Greece Travel: Traveler's Reviews
Fantasy Travel
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It was late Spring and my
website was going crazy. We had no idea it would become so
popular and because some of the travel agents on my site were
small companies they were being overwhelmed by the e-mail,
phone calls and faxes. I needed one more agency to relieve the
stress. I had received a phone call in the USA from George
Gerasimides of Fantasy Travel, telling me he liked my site and
was interested in being on it, but I get calls and e-mail
every day from people who want to be on my websites. So I went
to Tom Mazarakis, who is my personal guru when it comes to
matters in Greece I don't understand, and asked him what he
knew about Fantasy Travel. He said they were very respected
and well organized. At the same moment a man walked in and
asked Tom what he knew about Matt Barrett. Tom said this is
Matt Barrett and the man introduced himself. He was George
Gerassimidis of Fantasy Travel. I don't know if I believe in
fate, but this seemed like a good moment to start. Then I
discovered that he had learned the travel business by working
with Dolphin Hellas for five years. Another twist of fate. I
began by sending him the last minute clients...you know...the
people who found my website the day before they were leaving
for Greece and were desperate because all they had were their
airline tickets. But when I realized how well organized and
how professional his company was, I began recommending them to
everyone. Dear Matt, LCJ Dear Matt: We returned from Greece just a few days ago and one of the first things on our list was to thank you for your travel guide to the Greek Islands which helped us so much in planning our trip. I had ordered books to get some sense of the country and how to proceed in planning our trip but was so disappointed since they only provided just the basic, rudimentary information which were no help to us. We had been "grounded" at home for the past 7 months since my husband had a knee replacement at the end of February and then another health problem almost immediately after his knee started to heal. We were both getting "cabin fever" from staying at home for those 7 months so when my husband asked what we should do, the answer was, "Lets take a trip to Greece." We've always wanted to visit Greece but found ourselves traveling in a number of other countries. Your article was just what we needed to start our travel plans. We were able to decide how long the trip should be and which islands to visit. But, the highlight of all was your referral to Fantasy Travel. I was fortunate enough to make contact with Paula at Fantasy Travel and we exchanged numerous e-mails in the planning stage. Paula was so responsive, helpful and patient as we made a number of changes before we finalized our plans. When we relayed the fact that my husband had had a recent knee replacement and our ages of 77 and 82, Paula offered us a solution to our plans in Santorini. All we can say, is that our travel plans went off like clock work when we arrived. We were met on the various stages of traveling from island to island and the recommended hotels where we stayed were absolutely perfect. We started in Athens, made a side trip to Delphi which was a bit of a challenge (but we managed), then to Santorini on the fast boat which was such a pleasant ride, We took a 9 hour tour around the island which ended in Oia for the amazing sunset. After 3 days in Santorini, we book another fast book to Mykonos and took another side trip to the island of Delos which turned out to be one of the best decisions we made. The history of that island is one that everyone should know that travels to Greece. Having said all this, we think one of the best parts of our trip were the people themselves. With all their economic hardships and government upheaval we weren't sure what our reception would be and the attitude of the people themselves. We simply couldn't believe their friendliness, the bright smiles, helpfulness and their warmth and especially their humor. This added greatly to our trip and we made a few friends along the way hoping they can come to Southern California to visit us and return their hospitality. If anyone is planning a trip and wants a referral or recommendation, we would be more than happy to provide it. And, thank you again for your web pages - a truly lucky find for us. Best regards, Gretchen and John Karpowich Dear Matt,
I emailed you in March looking for some information on
travelling in Greece. You hooked me up with Fantasy Travel. I used
Fantasy travel to plan and book my trip to Greece for me, my daughter, sister
and niece. We went to Athens, Santorini and Crete, travelling April 11
through April 21 of 2011. I just want to thank you for introducing us to Fantasy
travel. Our contact there was Nikos Emmanouil and he was
wonderful.
We changed so many things during the initial planning
and Nikos was always so helpful (and patient). He came up with a plan that
fit our "must see list" and our pocket book. Everything went off without a
hitch. We were met everywhere we went by their reps, never kept waiting,
never had to look for our drives...everything went smoothly. The hotels he
chose for us were safe, clean and the staff friendly.
We were nervous using an agency we had never seen in
person but things couldn't have gone better. They were available by phone
during the trip when we had questions and all of their staff were helpful.
I just wanted to let you know that things went well and we appreciate the
recommendation. We would recommend Fantasy Travel to anyone travelling to
Greece.
Again, thanks for the help, the weather was great the
whole trip and we will always have some great memories. We also would like
to highly recommend Santorini as a must see island to anyone travelling to
Greece. We would also highly recommend the donkey ride up the cliff (for
those not faint of heart, lol).
Yours truly,
Sarah J. Matt, We've got to thank you for an incredible vacation in Greece, just completed. We took your advice and signed on with Fantasy Travel for a customized vacation in Rhodes, Santorini, Mykonos, and Athens. We handled the whole trip over the internet with Litsa from Fantasy Travel. From the moment we stepped off the plane in Athens, we were met by representatives each step of the way. I can't tell you how reassuring it was to see a happy face, waiting to help us on every island. All the transfers were provided, to and from each hotel, airport, and port, and they even helped us just before we left change our travel plans from Rhodes to Santorini (the ferries weren't running that day due to a country wide strike!) so that we could fly to our next destination instead. They helped us arrange tours and even rent cars while we were on the various islands. We also used your suggestions for taxi services on Rhodes (Michael - Nicholas's brother took us all over the island) and in Athens Dionysos (George's son) took us and some friends on a customized all day tour of Athens and Sounio. It was fabulous and they were exquisite hosts. We observed some protestors gathering in front of the Parliament in Syntagma square during the day, but never felt worried or concerned. We felt some of the concern and worry the Greeks have for their country and their future and we certainly hope all will work out for the good. Thanks so much for the great service you provide! Paul Camarata Dear Matt I will start with a big thank you for your wonderful website on Greece. I came across it while researching our trip of a lifetime. We are by far, not world travellers and needed all the help we could get planning for our group of six. You provided so much information on all aspects of travel in Greece. If it wasn't for your site, I probably would not have lived my fantasy of being served by a Greek God a most glorious dinner right on the beach in Naxos! Right out of a scene from Shirley Valentine! We all had a blast 4 wheeling around Santorini, spending a few hours boating with Nick in Crete, and enjoying drinks and the view of the Acropolis from our lovely roof top boutique hotel in Athens. Oh what wonderful memories. We will be back!! But what made it such a memorable trip was every detail was taken care of by our wonderful agent Litsa Christou at Fantasy Travel. We were met at all arrival and departures by friendly and professional drivers, her experience and knowledge helped make it a trip to remember. There was not a hitch in the whole 2 weeks, I know this is not always the case so I am asking for your help once again. The same 6 are now planning a trip to Italy September 2013 and was wondering if you could recommend a travel agency in Italy. We started to research agencies but would value your recommendations if you had any. There is just so much information out there I thought I would start with someone I know I can trust. Thank you once again, and keep up the good work. Respectfully Lynn Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 8:07 PM Subject: Re: FANTASY TRAVEL-VICKY Hi Vicky,
Now that I have returned home from Greece and have decompressed, I just wanted to say the trip had far exceeded my lofty expectations, and Greece was everything I had dreamed of and more! Thank you and Fantasy Travel for all your help in planning this trip, everything went perfectly, and I have already recommended your agency to any of my friends that are interested in travelling to Greece. Thank you for a wonderful experience, and I will certainly use your services again if I plan another trip to Greece! :) Many Thanks! Andrea Roberts Assistant Development Officer City of St. John's Planning Department Litsa, Hi!! These comments are intended to respond to your request for an evaluation as well as our desire to respond to you and Fantasy Travel regarding our Greece vacation. Although I have expressed this before, it certainly deserves repeating. Your planning of our “Greek Adventure” was done with the highest professional quality and a most enjoyable personal touch. I have a very high appreciation for attention to detail (my work as a hospital case manager requires this commitment as well). The itinerary that you presented to us by the date of our departure was very clear, and Kate and I knew just what to expect. However, when Ms Diana met us at the airport and gave us an even more detailed itinerary with a packet of vouchers and tickets, we were truly amazed at how well we would be taken care of. This gave us a sense of security. Everything worked out just as it was indicated in this updated itinerary. Ms Nelly meeting us at the Athens airport to facilitate our transfer to Piraeus and then on our day of departure on the 26th was beyond what we anticipated but deeply appreciated. The flights, boat rides, taxis, signage at meeting points were all timely and made the transitions from one place to the next convenient and greatly reduced the stress and fatigue associated with moving from one point to the next. All the hotels and B&B’s were excellent choices; each had their distinctive character and offered valuable assistance. Porto Columbo in Chania was charming with a delightful staff; Emerald was particularly helpful and so personable. Volcano View in Fira was an unbelievable facility… the view of the Caldera was a constant inspiration and truly idyllic. The Mistral Hotel in Hydra was beautiful with all its art work and the most unique and generous of breakfasts. Our Greek vacation was truly wonderful; every day we wrote an email to family and friends about the “adventure,” the “odyssey” we were having. This was our 5th vacation to Europe since 2006 and it will live in our treasure of memories with the brilliance of Greek’s white and blue radiance. We are aware of how fulfilled and satisfied we are with this journey. Everything we wanted to do, prepared to do before our departure was achieved plus many more surprises… what we call “little gems” like the Neo-Classical Mansion tour in Messaria. I took nearly 1700 photos. These will be cherished many times in the future. I look forward to sharing my experience with other people especially as I do my art and architecture presentations. On July 26th, I will be giving a presentation on “Art History for the Tourist: Art and Architecture of Greece.” Now, with firsthand experience, this presentation will be greatly enriched. So, our deepest thanks to you, Diana, Nelly and all of Fantasy Travel for a service excellently done. We enjoyed the Santorini wine and the opportunity to meet you personally. Know that Fantasy Travel will receive our highest recommendation, and best of all, to make sure that Litsa Christou is handling the preparations. Feel free to use any these comments for your website references and feedback. With affection and kind regards, Leon and Kate (Krier) Sent: Monday, July 11, 2011 7:10 PM
Subject: Thank you
Hello Vicky, Dear Matt,
I recently returned from a solo trip to
Athens, Mykonos, Naxos, Santorini, and Istanbul. Since my independent
travel guru, Rick Steves, does not write much about the islands, I
followed his advice and a recommendation from a fellow Frommer's
blogger, and found your website. I booked my hotels, transfers, ferry
and air travel from Santorini to Istanbul through Fantasy Travel. I just
want to tell you that everything went smoothly. All of my transfers
were on time or early to pick me up. I was fortunate that the fast
ferries did not cancel although they were each 2 hours late. One day the
seas were at a category 6 and I was told that the fast ferries cancel
at a category 8. Thank you for your excellent website and I recommend
Fantasy Travel to anyone traveling to Greece or Turkey. Whether you like
to travel with a tour or independently, they are an asset.
Sincerely,
P. H
Belleville, IL
Sent: Friday, July 15, 2011 9:02 PM Subject: Re: Trip to Greece Dear Yana, Sent: Sunday, October 24, 2010 11:33 PM
Subject: Re: Johnson / Hertrick x 2 persons
Marcos: Sent: Saturday, May 14, 2011 7:31 AM
Once again, thank you so much for your efforts on our behalf to make this
vacation a most memorable one. Β We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of Athens,
the Acropolis Museum and the Parthenon. Β We had a tremendous tour guide,
and the Blue Star I ferry to Santorini was a real treat! Β Our acomodations
here in Santorini are magnificent and the view is magnificent. Our villa is
very, very nice and clean. Β The staff here is most helpful and friendly.
Β We appreciate your consideration of our many changes and know this must
have been a challenge, but you met this keeping our best interests at
heart.
We are fortunate that we were able to find such a wonderful travel agent
and again express our gratitude for your kind assistance with our holiday
plans.
Mr. & Β Mrs. Bob W Sent: Nov 6, 2011 Hi Litsa We have settled back into things in Melbourne now but our time in Greece is still so much in our minds.
We
had such a terrific time. The pity is that it was so short. Eleven days
is not nearly long enough to do credit to such a magnificent country. I
only hope that the current political/financial situation wont put
people off visiting, because it shouldn't. Nothing can change the
hospitality of Greek people, your incredible history, and stunning
sights. Next time we will have to come for longer. We would really like
to visite Crete because we heard so much about that island while we were
there.
We loved all the places we visited - Athens, Skiathos, Thessoloniki, Meteora, Delphi.
Now
the hub of the matter is this - our successful holiday was really all
due to you and your team at Fantasy Travel. When I first started trying
to organise our time in Greece, it all got too hard trying to decide
where to go, coordinate internal travel, book accommodation, etc. Matt
Barrett from "Travel Guide to Greece" first put us onto you and I am so
grateful for that recommendation (I am copying Matt into this email so
he knows how useful his recommendation was - thanks Matt).
Please pass on our sincere thanks to your team for
their amazing service - especially Nelly, Diana, Vicky, Nikos, Spiros
and other taxi drivers whose names I have forgotten (sorry).
We will definitely spread the word about the wonders of Greece and of Fantasy Travel.
