"A villa beyond our expectations..........."

The villa and surrounding property was beyond our expectations and the quality of daily service delivered by the villa team was a real bonus. The experience was fantastic and we recommend this villa holiday.

"Recommended"

Generally good communication maintained and, with one exception, reasonably quick responses to enquiries.
Lovely property in France, albeit with one or two areas that could be improved.
Good local support from Simply Perigord.
We enjoyed the holiday very much.

"2* booking experience for a beautiful villa!"

I wasn't planning to do a review as we had a stressful booking experience but as there was an email request for one- here goes.
The Villa itself , located in Dordogne France, was beautiful, modern with all amenities and lots of activities for teenagers. It was actually better than what was shown on the photographs on the website.

However, this was not the original villa we chose for our holiday. We got an email with a confirmation for the selected villa and I spoke the agent on the phone to confirm details regarding additional linen fees and cleaning fees and it was mentioned that a payment link will be sent. We booked our flights for the 7N holiday as per our villa booking dates confirmed by email and verified over the phone. Later in the evening, when trying to make the payment, a message was prompted saying the payment link was cancelled. No email or call was received that day or the next morning regarding the payment link cancellation or informing us of any issue with the villa booking.

The following morning, I called to check on the link and to make the payment. I was then told that the villa was already booked by another party and therefore is now not available for our dates. With our flights already booked as we were not notified of this change, (although they took the time to cancel the payment link!), we had to desperately search for a new villa for similar dates in the same area. With not much choice available, we ended up having to settle for a 6N stay at a different villa. A slightly reduced cost than the weeks rental quoted on the website was offered for the 6Ns which was more that the original cost of the 7N holiday confirmed.

When we arrived at the villa - the person checking us in spoke only French. My daughter who spoke a little French managed to get us checked in with no issue but the lady kept saying it is a 9am checkout although we were told it was 10am on our booking confirmation. On the day of checkout, after our 6Ns stay, we had to call the local agent to hand the keys in as she didn't arrive. She then had to drive to the villa to check us out. We were made to understand that she thought that check out was for the following day and not after a 6N stay. There has been no communication from Olivers Travel to the local agent! There was a lot of emails for payments right up to the check-in date, for the hold deposit, extra fees for cleaning etc, however they failed to have any communication with the local agent to ensure that our check in/check out or stay at the villa will be satisfactory. Definitely not a luxury holiday booking experience.

"Property was over priced"

Communication with Oliver's Travels was good. The property however was significantly over priced and in future I would find a way to book directly with the Spanish property agent.

"Very well organised and kept informed…"

Very well organised and kept informed at all times.

"Amazing"

The Villa was just as described. Beautiful, amazing views and extremely well equipped.
The local host was extremely helpful.

"Poor service levels"

Completely inadequate concierge/assistance re restaurants, wineries etc. Once we’d paid our money, no one could be bothered to even answer emails - and the caretaker at the property whilst perfectly nice, apparently knew nothing about the local area and wouldn’t/couldn’t offer any guidance.
Floor plan of house prior to booking would have been really helpful.
Generally the level of service was very poor compared to that provided by other companies I have used.

"Beautiful selection of holiday rentals"

Oliver's travels has a beautiful selection of holiday rentals. They respond quickly. The only issue that I have (hence minus one star), is that it should be possible to book and use your credit as (part) of the payment. That was not possible, so I had to e-mail, wait for a reply etc. etc.

"Beware Olivers Travels"

Sicily had been in my bucket list for a while. To celebrate my 70th birthday I booked Villa Luminosa with Olivers Travels. Firstly, it was impossible to find, it having no address! Yes, NO ADDRESS! We were sent coordinates for a 'meet point', which proved difficult to find. However, we did eventually. The villa itself was OK, nothing special but would do for a week. The pool however was a different thing. At all one depth I could not stand in it. I am 5ft tall, but worse it has a totally inadequate 3 step ladder to get out and I had a bad accident getting out. So bad that I decided I could not risk getting in again. Add to that, the dirt track leading up to villa was riddled with huge potholes and on the first night our car hit one with such force that we had to have it towed away next day due to the damage. Trying to arrange anything when you don't speak the language is hard in itself, but impossible when you don't have an address to give people.
So disappointing and miserable an experience was it that we decided to leave early.
Olivers Travels feign interest and concern but prove ultimately not to give a damn. Suffice to say we shall not use them again and I advise anyone considering it to seriously think again.

"Best Customer Service I Have Ever Experienced!"

If I could give this company more than 5 stars I would!

I am a 2024 bride who was looking for a wedding villa in a different country to have a intimate wedding weekend with my closest people! It's hard enough trying to plan a week long event from the other side of the world, but EVIE made it so easy to book... Like SO EASY!!

After I filled out a form on their website, she got back with me the next day, asking about more details and then only an hour after my response she gave me a call to go more in depth about the property we were looking at. She knew SO much and answered all of my questions without hesitation or needing to look anything up! After our call she sent over a followup email, with even more information on the property and the owner's personal website!

Evie was so fast when getting in contact with the owners to ensure that our dates were in fact available! We put our deposit down right then and there (literally three days after our initial inquiry) and we felt SO much stress lifted from finding a venue!

The day after we booked, I found out that my dream photographer was already booked for that date, but she had every other weekend available that month. I went back onto Oliver's Travels and saw that the week before ours opened up (it was not open the day before). I immediately called Evie and explained the situation and asked if there is anyway possible to switch if it wasn't a hassle. She contacted the owners and got our week switched with email confirmation in ONLY 20 MINUTES!!

Keep in mind that she made all of this happen in FOUR DAYS and all three of us (Evie, the owners and myself) are in three different countries, so the time zones are all different!

I cannot say enough good things about Evie - she is truly a miracle worker and so so sweet! She has such a fun personality, and is so personable on the phone and through email. She made us feel like a priority and not like we were just another transaction. She made sure we knew exactly what the next steps were and we never felt let in the dark not knowing. I have never experienced customer service like this and it was so beyond refreshing! It was like talking to a friend, so EVIE, if you're reading this - THANK YOU x1000000!!

I will never not use this company when booking holiday homes!