RUN AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!!
RUN AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!! Let me start by saying this is maybe the second negative review I've ever written. I have so many warnings for this company and I will post here daily just for the hopes that no one else goes through what I did, and pays way too much for what you receive. I spent 53 days on a cooking vacations itinerary, as it has always been my dream to spend 2 months learning to cook Italian cuisine. I trusted Lauren and her team because she seemed to have so much knowledge and information about the country. I told her my budget was $40,000 (based on her prices online, they're not even close) and she had already taken a $1000 deposit to start researching and planning for my trip. So when she finished her planning and told me the total was $59,500, I was shocked but she said it was the "trip of a lifetime." As a single female traveling solo, the first three hotels she put me at were completely isolated, with no restaurants, shops or activities within a 35 minute plus walk, and sometimes no access to anywhere without the host driving me personally. It was hard sometimes to figure out where I would have dinner. IMPORTANT!!! This pertains to my privately driven, private city tours of Amalfi and Ravello (solo tour), where my tour guide Alessio ASKED ME OUT while still on my tour, at the lunch that includes wine for the last part of the paid tour. He told me he could send my driver back to Positano, and he would personally take me back. This is an hour drive away. I declined, and luckily my driver called right at this moment to see if I was ready to leave. Alessio proceeded to take me to the hotel elevator to take me to garage to meet my (female) driver. When the elevator doors shut, he attempts to kiss me. I had to push both hands against his shoulders and turn my head to deflect this unwanted advance. The doors opened and I saw my driver, and he still attempts to hug me goodbye. I was in utter shock. I told my driver how he asked me out and she was appalled. This happened on a Sunday afternoon and I emailed Lauren Monday to tell her about the incident. Apparently, my driver had reported it Sunday, but Lauren acted like it was the first time hearing it on Monday, saying she wished I had told her Sunday so she could check on me. But she told me on a later phone call (accidentally I'm sure) that she knew Sunday about it. She wanted to get ahead of it with her law offices. Oh, and later offered me a complimentary lunch because of this. She also said they would never use him again but I coincidentally met two ladies later in the week on another cooking vacations tour that found out my story and realized they had Alessio as their guide as well after Lauren said she'd never use him again. This is just the beginning of my posts, and I will continue to write about the experiences I had daily, in the hopes that someone might take them seriously. I wish I had read the reviews first and maybe I could've saved 60k and not had some of these horrible memories.
By Kayla