Best wishes
Nola and Flic Purdie
Dear Matt,
I didn't receive your email until I had already
left for Greece, but I am writing to say THANK YOU. My girlfriend and I
were bumped up into the Jr Suite on the Majestic and were in shock when we
walked in. Yes, I have been on 9 cruises with balcony cabins, but I have
never been in a room nicer then that one. Thank you for contacting Fantasy
Travel and unfortunately all my emails were deleted while I was gone so I
do not have the name of the person from Fantasy who emailed me about our
cabin. I will be posting reviews on the Majestic since the 4 of us could
NOT find one thing wrong with the ship. We all had a fantastic time and
the ONLY problem we had was that the four of us were all booked with my last
name which took some time at the desk to straighten out. I actually felt
sorry for Alex at the Reception Desk because we had to come back three time in
order to each get our sea board passes with the correct names. Two of us
email Patra to get this corrected but it was never done. I cannot
understand why there are no positive reviews out there on such a great
ship. Yes, we all heard people complaining about different things, but we
never found one thing that disappointed us. It was one of the best
vacations I have had. After riding horses for 6 days 100 miles in
Crete, we were all looking forward to the down time on the ship but with
all the tours we did we actually need our down time now that we are home.
THANK YOU again and if you can give me the contact name of the person at Fantasy
I would really like to thank him. I will definitely put your name and
Fantasy Travel out to all my traveling buddies.
Sincerely,
Hollie S
Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 2010 9:47 PM
Subject: Thank you!!!!
Marcos,
Greg and I made it back safely to the US last night and wanted to thank you
for all your hard work planning our amazing vacation!!! We wanted to let you
know everything went very smoothly with Nelly and Takis meeting us at
the airport and the port in Athens. The hotels were excellent (great locations
and amazing views) and we always felt taken care of wherever we were.Transfers
were always waiting for us and it was great knowing that we had nothing to
worry about and could spend all our time enjoying your beautiful country and
culture.
Several times in the ferries and on the islands, we met honeymooners and
other couples from the US who where stressed about transfers and who were
unhappy with their hotel accommodations. We kept thinking how lucky we were to
have planned with Fantasy Travel. Thank you, Marcos, Nelly, Takis, and the
entire Fantasy Travel team for giving us the best vacation we've ever had!!! We
will definitely be recommending your services to our friends and families.
Leslie & Greg Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2011 2:41 PM
Subject: Re: Fwd:
Hello Yana Hi Matt Merry Christmas and may you have the very best in 2012. Before I go on to my rave reviews about your websites and Fantasy Travel I have a moan. My moan is that it seems harder than it should be to find somewhere to give rave reviews and recommendations about service in Greece. At least you do provide a forum for testimonials but I can't help but think that a lot of expert and hard working Greek people are not getting the publicity they deserve on the internet for their professionalism and promotion of their country. That out of the way I thank you so much for a fabulous October holiday in Athens (5 days), Crete (10 days) and Santorini (3 days). I had complete faith in your expert advice and my friends and I were not disappointed. G.O Tours gave us an awesome one day Argolis Tour and we were impressed with the relaxed but very professional way Maria and Andreas took us around the ancient sites. The new Acropolis Museum was amazing. The overnight ferry was a great way to travel to Crete and as arranged through Lefteris the lovely George gave us a wonderful taxi tour to start our holiday there.We fell in love with Crete and a week in Chania was not enough. Santorini was gorgeous of course. Fantasy Travel were absolutely fantastic. Marcos and Yana were so expert, patient, friendly and helpful in planning our holiday by email for months beforehand. We found all arrangements, prices and the hotels they chose were absolutely spot on. Everyone we dealt with on the holiday was so professional, patient and helpful we cannot say enough good things about Fantasy Travel and the way they individually and collectively represented their lovely country. I recommend them and your websites to all my friends, family, workmates and anyone else that will listen in the hope they will come to Greece and have the same wonderful experiences we have had. Meanwhile I am plotting the next trip to Crete and Santorini. Thank you once again Regards Cathy 12/29/11 Hi Matt,
We just wanted to thankyou for your recommendation to use Fantasy Travel for our trip. A few outstanding things you should know. Amazing service, they were there at every destination,cab,ferry,hotel. Eleni informed us of a late ferry that was delayed for hours.Arranged a cab to pick us up and delivered the car the next day because I had made mention of being nervous about having to now drive at night in crete. Refunded our ferry tickets and met us at the airport on the return so we didnt have to mail them and could receive a prompt refund(which we did in 2 days!). Oh and our last night in athens our Holiday Inn bus was late, Ella stayed with us after making calls to make sure it was on its way, to see we were safely taken to our hotel. Being a former travel agent I don't know how she managed to be on top of everything the way she was, we can't say enough about Eleni and Fantasy Travel. they are wonderful and I would tell anyone traveling to Greece, use this greek agency because if you have a problem or delay, they know everyone by first name at the hotels, ferries, etc. Thank you again, Lisa,Julie and
Bonnie October, 2010: My wife and I recently returned
from a tour of the Greek Islands arranged by e-mail through Dina
Kastrinaki at Fantasy Travel in Athens. Departing Athens we visited five
islands, took four airflights, four Flying Cat ferries, and had two car
rentals. Quite a trip! Every arrangement was
perfect. We were met upon arrival, taken to our hotels,
delivered from them to our next step of the trip, and provided with cars even,
in one case, when the ferry was over an hour late and arrived at 9:30
p.m. yet still found the Fantasy Travel rep waiting for us with our
car. Here is a story I am embarrassed to tell: At one stage of
our travel, I committed the most stupid of travellers' blunders:- I
left my passport in the hotel safe! From our next stop, in a
panic, I called Fantasy Travel and Dina arranged the pick-up of my passport and
had it delivered to me two island stops later before it was required for a
flight. I called her, quite suitably, "Angel Dina". A trip that
would have been otherwise complicated for first-time visitors to the Greek
Islands was made smooth and easy by Fantasy Travel, with special thanks to
Dina.
Brian Hamilton.
Surrey, BC, Canada
Thank you just does not seem to be enough to express how thankful I am to you for making our trip to Greece so magnificent. We loved the beauty of your country and the hospitality of your people. We cannot thank you enough for such a fabulous trip. If you need any references for people traveling from the US, please feel free to use me as a reference. I will remember my 50th birthday forever with many fond memories. Kristen S. Speer Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2011 5:32 PM Subject: Back from Greece Dear Marcos, Sent: Monday, September 13, 2010 5:34 AM
Subject: Re: Smedile x 2 persons
I wanted to let you know that we were absolutely delighted by the level of
service that your company provided for us while we were travelling.
All of your staff went the extra mile in making sure that we were
accompanied to our destination and that everything was exactly how it should
be.
It made us feel completely comfortable at a time when we needed it most and
let us relax and enjoy our holiday.
We were both extremely impressed by the level of personal service and we
will be sure to recommend you to friends.
Both Colette and myself have a lot of experience working with companies on
a professional level and it is rare to find people who do their job so
well.
Thank you so much for looking after us in this way and please pass on our
compliments to your staff.
Cheers,
Marcus and Colette.
Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2010 11:11 AM
Subject: RE: Greece - Fantasy Travel
Dear Anna, Both myself and Mr. Azizi would like to extend our heartfelt appreciation for all the arrangements and assistance that was extended to us during our stay in Greece. We especially would like to extend our utmost appreciation to Diana from Fantasy travel for all of her assistance. The family had a great and enjoyable time in Greece and all the travel arrangements made by Fantasy Travel were superb. We will definitely recommend to all of our colleagues the services of Fantasy Travel if they ever wish to visit Greece. Thank you! -Nazhri- Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2011 2:38 AM Vassilis- Dear Matt, My wife and I recently visited Greece and used Fantasy Travel as our travel agent. We got their name from your internet site. The agent we dealt with was Vasillis. When my wife and I travel, we always like to deal with an agency local to that country. We usually contact two different agencies and then make a choice to use the one best suited for our needs. I just wanted to let you know Fantasy, and Vasillis in particular, were the best organization/agent we have ever used. They were easy to work with, listened to us to determine what our goals were and then helped us realize them. By chance and unfortunately, we were scheduled to be in Athens on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 28th and 29TH the two days of violent protests and the national strike. Fantasy worked with us to allow us to see the Plaka and Acropolis while relocating our hotel accommodations from the square to a safer environment. While I personally was upset and angry at the situation, once my wife settled me down, I realized that Vassilis efforts really worked in our favor to finish our trip both safely and enjoyably. THANK YOU VASILLIS! Jack (Ross) Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 4:05 AM
Subject: Re: CHAD GIBSON x2:
Hi Yana,
Just wanted to let you know that we really enjoyed our honeymoon trip to
Greece. We would like to thank you personally for organizing such a
amazing trip. We were more than satisfied with all of the accommodations
and the travel from Athens to Naxos to Santorini and back to Athens was
extremely easy and timely. We absolutely loved the beaches, mountains, and
people on Naxos, by far the highlight of our stay. We will recommend
Fantasy Travel to all of our friends who may consider vacationing in
Greece.
Thanks,
Chad
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2011 5:49 PM
Subject: Hello Vicky
Estimada Vicky:
I finally got the time to communicate with you. We had a fantastic
time in Greece. Of course, there were a few demonstrations in Syntagma
Square but nothing serious. The Central Hotel was OK...the location was
very good. The Vencie Hotel in Mykonos was very, very nice. Stella
and her brother, Antonio, do a wonderful job. I would recommend this hotel
to your clients. Paros was nice...extremely quiet...not too many
people. The Contaratos Hotel was very clean. They were improving the
beach immediately across the hotel...they were building covers for the beach
goers. They was being built by the hotel owners...Contaratos family.
Volcano Views Villa Hotel was very, very nice as well. It is
large with fantastic views.
We were very impressed with Crete. The Lato Hotel has just expanded
their hotel and developed rooms across the street from the original hotel.
The new part was only ten days old. We stayed in the new part of the hotel
and the rooms were very modern, but they were also very, very small.
Heraklio was nice and we went to Agios Nicholas...very charming
town. Chania was much better. The Ammos Hotel was nice, but it
does cater to alot of people with families...babies and small children.
The location of the hotel was good and it had its own private beach area
like the other hotels along the beach. Nikos, the manger, does a very good
job.
Vicky, we thank you very much for your service. We are very satisfied
and truly enjoyed this trip. We have been all over Mexico, South America,
Western Europe twice, Canada, and most of the United States. Our trip to
Greece will be remembered forever. The Greek people are beautiful and
friendly....como Mexicanos. :) I began to speak some Greek and the
people thought I was Greek. Our Spanish helps because we can
pronounce Greek words much better. You did a wonderful job for us!!
If you ever come to Houston, Texas send us an e-mail in advance and we will
invite you to dinner.
Viva Grecia!!
Your friends,
Richard and Blanca
Hi Litsa,
We have been home for almost two weeks now and want you to know that
the memory of our trip to Greece becomes more vivid as we reflect upon the
time spent there. Much of the pleasure is due to you and
to the attention that you gave to us. You, and those who worked with
you, eliminated the stress that usually accompanies many
trips. Everything worked like clockwork!
Good choices on the accommodations!
Thanks again for your work.
Arlene Dear Matt, I just wanted to say thank you for your wonderful website on Greece. My husband and I just returned from a fabulous trip to Greece- Athens, Mykonos and Santorini. Your website was priceless with all of its information. We used Fantasy Travel (Litsa Christou) to plan everything except our flights and they did a great job. We did not have to worry about any of our hotels or tranfers. They met us at the airport and had all of our vouchers with times and dates completely organized. It was such a relief to have everything arranged ahead of time, as we watched people scramble to arrange their taxis or hotels. It was also wonderful to have everything paid for before we left, so we could just relax once we were in Greece. Plus we were able to check out your website when we were in Greece for recommendations. So thanks again for allowing us to have a memorable second honeymoon. Sincerely, Heidi Ball Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2010 3:35 PM Subject: RE: Greece - Fantasy Travel Anna, Thanks so much for your assistance with this trip. It was well coordinated start to finish. Only issue we ran into was the strike in Athens and I appreciate your efforts to assist in modifying our itinerary accordingly. It will be a trip we will remember forever. I will certainly recommend Fantasy Travel to any and all of my friends and colleagues wishing to travel to Greece. Rich K To: Dina Kastrinaki Hello Dina, We just wanted to sent you a note of thanks in helping us with our trip. Everything, including the weather was perfect. All of the folks that helped with our transfers were excellent and were not only on time but always early. It truly relieved any stress we had on making our connections and getting to our hotels. Speaking of hotels they were all great and treated us fabulously. We thought the hotel website photos were probably a bit too good to be true, but they really were accurate. It is hard to believe there is any better sunset view than at the Astra, let all the other folks go to Oia, we will take the view from our patio at the Astra! Our Greece trip was all and more than we hoped for ( though Athens traffic is crazy), thanks for helping us experience it. If anyone has any concerns on the process, (prepaying, sending copies of passports and credit cards, confirming someone really meets you at the airport to hand you the vouchers) Please feel free to us as a reference and give them our e-mail address. If the dollar & Euro ever get closer in value, maybe we can do a Rhodes island trip in the future. Thanks again, My husband and I have just returned from a dream vacation in the Cycladic Islands of Greece. We visited Athens briefly, but chose to spend the bulk of our time divided between the three islands of Sifnos, Milos and Santorini. I had conducted my own internet research on the islands we wished to visit (looking for non-touristy type places) and in which hotels we wanted to stay. Having done this, with excellent advice from Eleni Paida - our travel agent at Fantasy Travel in Athens - we then left the booking details in Eleni’s capable hands This was an excellent decision. Arriving in Athens, we were met by a Fantasy Travel Representative holding a placard bearing our name. We were then given a package of vouchers which, as we discovered, contained a voucher for every step of the way. Eleni had prearranged hotel bookings, ferries, transportation to and from hotels, car-rental (delivered direct to our hotel and picked up from the same place prior to our departure), and was available to make any last minute changes we required (e.g. extra time on car rental). We were also given contact information in the event of any problem that might arise. Was this expensive? I assume so - although I did not sit down and calculate what it might have cost us had we booked separately because for us this was the worry-free travel we desired. I had read about Fantasy Travel when I began to explore the options for our trip to Greece. This agency had received positive reviews and I can only confirm that this is the way to go if it is at all possible. Thank you Eleni, for your help, advice, and expertise in arranging what was a dream vacation in a wonderful country. Vassilis, Vassilis,
Hi, I want to thank you for a wonderful trip you put together for me
and my boyfriend. The hotels you picked for each location was exactly what
I wanted and were perfect. I'm very happy to have booked everything
through your travel agency. I loved that we didn't have to worry about
transportation and buying the ferry tickets while we were
there. We loved Greece. Juan and I had a lot of fun and now
great memories. When Juan I go to Greece again in the future, we will book
it with you. Thanks again for putting the whole package together and
picking wonderful hotels.
