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Travelsphere Reviews

2.5 Rating 36 Reviews
28 %
of reviewers recommend Travelsphere
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About Travelsphere:

Travelsphere offers unrivalled choice, with more than 300 escorted holidays available in more than 70 countries. Choose from favourites such as France, Italy and the US; take an unforgettable trip to China, India or Australia; or go off the beaten track to less-well-known but equally fantastic gems. Our brochures for 2012-13 include Great Sights of the World, Great Sights of Europe by Coach & Rail, Great Sights of Europe & the Middlle East and Cruise Collection, and all of the featured holidays are available on this website.

Phone:

0844 318 8132

Location:

Travelsphere, Compass House, Rockingham Road, Market Harborough
Leicestershire
LE16 7QD

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Anonymous
Anonymous  // 01/01/2019
Filter: Helpful None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful
S. Binepal
Verified Reviewer
“Travelsphere is the worst company I have used Tour Name: Chile, Argentina & Brazil Rio Carnival Winners' Parade with Rio Add-on Departure Date: 05 February 2018 It took us two days, four airports to get to the start of our tour and then additional four days to get our luggage. We spent most of days shopping for essentials rather than enjoying our holiday. I had paid £8,000 for this holiday. 1) Travelshere tried to take money out my account twice. I had to contact my bank to get the transaction number to prove to them that I had paid. 2) Three weeks before departure they completely changed our flights ( presumably they got a cheaper deal) 3) Sent to us to wrong terminal for our flight, had to rush over to the right terminal 4) Madrid was snowed under, so the flights were delayed and there was no way we were going to make the connection, so they split the group. The main group was sent direct to destination from London and two couple with Indian names were sent to Madrid, knowing well that they were not going to make the connection. 5) The guide went with the main group and we were left to organise our way to the destination. 6) After four airports, endless queuing and two days we got to our destination ( so we lost two days holidays and the excursion), minus the luggage. No glutton free meals, so my wife traveled long distance without any food. 7) It took five days to get our luggage, so we spent most our spare time shopping for essentials in foreign land with limited local language skills. No help from any one. 8) When I complained, I got this terse letter while I am on holidays. Unfortunately, I can’t copy and paste this letter, which would have conveyed their attitude to whole mess. There were so many issues that I can’t list all of them. Needless to say I shared my experience of this company with my family, friends, work colleagues and fellow travelers.”
Helpful Report
Posted 6 years ago
Meldah
Verified Reviewer
“We had just got on the coach, after a long flight, when the tour manager said we had to pay 65 dollars to her and 40 dollars, to the driver at the end of the tour ,for their tips, there was 32 of us that's a lot of dollars , on woman had her 3 adult children ,she couldn't afford to pay this 420 dollars one retired man said the same as did several others, one young couple rang her father in uk to complain,and to say they would not be paying over 200 dollars, this guide Liz Moran on best of the west was, rude ,obnoxious,uninterested in the group, I asked how many miles to a tour her abrupt reply was I don't do miles,another day after a tour that was included but myself and a few others did not want to continue on to an optional tour , I said do we go back to the hotel ,by ourselves her reply, if your not coming on this tour,your on your own ,make your own way back, I'm not responsible for you,people were constantly being reprimanded for being, a few minutes late, one elderly man with mobility problem and a lady ,with multiple sclerosis, several people said this guide spoilt our holiday, she put our names on seats going out for trips we were not able to choose, she gave us a print off she typed up, to say use soap when you wash your hands,several people intend to complain.she spent more time on the coach playing with her phone, she had no interest in us .”
Helpful Report
Posted 7 years ago
John Messingham
Unverified Reviewer
“Having used Travelsphere twice there's one consistent complaint, far too regimented, lots of rushing, early (before 6:30am) starts. People are herded like cattle!”
