Compostela were each in the best possible location to allow us to walk or drive to those places we wanted to experience. The maps you provided made our driving much easier than we expected, taking us to our desired location every time.

We were treated in a friendly, helpful manner by all we met. From the tiniest village to the larger cities, people were eager to share their culture and language with us. Totally Spain will be the company we use when we return to Spain in the future and the company we will recommend to others who wish to travel there. Thank you for your friendly professional help.

Hi Ken,

The trip went very well and the two of us were delighted with the accommodation and the locations. It is really a lovely part of Spain particularly the proximity of the mountains to the sea. We enjoyed Cangas de Onis very much and availed of the opportunity to swim in the river in the town on a few occasions.

Thanks for all the organising you did and we will give Totally Spain a "plug" when describing the holiday to friends.