Best wishes, Julie Lambis and Juan
Portillo
Vicky,
We had a wonderful trip....thanks to you and your team!!! We can't thank
you enough.
Diana did a wonderful job, going above and beyond, when we left our cell
phone in the taxi upon our arrival.
She tracked down the driver and returned it personally. We can't thank her
enough.
You had everything planned out perfectly. Our many transfers (taxis,
ferries, and plane) all
went smoothly. The hotels were lovely. The people of Greece are so kind and
gracious.
This is a trip we will always cherish. Thank you, Vicky , and Fantasy
Travel!
Shari and John Lusk Hi Dina,
Just wanted to deliver a huge 'thank you' for helping us plan our
holiday in Greece, now that we're home again wishing we were still
there!
Many many years of attending local Greek festivals, enjoying the
music and the food, whetted our appetite to finally get over there and
see for ourselves what it was all about. You know that we'd been
researching and planning and anticipating this trip for a long time,
thanks mainly to everything we learned on Matt B's website, and at long
last we were able to finally get off the fence, put together an
itinerary, and just do it. Between you and Matt B, we can never thank
you enough for the fabulous trip we had. To name just a few highlights:
Hotel Attalos - after all the time spent studying Matt's site and
the small Athens map we ordered from Fantasy Travel, it was uncanny to
feel so 'at home' once we finally arrived in Athens. It was as if we
already knew where everything was, traveling through neighborhoods that
we already knew very well. Over the course of our trip we spent 6
nights in Athens, all at the Attalos, and we found the location and the
neighborhood to be exactly right for us - active, busy, and right in the
middle of everything - we walked everywhere. Very reasonably priced,
an excellent value - and with that fabulous rooftop view terrace, where
we finished up every night.
the 7-day Mainland Tour - I'm a history buff and originally wanted
to be able to visit sites associated with Alexander the Great, so that
meant a trip to the north of Greece. The tour you booked for us was a
most effective use of our time and we were able to see and do so much
more than we could ever have managed on our own. We really felt, by the
time we got back to Athens, that we'd been able to see and experience a
good cross-section of your beautiful country (I didn't expect this, but
it seems like we didn't so much see the sites as climb over them
physically, everywhere we went - very satisfying and unforgettable).
Eventually I couldn't tell what drew me more - the human-built sites we
visited, both ancient and modern, or the physical landscape of Greece
itself. Stunning! I can't really rank what we saw on the tour, it's
not possible (or necessary), but I will say I hope I'm able to revisit
Delphi in this lifetime.
Santorini - Kamares Apartments couldn't have been a better choice
for us and we appreciated it more and more as we visited the island. We
were able to have a private, quiet apartment and terrace with 'the
view', yet we were only moments from the bus station, the post office,
the center of town, the health center, etc... all w/o having to climb a
lot of steps (we did climb up and down a bunch of steps while visiting
Fira and Oia - no problem at all, but still we were glad we didn't have
to climb lots of steps just to get in and out of our room every day
(with luggage, no less). A truly inspired choice Dina!
the Poet Sandalmaker - just around the corner from our hotel in
Athens. We ended up visiting the shop three times and bought 4 pairs of
sandals. It was such a privilege to meet and speak for a while with
Pantelis Mellissinos.
I could go on and on, but I hope you get the idea. We never had a
bad meal, never had a bad room, never had a transfer go wrong or felt
ourselves to be in over our heads anywhere for any reason. We were
lucky to have 21 days - we saw and did so much, yet it also seems as if
we only just scratched the surface. Your country has such riches, we
hope to come back to pick up where we left off.
Thank you again Dina, for everything you gave us. We're happy we
were able to meet you in person at the beginning of our trip, and now
we'd like to let everyone (your boss? future visitors to Greece?) know
what a privilege it was to work with Dina Kastrinaki at Fantasy Travel.
We can't recommend you highly enough! And, we hope to work with you
again.
Best regards,
Ray and Athena
California, USA
Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2009 5:29 AM
Subject: A thousand thank-yous
Dear Dina, Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 4:10 AM Hello Chris, My name is Joanna Droege & I just returned from my trip to Greece with my friend Mike Scholnick. I just wanted to say thanks for making all the arrangements for this wonderful trip! This was my first time out of the country & you made it go that much smoother. When we arrived to the Athens airport we were greeted by Diana, who was so nice & had all our stuff together & explained everything. Then when we arrived in Santorini I saw other people scrambling to find phone numbers & rides & they looked all stressed while our ride was waiting. Also when we got to Mykonos, Katrina was great. Thanks so much for helping us with this trip & getting it all together. I realize we did pay for the service, but you never know sometimes & I would definitely rec commend your service to anyone! Joanna Droege Hi Dina: July 2nd 2009, 10:50 pm: We just got back to our house in Westport 30 minutes ago! What a trip! Everyone said how great our travel agent was, and what a great job you did. When you said people would take us, even at 5am, well they were there.
We saw lots of great things, met great people, and stayed at some terrific places, with the Vencia and Lava Oia especially great. Pepitza at the Lava was terrific and she took us to her favorite beach. The Vencia was amazingly beautiful, calm, and wonderful. More to follow, but not now.
I just wanted to thank you again, and say that I'll write more later, but for now, we need sleep, and thank you so much again.
Best,
Ted Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2009 4:00 AM Hi Dina, Jack Hope Greetings to Matt and to Fantasy Management My friend and I recently returned from a 17 day trip around Greece. Through Matt's site we connected with a Fantasy agent by the name of Patra, who suggested the perfect itinerary for us based on our requests and available schedules (ferries, tours). She did a fantastic job. She really excelled when she managed to return us to Athens from Milos when the ferry strike took place. With about 8 minutes to pack and leave our hotel she had a driver waiting to rush us to the Milos airport for an early return to Athens. And within a week of our return home to Canada our credit cards were refunded as agreed. The hotels that Patra selected were also perfect - Hotel Myrto on Sifnos, Hotel Portiani on Milos, and Hotel Attelas in Athens as suggested by Matt. Perfect as well was the 4 day Classical Tour led by a very informative guide named Kassandra. We couldn't ask for a more enthusiastic representative of Greek history. We would appreciate if you would pass along our thanks to Kassandra as well. Please convey our appreciation to Patra for all her help, and obvious professionalism, to make our trip to Greece so enjoyable. She truly is an asset to the Fantasy company. We will be sure to pass along our impressions of your company to the Canadian travellers we know. Scarlett Ryan Hi Matt, My wife and I started planning our Greek islands trip ourselves via the internet as we didn’t use travel agents for our other holidays in France and Italy. We soon realised that Greece was different because of the complicated and erratic ferry timetables. My wife approached a local travel agent in Sydney, whilst I discovered your web site and sent our itinerary and preferred hotel list to Fantasy Travel. I was contacted by Paula Simopoulou from Fantasy Travel who suggested some minor changes, including a couple of other hotels where they had no arrangement with those on our list. Because we had already done a lot of research we had a good idea of costs so I was pleasantly surprised to see Paula’s quote was about the same. Given the price and the positive feedback on your web site we decided to go with Fantasy. Whilst we were finalising the itinerary Paula was always very courteous, and replied to our questions and concerns promptly. We wanted to pay the deposit by credit card but were very reluctant to supply photo copies of our passports and credit card as requested by Fantasy Travel for fear of identity theft. In the end we chose to pay by direct bank deposit via our online banking service. When it came time to pay the balance Paula advised us that our planned ferry trip from Santorini to Crete had been cancelled so we would have to fly via Athens at considerably higher cost. We were still a bit ill at ease that we could be left high and dry on arrival in Athens due to the global financial crisis, but any doubts were immediately dispelled when we found the charming Fantasy representative waiting for us with all our tickets and vouchers exactly as promised. We were also delighted to hear that Paula had tracked down another ferry service from Santorini to Crete and had already credited the airfare difference into our account. All our transfers went like a well rehearsed production, and all hotel bookings were also spot on. Paula and her team at Fantasy Travel did a fantastic job and get a 10 out of 10 from us. I hope that if anyone has any doubts about using Fantasy Travel this feedback will allay their fears. Thanks for pointing us in the direction of Fantasy Travel through your excellent web site. Regards Ewen & Leigh Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2010 7:50 PM Subject: Many many thanks! Dear Eleni, Once again I want to thank you so much for your help in making our trip to Greece a magical time! We are now home, safe and sound, after the extra week in Athens thanks to the volcano, and are beginning to go through pictures, etc. That last week gave us the chance to really explore Athens, and we enjoyed every minute of it! What a wonderful city you live in! The people, food, atmosphere, great sites that we stumbled onto, the huge meat markets, etc. I will absolutely recommend you and your agency to anyone I know planning to travel in Greece. Your knowledge, all the ways you made our life so much simpler, with the transfers and vouchers handled, as well as all your help when we were stranded - you are quite simply the best! If we ever return to Greece, we'll be writing you! Thanks again, Mary and Leo Piquette Hi Matt My wife, 20 month old son and myself just returned about a week ago from our first trip to Greece. I wanted to thank you not only for your fantastic website but also the time you take to respond to individual emails. Your recommendation of Fantasy Travel is much appreciated. I would strongly encourage anyone traveling to Greece to contact them, especially if you are traveling with a small child. From the time our plane touched down in Athens they were available for all of our needs. The fact I did not have to worry about any transportation really eliminated some stress. In addition your hotel and restaurant recommendations were also excellent. I should also add that Sifnos, as you suggested it would be, was perfect for a family. The beach at Kamares was as you described and perfect for a 20 month old to run wild. The weather was perfect the week we were there this past October and we basically had the beach to ourselves. The Greek people could not have been nicer. It seemed that from the Plaka to Apollonia the folks went out of their way to put a smile on our son's face. If he wasn't getting free bakery or fries, it was a toy at the pharmacy. I planned this trip for a long time but it was worth the wait. I can certainly say, my family would love to go again. Thank you again for all of your time and effort. Warm regards............................ Casey, Julie & Caleb Palbicki Oh, I'm sure you get plenty of better written testimonials but please feel free to include this email if you'd like. Sent: Sunday, November 01, 2009 10:55 PM Vassilis, I want to thank you for all of your help making the last night of our honeymoon memorable. Christina and I really enjoyed our last night in Athens at the Athens Gate. It was a great location, very comfortable, and had a great restaurant. The hotel staff was extremely nice and attentive to detail. They congratulated us on our marriage when we checked in and had a bottle of wine and fresh fruit in the room. I really appreciate the work you did to upgrade us to this hotel. Our experience with Fantasy Travel was great overall, but your extra effort to address our concerns and ensure that every detail was handled perfectly was far beyond our expectations. Thank you so very much! We will definitely recommend Fantasy Travel to our friends! Best, Charlie and Christina Sursa Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2009 10:10 PM Eleni, Just wanted to express our appreciation for the wonderful holiday we had. I can't say enough about what a wonderful experience it was, due to the time and effort you put in to make it happen. The choices you made for us in everything was top notch. Our hotel rooms were so much more than we expected, and the views from the balconies were magical. My daughter and I kept waiting for something to either go wrong, or to have a terrible hotel room, but that did not happen. Our experiences in Greece have given us so many wonderful memories to cherish. Everytime that we thought we could not see any more beauty and history we did. The Parthenon and the Acropolis were beautiful. My daughter actually cried when she was looking at the Acropolis. She said she couldn't believe she was standing there, and that it was real. She kept saying she felt like we were in Disneyland, that all this beauty and history couldn't be real. We are so glad we went with Fantasy travel, and feel lucky we were able to work with you. Ms. Cristina was so very nice and made us feel welcome at the very start. We took the coastal road to Nafplio and even though it was sometimes scary we were glad we did. It was breathtaking, and the towns we went through were so quaint and pretty. I could go on and on about all our stays, but I hope you get the picture. We loved Greece and every area we were in. I don't know how our holiday could have been any better. Thank you so very much, Matt, hello
I had
the utmost pleasure of working with Fantasy Travel, and I would like to
post a review / story. I couldn't find a place on the website to post
automatically, so I'm sending it to you with hopes of distribution.
Thanks!
-Vicky
I
have never in my life written a review, but working with Vicky Asloglou
of Fantasy Travel prompted me to do just that. To summarize - I have
worked and dealt with quite a few people in my time, but I was NEVER as
impressed with anyone as much as her. She provided the most
professional, knowledgeable, cordial, responsive and attentive service
I have ever received. She LISTENED to my requests and questions, and
replied to every single one of them in a timely manner. The way she did
her job assured me that this 2-week trip will be amazing, and there
will be no issues with any of the bookings (which included hotels,
ferries, transfers, and a land tour). The trip indeed was 100% hassle
free, and I cannot thank Fantasy Travel enough, and especially Vicky,
for such an amazing service. The full story is below (and quite lengthy
… this is how much this agency has moved me!) Hi Matt,
My husband and I just returned Sunday evening from our vacation to
Greece. We started planning our trip back in January and found your
web-site while researching where to go/what to do.