Helpful Report
Posted 5 years ago
Anonymous
Unverified Reviewer
“My holiday started with travelsperes rep Jane telling me off in front of a full coach load of guests being picked up from the airport, because I hadn't done what she'd ORDERED me to do. I had pre-booked a quiet room (for health reasons) so when I found myself in a room with constant heavy traffic passing I asked the hotel management to move me to a quieter room, which they where willing to do. That is untill they informed travelsperes rep Jane what they where doing. Jane then informed me that I could not be moved as there was nothing wrong with the room. This is only the start of the holiday, I wonder what disappointment the rest of this travelspere holiday will bring.”
Helpful Report
Posted 6 years ago
Ray Robertson
Verified Reviewer
“My review relates to the Travelsphere's JustYou The Classic Danube Experience holiday taken 18th -28th July 2018. The ‘Just You’ brochure completely misrepresented the entire holiday The brochure rated the ship as four stars This is I believe is a wildly inaccurate statement. The ship was shabby in appearance compared to others on the river with dirty and scratched windows and a general air of poor maintenance and care. The facilities described in the brochure as café, library and boutique were, in reality, a drinks machine shelf and cupboard. There was no access to the sun deck for 3 days due to low bridges, however, there was no warning prior to the booking of this holiday and the other outside space at the front of the ship was extremely limited and occupied by smokers. Consequently, I felt compelled to stay in my cabin or sit in the lounge area. The ship always seems to moor away from the central moorings used by the likes of Viking always leaving us with a considerable walk to reach locations. In the case of the starting point in Vienna the ship moored in a location that allowed no opportunity to quote ‘step ashore to take in some of the sites etc as promised in theJustYou travel documents. The food served aboard the ship was poor and often served tepid. Menus lacked imagination or variety. Most of the main courses were deep fried, the soup that was served with every lunch and dinner was at best packet soup standard but frequently found to be inedible. There were no attempts to reflect local dishes and as we had NO opportunity to dine ashore there was no opportunity to sample any local cuisine. The wine by the glass list was limited to the ‘house’ red, white or rose of unknown origin. In the restaurant, one could purchase full bottles of other wines, however, although any wine not consumed was returned at the next sitting you were not allowed to take this to the lounge area or your cabin. Although the dining room staff worked extremely hard and were very customer focused they lacked direction with one half of the table served promptly while the other half of the table waited for a long period for their food. Consequently, meals often took over 2 hours to complete. On one occasion due to another change in the itinerary, we were provided with a ‘packed lunch’. This consisted of, two bread rolls filled with a small amount of lettuce, a sliver of tomato and one slice of ham from the breakfast buffet, a bar of confectionary, a small piece of brownie, a small tetra juice, water and an apple. This not the standard of food I expect to consume on my ‘4-star’ holiday. I consigned mine to the bin. JustYou promised us diverse, colourful and educational entertainment. Excepting the Crew Cruise show one evening the entertainment consisted of a keyboard player who had a limited repertoire and who made NO attempt to engage or interact with the audience. At times this and the general ambience of the lounge area made me feel as though I had been transported to a poor care home. As the lounge was the only available communal area, to ‘escape’ the only option was an early return to the cabin. There were no visits to the Captain's bridge and the promised musical quiz did not take place (the explanation being too many languages on board). Additionally, there was only one-afternoon tea( promised every day), and this was on our arrival. The advertised Captains cocktail event offered no cocktails but just one glass of what I believe was Prosecco. The Cruise Director (in name only} had no interaction with the passengers and was completely disinterested in our problems. His principal activity was to count people on and off buses and on one occasion having satisfied himself that someone was missing, insisted that we drive off without them. The Management of the ship were aware of the operational problems faced in advance of the start of the holiday ( low water levels on the Danube) but had made no contingency plans to remedy or mediate the impact of these issues. To those on board, it seemed that the primary purpose of the revised itinerary, which changed on a regular basis, was to arrive at Mainz on time to the detriment of our holiday experience. Excursions were rushed with little time to see or appreciate the places visited. On one occasion the returning buses were unable to locate the ship which had moved. When the ship was ‘found’ and we had left the buses it was discovered that the gangway gate was locked and that no one on board had a key. The buses by now had departed so we sweltered in the 34-degree sun for some 25 minutes until a key was located. This was without a doubt the worst holiday experience I have ever had. What though has made the whole thing much worse is Travelspheres total failure to accept that it bore any responsibility for what was delivered or to compensate me adequately ( £200 has been offered). Their customer service is dreadful falling back on terms and conditions to defend their position and displaying arrogance and total lack of empathy for what we experienced. This was for me an expensive holiday( £1800+) and following some serious health problems in the preceding year one that I was really looking forward too. I conclude by advising strongly that this company and its holidays are avoided.”
