Totally Spain Customer testimonials

Hola Olaia,

We thank you so much for preparing such a wonderful trip for us.  We couldn't believe that the accommodations were way above whatever expected.

We made the 75 miles and received our certificates, but the last two days were a bit difficult.  Could be related to the fact that Bob, at 80 years old, was the oldest pilgrim we met on the trails.

We have told others about our adventure and you may get some inquiries.

Thank you again.  Buen Camino!

Dear Olaia,

I want to thank you very much for the vacation you put together for us. 

Your hotel selections were spot on.  Each hotel was centrally located and the staff at each hotel was pleasant, professional, and eager to please.  The rooms themselves were exactly what we had asked for.

We were particularly pleased with the guides you found for us:

Thank you again for the wonderful service you provided and if you like, we will gladly act as a reference.

This was a fantastic trip- in great measure because of the planning by Totally Spain.  What a wonderful and diverse country you have, with warm people, delicious food, beautiful architecture, museums, and monuments, and a long and interesting history.  We have been enthusiastically recommending Spain as a destination to our friends and Totally Spain for planning any trip  there. I hope we will return in the future, and would definitely use your services again.

Another perfect vacation! Thank you so much for all your hard work - we loved the hotels, the tour guides were amazing, and we so appreciated you’re making all those restaurant reservations.

It was an unforgettable trip. I hope to work with you again in the future!

Review from Yelp

Olaia planned an amazing multi-city Christmas trip for my family this past year that was so perfect, we contacted her again for a 25th anniversary trip to the Basque Country. Olaia's choice of hotels were creative and thoughtful, each with it's own special vibe. Our tour guides were knowledgeable and such a pleasure - we had an amazing impromptu tour of a gastronomy club in San Sebastian! Olaia even managed a side trip to Toulouse and arranged various restaurant reservations. In addition to all the "basics", Olaia prepares the most comprehensive document package: detailed maps, restaurant recommendations, mini city/history guides, and suggestions for additional activities. And there's a blog available with a wealth of useful information. If you're going to Spain, start here. Highly, highly recommend!

Ken was responsive from the start, made excellent suggestions on the route we should take, the locations that are must see, how long we should spend in each place and how we got around. It's clear he knows Spain and his suppliers well. After giving him a briefing on what we liked, to do, a budget, he came up with a plan.

We opted for many private walking tours in key locations that gave us insights into the history and personality of Spain and the region we were in, which was quite varied.

It was all the little details that made a difference such as where to meet our guides and transfers, pre purchased train and bus tickets. Providing us with maps with notes on our accommodation, where we arrived and where we either pick up a tour or meet someone. Even the tip of using Cabify app v's taxi's was a nice little addition. He selected well located accommodation, all unique and good quality. Our arrival pack has an overview of each destination and a list of activities to see and restaurants.

I'm sure he arranged the fabulous weather we had as it was lovely and warm. A big thanks to Ken and the team and I can't recommend highly enough and I'm in the tourism business.

FROM SAME CLIENT AND REPRODUCED FROM OUR GOOGLE REVIEWS

4 weeks of pure Spain - On deciding we were going to Spain and starting to do research there was so much to see and do that we had to decide what, where when etc . I didn't have the time nor inclination to spend hours researching so I found an expert - Ken from Totally Spain owns the company and could not have been more helpful.

Ken was responsive from the start, made excellent suggestions on the route we should take, the locations that are must see, how long we should spend in each place and how we got around. It's clear he knows Spain and his suppliers well. After giving him a briefing on what we liked, to do, a budget, he came up with a plan.

We opted for many private walking tours in key locations that gave us insights into the history and personality of Spain and the region we were in, which was quite varied.

It was all the little details that made a difference such as where to meet our guides and transfers, pre purchased train and bus tickets. Providing us with maps with notes on our accommodation, where we arrived and where we either pick up a tour or meet someone. Even the tip of using Cabify app v's taxi's was a nice little addition. He selected well located accommodation, all unique and good quality. Our arrival pack has an overview of each destination and a list of activities to see and restaurants.

I'm sure he arranged the fabulous weather we had as it was lovely and warm. A big thanks to Ken and the team and I can't recommend highly enough and I'm in the tourism business.

Aloha Olaia, We just got back from out trip to Spain and I wanted to take a moment to thank you once again for all of your help and your recommendations.