We want to say thank you! Thank you for taking the time to
develop this site and make the information available. We had no idea
how to get around the islands, where to stay...really how to even plan
this trip. At your recommendation, we used Fantasy Travel and that was
the best decision we made!
The entire trip went smoothly with no bumps or problems. All our
transfers were timely and stress free. We absolutely LOVED the
hotels they chose for us. The Petasos Beach in Mykonos was gorgeous
and completely relaxing. We really liked being on that side of the
island - they got that just right! The Astra Apartments in Santorini
were fabulous - the staff was exceedingly accommodating, friendly and
just a pleasure to be around. In Santorini, all the hotels have
gorgeous views, but the staff is what made this stay especially great.
When they recommended that hotel, I wondered, "Why not Oui?" That's
where all the guide books recommend to stay." They were so right!
What a perfect choice for us. What we just couldn't get over is how,
Dina, our agent, got it exactly right after just a few emails between
us. Over the course of our trip we spoke with other travelers who used
other agenci
es and were not nearly as pleased as we were. We felt like she
listened so well, figured out just the type of vacations we like and
made sure that's what we got.
It was a fabulous trip and we are so grateful we used Fantasy
Travel, as we know it would have been completely different had we not.
If we had not found your web-site, we would not have known to use an
agency for transfers, ferry rides etc. We likely would have tried to
figure that all out ourselves - SO glad we didn't do that. Your
recommendation on that is exactly right! I just have to say, it feels
so risky these days to make important decisions based on finding a
random web-site, but we are so fortunate yours is available and that we
found it. I hope others might see my email and feel more
comfortable taking your advice, if they feel a bit nervous as we were
in the beginning. Thank you, thank you, thank you and best wishes for
continued success!
Warmest regards,
Jenny Cianciolo
To: Litsa CHRISTOU Subject: What a superb travel agent you are!
Dear Litsa:
We arrived home from Greece a few days ago and we want to express our sincere thanks to you for the excellent planning you did on our behalf. From the moment we met Mrs. Dulce's daughter at Athens airport on October 21st until we were dropped off at the same airport by taxi on November 2nd, everything went like clockwork, thanks to your first-rate organizational skills and admirable attention to detail. Fantasy Travel is very lucky to have you on their staff and we hope they realize that. Tell them we said so!
Everything you had arranged for us happened exactly the way you had planned it and this amazed us because such perfection is rare in today's world. We were particularly impressed with the way things went so smoothly in Santorini, which was one of the most complicated parts of our trip. The taxi was there at Thira airport to take us as close as possible to our hotel; the young man was waiting at the top of the steps to carry our bags down; and the location of the hotel itself was ideal. Two days later, at 3:30 a.m., the young man showed up ahead of time to carry our bags up to where the taxi was due to pick us up; the taxi arrived ten minutes early and transported us to the ferry for Crete; and at Crete another taxi was waiting to take us to our hotel in Iraklion (which had the best view in town). The meticulous planning involved in all those steps, which you did with such professional efficiency, and the reliable personnel you have developed over the years to assist you with transportation and hotel arrangements is truly awesome and worthy of the highest praise. You and Fantasy Travel have a great deal to be proud of.
We were lucky to be the recipients of such excellent service and we appreciate everything you did to make our Greek vacation an unforgettable experience. Because of your skilful planning we enjoyed the very best that Greece has to offer and we were enthralled by all of it. You live in a very beautiful country and it must make you proud and happy to be able to introduce others to its many charms and magnificent scenery, not to mention its amazing history and archaeology.
Bravo, Litsa, from two very satisfied customers, Irene and Richard
P.S. If you would like more detailed feedback on any specific hotel or other services we would be happy to offer our comments on request. My in-laws just returned from a trip to Greece as a celebration of 50 years of marriage. We arranged the trip through Fantasy Travel after researching travel in Greece and using all the tips and hints on your web page. Paula at Fantasy Travel was exceptional and when my in-laws arrived in Athens the staff at Fantasy travel took excellent care of them (being 70 years old and not seasoned travelers made the adventure even more exciting).
Thank you for all your efforts to research and post reliable information to the internet. It is a gift to those of us who plan for others and appreciated more than you might know.
The trip was the experience of a life time and I wanted to thank you for your part. I imagine you must receive more email than you can reasonably answer, so please do not feel obligated to respond.
Safe journeys, peace and joy - Jobie F
To: Vicky Asloglou
Sent: Saturday, September 05, 2009 8:43 AM
Subject: Thank you !
Dear Vicky,
Thank you so much for your perfect arrangements
that saw us having the most amazing time in Greece. I miss it
already!!! The 4-day Classical Tour was a great introduction to your rich
history. Lida, (hope I get the spelling right) our guide on the tour as well as
our driver were knowledgeable and helpful. The four-days were sheer delight, it
helped we had equally great fellow-travellers on the tour. Special THANK YOU for
arranging the our flight Santorini-Athens at such a short notice when we
were already at Mykonos, it gave us more time in Athens that
evening. The pick-ups at the various points, hotels and ferry terminals were
smooth, our thanks to Diana (our arrival at Athens) and the other two ladies,
Mykonos ( apologies, I did not get her name) and Nina at Santorini, and then
back at Athens bef we left, impeccable arrangements indeed. St John
at Mykonos was fabulous, awesome views from our patio and the
pool. A super-big THANK YOU for getting us to San Antonio in Santorini
Antonio...it was awesome !!!
Thanks for your patient and delightful service
working through the changes in the itinerary with us before the final
one. We didn't give you much time ( I suppose one month isn't much
notice for planning a 15-day trip !) but you were wonderful and got all
that planning worked out for a peak-season trip. We will most
certainly use and recommend your Fantasy-tic services again when
we come back to Greece. Also, pls convey our thanks to your
colleagues. It was good to know you or someone
from Fantasy Travel was always only just a phone call or email away....we
appreciated that.
Thank you a million, Vicky......EFHARISTO
!!!
Warmest regards,
Loretta and Anne
Matt, Dear Matt,
I want you to know what great service Litsa provided me for our travel to Santorini. She was diligent in responding to my emails and was very patient with me as I tried to decide on the “perfect” hotel for our stay. She also arranged transfers from the airport to the hotel and back to the airport; and she provided me with very useful information for our short 8-hour visit in Athens on return to Dubai. I will recommend your travel service and Litsa to our friends and family as they plan their vacations to Greece. It was a pleasure doing business with you and congratulate you on having a very dedicated and component staff. Great customer service as they say in the United States. Best regards, Barbara T Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 9:44 PM Dear Litsa, I just wanted to thank you for planning our wonderful holiday in Greece. My husband and I returned about 2 weeks ago and were very sad to leave. We had a great time in Athens, Mykonos and Santorini. I was really impressed by how well everything was organized from our hotels to our transfers. I really appreciated being personally greeted at the airport by Alexandra. She did a great job going over all of our vouchers and they were all well organized. It was such a relief to have everything arranged ahead of time. All taxis and hotel transfers were on time waiting for us as planned. Even the flight from Santorini to Athens was perfectly arranged. We enjoyed our stay at all three hotels- Athens Gate, Princess of Mykonos and Volcano View Hotel. The views from the last two just can't be beat and their location was perfect for us. So thanks again for allowing us to have a fabulous second honeymoon! We will definitely recommend you and your company. Sincerely, Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2009 4:53 AM Hi, Litsa. We loved all the beaches where we went, but especially the one on the east end of Crete. We would very highly recommend our hotels in Crete, the Galaxy...I would say almost 5 star, and the Porto Veneziano with a just wonderful staff, which we also found in Santorini at the Volcanos view. The staff at the Hotel Central in Athens was very nice but I would say the Central was not up to the quality of the other hotels. Being in the Plaka area of Athens and able to walk everywhere was wonderful. We also found very good restaurants in the "Lonely Planet" guidebook. For your information, I would highly recommend a Jewelry store in Nafplio called Margerita's. We bought some pieces of lovely handcrafted jewelry there for a great value. Thanks again for helping make the trip a very special trip of a lifetime, Jim Chudleigh, MD To: Dina
Kastrinaki
Sent: Monday, July 13, 2009 8:06 PM
Subject: Re: fantasy travel
Dina,
I have to say that you did an amazing job! We were so impressed at
how seamless everything went you are a true gem! People met us and
directed us perfectly and we are grateful for that. And how you arranged
and booked everything was perfect. Your advice was fantatistic!
The Hotel Herodion in Athens was OK. Loved the roof deck and the
lobby and breakfast were good. Great location but we missed the museum
because we throught we'd go on Monday after the tour and it wasn't open on
Monday. Bummer! Wasn't crazy about the bed (two twins pushed
together with futon mattresses) and the room had just a slight sent of mustiness
- but since we didn't spend much time there it didn't matter (and the bathroom
was very clean and a good size ;). The tour was just enough. Thank
you for that!
Great seats on the ferry and very comfortable. Getting there was
seamless and your people are great!
We loved Lianos Villas. Clean and an amazing view. I only
didn't like how tiny the shower (I couldn't bend over without hitting
my head on the soap dish - it was tiny!) was but everything the food,
view, perfect. We loved staying just outside all of the hub-ub. Good
call all the way around. We fell in love immediately with Naxos.
AMAZING food and old world charm and scenic beauty. We are so grateful we
chose that island! It was wonderful!
Santorini's scenic beauty is unbeatable. We have the highest marks
for Remezzo. Vassillia was an incredibly helpful hoast and our suite was
FANTATASTIC! Giant compared to where we came from. Three rooms and
an enormous bathroom and immaculate! Kitchenette, great breakfast and
spectacular views! We could not have asked for more. And every time
we went to Fira we thanked god we weren't staying there! Imerovigli was
perfect!!!
The Sofitel was pretty cool too. Nice room (but expensive food - but
we didn't care so much!). The shower stall didn't drain well at all and I
left that on the comment card (it was kind of yukky, and there was some leftover
mold in the stall). But the hotel was quiet and the room and bed extremely
comfortable.
I will recommend you to whomever I can. Our trip was wonderful and
you steered us in the right direction every time.
Hopefully the next time we travel it'll be first class all the way!
Yippee!!!
Thanks again for an amazing trip!!!
xoxoCollette
To: Dina
Kastrinaki
Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 6:16 AM
Subject: Re: fantasy travel
Hi Dina,
I just got back from Greece and both Karen and I had a wonderful, wonderful
time. Thank you so much for helping us enjoy our time in Mykonos and
Santorini. We were so thrilled that everything was taken care of and that
we could spend time enjoying ourselves. What a great holiday we had.
Thank you!
Rebecca Hi
Matt,
Just want to thank
you for your website - my husband and I spent 2 weeks in Athens, Mykonos and
Santorini in May 2009, and your website gave me alot of information when I had
no clue what I was looking for. It was on your website that I found
Fantasy Travel, and on a whim I had Patra put together a package for
us.
I would highly
recommend their services, all of our hotel bookings, ferry tickets and transfers
where perfect and on time. It was nice not to have to worry about reading
ferry schedules and hailing taxis in a strange country. Although, if I had
to do it again, I now feel I could very comfortably book everything myself as
the Greek people are very tourist oriented.
If you are
interested in our opinions, we stayed at:
Athens Cypria (very
pleased with location and breakfast, room was abit small, thin walls, but
we weren't there to spend time in the room)
Mykononian K
Hotels - again great location (not for anyone with mobility issues though),
fabulous pool area, great breakfast.
Astir Thira,
Santorini - probably wouldn't stay here again - it's right on the main road into
Fira, so traffic noise was an issue, very poor pool area - cheap chairs and no
umbrellas, no toaster for breakfast.
We had a fabulous time and
absolutely love Greece! Again, the guidance I got from your website was so
helpful!!
Respectfully, Sheila & Wade
Weatherbee
Dear Matt, We just came back from Greece. I used Fantasy Travel and worked with Dina – she was absolutely EXCELLENT and we had the most wonderful magic time in Greece. We did a quick tour as we are not in position to leave our offices for too long a time. Two days in Athens, 3 days in Mykonos and 3 days in Santorini. I will never be the same again. Your advice was most helpful and if it wasn’t for you I don’t know. I basically studied your website in detail and used so much of your info. Thank you!! We would like to go back next year but would like to visit some of the other islands – may I ask which ones you suggest after which I will be in a position to do more research. Thank you in advance Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 8:04 PM
Subject: Back in NY
Hi Mike… Sadly, our trip to Greece is complete. We are back in NY. But we certainly loved your beautiful country! Beyond that, I wanted to take a minute to thank you personally for being so attentive to our needs and concerns. I really felt you cared, and more than that, you were always a pleasure to speak with -- planning the trip with you was fun! I'm sorry we didn't get to meet when Barbara and I were in Athens. Also… all of your colleagues, whether people who were Fantasy in Athens, or with your collaborating partners on the islands, were terrific -- friendly and helpful. Francesco (I think that is his name) with Bellonius on Santorini, was right there for us when we needed to change rooms… and had some great insights into what to do on the island. The woman who brought us the Trust rental car in Crete, told us about a little town called Loutro on the south coast… which wound up being a highlight of our trip. We even called her for additional directions and information, which she was glad to supply. As you've undoubtedly realized… we can be very particular, even perfectionistic about our accommodations and arrangements. If you'd like me to share specific feedback on any aspect of our trip, I'd be glad to. But please be assured, even if I have nit-picks about certain things -- which is my nature -- I was quite pleased with Fantasy's service. And again… you, Mike, were so helpful in making it all happen. We had a great vacation! We will certainly return to Greece. And I hope, eventually, to meet you. Until then... Be well... Gary G
Sent: Thursday, September 24, 2009 12:16 PM Subject: It has been spectacular!
