I recently completed my first--definitely not my last--trip with Travel Darlings, and I'm excited…read moreto share my experience. After years of seeing Koh Samui as my screensaver, I finally decided to make the trip happen. My schedule had always been too hectic, but with only three weeks' notice, I reached out to Travel Darlings to plan a custom two-week trip to Thailand, including Bangkok, Koh Samui, and Koh Phangan. Despite the tight timeline, Irene put together an experience that far exceeded my expectations. She took the time to understand exactly what I was looking for and built an itinerary that felt personalized, thoughtful, and incredibly well organized. Every detail was handled seamlessly--from transportation and transitions to top-tier hotel selections. Each day was perfectly balanced with curated activities, excellent guides, and spot-on recommendations for restaurants and nightlife. This trip simply would not have been the same without Irene and Travel Darlings. If you're looking to travel stress-free while still having an unforgettable, high-quality experience, I highly recommend them.

We just booked a multi-week trip to Japan with Travel Darlings and they were great! Irene is…read morewonderful to work with--super knowledgeable, timely, a problem solver and filled with tips on restaurants and even the mechanics of working train ticketing machines, etc. Plus, she's energetic and fun!

When my dad unexpectedly died during my trip home to Ireland, Catherine was available and extremely…read morehelpful in sorting out the rescheduling of my return to San Francisco.

This review is way overdue. I had such a wonderful experience working with Catherine for our summer…read moretravel plans. She helped me coordinate very complicated air travel for me and a family member departing at different times but meeting up at the same times. she was so easy to work with very good communication and I would totally work with her again!!

I've been using Boutique Travel for over 10 years, and I can't imagine planning a trip without…read morethem. What keeps me coming back is their ability to create truly bespoke experiences. Ellen has an incredible ability to tailor experiences, which makes each trip feel uniquely mine. She always finds the perfect balance by incorporating culinary, cultural, and art experiences that I love, along with athletic and outdoor activities that keep things active and engaging. It never feels one dimensional. I've used BT's services to book trips to Africa numerous times. Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Uganda are just a few examples.. Each destination has offered something completely unique, and Ellen has hit the itineraries right out of the park. Gorilla trekking in Uganda was a once in a lifetime experience, and visiting the Skeleton Coast in Namibia felt like stepping into another world. In Botswana, I was lucky enough to see leopards up close, which is so rare and exciting! I have also vacationed in Tahiti three times, and each time has been magical and different! Most recently, my husband and I just got back from an incredible trip to Rangiroa, and we are already talking about exploring more islands on our next visit. Looking ahead, I am starting to plan a trip to Japan, and I will definitely be working with Boutique Travel again to put together the itinerary. Their attention to detail, creativity, and ability to truly understand what we are looking for makes every trip seamless and unforgettable. Highly recommend!

Ellen has helped us plan multiple trips to Southeast Asia, and most recently Vietnam. We're 2…read moreadults and 2 kids. She is always a pleasure to work with, listens to our wants and needs, and magically makes them happen beyond our expectations. Her contacts worldwide make traveling a breeze...always on time, super friendly, knowledgable, and just great people. Every time her accommodation suggestions are spot on and again, exceed our expectations. She is conscious of our budget that we set out and just consistently delivers with her experience and guidance. This is our 3rd trip with Ellen and we will definitely go to her first for the next one. You should too!

We cannot thank Amy Tan enough for the truly unforgettable trip she planned for us. This was a…read morelast-minute getaway with some very unique circumstances, and Amy handled everything with such care, thoughtfulness, and expertise. She not only made it all come together seamlessly, but also saved us a few thousand dollars by choosing the perfect hotel and ideal travel dates. From the very beginning, we felt completely taken care of--and that feeling stayed with us the entire trip. What could have been stressful turned into something incredibly special. The experiences she planned were beyond anything we could have imagined. We spent our days laughing, bonding, and trying new things--ziplining through the jungle, ATVing through forests and shallow rivers, and even swimming half a mile through a breathtaking cenote. We saw dolphins and sea turtles, visited a beautiful Mayan village, and enjoyed some of the most authentic and delicious Mexican food we've ever had. There were also so many magical, unexpected moments--like spending time with monkeys and deer, and even spotting a massive wild stingray. Every day felt like something out of a dream. What meant the most to us, though, was how safe we felt the entire time. As someone who is usually a very nervous traveler, I can honestly say I felt completely at ease. Amy created an experience that was adventurous and exciting, yet always grounded in a deep sense of safety and trust. This truly was a trip of a lifetime, and we are so grateful to Amy for making it possible. Her attention to detail, her ability to understand exactly what we needed, and her genuine care for her clients set her apart in every way. We will be talking about this trip for years to come--and we cannot wait to work with her again.