Picking up the rental car was a breeze, and google maps worked just fine.

We absolutely adored Ribadesella! The hotel was perfect and what a wonderful seaside town. 

San Sebastian was also great, and the choice of the Hotel Codina worked out well as it forced us to do long walks to get to old town for the tapas.

Thank you again and we can't wait to come back to your beautiful country.

We are just back from our trip (had 3 weeks in UK after Spain).

Very many thanks for organising our Spanish trip – how wonderful. The bookings were great, hotels good, car bookings worked, trains worked, and your transfer people were so prompt, courteous, and efficient it was just so easy. We’ll come to you again if we come to Spain, and definitely recommend you also.

Just wanted you to know that we completed our trip successfully.  Everything went pretty well, accommodations were acceptable and located in good places. We were especially pleased with the hotel in Girona—it was a great place to decompress after the hustle and bustle of the larger cities of Barcelona and Valencia.  

Both tour guides were great, and helped us connect historically and culturally with the locations. Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, and Casa Mila were all amazing.  Casa Batllo was interesting but not as impressive.  We liked Ramon, our driver, very much.  He was friendly and helpful. The train accommodations worked well.

Thank you for you the bookings and recommendations.  There weren’t any mistakes in schedules, tickets, or reservations—great work.

Dear Olaia

Erin and I are sitting in the Barcelona airport and saying that the trip you planned was executed to 

perfection. Everything was organized timely, and well thought out. Our private tours were amazing. 

Gracias. 

Please do not hesitate to use us a referral. It would be our pleasure.

In 2018, we traveled throughout Spain and Portugal, along with a day in Tangier. Every aspect of our trip was expertly arranged by Totally Spain. We were pleased with the hotels, transportation, and guides. It truly was an excellent trip! If only Totally Spain could be replicated in every country!

Re-Produced from our Google Reviews

We want to thank you from the bottom of our traveling hearts for our magnificent vacation. The arrangements you made were so excellent......

All three of us made it through with a thousand great memories of places, people, food, wine, museums, mosques, cathedrals, music choices on cab drivers' radios, unbelievably narrow streets, sacred processions, did I mention food and wine? We are recommending your agency to people we talk to here at home! 

Gracias muchisimas. 

Hi Olaia

This big THANK YOU is quite late from when it was due, but I still need to send it.  My husband, Daryl, and adult son, James, enjoyed their Totally Spain trip in October, 2017.  Everything you planned went perfectly.  The Toledo guide was particularly outstanding!  They enjoyed everything your recommended and Daryl said he would love to return to Spain someday.  He so very much enjoyed the rhythm of the country, the people and the food!  You do an excellent job.  Their accommodations were perfect.  Thank you, thank you.  You removed an enormous amount of stress regarding their travels!

Review from Yelp

Absolutely appreciative of Olaia from Totally Spain for organising a memorable family trip to Madrid, Segovia, Bilbao and Barcelona.  From wanting to see as much of the major cities to dining  at the World's oldest restaurant;  going up in a hot air balloon  to listening to the angelic voices of the Monserrat Boys' Choir, Olaia made it all happened within our 9 days there inclusive of recommended places that we were not initially aware of.   All spaced out in a comfortable pace.

Olaia put us in lovely apartments and hotels, all within walking distances to shops, museums and glorious food.

The guides like Esther Benito in Madrid,  Jose Manuel Calleja in Bilbao whom she arranged for us were all so amiable, well-articulated and imbues passion in their country's history and all it has to offer. Realizing that we enjoyed architecture, Jose went the extra mile to show us beautiful inspiring buildings along the Rioja Valley

Ewan from Devour Madrid brought to life the selected masterpieces at Prado Museum and making it such a memorable study of Spanish art history for my family. Coming from an country where we don't learn about European history nor its artwork, it's nice when your kids becomes fascinated and now have a favourite Velazquez painting .
In Barcelona, Mar Ramoneda  weaved her magic spell and turned what would have been an impossibly long day to see all 4 of Gaudi's masterpieces into an enchanting  one immersed in the genius of the architect .

The whole team is great, even  Jose the driver in Barcelona who picked us from the airport and subsequently saw us off,  made us feel so very  welcomed in his city and gave us great pointers on the type of cheese and  Jamon to enjoy.
Two Thumbs up to Totally Spain.

