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Testimonials

Please have a look at a little of the feedback we have received from clients over the years...

Here at Chile we firmly believe in the feedback of our clients, be it good or bad, as it really is the key to us moving forwards and improving our service and the overall experience. With the price of hotels and flights only on the increase we feel it is important to know where we have gotten things right and where wrong. In the below, please see what our clients are saying about us and judge for yourself. (please note that ALL of the reviews we feature are 100% real and unedited. If you would like to speak to any of our past clients please let us know).

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Hi Holly and Nick,

The new destination Antarctica is truly exciting! Luc and I had a great and memorable time on board of the Hebridean Sky.

Some suggestions that maybe useful for other travelers visiting Uruguay and Argentina:

Hotel Serena in Punta Del Este has great views on the beach but is bit out of the city center. Friendly staff advised on tours and especially the city tour is a must-do: take the Spanish tour, it saves you a lot of money, and it's fun! Casa Pueblo was the last stop in the tour, and while we already visited the museum, go to the hotel restaurant next door. You will experience Casa Pueblo with a different view. We liked it very much.
Parador La Huella, one of the best restaurants in Uruguay, unfortunate is too far. We paid almost 150USD for the taxi, and although the food/location is good, a diner in hotel Serena, might be as good as well if you are willing to spend a bit more.

Olivia Luxury Hotel, liked the hotel and location, but for diner suggest to take one of the restaurants in the neighborhood; and if you are in Montevideo, a visit to a wine house is quite nice to visit for a tour and lunch. They a have a couple of 'famous' locations!

Hebridean Sky, professional crew and expedition team, you won't get bored! Diner is excellent. The cruise ship is luxury, but quite small: when the weather is not that good you will have more days at sea! To visit Antarctica itself, later in the year (not early spring) and taking a cruise from Ushuaia might be a better option. We have seen a lot of South Georgia, and landed at South Orkney, all very interesting, but we spend limited time in Antarctica itself. Kayaking is a great experience (definitely recommended), but the max 16 people is still a lot, so the less number who can subscribe, the better.

In Ushuaia Arakur hotel is a great choice. The outside pool provides views of the city, and around the hotel you can walk in the beautiful forest. Viejo Marino restaurant is worth the waiting for having the King Crab.

Back in Buenos Aires, Legado Mitico hotel, is a great small hotel. We loved the overnight stay, walking around in the Palermo neighborhood and diner in nearby restaurant. Tigre is nice to go too, especially when the weather is sunny.

Overall, again, a great vacation!

Best regards,
Inez and Luc


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Inez and Luc
November 30, 2016

Dear Nick

Thank you so much for organising our holiday to Chile at such short notice the entire trip was perfect and fantastically planned.

Going from the Atacama desert to trekking and horse riding in Torres Del Payne,finishing our holiday in the wine region where we managed to chill out.

The people you used in the various regions were always on time,courteous and eager to help with our requests such as recommending a restaurant or shopping from local artisans.

We are already thinking of our next adventure with your company having enjoyed such a great holiday .

Kind regards
Michelle and Sue


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Michelle and Sue
November 27, 2016

Holly:

It was an awesome trip and you did a great job planning it. Legado Mitico provided great service, the rooms were beautiful and being in Palermo was a major plus; probably the best neighborhood in Argentina. Jeremy of H&T was a great tour guide, despite the shortened tour.

Punto Tumbo was fascinating; I never knew Penguins built nests into the ground. Plus it was almost, a private tour, as there was only one other couple. One of the highlights, though, was the whale watching. It was truly incredible and nobody wanted to go back to shore after the tour ended! A mother and her calf followed us the entire time. The guide was also very good. (I noticed that very few people tip on these tours, which is a shame). Found a great seafood restaurant in Puerto Madryn as well.

Iguassu’ Falls was the other highlight; it was truly awe inspiring. We were so exhausted after our visit that we skipped the boat tour. We had more than a full day’s worth of activities. LOI Suites was great and I wish we had an extra day just to hang around. We also found another seafood restaurant in the city and have “river” fish.