Dear Vassilis! Thank you so very much for an Absolutely perfect
holiday. As I type this- we are relaxing at the incredible Volcano VIP Villas.
Everything has been just amazing. We head back to Athens later this afternoon on
flight 357. Niko has been unbelievably attentive and we are thrilled with
everything! Each part of the journey has been letter perfect so far.
Santorini is spectacular and we don't want to leave. I will write again after we
get home but I wanted to make certain to tell you promptly that your services
were absolutely appreciated and because of you- the trip was a complete succuss.
Thanks so very much for your tremendous attention to detail. We loved it all!!!
Can't wait to book another trip to Greece- and when we do we will only
work with you and Fantasy Travel! Perfection! Thanks again!!!
Cheers!
John Duffin
Litsa,
Sent: Sunday, September 06, 2009 4:31 AM
Subject: Thank you Anna
Hello Anna,
I just wanted to thank you for all your help with my travel arrangements to
Athens and Santorini...
I met up with my daughter who was studying abroad there this summer and we
filled our days with as many amazing sights and delicious food as we
could. The hotels were wonderful... the Central Hotel was perfectly
located for me - close to her school, in the middle of the Plaka, very clean,
very pleasant staff and my view of the Acropolis was amazing.
We dined one evening on a restaurant rooftop with a view of the
Acropolis.... absolutely beautiful. We saw many many ancient sights,
we shopped, we had wonderful pastries and greek salads! We took a bus ride
to Cape Sounion and while walking to our bus stop, looking across the street was
your offices! If we had an extra few minutes I would've visited you, but
we were short on time so I took a picture instead! :)
The Kamari Beach Hotel in Santorini also was perfect... again the
view of the ocean was amazing, it also was very clean and the staff there was
very friendly. And just a fyi... we took a bus one afternoon to the port,
got on the boat Aphrodite which was absolutely amazing... the dinner was
fabulous, we swam to the hot mineral waters and watched the most amazing sunset
ever off of Oia.
The transfers you arranged were perfect... the drivers were
great... pleasant and always right on schedule and it was such a
comfort to have that pre-arranged, especially when I was met at the airport upon
my arrival.
I visited the Alexandra hospital where I was born, and it was very exciting
for me... the guard out front wasn't very nice, but I didn't let that ruin
my excitement. I also contacted the Greek Red Cross Tracing
Service... in hopes to find family, but that unfortunately didn't happen
while I was there. I'm keeping my fingers crossed still that they're able
to find somebody and if so, I'll be back!!!
Anyway, thanks again for everything... this was a trip of a lifetime and I
thank you for all you did to make it memorable.
Hope to talk to you again...
Suzanne Banks
Lancaster, California, USA
Dear Vasso and others at Fantasy Travel: My friends and I wish to thank you for an outstanding job in arranging all the details of our marvelous trip to three of the Greek Islands. I don't think anyone could have done it better and at a better price. We particularly appreciate your willingness to take on arranging so many details on a Friday afternoon when you were certainly looking forward to the weekend. Thanks too for twice arranging for someone to be there when we arrived in Athens after closing hours. Our hotel, the Alkistis, in Mykonos was perfect--very welcoming, located at a beautiful beach away from the hustle of the main part of town, and near an outstanding restaurant. The Volcano's View Hotel in Santorini was absolutely the best: an incredible, unobstructed view of the caldera; large rooms with a nearby, nearly private pool; friendly staff and a fine gourmet restaurant. Sylvia from Paris liked the hotel in old town Rhodes, but we Californians found it cramped and claustrophobic, something you anticipated when you called me back in Paris to make sure we would be OK with that, a detail much appreciated. (We had no trouble moving to bigger quarters in the new town.) Every flight or ferry boat trip you arranged went smoothly, and the people who handled our ground transportation were punctual and very nice. You are the best! I am sharing this letter with Matt Barrett and would be happy to write this on regular stationary and send it to you by mail. I will also pass it on to Frommer. All the best to you, and I hope to work with you again in the future. Sincerely, John Petrovsky P.S. Thanks, Matt, for suggesting Fantasy Travel in the first place. Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 3:16 PM Hello Litsa, Melanie and I just wanted to let you know how much we appreciated all your warm, thoughtful guidance in helping us to have a wonderful trip to Athens, Naxos, Santorini, Crete and Rhodes during May 2008. Your proposed itinerary proved to be delightful. While each hotel was unique, they all had in common a very helpful staff. The personnel at Fantasy Travel as well as the allied travel agencies at each location exhibited high quality professionalism. The ferries and airline flights that you scheduled worked out beautifully. Driving the major highway in Crete proved to be an exciting adventure. By visiting Athens and four Greek Islands over 16 days and fifteen nights, we spent three nights at each location. This proved to be just the right amount of time to get a sense of each place. We have many fond memories of our Greek sojourn. I am especially grateful for your kindness and patience in responding to my myriad of questions over several months of planning our trip. If any one needs a recommendation for using your services, please don’t hesitate to give our contact information. Please look us up if you every travel close to the shores of Lake Superior, the largest fresh water lake in the world by surface area. I hope you have a healthy and successful summer. Best regards from the northern coast of the United States. Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 1:08 PM
Subject: Our trip to Greece
Eleni,
All I can say is "Thank You" so much. Our trip to Athens, Mykonos &
Santorini was wonderful. Fantasy Travel did an excellent job of arranging
everything. You definitely took the stress out of our trip and made it very
enjoyable.
First of all, Christina is a doll. She was very helpful as she escorted us
to our first night's accommodations by answering questions, making suggestions,
etc. Secondly, all of our transfers were exactly on time and the views from the
hotels in Mykonos & Santorini were breathtaking. Last of all, once again,
Christina was a very special blessing as we arrived at the airport upon our
departure. There she was waiting with a luggage cart and the news of Alitalia's
strike. However, once again she took the stress out of the situation by
accompanying us through the complete process of getting our flight changed. We
did not expect that and told her that her efforts were above and beyond the call
of duty.
Even though Fantasy Travel's responsibility was over when the last transfer
was complete your agency did not leave us to fend for ourselves. Thank you SO
much. It is that extra special service that will cause us to use your agency
again when we visit Greece and will definitely recommend your agency to all of
our friends.
Does Fantasy Travel only arrange tours within Greece or do you work in
other countries? As I said we would love to use you again.
Once again Thank you for everything.
Very satisfied customers,
Mike and Sue Wade Matt, I just wanted to thank you for your excellent site and for your recommendation of Fantasy Travel. Below is an email I recently sent them. I believe they (and the information on your site) were instrumental in ensuring my family and I had a successful vacation in Greece. We used your recommendations for restaurants in Athens and were not disappointed. In addition, your web site provided a wealth of data on Greek foods and customs which we found very useful. Thanks again for the service you provide. Anna, Richard Stutler Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2008 2:15 AM
Subject: Thank you
Hi
Eleni:
We just wanted to
say, thank you so much for organizing such a fabulous and stress free holiday in
Greece for our family. Everything went very smoothly and we were pleased
and in some cases thrilled with your accommodation recommendations. We
loved spending the last two days on Santorini in the beautiful/amazing Blue
Angel Villa, the view was breathtaking. We also would be happy to
recommend with no hesitations all the other hotels. Dina at Villa
Christine was lovely and the location was terrific and the place was very
nice. It was a pleasure having the transfers all arranged for us every
step of the way, it made our holiday so enjoyable.
Thank you for
sharing your beautiful country with us, we loved it.
Patsy, David, Ryan
& Josh
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
To: Dina
Kastrinaki
Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2008 10:03 AM
Subject: RE: fantasy travel
my dear Dina, Dear Vassilis,
Gary and I have been back home for about a month now and we still
continue to re-live our vacation to Greece! We had such a fabulous
trip and are so appreciative that every arrangement made through
Fantasy Travel was perfect. We are esp. appreciative of your taxi
drivers......they were always there for us right on time, and we were
sure glad that we didn't have to drive in that crazy Athens traffic!
Diana helped eliminate a lot of stress by going to the Port with us and
meeting us again at the Port when we disembarked. The Hotel Central
was lovely, and the location was just perfect for us......we spent the
weekend in Athens walking and enjoying the history, the shopping &
restaurants, and the good weather. And the view from the rooftop was
spectacular and made for many great photos! The Louis Cruise was a
lot of fun, and it was interesting to see how each island was so
different.......our personal favorite was Mykonos.
Thank you again for your great attention to detail. It was
a wonderful vacation and we will certainly recommend Fantasy Travel!
Sincerely,
Judy Kraft
Dear Dina, We're back from our wonderful vacation in Greece. What a trip!! I cannot thank you enough for all you did. Everything was perfect( except you Europeans like or tolerate hard beds--Ha). Every detail was taken care of and all we had to do was enjoy. That part was priceless. The hotels were wonderful. Athens and our hotel there were great. I am supprised how much we liked Athens, everyone said it would be terrible. The hotel was very conviently located and was very nice. In Mykonos, the hotel was again very nice and well located. I am glad it was not in the laybrynth if the shopping area. The hotel manager was incredibly nice and helpful. In Naxos, everything was great. Our favorite was Santorini. I could have stayed there forever. The esparasa hotel was incredible. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. We didn't want to leave the hotel to even shop. We had such a great time and I thank you for all you did, it would have been chaotic if not impossible without your help.Thank you again. Sincerely, Rob Hi Dina, Sent: Saturday, December 30, 2006 7:04 PM Dina: I know this comes a bit late, but I just wanted to say how absolutely wonderful our trip to Greece was! Every detail of our itenerary went exactly as planned and we are just thrilled with the excellent job you and Fantasy Travel did helping us plan and book our trip. As soon as we have the money in our budget, we are coming back to Greece (this time to Santorini, I think) and we look forward to using Fantasy Travel again. I hope this note finds you well and you have our best wishes for the New Year! Sincerely, Dear Matt, I wanted to let you and your readers know how thankful I am for your site and leading me to Litsa and Fantasy Travel. I needed a very customized trip and had tried to plan it myself for months using the Internet and local travel agencies. I was so crazed. No one could answer my questions; like is there a good view from that hotel,how many steps, would my daughter like a specific island, does time allow me to do this and go there? Litsa at Fantasy Travel in Athens was prompt and dependable. In the morning I would go to my email and find very complete answers to all my questions submitted the night before. In the end she planned my entire trip using hotels,tours etc in great locations with good prices. Once I was in Greece, Fantasy Travel was only a phone call away 24 hours a day. They arranged for people to meet and transport us at every point which made the trip much easier. They really made a huge difference in our trip, especially for first time travelers to Greece. Sincerely, Sharon Dear Litsa, I wanted to let you know that we had a fantastic time in Greece!! I spent 7 years as a travel agency manager in the states and only hoped to achieve the level of service and professionalism that your agency provided me not knowing me and being thousands of miles away. I have to say that I was somewhat concerned booking travel arrangements and paying thousands of dollars to someone I never met. My only confidence was in reading about your site on Matt Barrett's Travel Guide to Greece and the many testimonial letters you have on your web page. I want you to add my letter to those and let people know if they have any questions or concerns they could email me at dimi907@optonline.net. We truly felt like VIP's travelling with the services of your agency. Nellie is a delightful person whose smile and personality is a natural in the travel industry. Meeting her in Athens at midnight was a big relief (not having any of our vouchers or inter-island air tickets before our trip) and a wonderful beginning to a trip that will give me and my family a lifetime of memories. All the services of the agencies and hotels we used on the islands were just as professional and satisfying. I will strongly urge my friends to use your services when they travel to Greece. I again thank you for a wonderful vacation and a wonderful itinerary. Dimitri Dimitriades To: Dina Kastrinaki Hi Dina, We got back from our honeymoon on Monday. I just wanted to let you know what a wonderful time we had in Greece. Each of the three islands were exactly what we expected, they made for a very memorable honeymoon. We didn't have a single problem with all of our flights, ferries, and transfers. Thank you very much for all your recommendations and efforts, I would not hesitate to recommend you and Fantasy Travel to my friends and family. I think they will love Greece once they see our photos. All the best, Hey Matt You don't know me, but I want to thank you. I used your web sites as a basis for a recent 3 week trip to Greece. Your information was extremely helpful. It took the bumps out of the road and told us where to look for treasures. On your recommendation we used Fantasy Travel. Litsa Christou took care of us, and she did an amazing job putting the trip together the way I wanted it. I am a very picky SOB. Not only that but the personal service for transfers was great and took a lot of the stress out of trying to get to the right place at the right time. We needed to go early. We arrived on April 2 2009. While we enjoyed the lack of crowds and cooler temps ( made hiking up all the stairs easier), we found many cultural events don't really get going till June, but there was still more than enough to do and make a three week trip seem awfully short. My photo's of the trip will be on my web site shortly at http://rifkin.com/#photo and my lecture notes on the Antikythera Mechanism will be found at http://rifkin.com/LazyStar/index.html Thanks again.
Alan Rifkin Hello Vassilis
I am one of the woman who traveled with Lynne Crouthamel. I want to
thank you for all your help. As you know thanks to Susan Crouthamel who
booked the wrong week at Golden Coast Holiday Club, our trip started off in
trouble. Thank you for rescuing us. I really appreciate the way you
took care of us. In the end, the whole trip worked out better then what I
imaged. We got to stay and spend a little bit of
time at three different parts of Greece. Marathon, Santorini,
and Athens.