Review from Yelp

Total pleasure! We are experienced travelers - I've arranged complicated trips for my family for years - but traveling to Spain during the Christmas holidays on relatively short notice with an 81 year old mother? I knew I needed help. A visit to the Alhambra? They were sold out in September! I found a reference to Totally Spain online and started exploring their website. Shortly afterward, I made contact with Olaia and found my zen. After getting a thorough idea of what we were looking for, Olaia crafted an adventure from Madrid to Nerja, Granada, Seville and back to Madrid. She arranged private transfers, wonderful hotels, private tours, bicycle rentals, AVE tickets, museum passes, expert guides and even made dinner reservations for the holidays. She had great suggestions and was always available to bounce ideas off and answer any questions. The packet she sent was a thing of beauty - each city separated with corresponding maps (highlighting hotel and other important locations), detailed notes on sightseeing, history, restaurants and culture, and brochures for additional activities we might be interested in (Hamman in Granada!). All vouchers, passes, AVE tickets, etc were printed and included for easy access. Every driver, guide and tour, met us promptly and exactly where we expected. And they were all professional, personable and a pleasure. There were never any confusion or wasted time. I loved that Olaia could help me with whatever parts of the trip I wanted. We had her book hotels for us, but there would have been no problem if we had decided to airbnb it. And their website and blog has a wealth of information. The holidays can be stressful. Planning a trip is stressful. The trip itself can be stressful. We had none of that. We had Olaia, and we had a great time!

Thank you for all your help with our holiday. We had a fantastic time. The Christmas meal in our hotel was fantastic, the food and staff were amazing. The private transfer was lovely too.

We are thinking of where to go for our next Spanish trip.

Just a quick note to thank you again for organising another excellent holiday for us in Catalonia. Everything went very well - the car was fine and the hotels were all excellent. The Hotel San Jorge in Platja D'Aro was a different kind of experience for us from the paradors, but we liked it very much too.

I hope to get in touch again in 2018; maybe starting again in Santander and going further over towards Santiago.

Thank you so much for all the arrangements you made for us. We had a wonderful trip. The hotels were perfectly located, attractive, clean, comfortable, and well staffed. We felt very well cared for. Your restaurant selections were excellent. We loved all of them! 

Our drivers Javier and Alberto plus Ismael were excellent. We loved the Flamenco show. Great artistry!

The trains were all good and on time. Overall this was a fabulous trip!  We enjoyed it so much! Everything worked perfectly thanks to your attention to detail, knowledge, and excellent connections. I would happily recommend you and Totally Spain to anyone.

My wife and I fly out of Madrid tomorrow heading home with great memories of a wonderful holiday in Spain behind us.

Much of the holiday was organised by you so I need to thank you very much. The accommodation was first class, the restaurants were amazing and the tourist information was all extremely useful.

Thank you Olaia, you are a very professional, top class, tour consultant and I am most grateful for everything you did to make our visit to Spain so wonderful.

Estoy de regreso en Honduras y por este medio quiero expresarles las gracias por la coordinacion del viaje que hicimos desde Oviedo,Santander, Bilbao a San Sebastian. Espana tiene sitios, ciudades y pueblos bellisimos, llenos de historia, de gastronomia y de personas muy amables. Disfrutamos mucho nuestra estadia en su hermoso pais. Los felicito por el profesionalismo con el que trabajan y esperamos en un futuro cercano volverlos a contactar.  

Our trip was wonderful! I was amazed that everything worked as planned. The drivers were always on time. The tour guides were waiting for us and they knew so much!! They were patient and answered all our questions. We loved the hotels especially in Seville and in Granada. I must admit that Granada was my favorite place and my favorite hotel. The receptionists at the hotel there were so pleasant and willing to help.

I want to thank you for organizing such a great trip. My only regret was that we didn’t spend more time in each city, but that encourages us to go back and spend more time in Spain. Thank you for such a well organized trip. We appreciate your service and consideration. We hope to plan another trip with you.

Sincerely,
Cora Five and Richard Ditoro
 

Ken, Our daughter Kari, Mary Ann and me had a wonderful trip in Spain. 
I am not sure a vacation can get much better. Our only regret was we all wished we could have stayed a little longer. Your itinerary, hotel selection, food outings and our cooking class was simply superb.  
 