Helpful Report
Posted 5 years ago
Anonymous
Unverified Reviewer
“Wife ill in China, tour guide not interested a jot. Garbage.”
Helpful Report
Posted 5 years ago
Anonymous
Verified Reviewer
“We had to drop out of a tour on day 9 of a 17 day tour, due to one of us testing covid+. We were obliged by Travelsphere to discontinue the tour and rudely dismissed by our hopelessly incompetent tour guide. We were left at a suburban hotel with a fellow passenger aged 75 and all alone, also quite ill with covid. The tour guide wrongly told the hotel we were all covid positive (then later denied it), which meant we were asked to leave the hotel when the patients could barely walk. Fortunately one of us who stayed was healthy and was able to take the patients for testing and medical care, find a new hotel, get food for them, and make alternate travel arrangements. That healthy person gets no reimbursement whatever. Travelsphere management failed to send a cancellation letter until at least two weeks after it was requested, which they were told repeatedly was required by insurance for any coverage. Thus we were obliged to pay for all our alternate arrangements, testing, meds, and travel out of pocket (over £2000). The wording of their letter implied it was our choice to leave the tour which means we may not receive any reimbursement whatever. These people are not only incompetent, but they actively avoid anything but lip service, hiding behind their telephones. Transatlantic phone calls with Travelsphere cost us over £100 because they took ages answering and then talked non stop about how none of it was their liability. No interest in whether anyone was truly ill. Good luck with this lot if you ever have a medical emergency on their tours. By the way, Travelsphere, your hot mess of a tour guide on that National Parks tour really ruined our experience with her non stop drivel and complete lack of knowledge of the places we went. She prolonged each day by at least two hours by misdirecting the driver, and expected us to sit on a bus from 7:30am to 6pm each day, then find our own dinner. Horrible tour, even without Covid. Her racist comments (preserved in an email you are welcome to view) resulted in our blocking her further correspondance, so perhaps that's why she's never sent us the promised day tour refunds?”
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
Malcolm
Verified Reviewer
“I booked a trip for 4 people to do the best west tour in April. I have just received a leaflet from travelsphere with an offer for my trip. ( £125 per person off + free flight upgrade ) I phoned travelsphere to ask why they thought it necessary to tell me I could have got the holiday cheaper and an upgrade if I did not book so early. I booked early as I was told this trip sells out quickly as it is very popular. The agent was particularly unhelpful and refused to directly answer my questions and offered no explanation or sympathy. I feel like I have been misled and cheated and my family and friends will not use travelsphere again. Do not book early .”
Helpful Report
Posted 5 years ago
Sandra
Verified Reviewer
“I went to Colombia on a tour. Two of the hotels were sub standard. One of them was on a cattle farm and the roof in the bedroom leaked. The other was described in the brochure as four star. It was not. It was in a thatched hut halfway up a mountain in the middle of the jungle. The toilet was outside, down some wooden steps with no lighting so we were given a torch. Imagine as a single person dashing down some slippery wooden steps in the middle of the night with a torch in one hand and an umbrella in the other. As the trip was so expensive it worked out to £250 per day, I complained because the brochure was wrong and the accommodation in these two hotels was awful. I complained to the company, but they did not take it seriously. Despite the fact that I have been with Travelsphere before, I will certainly never go with them again. To be so expensive the accommodation needs a minimum standard and should be as described in the brochure.”
