Phone Call Gone South This year I'm planning a trip for my parents to go to Italy. Recently I got off the phone with Italy Luxury Tours and had a downright awful experience. To start, I worked with the CEO to come up with an itinerary for my parents. According to his website, the estimated cost for the trip should have fit well within their budget... in fact my their original budget exceeded his estimated cost by >$8000. ***This is important for later*** To the CEO's credit, he did mention the trip would be higher than his typical fee given some odd destinations. When I got the quote back, it was ~$9000 over the amount his website suggested. Later in the week, I asked if we could switch one of the hotels to a more affordable area to fit it in the budget- he mentioned in our initial phone call that it would be significantly cheaper to stay in Lake Maggiore than Lake Como so I thought it would be an easy fix. Instead he pushed to change two of the days to "at leisure" days rather than changing the hotel. I did some quick math and couldn't figure out how two leisure days could possibly knock off only $1000 on their trip... so I decided to give him a call to chat about different options to get the trip within their budget. Here's where things went south quickly. It immediately became clear that the CEO would not be willing to work with me to get the trip under the budget. At one point he exclaimed, "you can't have champagne taste and a beer budget." ***Remember- my parents' budget was $8,000 over the website's recommendation*** I questioned him on this statement to which he responded by insulting my family. At this point I said, "Thank you, but I'm going to hang up now." After which he responded by calling me a "f****** a******" several times. If it weren't for that last statement, I wouldn't be leaving a cautionary review. In the future, it would be more appropriate if the CEO said something to the effect of "It appears that your needs aren't a good fit for our company. Perhaps you should look elsewhere."

Fifteen glorious nights in Italy! Our family of five just returned from 15 glorious nights in Italy thanks to Italy Luxury Tours, Gennaro and his team. We have been planning our trip with Gennaro for almost two years and it finally arrived. The Itinerary was carefully selected, hotels and experiences selected and masterfully arranged by Gennaro. From the moment we arrived to the time we boarded our plane back, the experience was seamless. Our personal concierges, drivers and guides were always on time and ready to give us the best. Shout out to guides Forentina (?) in Venice, Chiara in Bologna, Andrea in Siena and Tuscany, Luca in Florence, Danilo our driver in Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast, Francesca and Angela in Capri and Amalfi, and Jade and Flavia in Rome. Each one was well informed and knowledgeable about all the sights and history and were wonderful interesting people to interact with. The hotels each had their own special charm and appeal and were in the best locations. We stayed at Locanda Vivaldi on the Grand Canal in Venice, Hotel L’Orologio in Florence, Hotel Bristol with breathtaking views in Sorrento and Palazzo Caruso with huge rooms on Piazza Barberini in Rome. The people in the hotels were welcoming, polite and extremely helpful. The provided breakfast was terrific at each property. We had a number of days of tours masterfully arranged by Gennaro. We saw all the sights of interest in each location and came back with so much knowledge and history. And the included restaurants for lunch were in some of the best restaurants in the city. Olivia Neri in Venice with homemade Lasagna, an unbelievable experience at the vineyard Tenuta Casanova in Tuscany where we were treated to a homemade meal by Silvio and his wife while enjoying the views from his courtyard while sipping his excellent wines, Elegant La Campannina in Capri, Great Napoletana Pizza at Peppo in Trastevere in Rome. Sara Depinto was our contact in Italy and she is terrific. She responds promptly, gives excellent dinner recommendations and is happy to make reservations and suggestions for things to do. A welcome unexpected surprise when we left was a personal concierge to guide us through the airport in Rome. She literally walked us from the car all the way through to the gate when we left. Thank you Gennaro and Italy Luxury Tours for an unforgettable trip for myself and my family. I highly recommend their service and will be telling everyone I can who wants to travel to Italy to use this wonderful private service.

Excellent service Well planned and executed. Guides were knowledgeable and personable. Drivers were prompt, courteous and helpful. Hotels were superb. Everything worked to perfection. Highly recommend.

Italy without a hitch Gennaro customized our family trip to Italy. He incorporated every request from Lake Como to Rome. Traveling with 8 family members, it’s difficult to make everyone happy, but this trip accomplished that and more! We’ve traveled around the world, and we’re still surprised with the service and attention we received. Everyone from the tour guides, drivers, hotels, airport assistance was first class. There is not a thing I would've changed. I would recommend Italy Luxury Tours to the most sophisticated traveler to first time international traveler. Thank you again for making our trip go off without a hitch and for all the priceless memories!!

Everything was PERFECT!! -