We´re proud at Totally Spain to receive a high level of customer satisfaction. We receive Past Client testimonials very often but occasionally one arrives that really lifts your spirits. That is what happened this morning when we received the following testimonial from Wayne Pisinski of Minnetonka, Minnesota ( Thank you Wayne ) who travelled with Totally Spain for a week at the end of March. Here´s what he wrote to Belen who had arranged his trip:
Belen,
I apologize that it has taken me so long to send this note. I wanted to thank you for the holiday you arranged for my wife and I, it was exactly what we asked for. The hotels you arranged could not have been more to our liking, smaller, superior service and very nice (at an unbelievable value). At first I did not understand why you would set up two winery tours back to back but once we had the tours we thought it was perfect. One winery was large; ultra modern with the most current process, the other was as old world and small as imaginable. Both ends of the spectrum in one half day, your selections were genius. Your advice on the car was spot on, I did get the GPS and it was well worth the expense. The museum tours, even the restaurant suggestions, it was like you knew us very well and designed a personalized experience of Spain just for us. The packet you sent was well organized, complete and accurate (all 10lb of it, little joke). I showed up in Spain a little nervous, as I told you I am not a seasoned traveler, but found out I was very well prepared and very organized all thanks to you and Totally Spain. It is very rare for me to be surprised and delighted by a service organization but you did it. You definitely live up to your slogan of “travel smoothly”.
If you are ever working with an American or Canadian who is tentative or concerned about using your services, please give them my email address or work phone number, I would be glad to relay my positive experience with you and your organization.
Thank you very much for your help and the service you provided.
Wayne
Thanks for that Wayne from all of us at Totally Spain. You´ve made our day.
Continuing in it´s endeavours to become a world class destination for quality wine tourism, the Rioja Alavesa wine region now has a terrific new 30 bedroom and 3 suite, luxury 4 star hotel. Officially opening on 16th March, it is called “Viura” after the white grape of the same name and is situated in the centre of the small town of Villabuena de Alava at the foot of the Sierra de Cantabria.
It´s truly eye-catching contemporary style is “composed of whimsically superimposed cubes that seem to surge forcefully from the centre of the earth; punctuated by French windows that flood the rooms with views of the relaxing scenery.”
The hotel features spectacular terraces with views of the San Andres Church built between 1538 and 1728 and of the surrounding wine country. Facilities include a bar, restaurant, gym and a fine old wine cellar. The hotel´s director worked previously at the prestigious Hotel Marques de Riscal.
Villabuena de Alava boasts a number of fine wineries including Luis Cañas, Izadi, Baigorri and Arabarte and is only 20 minutes from either Haro or Logroño and less than 10 minutes from the walled town of Laguardia. An ideal base from which to tour Rioja and a unique hotel for those wanting to stay somewhere out of the ordinary.
Contact Totally Spain about organising a stay at this hotel and other activities such as winery visits in the Rioja region
What are you waiting for? – Join us here!
 The Caves of Arnedo, La Rioja, Spain
Joan Etorrian – Sculpture by M.A. Lertxundi, Zarauz, Basque Country
Today we had earmarked for a bit of shopping in France which was a good thing as it was raining for most of the day. After a tasty buffet breakfast we spent time with the hotels ever-friendly owner, Maite Jauregui, who talked to us about the improvements going on at the hotel and showed us several of the rooms which had been renovated. She is always improving the hotel and runs a very tight ship.
Afterwards we took the motorway just 40kms north to Anglet on the outskirts of the French city of Bayonne. It still amazes me just how easy is it to be in Spain one minute and in France the next. Everything changes once you cross the border. The architecture, the style of people´s homes, the look of their towns and villages. I particularly like the way each home features wooden shutters on the windows. Even the simplest of houses is made to look more attractive with shutters. I especially like how the French in this area look after their public spaces and the way they maintain their gardens. People sometimes forget that when staying in the Basque Country they also have very easy access to southern France. It makes for a great holiday. Once in Anglet we headed for the BAB2 Shopping Centre which has pretty much everything one might need from food to clothing to electric goods and more. We wanted to do some clothes shopping for our children as well as stock up on some tasty French treats and French wine not readily available in Spain. The sales are always on at this time of the year so it´s a good time to visit.
We passed an enjoyable day and probably spent more time than we had intended to but that´s what happens when you´re on holidays. More on this trip to follow soon and you can see more photos on our Flickr page (see right margin).
Where has the month of January gone ? I can hardly believe that it is almost over. I´m pleased to report that 2010 has started with a bang at Totally Spain. Daily we are receiving requests from many people who want to travel to Spain this year. Things are a lot more active than they were in January of last year. Perhaps 2009 has left us all needing a fiesta or even a siesta ? Let´s hope so! The variety of enquiries we´ve been receiving from individuals and groups have been extremely interesting and has certainly kept us busy and challenged. It´s a good sign and will hopefully continue.
FITUR, the major Spanish travel trade fair, was held last week. Olaia from our office travelled to Madrid to attend. There was a lot of uncertainty in the air as to how this year will unfold. A general feeling prevailed that there would continue to be competitive deals available to travellers with lower prices and plenty of early booking discounts. We´ve been seeing it too at Totally Spain with hotels of all grades offering exceptional bargains to those who book early. The same for rail travel in Spain. Book early and you´ll get a good deal. Domestic air travel too in Spain has come down significantly with the arrival of low cost airlines such as Easyjet, Ryanair and Vueling. Flying between major Spanish cities such as Barcelona, Girona, Madrid, Granada, Malaga, Seville, Santander and Bilbao has never been as affordable and it has certainly opened up a lot of possibilities for travellers whose time in Spain is limited. This has helped us greatly in being able to offer our clients more extensive, value for money itineraries regardless of the amount of time they have to spend in Spain.
Later this year Totally Spain will celebrate 10 years in business and a decade of organising quality travel in Spain. It´s an important milestone for us and one which I am extremely proud of. There´ll be more about our 10th anniversary later but as we go forward we´re striving to become more effective at communicating with those people who have an interest in travel in Spain as well as those people who have travelled with us or might be thinking about travelling with us. So, we´ve now become active on Social Media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and shortly on YouTube. I have to admit that we´re still learning the ropes but we appreciate that these mediums are here to stay and can be very effective. Therefore I´d like to invite everyone who reads this and is interested, to join us on the aforementioned sites (see right margin for links) and, if you wish, to share with us any topics or questions that you might like us to deal with.
Well, that´s it for now. Don´t forget that Valentines Day falls on a weekend this year. There´s still time to organise a romantic trip to Spain.
Hasta luego.
Ken
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