Totally Spain Customer testimonials

I have worked with Ken & Totally Spain since 2006.

He has helped me plan several trips to Spain for my clients and ALWAYS knocks it out of the park. I have great confidence working with a company that is so dialed in on a destination as they are with Spain & Portugal (I don't get too many requests for Portugal, but if I did I would reach out to Totally Spain for sure).

There are certainly some trips that I can put together myself without a Destination Management Company but I know when I'm over my head Totally Spain is the one to reach out to for this part of the world!

Thanks Ken for making Spain Travel Planning a breeze!

Highly recommend Totally Spain for a stress-free vacation!

I'm used to booking my own trips, but I'm so glad we had Belen at Totally Spain for our 16-day vacation in Portugal and Spain. Belen made everything so so easy. She took care of all the hotels, tours, cooking classes, train tickets, and even made sure drivers were waiting for us at every airport and hotel to take us where we needed to go.

She worked within our budget and specific needs, and every single place and experience she recommended was amazing! We did half-day city tours, gastronomic tours, and cooking classes in Lisbon, Porto, Barcelona, and Spain.

I will definitely use Totally Spain again for my future trips.

Re-Produced from Google Reviews

Contact Belen for your Private Custom Tour in Spain & Portugal belen@totallyspain.com

My family and I had a wonderful hassle free vacation 2 weeks in June. When my son approached me in 2021 and indicated that he wanted his children to see Spain and for me to help plan the trip, I jumped to the occasion. I had spent time in Spain in my twenties and my son had also stayed with the same Spanish family the year before he graduated from high school. He wanted to encourage his teenagers to be open to a similar experience. That sets the scene!

When I contacted Totally Spain, I knew I had found just what we needed. A trip for 5 of us that included our own itinerary, a car to deliver us to and from our hotels, a guide showing us the highlights in each city, tickets purchased for the trains, major attractions, etc. It was perfect!

Everything was perfect! We had a wonderful time in Spain. A truly hassle free and delightful vacation.

Absolutely brilliant service from Ken and the Totally Spain team.

Had a last minute trip booked and they managed to plan a great 10 days trip and everything flowed smoothly from hotel bookings, airport transfers, activities and car rentals.

Would highly recommend.

We had a wonderful 10 day trip to Barcelona and Madrid complete with side trips and guided tours.

Ken at Totally Spain was terrific! He listened to what we wanted and put together a well organized, detailed, thoughtful trip, providing plenty of background material and recommendations for both cities.

Ken is easy to work with and was accessible and responsive both before and during our trip.

We enjoyed spending time with our guides, Montse and Ana, both natives of their cities. The drivers who met our trains were lovely and made our travel smoother.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip! I highly recommend Ken and Totally Spain, and look forward to booking our next trip with him to explore more of Spain!

Reproduced from Google Reviews.

We thank you, Totally Spain, so very much.

Everyone of your team has been exceptional.

The hotels you picked for us have been great - location, accommodations, etc. No complaints except that the trip should have been longer; 17 days was not enough but that's on us, not you. Also, thank you for putting up with us; we know we caused several unplanned arrangements and you handled them quickly and smoothly.

I can't not mention that you, Ken Baldwin, answered every one of our emails almost instantly, day or night, weekday or weeknight. Thank you

Belen was an absolute pleasure to work with for the past two and a half years as our 2020 trip finally happened in May, 2022. 

This felt much more like a personal relationship than a commercial one. We were impressed by Totally Spain's group tours, but wanted to travel on our own - without driving. Belen really listened to us and created a 15-day itinerary in Madrid, Andalucia and Barcelona with guides, drivers and intercity trains.

She works with very high-quality partners, and our guides were terrific - all extremely knowledgeable and passionate. Belen added two group experiences, both also top-notch: a Tapas, Taverns and History tour in Madrid ; and a cooking class in Sevilla. Our hotels were consistently very good, in excellent locations (the duplex room at the Ronda Parador was amazing!) with one comment: breakfasts varied in quality.

I have been singing the praises of Totally Spain and Belen, and would work with them again in a heartbeat.

Totally Spain booked trips for us through both Northern and Southern routes - pre-pandemic, and now again as we reschedule and rearrange our plans once again - past-the-worst-of-it-pandemic.

Ken Baldwin carefully choose hotels suited our needs. Drivers and guides aligned with our interests perfectly. He found for us reliable, locally owned family companies with well versed people who knew their stuff.