Santorini was my favorite. Thank you so much for recommending the VIP
Volcano View Villas. It's truly the most beautiful place I've ever stayed
at. I remember you put in one of the emails before we left for our trip
about how we would feel like were in a spaceship.
Actually it felt more like heaven. I had to pinch myself everyday to make
sure I wasn't dreaming. I can't say enough about the Villas. Every
one was so nice and especially the concierge, Nick Dinos.
Thank you for finding us a hotel in Athens. Without you helping us we
would have been stranded. We did see people walking up and down the
streets with their luggage trying to find a place to stay.
Thank you once again!! I can't say enough great things about this
wonderful trip I had and you helped make it happen. And please thank your
staff, they were also wonderful.
Thank you very much and take care
Lisa Pulley
Sent: Monday, November 27, 2006 4:08 AM Eleni, I apologize for the long delay in writing to express our great thanks to you and Fantasy Travel for helping arrange our trip to Greece in June of this year. The trip was great and very enjoyable. Fantasy Travel was very professional and we were impressed with how smoothly everything went during our stay. We were very pleased with our accommodations and it was great having the transfers and ferries arranged in advance. I especially thank Mrs. Dulce for her help with locating our lost baggage from Air France. It was very reassuring to know that Fantasy was doing everything they could to help return the missing baggage to us as soon as possible. Once again, I apologize it has taken so long for us to express our thanks. I will definitely recommend Fantasy Travel to friends and family in the future and we look forward to travelling with you again. I have attached a picture from our trip for you to see. Thank you, Hi Litsa, We got back from Greece Monday evening, and I just wanted to tell you what a perfectly wonderful trip you planned for us! Greece was more spectacular than I even imagined and all your hard work was certainly appreciated by my entire group. We thoroughly enjoyed Maria and George on our driving tour. They were so kind and easy to be with. We felt like we were leaving friends at the end of the journey. The hotels were all great, of course the Grand Bretagne was beautiful and very comfortable after the long flight. We loved the Amalias also, especially the great dinners they planned for us in the evening. Also the Dana Villas were so fun with an incredible view and my son loved counting how many stairs we would climb every day. We are certainly in better shape than when we arrived! We will be writing a newspaper story about how wonderful the experience was for us, and I wanted you to know that all the details worked perfectly. Thanks again, Dear Nadia 6/2/2008
Hi Matt:
I just returned from Athens/Paros/Patmos and
enjoyed myself thoroughly. I'll fill you in with some details about places once
I recoup, but I do want to let you know that it was your site and emailed
answers that helped me see how easy it could be for me to set up a solo
trip to Greece.
My hotels were fine (fyi, when I walked in the
Attalos lobby to check in there was a couple checking out and a guy checking in
and I said "Are we all Matt Barrett fans?" and they all turned
and exclaimed "Yes/You bet!" The couple who'd been there for several
days told me "Matt's advice for restaurants and getting around have been
right on!"
Sandra P at Fantasy Travel arranged the island
stays and ferries I requested, and she was a gem! She didn't tell me but she
very thoughtfully arranged "air seats" for my late night ferry trips which was a
comfortable surprise and well worth the additional 4 euros -- I hadn't
realized(or forgot) these were even available.
Efcharisto poli !
Claire Krulikowski,
author of newly released, LIVING A RADICAL PEACE (ISBN: 1-4241-2279-1); recently re-published MOONLIGHT ON THE GANGA (ISBN: 0-595-39655-0); and the mystic poetry collection, RAPTURE: LOVE OF THE HEART (newly released in E-book and a new print edition through www.whiskeycreekpress.com ) Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2006 6:38 PM Litsa,
My wife and I had a fantastic trip visiting Greece
for the first time back in May, 08. Your service was truly outstanding in every
aspect of the travel agency business. You always answered my many email
questions in a timely fashion. You made excellent suggestions for budget hotel
bookings. All the transfers to/from Athens, Santorini and the car trip to the
Peloponnese were PERFECT. When we made a major change to the
trip itinerary (i.e. less time in Athens and more time driving around
the Peloponnese to add visits to my wife's grandparents' villages), you made the
changes quickly and efficiently. Your attention to high customer satisfaction
was obivous throughout the whole process and greatly
appreciated.
The young woman who met us at the airport and
helped with our 1st few transfers did a very good job.
We very much enjoyed our time in Athens, Delphi,
the Peloponnese region (including Mycenae, Napflio, Epidaurus , Olympia, Pikerni
and Divr - over 550 kilometers of driving). The highlight of our trip was the
beautiful and romantic island of Santorini. The Hotel Sunrise was a perfect
location close to the bus terminal and the commerical area and the 5-star
restaurant, The Selene restaurant, which was our finest dining experience in
Greece. The service and the food was truly fabulous.
One night and 1 day in Nafplio was far too short.
It was a charming seaport village with wonderful restaurants and a beautiful
park in the center of the town.
Driving in the Peloponnese was less stressful than
I had expected. The only nervous experience was driving between Nafplio and
Olympia. I must have driven 24 consecutive 180 degree road turns with no guard
rails and native Greeks driving fast to pass me any chance they had.
Litsa, please share this email with your owner. He
may use any part of this email for future advertisements (if he wishes). We were
100% satisfied with your excellent service and our wonderful trip to your
country.
My very best,
Bill (Vasilli)
Major-opoulos
Hi Dina, I wanted to thank you once again for arranging such a wonderful trip to Greece. I have travelled extensively for years, and made all my own arrangements, but will never do so again, if I can find a great travel agency like Fantasy. As I mentioned before, it was great to be able to design exactly the itinerary I wanted, from the specific hotels to the specific methods of travel between locations, while relying on Fantasy to arrange all the connections & make the bookings. What I didn't realize until during my trip is that I may have actually gotten better prices than I would have if I had made my own arrangements (I say this after checking the rack rates that hotels were offering, comparing the price I paid for an independently-arranged rental car on Crete to the one Fantasy arranged, etc). I was also amazed that Fantasy would actually have a representative meet me at each location, and escort me right to the airport gate, taxi, ferry boat, etc -- and, that your representatives took the time to fax me the night before each transfer to confirm, e.g., the time that the taxi would arrive! Your services truely could not have been better. I discovered Fantasy Travel through Matt Barrett's web site (greecetravel.com), and figured that this was a guy who wasn't looking to earn a buck, but rather, simply had a passion for Greece and wanted to share it with others, so I felt confident that his recommendation of Fantasy Travel must be well-founded. Your agency obviously shares this same passion. Thanks again, and feel free to use my testimony (but please, not my e-mail address!) in any of your ads! Nancy Andersen p.s. -- I found that travelling with my six year old was a real pleasure in Greece -- he loved seeing many historical sites and sites of Greek legends and myths, and I've never been to a country where children are so cherished. He was lavished with so much attention that he actually had to say "okay, don't get too mushy-gushy on me" to his new friends when departing each location! My only regret is not having spent more time on Crete, to travel into some of the smaller villages and remote areas and get away from the more tourist-oriented areas -- oh well, there's always the next time! Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 1:44 AM Hi Marcos, I just wanted to thank you for your help in planning our trip to Greece. We enjoyed all the hotels that you helped us choose - Central in Athens, Dana Villas in Firastefani, and Pandora Suites in Chania. They were all in great locations with friendly/helpful staff. We especially enjoyed the views and the huge american style breakfast at Dana Villas. George at Pandora Suites was really helpful and very accomodating - letting us keep the room well past check out time, since we had a late flight. We also had an awesome view of the old harbor from our room. Unfortunately, we had rainy weather in Crete and were unable to enjoy the beautiful rooftop terrace. Hotel Central was in a perfect location, although the sidewalk in front of the hotel was under construction and totally torn up during our stay. Staying at the Sofitel for our last night in Athens was a great idea - it was wonderful to have such a luxurious bathroom and bed after 2 weeks of traveling. It was also so convenient for our early morning flight. Our airport/hotel transfers all went smoothly, and the girls from your office were very friendly. Our taxis were always clean and on time, and the drivers were friendly. I appreciated that they weren't texting/talking, etc while they were driving us. The driver who took us from Central to the airport in Athens did, however, drive about 160 km/hr! A bit scary but there was not any traffic since it was early morning, so not too bad. We had some very scary drivers in Rome... We had wonderful weather during most of our trip, with the exception of 2 very windy/rainy days on Crete. Again, thank you for your advice and help in making our first trip to Greece a success. We loved Athens and the islands - beautiful places with very friendly people. Thanks, Pam Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 9:35 PM
Subject: Greece trip
Hello Efi, Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2009 7:03 AM Dearest Dina, How are you ? It was so good to meet you in Athens ! Although it was a very quick visit...we wished we could have talked to you a bit more but we did not want to keep you from your work. Anyway, thanks so very much for planning our holiday in Greece. I knew that all would be perfect and it was. High five, sweet Dina ! We are grateful to you for taking so good care of everything. If at any given time, you would like to visit Dallas or Texas, here is our standing invitation. Please, do not hesitate and give us a call. You and your family are always more than welcome at our home. We mean this, it would be our pleasure. Here is a debrief on how we perceived the hotels we stayed in. - The Athens Cypria hotel is definitely recommendable, we loved the central location, great breakfast buffet and the staff was always extremely friendly. - In Tolo at the "Tolon Holidays" hotel, we had a good time....as we were one of two couples staying there at that moment, we got treated as royalty and the staff was very welcoming. Dinner time was the living proof what Greek hospitality stands for...there was an unbelievable array of soups, salads, main courses and desserts that the chef put out for only 4 customers. Tasty food and....even more important, they have a great housewine . - Hotel Aktaion in Githeo is a gem with the marvelous views from the balcony...what a location. Clean rooms. - The Europa Hotel in Olympia is definitely better than staying in a hotel in down town Olympia. The hotel has a prime location, up a hill and very quiet. The room was spotless clean,with a lovely modern design, comfortable and very spacious. I loved the extra sitting area and we enjoyed watching the sun going down from our balcony. - Hotel Kastri in Delphi, which i booked myself, was quaint but we slept peacefully and snored the night away. The elderly owner is a character. We enjoyed how he "micro-managed" and before we knew it he got the family pictures out and we were getting the full update on his family. And then, there was "Yaya", sitting in the lobby from morning til evening. I could not help myself to go and sit down with her. I loved to hear what it was like in the "old days". Oh yes, our room was totally run down and not very clean but it is an old hotel and it did not bother us a bit as we had such a great time with the family of Hotel Kastri....but i can see how more demanding customers might not want to stay there at all . Although, that might change in the near future as the owner is building a brand new extension to the hotel. The self-drive was a total success. The man from the rental car was half an hour early in delivering our car. He was very professional and all went well. We drove the whole trip without a problem. But Dina, when we were nearing Athens, i sent Robert off on the wrong course. I absolutely could not find a way to a main road that would lead us to Syntagma Square on my little map of Athens. We kept taking this narrow streets through suburbs that sent us off even further than we thought. We finally ended up in the suburbs of Piraeus ( i know, Dina, these tourists....). With 4 hours to go before we got to deliver the car back, we decided, as we were that near Piraeus to drive to Mikrolimanaki, we grabbed some nice fish lunch and with a full stomach we finally found Syntagma Square without a scratch on the car. I have to say, big compliments to Robert for driving us safely all the way and handling Athens' heavy traffic so well. As it was Robert's first time in Greece, he was going "wow and "aah" the whole time. The best thing was that he lost track of time, he did not know what day of the week we were....that is a good sign. It was so funny...he got up early in the morning, all ready to go and conquer Greece,... he was like a kid in a candy store. Afterwards, when i asked Robert what his favorite was, he answered the Mani...because of the synglino sausages he had for dinner .......aah, men, what are they like !!!!! You know, Dina, that was so nice to see him so relaxed. For me (as i had done this round trip 3 times before when i was younger and single) to re-visit and share all the beauty of Greece with someone i love....that is a feeling i can not describe. Well, we are back in Texas and i am already thinking about our holiday for next year. I am playing with the idea of a Greek island cruise, maybe something between 7 to 10 days, at some time around late May-beginning of June 2010 or September 2010. Whenever you have time, Dina, let us know your suggestions, the best routes and cruise companies but no hurry, please, there is plenty of time between now and then. Oempf, i reallly wrote you a long e-mail. I hope you do not mind. I also added some pictures. For now, thanks for everything, sweet Dina, take good care of yourself and we are sending you our love. Big cowboy hugs from Texas and XXXXX Nicole and Robert Hi Dina: Well we're back and are still living our great trip. We were able to go off the beaten path taken by most tourists, and got to see some great things and meet some great people. Greece was wonderful. Our trip involved a bit of moving around, moving our luggage, and climbing, but it was worth it. We packed a lot of different things into our 12 days, and I think we experienced the true flavor of the country. I can't thank you enough for your help, and would be happy to recommend you to others. While the more casual way we travelled might not be best for others--and I think that a cruise might be easier for most--we had a more youthful trip which reminded me of my early travel days. Our kids in general enjoyed the variety and were troopers helping us go from boat to boat, hotel to hotel, etc. Highlights of the trip were going to the black sand beach that the woman from Lava Oias recommended, Amoudi in Santorini, Delos, the Acropolis, Haliki, Mykonos-and the Flisvos beach restaurant in Naxos with those great waitresses-in fact, the whole place was great. We met some great people, from the crepe lady in Haliki, to the vegetable man in Mykonos, to the Greek family in Santorini, and others. Daniel was on a quest to find the best octopus, Anna wanted to tan, Lisa loved the views, and I enjoyed roaming around taking photos. So, thanks again. I know we've worked for over a year on this trip, and it was worth it. Your help and professionalism were truly appreciated. All the best, Ted Sent: Monday, September 01, 2008 3:42 PM
Subject: Thank You
I had meant to send an email to say thank you when
we got home, but things were so busy (I started a new job) that it slipped my
mind. Our Greek Holiday was fantastic. Everything went so smooth
with the arrangements that you made, we were very impressed. I hope you
had a good holiday also. Did you get the maple candies and Canada shot
glass?