Mendoza was a spectacular experience. The wine tour and driver from Kahuak made the trip extra special. She was truly very knowledgeable about wine, wineries and the industry. She deserves an A++ Drinking Malbec will never be the same for me after learning so much about the wine and its production. Can you get her contact information so I can provide her with a stellar review? On our last evening we attended a “taste of Mendoza festival” which was much nicer than Taste of Chicago.

Finca Adelgisa was a great choice and they couldn’t have been more hospitable. I think it was a better choice than Club Tapiz.

When we returned to BA, Legado Mitico upgraded us to a suite at no charge. Interestingly, on the way back to Ezeiza there was an “environmental protest” on the expressway. The road was blocked by burning tires, which isn’t environmental in itself. It took 2 hours but we had plenty of time.

Thanks again for making our trip special. I would be happy to post a review on your website and share some pictures with you.


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Mark and Shelley
November 23, 2016

Hi Holly

Thanks for your note. I had a wonderful time and am very grateful for your help in shaping and arranging the trip. I saw some amazing sights. Some of them, like Iguazu, Corcovado and Sugar Loaf mountain felt like world class experiences. But I also loved Colonia, the architecture in Brasilia and being right on Copacabana beach. I really appreciated your behind-the-scenes organisational skills before I went, and your readiness to deal with any query. I also want to thank you very much for how quickly you responded when my ferry to Montevideo was cancelled. All in all, a super trip. I will very happily recommend you to others.

In terms of hotel by hotel, I thought this might be useful to you:

- Legado Mitico, BA - absolutely wonderful place. Hugely stylish design, great staff, great location - and a wonderful lounge area.
- Hotel Charco, Colonia - lovely room; really nice staff; great restaurant (best in Colonia as it happens) with wonderful views
- La Cantera Jungle Lodge - the setting and the rooms are very good; the restaurant area needs some modernisation and the food was fairly average
- Royal Tulip Brasilia - very impressive design; very comfortable; given the size of the place, the restaurant worked very efficiently with a high quality buffet service model morning and evening. V nice quiet location by the lake and the presidential palace. It’s a decent taxi ride though if you wanted to go out into the city in the evening.
- Miramar, Rio - great location, super views, comfortable hotel, plenty of places to eat and drink nearby

Hope all that helps.

Thanks for everything

Ben

Ben
November 16, 2016

Hello Holly.
Thank you for dropping me a line – I’d been meaning to write to you to say thank you.

Everything you arranged for us worked perfectly – from flights to transfers to excursions. We didn’t have a care in the world, other than to have a good time – and we certainly did. It was a sensational holiday from start to finish.

All of the drivers spoke brilliant English and were (proud) and knowledgeable about the places we were visiting; each of them offered great tips for things to do, places to eat, etc.

The glacier was the clear highlight, with dinner at La Tablita the night before the excursion also exceptional. The hotel in El Calafate was probably our least favourite (the décor was a bit tired and the breakfast was disappointing) but it was perfectly adequate. I know it was our idea to stay there, so I’m telling you just for future reference for other customers; I’m certainly not moaning. And in fact the view was fantastic from up on the hill and to my mind that more than made up for the lacklustre food.

The hotel in Salta was lovely – the best room of the bunch (thank you for organising the upgrade). The hotel staff couldn’t have been more helpful. The only comment here was that the hire car was a bit tatty and probably could have done with being a small SUV or 4x4 given the (stunning) drive we had through the mountains to Cafayate. No complaint about Agustina from the hire car company by the way. She was very friendly and helpful and had some great ideas for things to do in the region.

Iguazu was also a great few days, and the Loi Suites a lovely hotel. Minor gripes: we found the bar/restaurant staff slightly inattentive at times and there are LOTS of children playing in the pool during the day, so if you have customers who are looking for peace and quiet, you might want to put them somewhere else. Overall, we were very happy though.

Just to reiterate, I’ve only shared the slightly less good bits in case you find it useful for advising clients in future. We had a brilliant time – and now the process of telling every living soul about our trip is taking almost as long as the trip itself. I ate 15 steaks while I was out there, so you may soon also get a letter from my doctor.

