Trafalgar Travel
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Avoid Trafalgar - Best of Italy
We booked the Best of Italy tour 7 months in advance because it was a confirmed departure yet we stayed at different hotels than posted on the website - most way outside of the city centre with subpar facilities - non working air conditioning, toilets that took half an hour to refill, showers with no water pressure, obstructed views or views of a parking lot etc. and worst yet our visit to Florence for two days was basically cancelled. Beware: Their response was we have the right to make changes and changes they do make. Stay away from this company! You do not get what is advertised. The focus of the trip seemed to be solely on selling very expensive extras that added 2,000 euros per couple if all were chosen. If one did not do the extras they basically paid for a bus ride and out of the way hotels. You were then on your own to see the cities visited. Worst yet we were removed from our Florence hotel (with no explanation as to why – even when asked they would not give an answer) to a hotel 27 km from Florence in some industrial area by the airport for one night. Smelly garbage bins lined the road we had to back into to reach the hotel. As there was nothing to do by this hotel the expensive 74 euro next day dinner was moved to this day and we left early to get there to kill time. Time I might add that could have been spent exploring the beautiful city of Florence at night. For the short time in Florence (a rushed 4 short hours not the two days promised) we passed by the hotel we were supposed to be in only to see another Trafalgar bus staying there???? For what was supposed to be our second night in Florence we were driven back towards Rome (part of what was the final day's drive) to some hotel in the middle of nowhere. An extra horrible dinner was provided - a small bowl of soup, a very thin slice of beef with about 3 or 4 tiny potato wedges and a piece of dried gelatin with jam on top for dessert (the dessert was not edible). Absolutely horrible. The next day was a total write-off with a delayed departure to waste more time and then a stop at Tivoli Gardens (added as compensation for the lost visit to Florence) to kill more time because we could not check into the final hotel until 3:30 pm. Again this final hotel was outside of the city and by the airport where one had nothing to do until the 6:30 departure to the disappointing goodbye dinner. A cash refund for the 2 of 11 lost days was asked for but denied. Instead a useless 10% discount on another trip - yeah right - was useless and worthless. 5% off is regularly offered on their trips and return travelers get an additional discount so essentially NOTHING was offered. What a letdown this was for our 31st anniversary and retirement trip. Avoid this company at all costs