As we return to dip our toes into travel again, to revisit beautiful Spain, we need fresh eyes to decipher what is the same and what is different. We are relying once again on Ken at Totally Spain. Be sure to clarify your interests, your preferences in types of hotels, amount of walking you like to do and types of restaurants. Bien viaje!!

Let Totally Spain do the prep work so you can enjoy your trip even more!

4th CUSTOM TRIP WITH TOTALLY SPAIN

We just returned from a three week trip to Spain and Portugal that Belen arranged for us and it was fantastic!

This was the fourth trip that Belen has done for us and they have all been wonderful! The logistics have been flawless every time; from great hotels to private transfers, things always work smoothly. Belen has arranged car rentals, with drop off and pick up in different locations and they've always come off without a hitch.

Working with Belen and Totally Spain we always know that they have our backs. When we had a flight cancellation that ended up splitting our party so that half arrived one day and half the next, Belen took care of rescheduling hotel arrivals and tour times, making it seamless.

This trip Belen arranged private guides for us in Evora, Porto, Guimaraes and Braga. They were fantastic! They enriched the experience of those cities so much with local knowledge, history and their personal experience. They were flexible and tailored the days to our desires rather than following a script. They shared their love of the locations and their personal favorites for things to do and places to eat. We felt like we were traveling with friends, not tour guides.

Whether you want to see the major tourist spots or get off the beaten path and see the rural sides of Spain and Portugal; whether it's historical sites or great dining with wine pairings, Belen and Totally Spain can make it happen for you!

Four trips with them and I'm sure this wasn't the last. I can't recommend Totally Spain highly enough. They are a truly professional travel company!

REVIEW REPRODUCED FROM TOTALLY SPAIN GOOGLE REVIEWS

Hi Belen,

I wanted to thank you for a wonderful trip. The weather cooperated, the hotels were centrally located, the tours and guides were great and the restaurants were perfect. I’m not sure I’d change anything.
 
Porto was alive with students graduating and families celebrating their accomplishments. Pedro gave a excellent tour of the city and Callum with the Fado concert was just the right amount of time to experience Port wine. We really enjoyed the city and the people of Porto. I would recommend getting tickets in advance to climb the Clerigos Tower — we didn’t realize it’s popularity and no reservations were available when we arrived. 

The boat trip along the Douro Valley was beautiful and a nice break from the city. Sylvia’s tour gave us the perspective of the growth in the old versus new approaches of the vineyards in the valley. The wine tasting was a welcomed treat and we didn’t leave without a bottle of wine or two! It was interesting to get a local’s perspective of the valley. 

Traveling with Pedro to Lisbon was fun! Adding the visit to the Livraria Chardron Bookstore was wonderful and we appreciated the fast pass for entry. Pedro covered both Aviero and Coimbra well and hitting two libraries was a nice combination. Our driver Joseph made some fantastic maneuvers driving through the narrow streets of Coimbra! Lunch overlooking the city was a perfect end to our day there. 

The extra tour in Lisbon really captured the history and feel for the city. Elsa was fun and offered insight into the Royal families of Lisbon and it’s history. The Jeronimos Monastery is a must see along with the walking tour of Belem’s  harbor. Lisbon’s gastronomic tour was catered to our tastes and allowed us to see many different areas of the city. This was a nice combination and I would recommend it for your future tours. 

Sintra’s Peña Palace was beautiful - again getting an early start made it more enjoyable. Azenhas do Mar was postcard perfect. Our lunch there was amazing and we enjoyed walking around afterwards. For future bookings, a table with a better view of the ocean at the restaurant is booked well in advance. I’m not sure how you would guarantee a better table here but it would be worth the effort. The stop in Cascais gave us a beautiful glimpse of the ocean from Boco do Inferno. It was a nice break while driving back to Lisbon. 

I want to thank you for making the effort to get us dinner reservations in Lisbon. It completed our days and made it easier for us to enjoy our trip. Our dinners were all wonderful and they each offered a variety of Portuguese menus. In Porto, we went to Vinhas D’Alho, Escondido, and Cozinha Cabral— all very nice and great food. 

Again thank you for booking Esther in Madrid- she was fantastic. Her knowledge from history to art captured our attention even after a long flight. I recommend touring the Royal Palace first then The Prado Museum. It gave us a perspective of how the the Royals families lived, their passions and the Renaissance artists that put it to canvas. Amazing art collection and exploring the master artists was unforgettable.