And yes we remembered Oriol from our last visit. Oriol was great. His insights and taking us to places we would not otherwise see made our trip incredibly memorable. 
 
Well this is the third time we have used Totally Spain. We heartily recommend your company to our friends and family and some of them have already taken advantage of your services.
 
We look forward to booking another trip with you.
 
Thank you so very much
 

My wife and I have just returned home from a wonderful 2 month holiday on Spain. It included a Parador tour and spending time in Madrid, San Sebastian, Salamanca, Seville, Cadiz, Ronda, Malaga. The trip was largely organised by Olaia and we are very grateful to her for the result. It all went perfectly. She gave us very helpful information on everywhere we went and booked wonderful accommodation and great restaurants.

Review reproduced from our Facebook Reviews 24/10/2017

Ana, I just wanted to follow up on the trip we booked with you and let you know what a wonderful experience it was for my family. 

The package you sent to us was remarkably helpful, so well organized and frankly thorough. Normally i would do a bit of research, and i didnt have time for this trip, but frankly i came away feeling that we had seen everything we wanted to see and it was all quite remarkable. 

The paradors I had always wanted to visit and they didn't dissapoint! It was so hot that having those swimming pools turned out making me a savior to my wife and daughter.

oh yes and Antonio was a great guide. 

thanks again, i will be recommending you to anyone i know planning a trip

We had an excellent experience with this company! They provided so much information and were exceptionally well organized.

Review reproduced from our Facebook page dated 09/08/2017

Dear Olaia, We are now safe back home in Norway, and I am writing to you to thank you for all the work you did for us making this a fantastic holiday!! It just could not have been better!

- There was no mistake any places during the 11 day long trip!
- The hotels you had found for us was better than expected!
- The locations of the hotels couldn't have been better!
- The activities you had found was just what we wanted.

If you at any time need a reference for Norwegian customers asking you for
assistance for a Spain holiday, I will with out any doubt voucher for you
and your company.

Again, thank you so much for making this one of our best holidays ever!

Hello Olaia, I just wanted to let you know that Diane and I thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Spain.  It was everything that I had imagined, and more. Very beautiful and varied terrain. Thank you for coordinating so efficiently.  All drivers and guides were wonderful and very punctual, as well.  It was a journey I will never forget, and I will highly recommend you and Totally Spain for future reference. All of our accommodations were spectacular and people so friendly, too.

Review from Yelp

Olaia at Totally Spain shepherded us through the planning and customizing of our trip to 6 cities in Spain and Portugal.  The way our itinerary was laid out and coordinated showed the experience and connections that they have built.  Our guides were excellent, insightful people and our transport interfaced flawlessly.  We couldn't have been happier with the service provided and the quality of hotels.

Review from Yelp

Just completed a 3 week tour organised by Olaia and Ken from Totally Spain. The level of detail  and attention to detail of all the plans and arrangements was fantastic. Our trip included a walk on the Camino,and a self drive trip through Northern Spain and Portugal. The hotels and Paradores that we stayed in were fantastic, with sea, castle or cathedral views.The transfers to and from the airport were fantastic and all the maps and driving directions ensured we didn't get lost and found out hotels easily. The suggestions for things to do and see and places to eat were also very helpful. The itinerary was well balanced and thought has been put into driving distances and the time we spent in each place. We highly recommend Totally Spain and we aim to book another trip with them.

Olaia from Totally Spain organised our honeymoon in Spain for my wife and I.  We had a basic idea of what places we wanted to go to and how much time to spend in each place. However we also had some time constraints and knew we wouldn’t be able to go to as many places as we would have liked and Olaia’s advice helped us to decide on where to go.

We wanted a mix of self travelling but with some tours for some key attractions. We gave Olaia an idea of the style of accommodation we wanted and the kind of things we wanted to see. She was able to organise a really awesome trip for us, with activities spaced out at a good pace and the style of accommodation we were wanting. As she had mentioned that we were on honeymoon we were given free upgrades at quite a few locations.

The tours that she organised were really informative and enjoyable; the tour guides really knew what they were talking about!

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Olaia for anyone planning a trip to Spain.

Review reproduced from our Facebook page 13 July 2017