Anyway, thanks for making our vacation go so
smooth.
Lynn and Mitch
Weinberger
Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2008 4:44 PM
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:40:43 +0000 Hello Eleni, Thank you so much for all your help in planning our vacation. We had an incredible, jam-packed, stress-free time. We never would have been able to experience so much of Greece without your planning and organization. We have, and will continue to, recommend Fantasy Travel to our friends and family :) Thanks again, Samantha & Nelson. Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 3:34 AM
Subject: RE: Greece Trip
Hi there Efi Sent:Thursday, April 24, 2008 12:03 PM Subject: Thanks
To Patty
I just want to thank you and your company for making our trip to
greece,and the greek islands so easy and hassle free.
We had a great honeymoon,every thing was taken care of as you said it would
be,all the transfers and organisation was brilliant,we had no trouble with any
part of our trip,we loved and enjoyed every minute of it,we will definately be
returning to greece in the future
I will reccomend your company to anyone i hear that is travelling to greece
in the future.
Many,many Thanks
Martina Kilgannon Hi Matt,
Dear Matt,
Iris and I wish to thank you very much for your FANTASTIC advice (many E: mails on various subjects), which made our trip (Crete, Santorini,Naxos, Paros Mikonos and Piraeus), so successful and enjoyable, especially since Greece is not so easy to plan by oneself. Even though we usually "backpack" and stay in Youth Hostels, (all over the world, annually), we took your advice for the Greek Islands and booked through "Fantasy Travel", which was not very much more expensive, but "Wow", were we spoilt ! Treated like V.I.P.'s, fetched by taxi to and from every place ! The Transfer Companies at each port were also most helpful and had many car, Scooter rentals, excursions, and other options, available at discount prices.
Many restaurants also praised your efforts in popularising Greece.
Hats off !
Sincerely,
Les Amdur.
P.S. You are more than welcome to use this letter as a recommendation. Hello
Vicky, Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 8:03 AM
Subject: Thank you
Hello Vicky, Dear Makis
Well we are home once again safe and sound.
Makis, I cannot express enough the
WONDERFUL vacation you put together for us. It was
absolutely PERFECTION!!!!
It was the best organization we have ever experienced in our
life. Everything was on time, the accomodations were far above our
expectations,and Thanks to you we did not experience one
gliche. The taxis were always on time right to the
minute, the ferries all on time and with seats designated, Fayed
Travel in Egypt could not have been better. Ahmet, was there to
meet us and get us quickly out of the maze that is the Cairo
airport. He looked after our every need and got us the very best
guide for Cairo and the pyramids with a degree in Egyptology and
Theology and spoke perfect English. It was so great to have them
both, as I told you, we were a little apprehensive of going to such a
large place. The Sheraton in Cairo was so beautiful, right on the
Nile and the hotel in Rhodes looking out over the Meditteranean.
Oh My gosh, it was wonderful. You really got us into some
beautiful spots.
We are sorry that we did not get to meet you while in Athens but
will highly recommend you and Fantasy Travel to all of our
friends.
Again Many, Many Thanks, It was a trip of a lifetime
Del and Cal Desrosiers Hello Dina Thank you for letting me know the credit card was refunded. I can't thank you enough for all of the arrangements that you made for us. The meeting at the airport and having all of our vouchers ready for us, was such a treat as all the travel arrangements at the ports, it made the trip so stress free. All of the hotels were perfect. The Adonis was in a great locatoin, the owner was from the states. We upgraded there to a suite and it was well worth the money as it had a corner room with two fantastic views. The location was perfect and walking distance was quite short to everything, I highly recommend it to anyone. Grotta in Naxos was another winner. Great owners, fabulous breakfast as her mother made about 6 cakes, tortes or rice pudding every day ontop of the eggs, sausage and other goodies. The room was tiny, but we were in a courtyard with so much quainte appeal it was pretty and perfectly located for the wonderful sunsets and walk into town. We had highlights in all the islands and would recommend each location to anyone along with the same hotels and your helpful service. There wasn't a bad second of the whole trip. Our only regreat was that we wished we were in Athens longer on our return, so we could walk around a bit more to stretch our legs after the long ferry ride, it was late and got to port at 12:20, then to our hotel by 12:45, a nice surpirse was to find since we were a repeat customer, they upgraded our room to a king size bed a huge bathroom and high ceilings. Wished we could of enjoyed it a bit longer. We got to bed around 2:00 to wake up to catch our taxi at 8:45 and off we went home. It was a long flight and a long layover in Philladelphia ( 5 hrs), then a short flight to Montreal and then a 2 hour drive home. In bed by 2:20 am. We figured we were up 27 hrs. The flights there and back were all good. Now to tell my friends they have to go to Greece and to plan it with my dear sweet Dina. Take care and many many many thanks. Delayne and Brian To: eleni@fantasy.gr I wanted to let you know that I had a WONDERFUL time while in Greece. Thank you for all your help in securing my hotel rooms and highspeed transport. I found your office the first Sunday I was in Athens when I was headed to St Paul's for services, but you were not open, and regrettably, I never had another chance to stop by and say hello. Again, thank you very much! PS The Hotel Arion in Delphi and the Hotel Adonis Mykonos are both excellent hotels. I am very glad you recommended them. I even persuaded friends who met me on Mykonos to change their reservations to the Adonis, and they were extraordinarily happy that they did Sent: Monday, September 28, 2009 10:32 AM Dear Dina, If I ever tour Greece again or have friends that would like to tour Greece your name will be the first one to mention. Fond Regards, Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2008 3:33 AM
Subject: Thank you for a great vacation
Eleni: Dear Sandra I just want to let you know we had a superb time in Greece. Hotel Attalos was, as mentioned in Matt’s website, a perfect location. The free internet was a bonus. But I have to say we found our stay at Grotta Hotel in Naxos the most pleasurable. The Lianos family, especially Nicoleta and Dimitri and their parents, were amazing, warm, and very professional. Above all, they are a very wonderful family. Their breakfast buffet was fantastic. With the excellent view from the dining area and the very charming court yard, we are very glad you booked us with them. Thank you for helping us get the right accommodations, and thanks to Matt for his extremely useful website. We will pass the website info on to others Kind regards Hello Fantasy Travel Management, I would like to provide my sincere and enthusiastic gratitude for Vicky Asloglou's help for the weeks of planning for my Athens trip. Vicky was very professional, knowledgeable and amazingly patient. I had a lot of ideas, such as, going to two Greek islands, Cairo (3day) and Cairo Cruise and various Greek day trips. You wouldn't believe I asked for over 9 variations of itineraries. Basically, I was a very demanding and indecisive client! Vicky was the best travel agent I have ever worked with. Because she helped me understand different options and presented different itineraries, I feel that I made the best choice for my first trip to Greece. She provided unbelievable service compared to all other countries I have been too (total 22 countries). Matt Barrett had recommended Fantasy Travel online for your services and he was absolutely correct. Your company has quality agents and I will recommend you to others traveling to Greece. Also, if I could hug Vicky I would !! Best regards, Punam Hi Marcos,
We just returned from Greece last night and I wanted to be sure to thank
you for the wonderful service we received from Fantasy Travel. Neli
was very informative on our trip from the airport to our hotel. Please say
"thank you" again to her for us. All of our accommodations and
transfers were very good. Our hotel in Paros, the Contaratos Beach,
had just been upgraded to a 4 star hotel and it was every bit of that.
Keep up the good work and we will certainly recommend you to anyone we hear of
that might visit Greece.
Nancy LePage June 4, 2008 Dear Vassilis- Today is 2-weeks since our return home from Greece; our Greek Vacation is still vivid in our hearts and mind. Kathy and I don’t know how to begin to thank you for all you did in helping to make our Greece vacation experience so special. Vassilis in a word, our trip to Greece was PERFECT thanks to you and Fantasy Travel. Every detail was professionally handled and arranged. Even our last minute changes, sorry for any hassle on our part, were completed and executed without a worry. Every hotel and villa we stayed at was wonderful. Our room at the Royal Olympic Hotel in Athens was unbelievable. The view of the Temple of Zeus was breathtaking and something we will always remember. Our private VIP villa in Santorini was breathtaking. The view and location of our room, with private pool, was beyond words, we keep looking at the pictures and can’t believe we actually stayed there, thank you for securing this for us. Mykonos was beautiful. Our stay at the Mykonos Princess Hotel was wonderful. The view of Mykonos Town from our room was memorable. Also, thank you for the recommendation to include a 2-night stay in the city of Naphlion as part of our itinerary. I must confess Naphlion, was not high on our list of places to visited, but we are glad we followed your recommendation, it was charming and beautiful. We would definitely return to Naphlion again. All taxi, car rental, ferry and plane connections within Greece were perfect; we did not have one bad experience the entire 2-weeks of our vacation. Even the weather was perfect, not sure if Fantasy also arranged for the good weather, but we thank you again just the same. Visiting my roots in Sparti was exceptional and very emotional, we actually discovered, by chance, some relatives. Thanks to you and Fantasy we have fallen in love with Greece. All of Greece was beyond our expectations. The people we met were warm and helpful. The land is beautiful and spectacular. Some day we hope to spend more time then a 2-week vacation. We would definitely use Fantasy Travel again for our next trip to Greece and would recommend Fantasy to all our family and friends contemplating a vacation in Greece. Again thank you for your professionalism and experience. Warm regards, Peter Vloyanetes Hello Dina,
How are you? Just wanted
to let you know we got home fine and that we had an incredibly good time in
Greece. Thank you again for all your help and advice and support while we
were there. Things couldnt have run more smoothly, pickups and drop offs
were all in perfect time and Fantasy Travel has very nice people working for
them all over Greece. I will certainly remcommend your ageny to
anybody I know going over there. Take care and best of
luck,
eugenia Hello, Anna -
I wanted to thank you for arranging everything in
Greece for us. Your office was superb. Every transfer was exactly on
time and every personnel was courteous, professional and helpful.
Additionally, eveything was excellent on the cruise and with all flights on
Aegean, as well. We were very pleased with the Hotel Central (perfect location),
and with the terrific Lilium Caldera and Moevenpick Resort.
We are definitely "sold" on Greece and on
Fantasy. We are already planning our next trip back, and hope you
will be ready to assist us again.
Thanks again, Anna.
- russell and alma
Hi Dina --
We are back home in Seattle now but I just wanted to send you a THANK YOU
for your help in making this trip great for us. It was good to meet you when I
was in Athens, and we thoroughly enjoyed our accommodations on Mykonos and you
figuring out the ferries for us made our trip so nice and easy. We hada
wonderful time, so thank you for everything! I know we are going to recommend
you to anyone we know that is heading to Greece in the future and hopefully we
can come back some day. What an incredible country!
Thanks
Lisanne Dina, I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I just had tea with Corolyn Cable and went on and on how wonderful our trip was. We both agreed that you are both a wonderful woman and made our trips a once in a lifetime adventure. I have to say once again, thank you. Our room on the cruise ship was fabulous. The breakfasts at the Hotel Royal Olympic spoiled us and the location was wonderful. Hotel Volcano View Hotel was a vacation in a vacation, were are still in a euphoric state. Having the Hotel Sofitel to say "farewell" was a great send off to a wonderful vacation. I would like to post my rave reviews. Is there a website(s) you prefer that I post on that are widely read? Dina, you are gifted in your work. Both you and our trip have definitely impacted our lives. I know I will be looking for the US dollar to drop so I can come back again. I send some of our cool weather and think "warmly" of Greece sunshine Blessings,
Chris Hi Makis, Hi Vicky Good Morning!
Litsa, Just wanted to thank you for your assistance on our recent trip. We just returned home on Sunday (as we visited England and France after Greece). Anyway, Greece was our favorite part of the trip and everything you arranged for us went extremely well. No problems and no hassles. Thanks again for your efforts. Best
regards, Dear Litsa: Thanks for your help; ATMs were fine and our Fantasy travel tour great. marie is an unbelievable tour guide. Hi Eleni
Dear Eleni, Hi
Patra,
I hope all is
well. I thought that I would send you a quick note to tell you how pleased
we where with all the travel arrangements that you made for Chris, Leslie, Sue
and myself. Everything worked out flawlessly, from taxi transfers, hotel
accommodations to the flights and ferry trips. I would not hesitate
to recommend your travel expertise to any of my friends contemplating a trip to
your wonderful country. Sue and I look forward to our next trip to Greece
and hopefully working with you. Thanks again for all your hard work and
patience in making our trip so unforgettable and memorable.
