argmom

I am currently getting itineraries and quotes from these 2 agencies. I was wondering if anyone has any experience or reivews that they could share with me on them for our trip to Spain.
Thanks,

Bedar

Why would you consider a tour company when you have your very own guide - your daughter ! She's meeting you in Madrid, no ? You'll enjoy your trip much more to have her hold your hand rather than some employee ! Be brave, be adventurous !! Have fun together !

ribeirasacra

Some question asked here:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ally-spain.cfm

argmom

My daughter has just arrived in Spain and she is in Seville. Of course she can show us around the area she knows, however we will actually be in Madrid and Granada for the first time together.

cruiseluv

A few months ago I contacted Totally Spain to obtain a proposal/quote for a self guided tour of a segment of the Camino de Santiago. Although they answered my emails I got minimal information and it was like pulling teeth to get a ball park quote. I gave them the approx dates of our travel but that apparently wasn't enough. When I had follow up questions of the accommodations, etc they curtly told me to contact them again when I had purchased my airfare. Furthermore, they wouldn't tell me what locations they use until I paid for the tour. Sorry, I don't operate with those kind of rules.
In the end, I planned my own itinerary, booked my accommodations, etc and all worked out perfectly and at a much lower cost. It's really not brain surgery.

Lougho

I used Totally Spain in June to plan a 4 night break to Barcelona after a friend recommended them. I have no complaints. I could have organised the trip myself I suppose but not as well and I liked the security of dealing with a travel agency. I dealt with Belen who was great and very knowledgeable. You can see her speaking here www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYRWxs78RzU

She booked us a lovely hotel, private transfers and arranged an excellent local tour guide with whom we also did a trip out to Montserrat and the Cordonu winery. Entrance tickets were pre-booked for us at various places so we never wasted time queuing. I asked Belen to recommend and make dinner reservations for us on two nights which she did and at excellent restaurants. We also saw a flamenco performance. She arranged to send a travel pack to our hotel with lots of useful information about the city. All round the service was great. I would definitely use Totally Spain again and am happy to recommend them.

lincasanova

Lougho.. what a shame you never did a trip report!! I see you just signed up!

Could you share the hotel and restaurant info? I'm sure everyone would love to see it as well as the 4 minute video about Totally Spain.

Lougho

We stayed at the Hotel America. It´s modern but it´s what we wanted and it´s very close to the Paseo de Gracia which Belen had suggested was a nice safe area and it is. We ate one night at a restaurant called Igueldo which is within walking distance of the hotel and it was lovely. On the other evening we had the tasting menu in the beautiful surroundings of the Hotel 1898 restaurant off the Ramblas. Must admit we were surprised when she suggested this but it was terrific and great value as Belen was able to obtain us a 50% discount on the price of the tasting menu. We paid 28 euros per person I think when it should have been 56 euros. A bargain. Our guide was a chap called Oriol and he was fantastic. Hope this helps.

lincasanova

thanks!

Bedar

As Cruiseluv said, planning your own trip isn't rocket science or brain surgery, but I suppose some people feel more comfortable being guided. We don't. If your daughter can make it to Madrid on her own, she should be able to navigate you through Madrid, Granada, and Seville. Have more confidence in her ! In researching places to see, restaurants to visit, etc., she is learning about Spain which should be the purpose of her stay. As a language teacher, I can tell you that one learns by doing - asking for directions to the train station, buying the tickets, getting to a hotel, ordering food, etc. But, your trip is short, and if a tour company smoothes the way, go for it !

joe4212

hi argmom

We used Lemon Valley a few years ago and were VERY happy with them. The tour was their Moorish Andalucía Train Journey. They made all arrangements from transfer by taxi from Malaga airport to our Granada hotel, all train journeys between Granada, Seville, Cordoba and back to Malaga. Their personalized (for us!) travel pack was terrific and all train tickets and vouchers came with it, including those for the Alhambra. I also have to say their organizing of the trip was wonderful and, due to a health condition at the time, they made arrangements with each hotel for particular foods to be available. They actually called us a few times to check all was going OK.

We used their ‘Character’ hotels and that was a great choice. We got well positioned rooms and loved the style of each of the hotels.

I’d use them again, without hesitation. If I recall correctly it is two British girls based in Malaga who own and operate the business.

If you’re interested here’s my trip report of the journey :

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...rip-report.cfm