Helpful Report
Posted 6 years ago
Lorraine Dowey
Verified Reviewer
“Tour to Deep South departing 2 October cancelled start of August and advised refund would take 3 months, 4 months have passed and still no refund. Extremely poor customer service and doubtful if I will book again”
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Anonymous
Unverified Reviewer
“Hi I also booked early for a tour. 2 months later I received a brochure that said if I booked before July I could have free transport to the airport if I lived within 70 miles of the airport. I phoned up and said I had booked my holiday before July. I was told it was only applicable when the brochure came out , but I read the small print and it didn't mention that at all. I was also told I lived more than 70 miles away. That was a joke as I live a lot less than that. They then said it was up to the company doing the driving to say which way they would go and they made it more than 70 miles. The route. I live on a straight route down the M4 to Heathrow, the way they would have gone was using back roads and weaving across the M4 and back again. What a joke. Due to set off on holiday soon. I hope the holiday is as good as I am expecting or I won't be using them again.”
Helpful Report
Posted 5 years ago
Anonymous
Unverified Reviewer
“Using London City airport was very convenient for me. The tour covered an area of Spain I wanted to see. The coach driver was good although he didn’t help anyone down from the coach as I’ve experienced with other drivers. The hotels were listed as 4* but the food was below par. I think they serve a different menu for tour groups depending on how much the company is prepared to pay. We seemed to be served in the basement which didn’t add much charm to the very average food.”
Helpful Report
Posted 5 years ago
Cherry Elkins
Verified Reviewer
“I`ve taken several tour holidays in the past but I have to say when it comes to tour guides Anne Murray beats them all. She and Philip the coach driver made the holiday superb. The tour was Ultimate Western Explorer our booking reference : A330782”
Helpful Report
Posted 7 years ago
Linda
Verified Reviewer
“We had a great holiday with them last year. Booked agin this year and have been disgusted how we have been treated. They sent an e-mail early June to say we needle to pay the remainder of the money. As soon as the money had been transferred they cancelled our holiday (2 days later) . I'm sure they knew the holiday was not going ahead, we are having loads of trouble to get the money back, and they won't even answer emails properly, just send out a standard one. Will not use them again, DISGUSTED”
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Anonymous
Unverified Reviewer
“Grand Tour Italy 2019. Would never4 use this company again. Sold us this tour telling us tat we could see the colosseum, Rome. So excited. When we arrived Aideen informed us we would be "able to see it from a distance but would not be able to make a real visit as you have to book that back in the UK" The disappointment was also a shock. DO NOT USE THIS SILLY COMPANY CALLED TRAVELSPHERE! After they have your money, you are left to fend for yourself. We could see pictures of the colosseum sat at home but we were led to believe we were actually going to have a proper life experience. SHAME ON YOU TRAVELSPHERE. DISGUSTING NASTY TRICKS!!!”
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Mr A Cairns
Verified Reviewer
“Travelsphere offshoot Just You treated my father in law extremely poorly. He was abandoned at the airport by the courier when his baggage went missing on arrival at Toulouse and had to find his way alone, aged 82 with mobility problems, via public transport, to the hotel. No apologies, no duty of care and no recompense. The company's approach to the issue has arguably been worse than the initial failings. As his family, our advice would be to avoid this company like the plague.”
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Trudie Thomson
Verified Reviewer
“My daughter and I have just returned from a Travelsphere trip to the Amalfi Coast. The Hotel Villa Romana in Minori, where we were stayed, was excellent and beautiful. The staff were very friendly and efficient, and the facilities were great. Breakfast was self service and offered a good range of options. Dinner was mainly good. Eating on a table with six strangers was not ideal. We did gradually get to know our fellow travellers, but we did eat at other restaurants on two evenings, preferring to eat a deux. We took advantage of two of the included trips to Amalfi/Ravello and to a winery, and one optional trip to Positano. The tour guide and the driver were excellent but two hours in each place was not really enough.”