We planned a two week trip to London and Paris with Amy's help. She was extremely professional:…read moreknowledgeable, helpful, friendly, accommodating and available. I did not have one single negative interaction with her. During our trip, I called her once in a panic because I couldn't confirm a prearranged taxi to get to our train, and she responded even though it was midnight, California time. I cannot say enough positive things about her. We will most definitely go back to her for future trips! Oh, and YES! Our trip was amazing!

I have rarely used a travel agent but when telling a friend ( who travels a lot) about taking a…read moreViking river cruise he urged me to talk to David Peltin at Flair Travel. I contacted David and he booked our trip and solved problems that arose. Our air flights were also done by Viking and David found much better connections than what Viking booked. Also , he fixed our seat assignments when my wife and I were put in different rows . I found him to be knowledgeable, professional and respectful. Will definitely use him again. Terry

I had a great experience with David and Flair Travel. They responded quickly, timely and was very…read moreforthcoming with suggestions. While I decided to not use them for my cruise, I will consider them for other travels. Thanks again!

Always great experience. Quick and good service . Day or night, weekend or weekday Pooja is always…read morethere to book your tickets

Pooja is the best travel agent I have worked with. She is very responsive, professional, and a…read morepleasure to work with. When my flight was cancelled, she went above and beyond to help - from reserving seats to working with the airline to make my long layover stress-free. She is an outstanding choice for any travel planning needs. Very strongly recommend.

I applied for a new visa for China two weeks ago, but still had a reviewing documents message on…read morethe consulates site. My wife and I submitted are applications at the same time but she got her visa a week ago. Very nervous because we have a trip to China planned in three weeks. I found China Travel Services and called to see if they would handle my case since I am going on a domestic trip and would need to have my passport mailed to me in another city. I went to their office, now located in Chinatown SF, and spoke to Apple. She was very understanding and understood my needs. I left my passport with her and she instructed me to contact her when the status changed to submit my passport. Three days later I got the message to submit my passport and immediately contacted Apple. She said they would submit and will mail it to me when returned. One week later it was in the mail and returned to me with a new Chinese visa. Very appreciate the help and would recommend this service.

If you're in a jam and need a visa fast, this place has got your back. Super responsive and…read moregenuinely helpful. Sweet Ruan went above and beyond, even while on vacation, making the whole process smooth. You can really feel they care about getting things done right and making your trip happen without a hitch.

I found a travel agent for life! Cadao is short of a miracle worker and I'm so glad that I found…read moreher on Yelp! This is my situation: As soon as I found out that my mother died yesterday in Vietnam, I started to look for a travel agent. Because tradition dictates that her burial to be in 3 days, it was extremely important that we leave immediately. This was an unexpected event and because of the special situation, I needed someone who knew the requirements for travel to Vietnam and be able to get us plane tickets ASAP. Well it turns out the this is also Chinese New Years and travel to and from Vietnam is pretty much booked so finding 4 tickets could be difficult. On top of that fact, none of us had visas and this was Friday afternoon (SF time). No visa, no getting into the country. period. Cadao worked relentlessly until she was able to book our flights, and coordinating with her contact with China Airlines. This all was happening while I was in her office. Then we drove and dropped her off at the Vietnamese Consulate to get our visas. Initially, only my wife and I could get visas since we live here in SF and had our passports on hand. My sisters however had to fly in from out of town. Cadao stayed and waited until my sisters could email their passports to the Consulate for their special visas to be issued. It was later in the evening that she called to confirm that all the visas were issued and that the flights have been confirmed. We are leaving in 4 hours. It's rare to find someone who goes far beyond what you expect or takes care of all the arrangements like Cadao did for us in the situation. I can't express how grateful my family and I are for what she has done for us so we can be there for my mother's burial.

This is my first ever Yelp review…read more I've known Cadao Tran for about 20 years and I've just recently started using her and Smiles Travel again. For the longest time it was very easy to do most of the airline ticket and Vietnam visas myself. Now, post-COVID it's all become a lot more complicated. With airfares, it's been hit and miss. Last November she got a great price on a trip to Vietnam. On this month's trip I didn't get a bargain, but I didn't pay more either. ( Sometimes she can get special deal with business class !) What I've really appreciated is someone who knows the ins-and-outs of Vietnam travel visas. The new requirements getting a visa are supposed to be friendlier and easier, but I found the e-visa confusing and complicated. I'm much happier just turning the whole process over to her. If you're having any problems with the Vietnam visa process, just call Tran Cadao at Smiles Travel. She's very responsive, very knowledgeable, and very helpful. You can contact her by her cell phone 415-516-0332 Jimmy B

Rosie did such an amazing job planning our 10 day trip to Slovenia & Croatia. It was filled with…read morethoughtful events, places to see, and things to do. Rosie worked with us to provide the best experience possible based on our interests and nailed it. My wife and I talk about our trip everyday. We will be working with Rosie again!