Our drivers were all very good, polite and friendly. They allowed us to enjoy the scenery and our tours. 
Again, thank you for putting our trip together. We appreciate your patience and enjoyed every minute. Hope to travel again with you soon!

Obrigado, 
Nancy Drees

Wow - what an adventure!

We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and were hugely impressed with Andalucia and all it had to offer. Thank you for putting together such a memorable trip with such care and attention to detail. The hotels and their location were superb. We were so impressed with the friendly, helpful staff we encountered throughout our time.

The guides were just excellent - a wonderful mix of professionalism with humour and we came away knowing that we had learned a great amount and have been inspired to learn more. And the build up to the Easter parades was something so very different and fascinating. I’m so pleased that Spain had wonderful weather last week so that the celebrations could be enjoyed.

The Segways and cycling were great ways to see the cities, especially the Segway visit to Sacramento. An absolute highlight. The Flamenco was entrancing. And the food - THE FOOD! Highlights were the Mercando Victoria in Cordoba and the Mercando de Triana. Bodeguita Casablanca and Bodeguita Romero in Seville were also sublime.

We can’t thank you enough for such a brilliant trip.

REPRODUCED FROM TOTALLY SPAIN'S GOOGLE REVIEWS

We have used Totally Spain nearly half a dozen times to book trips throughout Spain and have nothing but positive things to say. Ken and his team are extremely knowledgable, very professional, and have a excellent attention to detail. We have done trips both with our children and without and they were able to match up the itineraries accordingly based on our needs and interests. We will be using them again for an upcoming vacation this coming summer. Would highly recommend them without any hesitations.

Re-produced from Totally Spain's Google Reviews

We just came back from a three week trip to Spain and had a blast! We were worried initially, with the virus, a travel agency, Totally Spain, we only ever emailed and found on line, and an expectation of the hassles crossing borders.

We’re so thankful we just went for it! Totally Spain completely took care of us. The drivers and guides were knowledgeable and lovely, the Spanish people so welcoming, the food delicious. The trip information was detailed, accurate and so valuable. Everything worked as it should have. We couldn’t have been happier with the plan and the execution.

Belen Encinas, Managing Director for Totally Spain, worked with me to plan a trip to Portugal.

She created an itinerary that was perfect for us and did so on very short notice. She gave us excellent directions and informative materials about the areas we would be visiting, arranged very comfortable accommodations, and reserved a car that perfectly suited our needs.

Her planning was flawless. She even identified a clinic for us where we could get our Covid tests before returning to the U.S. I highly recommend Totally Spain.

Our trip was originally scheduled for April 2020. For obvious reasons it could not happen. We stuck with Ken and his team at Totally Spain and they delivered a Nov 2021 trip my extended family will never forget. We had a group of different ages with a wide range of interests. Totally Spain provided great planning, awesome restaurants, beautiful venues and the perfect guide. I recommend these folks to anyone and everyone! I am already thinking about Portugal. I am a tough grader but this was an A+ trip. Thank you Ken!!!!

2ND CUSTOM TRIP WITH TOTALLY SPAIN

Totally Spain has customized 2 vacations (both over 35 days) for us. It would have been very challenging for us to plan these trips on our own without Belen’s help. Both trips were spectacular, well organized and stress free. We had experiences and saw things that we never would have without Totally Spain guiding us with their knowledge of the local areas. We highly recommend Belen and Totally Spain!

Re-produced from Totally Spain's Google Reviews

Ken arranged a vacation for me and my husband after I finished walking the Camino. I asked him for an itinerary that would allow my husband to see some of the Camino, a relaxing and comfortable drive across Northern Spain as we returned to Madrid together, and a variety of scenery. He nailed it! He understood what we wanted and we were continually delighted with the destinations, lodging, and restaurant/activity suggestions he made for us. He was available and responsive both before and during our trip whenever we had questions. I would definitely travel with Ken again and recommend him to my friends!

Belen Encinas from Totally Spain assisted us in planning an unforgettable trip to northern Spain! I had taken a similar trip 16 years ago with my younger son, who was studying in Spain. My husband was not able to join us because of work responsibilities. I vowed that one day I would bring him to Galicia and surrounding areas to have a similar wonderful experience.