We took hundreds of photos, so we’ll see if we can find a few good ones to share on your site.

Thanks again – a job very well done on your part.

Tom

PS I forgot to mention the Nuss Hotel. Very good – lovely staff, the best-cooked breakfast of all the hotels, and a perfect location for getting around all the tourisity bits. Spot on.

Tom and Rachel
October 3, 2016

Hi Holly,

My husband Chris and I want to extend our sincerest gratitude to you and the team at the south america specialists.
We had the best honeymoon we could've dreamed of...Chile was an unbelievable country we both fell in love with.
Thank you for all of your guidance throughout the process of planning our trip, and we hope to work with you again in the future!

Best,
Laura & Chris

Laura & Chris
September 26, 2016

Dear Holly,

Thank you very much for your email! Joao asked me to summarize our trip, so here you go :)
Our honeymoon was amazing and we had a lot of fun. Even though we didnt see penguins :-).
Thanks very much for all the info you provided for us at hotel Clasico and thanks for the book and maps :-).

Hotel Clasico was really nice and stylish with the best breakfast! Very cosy and well situated.Pick up on the EZE airport was very friendly and helpful!

Our other stay in hotel Teritorio in Puerto Madryn was really amazing!!!! Room was really big and so comfortable with perfect view to the ocean and whales. We even went swimming with seals (I guess its the highlight :) ) Staff at the hotel was very friendly and nice to us and their cuisine was very tasty.

Design Suites in El Calafate was nice too. Very friendly welcoming, very very stylish hotel and very good breakfast (we are breakfast people, ahah :) and spa area). Only thing we weren't so happy about was no view to the lake, but we didnt want to complain only because of two nights. Trip to Perito Moreno which you helped us to organize was another highlight of the trip, but El Calafate was a disappointment ( a bit of a messy town) (thats of course not your fault, just giving you feedback, we think one night (just to go to the glaciar) would be enough).

Our next stay in El Chalten was a pretty nice mountain experience, except we didn't like the cottage much (the owner was a very nice person but didn't feel like honeymoonish). We know it lots of things were closed at this time so it probably wasn't easy finding something. Probably no the most appropirate place for the purpose of our trip (honeymon) - small cottage, very small bed, we had to buy our food (the breakfast they provided wasn't enough). But it had some coziness, and since it was supposed to be the hiking (tougher) part of the trip, it was ok.

Honestly we were looking forward to our next destination in Ushuaia which was really nice. The owner Sebastian (Tierra de Leyendas) was very very nice to us, welcomed us in a big style, explained everything, perfect! Amazing view, service, great hotel.

All the pick ups (except one) were on time, drivers very friendly. Really thank you for helping us organize this trip :-). it was a stunning experience and we are sure we are coming back to Argentina.

Thanks again! It was great :)


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João and Petra
September 12, 2016

Hi Holly,
Got back yesterday!
Had a fantastic time and of course and our kids getting two medals certainly helped.

We really enjoyed Peru and the guides and people who met us were fantastic
Your picks on the hotels were great too.

Rio went quite quickly once we were there and although stressful watching we had fun with the other parents.
Buenos Aires was great and we have agreed that we will go back to South America again soon.

Thanks for organising everything - it made it so easy to get around and see everything in a limited amount of time.

We would thoroughly recommend your services and will definitely be in touch when we are ready to go next time.

Cheers
Deb

Deb and Simon
August 23, 2016

John has very kindly agreed to let us share some his photos on our website and Facebook page.


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John, Chris and Katy
May 5, 2016

Before Travel

Nick,
Many thanks. Your response and service has been excellent as usual. I do not expect to need to contact you again before our trip but I will contact you after we get back.
I want you to know that I have spoken your praises to many friends who are interested in our trip. I am sure I would never have had the personal and responsive service you have given us from many other companies - certainly not any of the 'big ones'.
Adios Hasta Mayo! (Maybe not proper Spanish but you know what I mean)
Sam

After Travel

Nick,
Here is a copy of our comments on the trip.
In summary, it was memorable and many of the places we went can TRULY be described by the often mis-used term, Awesome!
Sam

Sam and Moira
April 6, 2016

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