We had the worst experience with this travel agent, Rosie Allara. We planned our trip to the Middle…read moreEast - Jordan and Dubai. Both my husband and I have very busy schedules, we did not have time to do the planning ourselves, we needed a travel agent to do it for us. We clearly expressed it to Rosie. First red flag was on our first phone call. Our expectation for this call was that the travel agent would spend this call gathering information from us and asking questions about what we wanted this trip to be. Instead, after the initial couple of general questions, she started looking at prices of the hotels on her computer while we were on the phone and telling us what they were. After the first 15 minutes of this, we tried to steer her into what we thought the main purpose of the call was, but she would jump from one topic to the next and to the other and then back to looking at hotel prices again. It felt like she could not organize her thought process. Finally, after 45 minutes of being on the phone and being exhausted from a lot of jumping around and not being able to communicate to the agent in the organized manner, we decided to end the call with the agreement that we would communicate by email. Rosie started looking for the airfair for us. Her prices were very high and the flights she kept offering were at a very inconvenient hours - in the middle of the night or very early in the morning or with very long layovers that would make the flight unnecessarily long. We explained to her that we prefer more comfortable times and flights since it was going to be our vacation. That did not change anything. After a lot of back and forth, we felt a lot of stress and pressure where she would say that there was nothing else she could find from her wholesaler. Feeling between the rock and a hard place, we ended up going on-line and looking for tickets ourselves. We found a very good price on Priceline, 35% less expensive that her price with comfortable hours and flights. We told her and she was OK with us purchasing the tickets on our own. Now, we thought that the rest of the trip - hotels and organizing the itinerary would be fun and easy. Boy, were we mistaken. Rosie gave us an approximate/1st draft itinerary with some hotel suggestions. Being first time to the Middle East, we had questions about the itinerary and we did not like some of the hotels that she proposed. It would take her several days to respond to each email, and in her response she would ignore half of our questions. We had to send follow up emails, she would not respond for several days, then respond with half of the answers again. That was about the itinerary. When we asked for restaurant recommendations, entertainment recommendations, walkable streets where we could walk around in the evening, she would not know the answers at all. Her answer was "The information that I have is old and outdated, you can get this information from your hotel." Really? isn't it your job, as a travel agent, to have an updated information? Isn't this why we needed a travel agent so we don't have to scramble for this information when we are in a foreign country, not speaking the language. It was back and forth, we were running out of time, it was getting close to our trip time, we were not making any progress. She would not care about our time, she did not care about the information that we asked for. After 1.5 months, we felt that we did not accomplish anything, we did not get passed that first draft of the itinerary and unsuitable hotel recommendations. She did not complete a single thing for our trip. The only item that we had after working with Rosie for 1.5 months was the plain tickets that we purchased on our own. After depleting all our patience and being completely stressed out, we had to find another travel agent. Fortunately, he did a great job for us and we ended up having a great trip. As far as Rosie is concerned, even though she did not get anything done for our trip, she refused to refund the $300 fee that we paid her to prepare our trip. We believe that Rosie is completely disorganized and lacks knowledge in the travel industry. She indeed has outdated information from the time when she travelled to the Middle East herself 10 years ago. Even bigger problem is that she is not willing to do a new research and provide her clients with the new, updated information. If she is not interested in updating herself and all she does is re-use the same information year after year after year, she should not be in a travel industry that is constantly changing. In our case, we asked for a new information (like anybody else would), she just ignored us, did not respond to our emails, dragged her feet, ignored our questions, and wasted our time hoping that we would just go with it. Awful experience!

We used Travel Wizards for our trip to Easter Island/Rapa Nui off the coast of Chile. It was an…read moreamazing trip and the moai are amazing. Travel Wizards found us an amazing tour guide.

What an incredible trip! Two weeks exploring New Zealand with tours, professional guides, first…read moreclass hotels & car service. It was our "bucket list" tour & did not disappoint in any way! Our agent was knowledgeable & had many terrific suggestions. She accommodated our personal requests & made sure arrangements were confirmed. We're ready to book with Travel Wizards again right now