Belen was terrific! We did not want to drive, so she booked us a car and driver to use between cities. She booked the same paradores in which my son and I had stayed, and then she booked all sorts of other amazing paradores and exquisite hotels. She booked wine tours, city guides, an amazing pintxos tour in San Sebastian, train tickets. museum tickets, a prehistoric cave tour, etc., whatever we wanted, with much guidance re times, distances, etc.

We arrived at our first parador and they handed us a suitcase of maps, local guides, restaurant recommendations and other materials for our trip, courtesy of Totally Spain. Much of this material had been already been provided ahead of time via email, to orient us. so it was great not to have to print out everything ahead of time, but all of the printed maps and city guides were a godsend.

Our trip was amazing. We will never forget it! While we were on our own, we felt the guiding hand of Belen, and knew that we could reach out to her for help should we need it, which we did a couple of times.

I can recommend Totally Spain and Belen Encinas without reservation. She can make your dream vacation come true!

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Spain in September 2021. The food was great as were the mosques, temples, hotel accommodations and people. We traveled through Madrid, Toledo, Seville, Ronda, Granada, Cordoba and Barcelona. The Totally Spain organizers were first rate.

Dear Ken

We enjoyed our holiday immensely.  Your itinerary and hotel choices worked very well for us and every pickup and transfer went perfectly to plan which took any stress out of our trip and made the holiday most enjoyable.

We especially enjoyed the half day personal tour of the Alhambra. Please extend our thanks to the whole team who made the trip work so well.

I look forward to reaching out to you again.

Belen at Totally Spain went above and beyond all our expectations for our month long vacation touring Portugal and Spain in September, 2021. Every hotel/apartment (12 of them!), winery, train, rental car, tour, tour guide/driver, restaurant recommendation was phenomenal! She sent a briefcase to our first hotel upon arriving filled with all our information - itineraries, tickets, further suggestions, everything! It was a trip of a lifetime, and no way could we have seen everything we did, stayed everywhere we did, and experienced everything we did had we not contracted with Totally Spain for arrangements. Thank you Belen, and we will most definitely use your services again!

Reproduced from Google Reviews

I have travelled with Totally Spain many times over the last 10 years. Every time I have received excellent service. The staff are very helpful and respond to queries and questions quickly. They offer really good suggestions for tours and there is no pressure to buy extras. The hotels they have booked for us have always been exceptional. The information packs they send out are jam packed full of amazing leaflets, maps and recommendations. I have recommended Totally Spain to friends and family, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone.

Review reproduced from reviews on our Facebook page.

Dear Olaia, Thank you, and all your team, so much for organising an excellent holiday for us. We thoroughly enjoyed it and were lucky to have good sunny weather virtually all the time.

Re-Produced from YELP reviews

We were a group of 8 friends touring Portugal and Spain in September. We had some of our trip planned out (a villa and a river cruise) but being our first trip to either country we had several blanks to fill in. We worked with Ken and he did a spectacular job of working with us and providing proposals. We gave him guidance of our preferences. For example he would be fired if he booked us into a Marriott or Hilton. Not that we have anything against those chains, just that we travel extensively in the US for work and wanted to experience something more "historical". Ken hit the nail on the head. Stayed at some fantastic places. We had a couple of misses as well with museums being closed on the days we were scheduled to tour. But considering the amount of things we asked him to coordinate (transportation nearly every day, hotels, restaurants) I can easily overlook a couple of misses. We asked Totally Spain to handle almost all of our local transportation needs. Being a group of 8 we asked for private transportation on most days. We booked out windows of time based on our schedule (5 hours, 8 hours etc.) All of the equipment (Mercedes Sprinters) were in perfect shape and our drivers were always on time and most helpful. We also scheduled several city tours and our guides were fantastic. Completely professional and very knowledgeable. I feel like we got to see places we NEVER would have seen if we were trying to figure things out on our own, and even if we found some of these places, having a guide explain the history and the geography take the experience to a completely new level.

With the amount of logistics we asked Ken to coordinate for us I can easily overlook a couple miscues. Besides which when we informed Ken of the couple of issues, he worked very hard to resolve them.

I would highly recommend Totally Spain. I think the cost of having someone coordinate your trip, and choosing places you would never know about, is not only worth it but it enhances your trip immeasurably.

Dear Belen, I am sending this e-mail, to thank you for organising my fantastic trip through Spain, which I shall never forget.

Everything from the moment I landed in Barcelona, to sadly leaving
Spain from Malaga, ran very smoothly, which were undoubtedly due to your miticulous attention to detail. 

