Litsa,
Hi!!
These comments are intended to respond to your request for an evaluation as well as our desire to respond to you and Fantasy Travel regarding our Greece vacation.
Although I have expressed this before, it certainly deserves repeating. Your planning of our Greek Adventure was done with the highest professional quality and a most enjoyable personal touch. I have a very high appreciation for attention to detail (my work as a hospital case manager requires this commitment as well). The itinerary that you presented to us by the date of our departure was very clear, and Kate and I knew just what to expect. However, when Ms Diana met us at the airport and gave us an even more detailed itinerary with a packet of vouchers and tickets, we were truly amazed at how well we would be taken care of. This gave us a sense of security. Everything worked out just as it was indicated in this updated itinerary. Ms Nelly meeting us at the Athens airport to facilitate our transfer to Piraeus and then on our day of departure on the 26th was beyond what we anticipated but deeply appreciated.
The flights, boat rides, taxis, signage at meeting points were all timely and made the transitions from one place to the next convenient and greatly reduced the stress and fatigue associated with moving from one point to the next. All the hotels and B&Bs were excellent choices; each had their distinctive character and offered valuable assistance. Porto Columbo in Chania was charming with a delightful staff; Emerald was particularly helpful and so personable. Volcano View in Fira was an unbelievable facility the view of the Caldera was a constant inspiration and truly idyllic. The Mistral Hotel in Hydra was beautiful with all its art work and the most unique and generous of breakfasts.
Our Greek vacation was truly wonderful; every day we wrote an email to family and friends about the adventure, the odyssey we were having. This was our 5th vacation to Europe since 2006 and it will live in our treasure of memories with the brilliance of Greeks white and blue radiance. We are aware of how fulfilled and satisfied we are with this journey. Everything we wanted to do, prepared to do before our departure was achieved plus many more surprises what we call little gems like the Neo-Classical Mansion tour in Messaria. I took nearly 1700 photos. These will be cherished many times in the future. I look forward to sharing my experience with other people especially as I do my art and architecture presentations. On July 26th, I will be giving a presentation on Art History for the Tourist: Art and Architecture of Greece. Now, with firsthand experience, this presentation will be greatly enriched.
So, our deepest thanks to you, Diana, Nelly and all of Fantasy Travel for a service excellently done. We enjoyed the Santorini wine and the opportunity to meet you personally.
Regarding any negative feedback, there is only one experience to reference. When inquiring about having a cart to assist with luggage from Hotel Mistral to the dock on our day of departure, Jenny raised the issue that the fee for the cart is Euro 10 roundtrip. This led to a discussion about payment for Socrates meeting us at the dock on the day of our arrival which Jenny said she was not paid for by Fantasy Travel and did as a courtesy. If we wanted to use Socrates (who works for Hotel Mistral per Jenny), we would need to pay for this return service. This led to a further discussion regarding our single payment to F.T. and that we did not know what the payment arrangements were for each item on our itinerary. In the end, Jenny seemed to be saying that she would provide the service as a courtesy and take care of the payment to Socrates herself. But by that time, I was upset enough that we just took our luggage to the dock ourselves on the day of departure; this went easy enough. In summary, I felt Jenny was making an issue of a minor cost and that she should have worked that issue out with F.T. and not made it an issue with us. In summary, the incident was a sour note on a very good experience in Hydra and certainly Hotel Mistral is an excellent facility to keep utilizing. Jennys husband, Theofanos, is very friendly and engaging and his breakfasts are superb no two were the same. Jenny definitely has a more business edge which is also needed. So, I would recommend that this particular issue, using Socrates to meet guests and transfer luggage, be clarified with Jenny.
Know that Fantasy Travel will receive our highest recommendation, and best of all, to make sure that Litsa Christou is handling the preparations.
Feel free to use any of these comments for your website references and feedback.
With affection and kind regards,
Leon and Kate (Krier)