How we tailor-make your holiday

The website is so easy to use and check availability , as well as giving important info on travelling, visa’s inoculations etc. It gives details of best time to travel for weather and what to pack, along with a huge choice of hotels to suit every budget and need

I have sent an email to hayes and jarvis regarding their lack of communication , support and organisation of our tailor made 16 day tour whilst in India. We had been misinformed by the speciality representative who assured the tailor made tour would include English speaking guide and driver. We were informed they would accompany us from us landing in India, throughout the tour and untill departure and be able to answer any cultural questions we had throughout the tour. This was not the case resulting in long journeys between destinations and the drivers appologising profusely for not being able to speak english or answer our questions . This combined with the fact tickets to attractions were not purchased in advance, our travel arrangements being suspended on day 6 as a result of the coronavirus. The lack of communication between the "in country tour provider' and the operational team at Hayes and Jarvis to affirm future travel plans with no response on hayes and jarvis side resulted in the "in country tour operator requesting we make contact with various parties to ensure our early return to the UK The flight arranged was via Abudabi in an economy seat ; of which we had paid for an upgrade when originally booking the tour, and returning 10 days prior to our expected return. Furthermore upon our return to the UK we had to make our own travel arrangements from Heathrow back to Manchester as Hayes and Jarvis informed they were unable to do this, further adding insult to injury

.As a result the last 2 evenings of the 6 days and forward travel from Heathrow upon landing resulted unnecessary distress and uncertainty due to lack of communication, organisation and professionalism from a company ;who we were led to believe, would ensure our tour went without any problems and of which we paid a premium price and further expenditure

I cannot thank Jasdeep enough for his friendly knowledgeable assistance in booking our holiday. We knew when and where we wanted to go, but our local travel agent, given the same starting point, took a day or two to come back with an answer each time had a query. As I talked to Jas, he was clearly bring up information on his computer to confirm or inform me about the plans we had in mind. Best of all, he came up with a flight option that saved us several thousand pounds over what our local travel agent could offer for exactly the same accommodation.

Have no doubt, I will be contacting Jasdeep when we start to think of our next major holiday.

Downside(s)
We felt that the holiday was expensive as we had a Thailand holiday last year which involved many more tours etc included and four sites for a similar price. This year only two sites, close together, and no internal flight. No tours included.

The rep in Phuket didn't turn up to the arranged meeting and sent a sub. When we tried to contact him by telephone with a question he was not available. We didn't get a welcome meeting at second hotel and so didn't take up any tours or activities.

We hadn't realised that KL was south of Phuket i.e. we flew past Phuket! Made the journey even longer and more tiring. Transfer to the airport on the way home was too early so had several hours hanging about in Phuket then several hours in KL.

Airline food was "poor" and male stewards seemed fed up.

Upside(s)

All flights and transfers on time.

Both hotels were excellent in their own way. Dusit Thani (we stayed in one last year in Krabi) had fantastic staff. Beach was perfect. Upgraded to a splendid suite. Afternoon tea and cocktail hour were both a pleasure. Food good. Only one pool which had activities in it for some hours of the day so a little noisy but large and really nice having said that.

Katathani staff were less well trained but were pleasant enough and very helpful. We ate in hotel (mainly) and enjoyed their themed meals (not all Thai) although the "entertainment"(especially the singing)was very amateurish. Even though this was a big hotel complex it didn't seem too busy. Adults only pool was a bonus as it was peaceful and beautiful. Beach was fantastic and snorkelling was the highlight from my perspective. Great gym and sauna.

Apart from the flights and waiting around in airports the whole holiday was very relaxing. Food generally excellent. Weather perfect. Beaches beautiful. Staff great. What we spent in hotel was good value for money.

H&J staff very efficient and helpful. Replies to e-mails very prompt. This holiday was booked quite late but that didn't create a problem.

