Luxury Portugal Trip Review: Lisbon, Douro Valley, Porto, Cooking Class, Food Tour, Port Tasting, Hiking

Review by traveler

Jean P.

4.28.2023

General Info

Traveler Review

Which Country (Countries) did you visit on this trip?

Portugal

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

We had a wonderful trip. The itinerary and guides were amazing. However, the “book” that was provided had several inaccuracies. The first day of our trip, we went to a port tasting and they had no record of our appointment. After we showed them our itinerary, they graciously allowed us to continue. It turns out the tasting was booked for the next day. In the Douro, we had a reservation at DOC for dinner. We called to confirm it, and they had no record of our reservation. Our last day, the driver did not show up to take us to the airport. We took a cab.

What were the most enjoyable or memorable parts of your trip?

We loved the food class in Lisbon. Leonora was wonderful. Also the “foodieTour” in Porto and the hike in the Douro. All our guides were wonderful and our entire experience was amazing.

If you could take your trip again, what would you do differently?

Maybe I wouldn’t schedule a large lunch and dinner on the same day. Also, allowing a time to rest in the afternoon.

Travel Company Comments:

Dear Jean,
I would like to take this chance to thank you for your review and kind words. We truly appreciate the feedback given regarding the highlights of the trip, as well as what did not go as planned.
I’d like to apologize for any slip up that occurred during your trip. We’re normally known for our attention to detail, and we regret that we missed the mark on those two moments you highlighted. This is on us. At our travel company, we always aim to deliver a great experience, so it leaves us gutted when we don’t meet our clients’ expectations and learn that these mistakes may affect the overall feeling, they have regarding itinerary we designed specifically for them.
When it comes to the fact that the driver did not show up for the transfer on the day of your departure, please know that your situation was an exception. As you can see on other reviews, we are known for taking ownership and caring deeply about our clients, so this also applies to the services provided by our partners. Also know that we immediately expressed our dissatisfaction with the situation to our partners responsible for your transportation on that day, and they were truly sorry for the mistake made. Unfortunately, there was an internal communication problem, and the driver went to the wrong hotel to wait for you. Again, although this situation was out of our control, my deepest apologies for the inconvenience.
We will use the feedback you left to make us better and to ensure this doesn’t happen again. I hope you return to Portugal soon (there’s so much more to see and explore) and give us the pleasure of designing a wonderful new experience!
Respectfully,
Mariana