The personal guided tour in Toledo and Cordoba were fabulous.  I was
amazed with their detailed knowledge of the history of the period.

The accommodation you booked were fantastic.  I love the hotel in
Sevilla, and next time I would love to stay longer in Granada and
Malaga.

Thank you again for everything and my best regards and wishes to you
and your team.

Review from Yelp

We travel extensively and we had never had a Travel Agent/Consultant as thorough and detail oriented as Belen at Totally Spain. Everything was arranged and no detail was overlooked, whether it was superb Hotel locations and accommodations, train tickets, private transfers, car rental, tours, or attraction tickets.  Restaurant recommendations were detailed, as well as travel tips.  Every transfer was on time at the location specified, every tour guide was on time at exactly the right meeting point.  All the worries of foreign travel were non-existent.  
She contacted us part way through our trip when she found out there was an anticipated taxi protest in Seville which might impact getting to our train to Cordoba.  She moved up our transfer time and arranged for new train tickets just like that.  So thorough.  It took any stress out of the equation.  We would not hesitate to contact Belen and Totally Spain for any future travel in Spain.  I'll go one step further - we wouldn't think of going to Spain again without contacting Belen and Totally Spain.  Thank you so much Belen.

Belen,

Now that we are back home and caught up with most things after being away, let me say while I have moment that we had a wonderful time and you took care of us very well.

No other travel agent I have ever used has gone into so much detail to ensure that everything was taken care of.  You took all of the stress out of travelling for us, and gave us wonderful memories which we will cherish for a lifetime.

All the best to you and your company in the future.

Belen, We had such a WONDERFUL time on our trip to Spain, Tangier and Lisbon—all because of your excellent work and suggestions.  Everything went like clockwork, down to the minute, which was amazing.  We especially loved our tour guides who were all knowledgeable and friendly. Our pick up servicers were extremely professional, had great language skills and were timely and helpful.  The cars themselves were immaculate and first-rate.

Our hotels were terrific!  Loved the El Minzah and the Hotel America in Barcelona.  Of course, the paradores in the Alhambra and Ronda were beyond superb!  I wish I could express how much we truly enjoyed this trip and how much thanks we owe you.  It never would have gone this well without you.

ADDITIONAL REVIEW FROM SAME CLIENT ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE 29/11/2019

I highly recommend Totally Spain because they did a fantastic job of planning our Spain-Morocco-Lisbon trip. Belen was, by far, the best travel agent I've ever had--from supplying maps, tips and great tours, we had the time of our lives!! If we go back, we will definitely be using their impeccable services! Simply delightful!

First to your extension plan.  It was terrific.  The drivers were all on time and courteous.  Plus, the vehicles were all very nice.  All of the rooms you booked were first rate and spacious.  All the locations made walking around very convenient.  We especially liked your choice back in Lisbon, as it was just across the street from where we stayed with our group, so we were familiar with the area. Our guide in Seville was especially delightful!  We are so thankful that you had gotten advance tickets to the Alhambra and the Alcazar.  Our special thanks to you for the wonderful job you did for us.

The larger tour with our group was also a joy.  The accommodations were all well located, and allowed easy walking in the area.  We marveled at the skill of the bus drivers, as they got us into some places that seemed impossible.  There were many highlights to this part of the trip. I learned an incredible amount about the cork industry.  The engineer in me was also fascinated with our tour of the olive oil plantation and production.  The entire port wine experience was also quite nice.  The grounds are fantastic, and it was interesting to hear about the port wine production.  

Overall it was a wonderful trip.  Thank you so much for making it so memorable for us!

Ken, I wanted to thank you for your attention to detail, your coordination of our vacation and for your excellent suggestions on places to stay and places to eat. We had a great time.

We were very happy with everything your company did for us. What a difference when you get off a train or plane with 100 pounds of luggage and someone is waiting to take you to your hotel. What a benefit to have someone meet you at your hotel to show you around a city or village and explain history geography and culture to you. So much better than sitting around as a group each reading your Spain or Portugal books and trying to decide what to do for the first hour or two of the day.

Overall I would say the guides and drivers you arranged for us were excellent, professional and friendly. Our group are all down to earth people and really appreciated the interaction with everyone we met. 

The overall perception was overwhelmingly positive.

Ken, thank you for your time, professionalism and planning out a fabulous vacation for us! Very much appreciated!