The perfect family vacation to Spain and Portugal

Spain | May 21 - May 29, 2022

This hotel location was amazing, right on the water and cliffs of Fornells just outside the town of Begur. The views were incredible as was the service of the staff. The rooms and everything about the hotel were spot on. We would stay there again every time. My only very minor nitpick is the need for some type of casual dining. We had dinner there one evening and it was great, like a high end restaurant. But on other days after a busy day exploring the area, unless you have a car or take a taxi into Begur, you need to have a fine dining experience on site. Again, very minor and overall this hotel is awesome.

A perfect balance of a nice hotel well situated in Lisbon but affordable and not over the top 5 star where you feel you want to stay there to enjoy all the amenities vs. explore Lisbon. The staff was very helpful, suggesting restaurants and helping us access and print all our Covid test results so we could get back to the U.S.

James at KimKim booked us at the Madison and it was perfect for our needs. The location was fantastic, just a block from the Gothic historic district and easy walking to all the sites and restaurants. The staff was very gracious, warm and helpful and all spoke very good English which made it easy on us. We would stay there again in a heartbeat.

Olga welcomed us to Barcelona with our first experience in Spain. She gave a great tour, was very knowledgeable, incredibly friendly and spoke great English. It was a perfect way to begin our immersion into the city.

Eli (Elisabeth) was great to be with, giving us an in-depth tour into 2 of Barcelona's most famous landmarks, the Park Guell and Sagrada Familia. Both were amazing and Eli is an encyclopedia of knowledge of the sites. Even in times of stress when we couldn't find taxis to the sites (due to a Formula One race being in town), Eli ran all over to get transportation and make our trip a memorable one.

After 2 days of seeing Barcelona, it was a ton of fun to relax for a few hours in a private cooking class with Rosa. She was tremendous, highly engaging, obviously incredibly knowledgeable about cooking, and it would be hard to not think she was an American, her English is flawless which made communication excellent. She found the right balance of getting everyone involved to their level of experience and interest and was a treat to be with for 4 hours. A big hit on our trip.

Marguerida led us on a half day walking, eating tour of Lisbon and it was a lot of fun. It was our first experience in Lisbon so it was fun to begin to get a little immersion into the area. She did a great job of showing us around despite being rushed by our need to squeeze in Covid tests to be able to return to the U.S. Marguerida is studying tourism in college and will do great in the field. Very personable and knowledgeable.

If you want a great history lesson of Portugal while taking in the sites of the riverfront area of Lisbon, take a bike tour with Peter. He's exceptional, gave us a great tour, is very outgoing and knows EVERYTHING about Portugal. All from someone who was born in England from Portugese parents and has returned to his family's homeland to teach others about the country. It was a fantastic day and great experience.