Memorable trip but wouldn't use KimKim or Espiritu Travel again

Spain | Dec 20 - Jan 5, 2023

Hi Suzy, thank you for taking the time to send us your review, it is important to me. I was pleased to read that you had a memorable trip to Spain and Portugal, however I understand that you felt that I fell short in some areas. I would like to address those points if I may.

You mentioned that there were gaps in communication. I have referred back to our conversation in KimKim and I am not clear as to your meaning with gap as I can see that when you wrote to me, I always answered you back. I don't work on weekends so if you are referring to a time gap it could have been over a weekend or if your message came in late in the afternoon after I had gone home for the day. I was not on any vacation (except for one Friday, the 25th of Nov) from the time you inquired in Sep until I had my vacation starting on the 19th of Dec. Also I sent your detailed travel documents on the 1st of Dec for your trip departing on the 20th which is within our standard timeframe of 2-3 weeks before departure.

It is true, I was on family Christmas vacation during the time you were in Spain and Portugal, however I can see in the chat conversation in the app that when you wrote to us, one of my colleagues always responded to you in a timely manner. Over the holiday period, in addition to myself, there were several other people on Christmas vacation so the Espíritu Travel team work together to handle the travelers that are in country rather than have one person assigned.

In your itinerary, I provided lots of additional information for each place that you planned to travel including ideas for during your free time, information specific for the Christmas holiday as well as restaurant recommendations. I know the in and outs of each of the destinations that you visited but I am based in one location, in Madrid. In most of the places you visited, you had private tours with local guides who are always more than happy to also provide additional information and recommendations if you directly ask them. If there was a specific experience that you had in mind while we were planning the trip or even after you booked or during your trip, I would have been more than happy to have included it.

In regard to the difference in transfers, meaning ones that were included and not, the ones that were included were listed in the pricing summary before you booked your trip. Generally, we don't include the transfers to/from the train station because for longer trips such as yours with several train connections, it would increase the price so in order to keep within a stated budget, I did not include the transfer to/from the train station. However, if you had wanted them, I certainly could have added them but it was never indicated to me that you wanted all the transfers included. Even if after you had booked your trip and received your travel documents, if you had wanted to add them, I could have added them.

I personally spent Christmas last year with my family in Granada and I know that nothing was open on Christmas Day. One of the owners of Espíritu Travel has spent 3 New Year's Days in Porto and she confirmed to me that nothing is open on New Years Day. When you write ¨everything was open¨, do you mean that you were able to book an activity? The local guides with whom we work are not our employees, they can tell us what days they want to work and what days they don't. None of our local guides for those two places would confirm tours on Christmas Day or New Years Day. We only work with local guides who we know not Viator so I would not have just booked some random guide or tour for you.

In regard to the additional cost for these activities, I have seen in our conversation during the planning that you were asking me to lower the price so including more activities and or transfers would have increased the price.

All the hotels in which you stayed except the one in Porto have laundry services, I personally called the hotels. However, when I spoke to the Porto Charming Hotel, they told me they could send a person from the hotel to a nearby laundry with the your clothes. In regard to the laundry service at other hotels; Petit Palace Puerta del Sol confirmed to me by email (I can send you the email if you like) and by phone; Palacio de Santa Ines states on their website that they have laundry service; and both the Parador de Ronda and Be a Poet Baixa Hotel states on their websites that they have laundry service. So I am not sure why you were not able to have had your laundry done if you asked at reception.

If you refer back to the trip plan in KimKim, you are able to see that originally I had you booked on the fast train to go from Madrid to Granada. However, train tickets can only be booked 2 months in advance so on the day the tickets became available and I went in to purchase your tickets, the one and only morning train was already sold out because the 23rd of the Dec would have an very busy day for travel for Spanairds heading home for the holidays. So I booked a private transfer departing at 8,30 from Madrid so arriving to Granada early afternoon so you would have time to rest and have lunch. The Flamenco show was at 9pm so if you felt it was going to be too much for one day, one of colleagues could have changed it to a Flamenco show in Seville for example. Travelers have different styles of travel so I would need to know if you considered it too much for one day other travelers might not have considered it too much. Also, the venue for Flamenco is located in the historic part of Granada so it was in walkable distance from your hotel, 15 minutes.

In regard to the location of your rooms at the hotel and/or upgrades. Hotels would not be able to confirm to us the location of your particular room before arrival but if you needed a specific location such as lower floor or near an elevator, I would have been happy to have requested this with the hotel. I know that they wouldn't guarantee it to me but at least I could have made the request for you. There is always an option to upgrade a hotel room but again, during the planning phase of the trip, you wanted to keep the costs down but if you had wanted one, I could have certainly booked an upgrade for you. I requested two beds at each hotel which was reconfirmed just before your arrival. It is my understanding that after checking to the hotel in Porto that they did give you a hotel room with two beds. So all your hotel rooms had two beds as requested.

In Porto, when I sent you the revised trip plan after you asked me to include Porto, you went through each activity and put a a ¨like¨ next to day 11, 12 and 13. So indicating to me that you were ok with no activities for those days. In addition, one of the days was the first of Jan which as mentioned before we were not able to confirm activities for that day. My apologies for not suggesting activities for the 30th and 31st of Dec and that you had to organize them yourself. I would have been more than happy to organize them even after you had received your travel documents but I was under the impression that you were ok with having free days based on your feedback during the planning. Each traveler is different, some people want lots of activities and other don't so I have to rely on feedback from the traveler in order to know ones preference.

Lastly, I wanted to comment about the guided tour in Granada. This is a new experience (you were looking for local experiences, you mentioned) developed by the guide you had and we have had nothing but five star reviews, I am happy to go through our reviews to send them to you so you are able to ssee. I have reviewed our conversation regarding your questions about this tour, I never said it was a good fit for you, I only explained the details of the tour for you to decide if you wanted to included it or not.

I was saddened to read your review of me and Espíritu Travel given that you indicated that it was a memorable trip. You are able to see a near perfect rating of five stars for the company and myself. I always have the best interest of the traveler and to provide the best service possible so that they have memorable trips. I am sorry that you felt that I did not provide it, it certainly was not my intention.