This was a repeat visit (one of many) to this island in the Maldives and the quality and experience were even better this year. The current management is the best we have experienced and the service, atmosphere and environment top class

From start to finish Rozario did all the work amazingly to create a holiday of our dreams, I rang Hayes & Jarvis, not knowing exactly what I wanted within the destinations I had chosen, Rozario did all the hard work for me and created a truly amazing holiday :)

I had an excellent travel consultant who understood what I wanted to do and delivered a draft itinerary in a very short space of time. She was happy to tweak it from comments I made. Everything went off well. This was my first experience of travelling alone on a tailor made itinerary although it was my 11th trip to India. All the guides were truly excellent and every meeting was either early or spot on time which avoided the horrible thoughts of what do I do now that the guide is late!! I had a personal driver for 8 days who was terrific I felt completely comfortable with his driving in the chaotic conditions of India. Every hotel was truly excellent and the accommodation was first rate. The sightseeing was extremely well organised. Part of the trip was a visit to Kanpur where I met up with a childhood friend who obviously expressed interest in my itinerary and it was his comments that prevented me from giving a five star rating. I was scheduled to fly from Lucknow, via Mumbai to Varanasi which he described as ludicrous. I effectively flew 2 hours east and then flew 2 hours west. A friend of his spontaneously made similar comments and when I went to check in at Lucknow the check in clerk said this was a weird routing and that it would have been quicker to have taken the train, which I would have preferred, if I had known that option was available. It was a wasted day and the train would have offered an opportunity of another means of travel with sights to see on the way. Ii think Hayes and Jarvis were let down in this respect by their local agents

On my own despite asking to be in a group.No joining instructions on arrival at hotel in Kota Kinabalu so had to email UK to get this despite 5 texts to a number in Kuala Lumpur and no reply.The opposite of all I had requested at the outset.

A very efficient, positive, polite and effective service provided by Jasdeep Bhela, on behalf of Haye & Jarvis, who made the whole booking experience seem a very personal service which has reassured me that I am in that caring hands of an individual and a travel company that puts that customer first. It's been a few years since I used Hayes & Jarvis but will definitely look at them first in the future.
Thank you Jas.

Very well organised bespoke 3 week trip to Thailand Included 3 internal flights and transfers. Always to time with a representative at each airport to check all was as it should be. Services of a representative should we need it wherever we were . Would highly recommend using them .

Used before, will definitely use again....
Booked the perfect trip to Canada last year, now have booked Niagara falls and new york combo and I can't wait to go. Thanks Samantha Potter for all your time and help

Having had our holiday (through another tour operator) cancelled at the last minute due to Coronavirus, I rang H&J to see if they could find me something else for the same dates. Claire sprang into action, finding me an excellent alternative within hours.

Although the guides and driver were excellent and very helpful the same could not be said for the local representative. There was confusion over out schedules and we missed relaxing times due to the additional stress around having to depart early on two occasions. Not all the hotels were as good as they were supposed to be. The ITC in Agra was not 5 star and we felt like cattle being herded. The tiger safari was very confusing, we had different information from different people which conflicted and we felt ripped off when people who had not opted for private safaris were getting better service. I would not recommend the park at Ranthambore it is too big and a lot of the zones are very poor.

Because, from the first phone call I made to Hayes and Jarvis ,
The service I got from Valentina was excellent,
The tailor made holiday I wanted, was exactly the holiday I got ,
My wife and I ,had the most special time of our lives,
All the drivers met us on time , they were well groomed and knowledgeable.
The hotels that were chosen for us in Sri Lanka were very good,
But the OBLU select in The Maldives was brilliant, the best , so
Perfect for relaxation,
All the staff were brilliant, happy always friendly and smiling,
Sri Lanka airlines were very good, always making sure we were looked after,

I have booked with Hayes&Jarvis many times, they always come up to my expectations, this holiday to Hua Hin in Thailand was superb from beginning to end, looking forward to to my next holiday with them.

Excellent customer service, Chris Cook was very helpful at all stages with putting this trip together, will definitely contact Chris for our next main holiday.

I contacted Barbara Clark ( with whom I dealt last year to organise our holiday) directly via email with our request and our budget. She worked really hard to accommodate our wishes within our budget with several suggestions. We communicated directly with each other via email which was very practical. I will contact her again once we have decided what we want to do next year should we go long haul.

Elizabeth Archer could not have made this any easier for me from my very first phone call she did everything I asked for and more extreamly very helpful would recommend if you want a holiday not in the books

This is my 3rd long haul holiday I have booked with Hayes & Jarvis and have done me proud, right from discussing my booking from the start, amending when I changed my mind with one of my destinations which again was not an issue. Chris Cook was amazing with helping with my booking a big thank you to him. My dream holiday was made perfect from start to finish.

We told Beth we would love to go to Singapore and Bali, 2021. She listened to what we would like and organised a wonderful holiday for us. Including breakfast at the zoo in Singapore, which I wouldn’t have thought of. She was very friendly and knowledgeable about both places and where to visit.