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Anonymous
Verified Reviewer
“Just returned from Travelsphere’s Taste of Medieval Italy tour. Really disappointed. Stayed in Lido degli Estensi Hotel Plaza. Hotel was very dated and as was the whole resort which was only open for the first day of our holiday. Apparently 14th September is the end of season which is not mentioned in the brochure. Nothing to do in the resort at night, beach deserted, all sun beds were put away even though weather was good. Also the resort is overrun with mosquitos this time of year and we were badly bitten, particularly in the hotels restaurant as the windows were left open, you could see them buzzing around. Food in the hotel was very disappointing, you had to choose from a menu the day before which was sometimes very limited. Often food arrived over cooked or cold and not a lot of choice. We chose the excursion package which sounded interesting only to find ourselves having to get up at 6.30 every morning as everywhere was at least a 2 hour drive from the hotel. On arrival the tours were long and in depth, it felt very specialised, not what we were expecting. By the time the tours were over and we were given free time to explore, everything had closed for siesta, only opening as we were on our long journey home. Each excursion was described as moderate walking, we in fact covered at least 5 miles a day on these tours, is that classed as moderate. This holiday was quite expensive and I feel the description in the brochure was misleading. If I had known we were travelling out of season and the amount of time we would be spending travelling on a coach up and down the same road every day, we would have chosen something else. I have just had a conversation with James a Customer Care Executive with Travelsphere who stated they would not be using this hotel or resort next year due to the excessive travelling. He was very dismissive of my concerns, felt I had no reason for complaint and was quite unhelpful. I have travelled with Travelsphere on numerous occasions over the years, this is the first time I have had reason to complain and feel they were not very helpful at all. If this is how they treat their regular customers, I will not trust them again. Very disappointed.”
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Anonymous
Unverified Reviewer
“Christmas in the Cinque Terre 2018. Lovely hotel; great bedroom with large balcony overlooking the gardens, the sea, and with a view across to Santa Marguerita Ligure. Excellent breakfasts. Mostly excellent evening meals with fish each evening. Great itinerary. Made the most of all opportunities to explore in my own way, not in a large group. Downside: 40 people in total is not my type of holiday. Required by the Tour Manager to sit on the same table for 8 each meal time so very limited opportunity to socialise across the whole group. Treated like someone with dementia - being given the same information (not always correct information) at least 5 times.”
Helpful Report
Posted 5 years ago
Carol
Verified Reviewer
“we have just got back from america doing the glorious west, it went from bad to very bad. it started when we arrived our tour guide julie met us at the airport and she kept us waiting for ages for more people that never turned up. we then met then coach driver who never smiled the whole two weeks. when we went out in the coach the guide never spoke to us, infact she was seen watching americas got talent by another guest and was over heard saying to the coach driver that she wasent interested when he was telling her about some things that we was passing, she did put a dvd on once about a cult because she wanted to see it, when we had rest breaks it was never anywhere very interesting but it always had to have a burger place, not everyone likes burgers. the day before we came home she became very friendly, i wonder why, by now most of us had enough of her, the day of the flight home, tobias the coach driver took us to the wrong terminal at the airport, when he was told by a guest, his reply was well i will have to go round again and if we are late we are late, as for julie she couldnt even be bothered to say good bye to some of us. This holiday has not put me of travelsphere, as last year we did the deep south and stephen from liverpool was our guide he was smashing so was the coach driver and a couple of years ago we did italy were aideen was our guide again both her and the coach driver was really good,”
Helpful Report
Posted 6 years ago
Travelsphere is rated 2.5 based on 36 reviews
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