“Just booked our third trip with Exoticca. Initial computer search prompted a phone call from Mali.
Discussed various options and a detailed itinerary emailed. A wee bit of clarification over the phone this evening and our trip to Jordan and Egypt is now organised. Some discount having traveled with Exoticca before, which is very welcome.
The prices of the tours are very competitive and we’ve always felt great value. Very full itineraries in our previous escapes, packing I as much as we could.
We have experienced minor issues previously but nothing that ever spoiled our holiday.”
“The price is ok regarding our trip to Jordan. However, it took several phone calls to ask questions and book our future holiday. I waited for call backs which didn’t come so I had to call again. The price went up slightly! I never did get the answers, I was told I had to book and then ask customer service the questions. It totally confused the booking process and staff as we added extra days. They could not tell me what was included in our extra days, eventually I found out via customer service that our accommodation dinners are not included, and we have to make our own way back to the airport.”
Hello Sally,
Thank you for your review, and we’re sorry to hear that you’re experiencing challenges ahead of your trip.
We can see that an agent has contacted you today and is currently in direct communication with you.
Thank you for your patience.
Regards,
Exoticca
“I been helped by Carlos, he was great, very helpful and understanding.
He managed to give me an extra discount! ☺️
I will going to book my next trip with him too.”
Hi Eva,
We’ll continue to strive to provide exceptional products/services and outstanding customer care to make every interaction with us remarkable.
Regards,
Exoticca
“Great selection of holidays and destinations that are a bit more adventurous. The only issue I had was trying to pay in full on line it kept saying I could pay 60% and the balance at a later date so I ended up phoning the helpline. The agent I spoke to was very cute ours and helpful.”
“Great selection of holidays and destinations that are a bit more adventurous. The only issue I had was trying to pay in full on line it kept saying I could pay 60% and the balance at a later date so I ended up phoning the helpline. The agent I spoke to was very cute ours and helpful.”
“Lauren , your agent was very helpful and clear. Thank her . But I cannot access your app , I either get three endless dots or (with the ‘magic link’ a never ending message saying log in in process .”
“I have already been on two trips with Exoticca and now booked my third trip. We have been very happy with them and cannot fault them apart from few minor things , apart from that everything was executed in professional manor and very supported during every stage of the trip. Hence we feel confidence to travel with tem.”
Hello Natalie,
Thank you again for your 5-star rating and for being an amazing part of our journey. Your continued support means everything to us, and we can’t wait to exceed your expectations every time you choose us.
Regards,
Exoticca
“We usually book our holiday flights, hotels and tours independently but the Exoticca deal for your trip to Namibia was too good to miss. Helpful booking process through their agent Mila which was better than some other agents we spoke to earlier in the process which involved various pricing changes. Lets see if our trip is as enjoyable as booking through Mila!”
“The sales rep Carolina was extremely helpful with my booking. I’ve travelled with Exoticca a few times and I’m always happy with my experience. I would highly recommend them.”
“We had a 9 night stay in Peru booked through Exoticca which was then run locally by Condor Travel. Peru was lovely and some of the individual guides we had were brilliant but the organisation and overall experience of the tour were awful from the start.
A brief overview
- inconsistent communication leading to massively stressful errors you have to resolve independently
- bizarre organisation of group transfers with little thought into how early some transfers are which result in feeling like everyone has a different experience of the tour
- new guides and drivers every day/activity
Day 1:
We arrived and were given a two page itinery with pick up times. Our guide told us we could ask her any questions about the trip and then gave us individual times for a transfer to our tour the next day (which was not on the itinery). We asked about when we would receive tickets for internal flights and she told us we needed to check in for that ourselves. This was incorrect information and us trying to check in resulted in a problem with the tickets and Condor travel could not check us in.
Day 2: We got up early due to the time the guide had told us the day before only to learn this was an orientation meeting and we had the opportunity to get breakfast between that and out tour. During the orientation the guide tried to upsell several other excursions through condor travel. Our tour for this day was adapted due to a strike in Lima (unavoidable but not communicated before) which meant we missed out on seeing Lima’s historical landmarks.
Day 3: 2.30 am transfer to the airport for Cusco where we had to resolve our own ticket issues at the airport. We were provided no reassurance by Condor travel that this would be sorted and were informed that the guide would help us once all other travellers were checked in. The rest of the day went smoothly but the whole group was put on different transfers. The hotel additionally was mis advertised as having a pool.
Day 4: Machu Picchu – mostly went okay. We had learnt the day before that the breakfast boxes provided by the hotels we were booked in were awful (a small cheese sandwich on stale bread with bruised fruit and a juice box) so we had managed to buy our own lunch. Our guide Alicia was excellent and very informative, we really enjoyed the visit. The only difficult part of the day was waiting around in the town for the later train when others in our group had an early train. We didn’t get back to the hotel until 10pm with a 7am transfer the next day.
Day 5: Sacred valley tour. We got our first and only breakfast at the hotel which was not very good and not what you would consider a continental breakfast. The sacred Valley tour run by Ruth was lovely she was another excellent guide, very patient with our group and we actually had an excellent buffet lunch that day. Unfortunately when we arrived in Cusco we were presented with a twin room, the hotel were apologetic but had no doubles available. Exoticca/Condor travel were not helpful and we learnt they had requested the change for this and subsequent hotels.
Day 6: We spent in Cusco which was lovely. Breakfast continued to be bad but that meant we were able to enjoy the food in the city. We had to contact Condor travel/Exoticca again about our room for the next night and they seemed unaware of previous communication or that they were supposed to contact us. Instead I contacted the next hotel myself.
Day 7: Touristic bus to puno – long drive though lovely scenery so well worth it. Lunch was below our expectations. Arrived to the hotel to find that our room had only been changed to a double because of our communications with the hotel.
Day 8: Boat tout of Lake Tititacca – this was excellent and was the only day that nothing went wrong.
Day 9: transfer back to Lima – we arrived at the airport (with only two airlines) several hours early so felt like we missed out on time in either Puno or Lima
Day 10: We were supposed to have a 1.30am transfer to the airport (which was disappointing as some people got to spend a morning or even the whole day in lima), we were awoken at 12.50am by the front desk to inform us our Spanish only speaking driver was here. This turned out to be a private transfer and we were checked in, through security, and at out gate 3 hours before our flight so again felt this was unnecessarily early.
Overall would strongly discourage anyone from taking tours with Exoticca or Condor travel whilst also adding that Peru is a lovely country to visit with friendly people and excellent cuisine.
”
Hi,
We appreciate you sharing your experience. We understand your frustration regarding the transfer communication, flight assistance response time, and the hop-on-hop-off tour guidance. We're sorry the Cape Diamond Hotel did not meet expectations and for the inconvenience caused. We'll review these issues to improve our service and one of our agents will contact you shortly to gather more details about your experience.
Regards,
Exoticca