Kindest
Regards
David Date:
Thursday, August 21, 2008, 4:27 PM
Dear Vassilis
I just want to say thank you to your staff for setting up our
Greece itinerary. Mark and I had an absolutely wonderful trip and we loved
Greece! It was such a relief to have our hotels all confirmed and someone
there to transport us even at 1:30 in the morning when our ferry pulled in
so late. It meant so much to us when we were tired and trying to cope with
being in another country.I have to share this one incident with you. When we flew into Crete, our taxi driver dropped us off in the old part of Chania. It was dark out and he pulled into a narrow alleyway where he said our hotel was about 50 meters--the Hotel Ionas. Mark and I looked around and we didn't see it. The driver took off and we felt really nervous. A couple of men were loitering in the alleyway, the surrounding buildings were very old, and we didn't quite know what to do. So we walked a little further on down and saw a very small outdoor restaurant lit up by candles and there were people sitting having a meal. They were talking quietly and eating. All of a sudden, we felt much better. It was so romantic! The women were all dressed up and looked so beautiful. We asked one of the wait staff where the hotel was and it was two doors down! So we entered the small hotel and it turned out to be absolutely charming. After we had a minute to use the facilities, we decided to go back to that little taverna and eat. The meal was just delicious and we sat up until midnight drinking ouzo, talking, and having delicious food. We just loved our stay there. When our four days were up, we hated to leave. We had to take the rental car to Heraklion very early in the morning, and the staff made us sandwiches to take since we wouldn't be there for breakfast. How's that for good service? I just had to share that with you because we loved being there so much. Every place we stayed was terrific. We adored Santorini and even loved the busy, bustling Athens. The Acropolis was awesome. Mark and I took lots and lots of pictures. Thank you so much for arranging a vacation that we will always remember. Do you do cruises? I would love to take a cruise to other Greek islands, especially Samos. Love, Mary P Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 1:30 AM Mike, I just wanted to drop you a note to say thank you! Because of your expertise and experience our honeymoon was perfect. All of your hotel choices were in the absolute best locations. Athens, Chania, Iraklion, Santorini and Mykonos… each hotel was right in the middle of the action. All of our airplanes, ferries, cars and vans were planned superbly and all of our transfers were always right on time waiting for us. Every ferry provided comfortable window seats thanks to you. The trip to your beautiful country was a once in a lifetime experience for Sharyn and me; and you made it so there was no worrying or stressing. We also really appreciate your help in delivering a bottle of champagne to our room in Santorini. You planned the perfect honeymoon for us! I would be glad to recommend your services to anyone travelling to Greece; and hope that Sharyn and I can work with you again when we plan our return visit. Thanks again, PS – Would you please forward this to your boss? So that he knows what a great job you did for us. Sent: Friday, July 04, 2008 8:29 PM HI Patra, It’s Meg from Houston! We are finally home and have been home for a week, but it has taken me some time to get back to the pace of our life here. I am trying to hold onto the Greek spirit for as long as possible. We loved our trip to your country and everything went so smoothly, thanks to all of your wonderful preparations. It was so nice to be met at the airport by Dulcy (spelling?) and then later by her daughters. It was such a nice personal touch. Our room at the Electra Palace was everything we hoped for with a balcony view of the Acropolis. I think showing up with Dulcy had something to do with it, so thanks for that. We ate dinner on our balconyboth nights, because we so enjoyed watching the sun set and the lights come up on the Temple of Zeus and the Parthenon (I took a lot of photos in the changing light). The Electra Palace was great and I highly recommend it. The bus tour was good and I told Dulcy’s daughter that a funny thing happened with that. A guy came into the lobby shouting my name at exactly 8:10 am and I went off with him. Turns out it wasn’t my name he called and it was the wrong tour (Key tours). But the man in charge at their headquarters called GEO tours and arranged to have me picked up at the hotel Olympia just around the corner, so it all worked out. I had to laugh over it all. Dan did not join me as he was not feeling well. The trip to Santorini was magical. We loved the island and the Santorini Princess was perfect. We got just the kind of room I was hoping for with the second floor balcony/deck (room number 10). Thank you for helping make that possible. The service was wonderful and the views were breathtaking. I felt like I could reach up and touch Heaven. The light is so stunning and I had so much fun taking photos. My husband was not feeling well and Achilles from the SP arranged for a doctor to come who gave him antibiotics and that helped immensely. I loved the town of Oia. It was a dream come true to take photos there, just like the ones I see on the calendars! I can’t thank you enough for making it a true vacation for me. I really relaxed, knowing that all the transfers were arranged and everything was taken care of. Italy was much more work for me because I did not have anyone like you to arrange it. I wanted to stop by to meet you after the morning bus tour, but when I went to your offices they were closed for lunch. I was sad not to be able to thank you in person. I hope this is good enough. I will recommend you and Fantasy Travel to any friends we know going to Greece. It was the trip of a lifetime. Best, Meg Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 6:15 PM Dear Dina, Thank you for the refund for the one night.Our trip was fantastic. I have never used a travel agency so I was a little hesitant buteverything was well planned and never did we worry about our travel plans. You did a great job for us and we appreciate all you attention to our needs. My brother is using the agency for his trip in July I believe. Thanks to you and everyone for a great trip. We will be back again. Possibly next summer if my wife has her way! David A. Mehregan, M.D. Vassilis, Having just returned home today from our most magnificent vacation there is nothing left to say but thank you! A thousand times over thank you. Without a doubt choosing to use Fantasy Travel for our trip was the best decision we made. From the moment we landed in Athens until we landed in Istanbul we were attended to every step along the way and our accommodations were splendid. It took so much of the stress out of traveling to know where we were staying and how to get from one place to another, it made for all pleasure and not an ounce of worrying. We will be sure to recommend both Greece and Fantasy to all of our friends and family, sincerely Keith and Monica. Paula, Thanks so much for this. Obviously being refunded for this portion of the travel is helpful to cover additional costs they incurred in Athens. I am sure more trips to Greece are in our future. We will hope to work with you and Fantasy Travel for arrangements. Up until Lisa got sick, the trip had been well prepared and the service from Fantasy travel was excellent. Since that point, your service and communication have been even better. More than I could have hoped for. Thank you sincerely for caring and helping us. You have treated us as we would treat you. This seldom happens :) We will recommend you to everyone we talk with over the years about travel to Greece. If we can help you in any way in the future please contact me. Warm Regards, John Eleni- I just wanted to thank you for arranging our wonderful trip. We had a great time in your beautiful country. Naxos turned out to be the perfect island for us. We appreciated the fact that everything went as planned. There was someone waiting to greet us and transfer us to the next stage of our trip just as planned. We didn't encounter one problem. You can be sure that if we return to Greece we will use your agency and we will recommend your services to others. Thanks again! Dear Patra,
Hi Vicky
Sandra,
My husband and I just returned from an 11 day trip to Greece. We spent time on Naxos, Santorini and in Athens.
I used your guide and suggestions exclusively in planning our trip with Fantasy Travel.
It was a perfect and magical vacation. The only thing that could have made the trip better would have been a longer stay.
You were right on the money with your island descriptions and suggestions.
Fantasy travel was very professional. Their choice of hotels was excellent.
The transfers were always on time and very comfortable.
Thank you for your help in planning our vacation!
Dear Litsa,
I am so sorry it has taken me so long to write and say thank you for all of
the hard work you did for us organizing a wonderful trip. We had a really
great time, starting with Nelly meeting us at the airport. She was so
friendly and helpful. Everything was great and I will recommend you and
your group to anyone who is planning a trip to Greece. Hopefully, this
won't be our last trip to Greece. We will certainly contact you when we
are ready to come again.
Thanks again
Sally Eleni,
Dear Eleni, Litsa, Ms Asloglou, It’s been over a month since our trip to Greece, but I came across your email address and wanted to send you a thank you note. Our trip was fantastic! The recommended hotels were perfect. Everything was as promised and your team never failed to meet us at the appointed times and locations for transfers and tickets etc. I was a little concerned with booking this trip with Fantasy Travel over the internet, but from our arrival in Athens your team made sure everything was right/easy. I have recommend Fantasy whenever we show friends pictures of our trip. Thank you again for making or 20th wedding anniversary trip so special Ed & Michelle Cordes Patra - Thanks for helping my friends -- and belated thanks for a wonderful, wonderful trip to Greece!! I've been meaning to write you since our return. Your planning was SUPERB and you made the trip so effortless and smooth. And we enjoyed every hotel and site that you recommended. Needless to say, I'll recommend you to EVERY person I know that is planning a visit to Greece. To top it all off, you were an absolute dream to work with. So thanks for everything, and congrats on being such a super professional. Cheers, Hello Vicky,
I have just arrived back in the UAE and just wanted to send you a quick email with some feedback about our experience with Fantasy Travel. I can’t stress enough how fantastic the organization and your staff were. When we arrived at the airport your rep was there waiting with all documentation, all in order, and went through everything with me. She even helped us by giving us bus information to get into Athens . Any question I asked was answered helpfully and pleasantly. We did not have any issues at all with hotel or transfer vouchers, pickups or ferry tickets. It was fantastic to be in the hands of such an organized group of people. My partner and I had countless issues with our flights with Olympic Air (which Fantasy Travel had nothing to do with organizing) and encountered rude and unhelpful staff at every opportunity. So it was fantastic that your staff were so well organized, helpful and friendly. Thanks to your team for making our journey and stay in the Greek Islands so relaxing and worry-free! Yours Sincerely, Carolyn Wethereld. Sent: Monday, August 11, 2008 9:08 PM
Subject: Thank you!
Dear Vicky, In case you do not get our card (not sure if we got the address correct), we wanted to thank you and your team for helping to make our trip to Athens, Mykonos and Santorini an incredibly enjoyable and relaxing vacation. Booking with your travel agency was the best decision we made, and we are very appreciative of your efforts to ensure that our trip ran smoothly (particular thanks on helping us with the travel and lodging accomodations when our ferry to Santorini got canceled). We will be sure to recommend your travel agency to our friends, should they decide to travel to Greece in the future. Thanks again!! Best regards, Tiffany, Kwan, and Jaime AM Dina, Thank you Hi Dina, John and I cannot thank you enough for arranging our
Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2008 2:56 PM
Subject: Trip to Greece
Yassas Litsa!
I just wanted to send you an email to let you know that I had a wonderful
trip in Greece! Everything was well organized, I had nothing to worry
about and the locals thought that I had Greek blood - I felt right at
home!
I came by your office to see you Saturday afternoon (August 23rd) but
unfortunately your office was closed. I will just have to come by another
time!
Thank you very much once again for all of your hard work, answering my many
emails and for your suggestions - I especially appreciated your suggestion to
stay in Chania instead of Heraklion in Crete. I enjoyed the drive through
the mountains, and was charmed by both Rethymno as well as Chania.
Epharisto poli!
Monique My dear Efi:
I simply don't know how to thank you for all of your
planning, care and advice. The trip my friend Judi and I made to Greece
was absolutely perfect, and much of the thanks goes to you for your
insight.
The Cosmopolitan Suites on Santorini! Words fail
me! So lovely...I sent my daughters a text-message to let them know that
I'd found the perfect place for their honeymoons, should they ever decide to
marry! We also loved the Galaxy hotel on Crete - FABULOUS decor, great
location, delicious breakfast of standard and Cretan foods, and the view from
the Arion hotel on our last night in Athens was breathtaking.
Best of all was being met by Fantasy Travel
representatives at just about every transfer - it was amazing! I've never
booked through a travel agency before, nor experienced such service. It
was truly delightful.
We also enjoyed trying out three different kinds of
ferries - the highspeed, the flying cat, and the 'cruise' ship Festos
Palace. Judi almost fell over when she saw our stateroom, and said it was
bigger than any she'd had on any cruise before. It was great fun to be on
that ship, and as we'd spend most of the day hiking around outside Crete, the
in-room shower and copious amounts of hot water were a welcome
addition.
The Greek people were amazing: so open and
hospitable and friendly, and the service everywhere was wonderful. We
found Athens very clean just about everywhere (not the neighbourhood near the
Arion, but no city is perfect!), loved the Metro for its bright, spacious
stations and comfortable trains and found all of the sites
rewarding.
All I can do is say that I'll not only be encouraging
all my family and friends to visit Greece, but I'll insist that they contact
you. You did a perfect, perfect job, and I hope you show this e-mail to
your boss (if you have one). By way of thanks, I'm attaching a few photos
that you might enjoy, all taken in your wonderful country.
All the best, and have a lovely wedding when the time
comes...
MJ Thank you for your excellent service. Alexandra and your staff have
been very personable and have been of great help. Alexandra has been with
us most of the way, from 6 a.m. and met us at the pier at 11:30 p.m. I
almost expected her to helicopter over to Santorini to meet us when we arrived
by boat (joke).
We also met other passengers who were using Fantasy and were very
impresseed by your excellent service.
We are expecting to visit Italy in the future. Do have Fantasy travel
there?
Thanks again. Alexandra is quite an asset to your company.
Sincerely,
Sonia and Bill Vockell
Dear Paula,
Just a note to let you know we had a wonderful
vacation in Greece thanks to your advice and arrangements. We especially
liked the Belvedere Hotel in Santorini and we are grateful to you for suggesting
it. Everything went very smoothly and we very much appreciate the work you
did.
We will recommend your travel agency to anyone going to Greece! Kindest regards, Bonnie DeZur Paula, I wanted to send a HUGE round of thanks for making our trip to Greece so Special. It was thoroughly organised and planned so well. Christine, who met us at the airport when we landed, and then again at port for our first Ferry ride was very helpful and made us feel less anxious in a new country. The hotels were excellent and the transfers were timely and courtious. I will be sending your information/ reccomendation to all my friends who are planning on a trip to Greece. It was a pleasure doing business with you. Hopefully we will be returning to your lovely country sooner rather than later. We would like to do an economy trip with the kids some day. Thanks again. Kimi and Mike Sewell For More Fantasy Reviews click here |
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