Do not recommend using this company, we booked what was deemed as a 'luxurious' villa in Cyprus through this company and it turned out to be some of the worst accommodation we have ever stayed in and Olivers Travels have been nothing but unhelpful and unsupportive. Will never use again. read more

Booked our villa in Croatia through Olivers travels and I would never book with them again. First of all they are not registered with ABTA so if there are any problems, you will struggle to receive any financial reward. You also have to book flights separately, therefore it's not classed as a package holiday. The location of the villa was incorrect on their website and you could not walk to any shops/bars as stated in their description of the property. This was acknowledged by them after I made a complain on our return. We ordered a take away one night and even the delivery driver couldn't find it and the local rep had to provide directions. The villa was quite close to next door which had been rented out to a man who was arriving a couple of days after his children who came over and warned us they were having a party. The noise was horrendous. We did put in a complaint to the local rep who asked us to phone her if there was any further noise. We didn't as would she of really come out at 3am in the morning - I doubt it. Olivers Travels are quite crafty and they only introduce you to the property owners, therefore devolving them of all responsibility. They did suggest giving us one nights accommodation back (£317) but this was declined by the villa owners. Due to my negative experience with Oliver Travels, I would never book with them again and i suggest you take heed before deciding to book through them. This particular villa is also advertised on other websites so I should of checked other sites first (although the villa is called by different names)! read more

Oliver's Travels exceeded expectations for our family reunion. Zuzana was the perfect contact and smoothed out many details for us. Mario Fernandini, the house manager at Villa Quadra, went out of his way to make our stay comfortable and trouble-free. Thank you, ,thank you for a memorable trip! We got directions, tips on the area, fresh bread the first morning...what more could we ask for? read more

Review Great Easton Manor Dunmow U.K. July 9 to July 12 .. 4 nights Booked through Oliver's Travels London U.K. Great Looking property advertised in a slick A.I. website by Oliver 's Travels. What's not to like it has lots visual sizzle but unfortunately not lots of steak. I originally booked and paid for 5 nights but weeks after I had paid Olivers they cancelled the booking and offered now only 4 nights Sorry booking error on their part but by then I had already purchased event tickets for several days around Great Easton for the days after our arrival . I accepted the 4 night offered by Olivers because some of our family were already booked flying in from Germany on those dates and I thought with Olivers help I would find some accommodation near Great Easton and while without an arrival day it would be hectic but it was doable. Unfortunately Olivers was of no help [ I booked a hotel an hour away] and a week later Oliver's advised the owner of Great Easton would not offer a full day refund from 5 nights to 4 nights so instead of a 20 % reduction in cost for the original 5 nights I was offered 70 % of a full day cost. I should have walked as it only got worse but I was boxed in because of flights and event tickets . On arrival day I asked for the dinner caters to be allowed to arrive at the Manor by 3 :00 pm instead of 4:00pm and for our family to arrive after 5:00 pm as now our arrival day because of the 4 nights from 5 nights and event tickets would be time constrained. Olivers advised for 100 GBP payable in advance the owner would have someone available for us. I declined to be extorted again , shifted the caterers to after 6:00pm and left our event early to arrive per our contract after 4: 00 pm. Guess what they were not ready , the bed room towels were still in the wash. After a perfunctory introduction to Great Easton Manor by the property assistant and on arrival of our caterers we discovered while the knob worked somewhat the oven was so badly greased over the caterers were afraid they might start a fire if they turned it on . The Aga [ quit the next day ] like the rest of the kitchen cooking area was covered in grease that the caterers would not use and thank goodness the micro wave worked or dinner would have been stone cold. Oh as night came on we also found there were no and I mean no dish drying towels , one dull carving knife but no other knifes . And the pool was too cloudy to use , some of the bedrooms while looking nice had no closets to hang clothes [ the owner had them locked up ] and in the morning , not a hair dryer in the entire house and oh when one of my family used the shower in their en suite room the water poured like a water fall through the living room ceiling below. Honestly I am not making any of this up , it was a classic internet Air BnB nightmare. I contacted Olivers in the morning as the owner would not give permission to Olivers to give us his contact information or even the contact info for his property assistant . When Olivers realized the condition of the property and my anger they give us the contact information. Now the owner and Olivers Travels were in a pickle , the property because it was not ready for occupants solutions had to occur immediately and they did . Over the next two days the property assistant spent 3 hours cleaning the oven , told us with some distain that the dish towels were in the outer annex building [ why they would not be in the only kitchen in the house still baffles my brain ] The property assistant delivered a new boxed hair dryer and some kitchen knives . The pool maintenance man chlorine shocked the pool and told us to wait for a day before using it. The Aga was re started but never came up to any temperature other than cold and remained like that with its oily smell right up until we left . Oh the leaking shower the plumber and the owner suggested to use another shower as to fix it would create a dreadful mess of opened walls etc. The owner asked after discussing all of these problems asked if there was anything we liked about the property . So here is my review . This is a great property but it is so poorly maintained that the slick photo website Is a border line fraud. The fact that the owner doesn't understand that timely maintenance or indeed maintenance at all and attention to hospitality details would make this an incredible property and easily offer a return on invested capital in this property rental business. However since this property is and has been up for sale for quite a while it is clear to me this is a property flipper that has been caught without a secure seat in the game of property musical chairs. You can dismiss this review if you want but be aware. As for Olivers Travels I expect a branded travel company would vet the properties it advertises so what happened here ? I am on my own I might just as well have booked with Air BnB. read more

Booked a castle in France through Olivers Travels, Covid hit,and we had to cancel due to French travel restrictions. Neither Olivers or Castle Allure DeLuc would refund or compensate us for the 20K US we spent. Not even an effort to compensate for the food and wine,which was additional. Both entities were useless,and uncaring. read more

Awful experience from start to finish. Additional cleaning costs hidden in the T&Cs. Oliver's Travels did nothing to help us negotiate with a difficult villa owner. The villa was not well maintained and well below the standard advertised on their website. In addition, the villa owners were aggressive and constantly contacting us and barging into the property during the course of the week. OT did nothing to help resolve the situation or provide any compensation or apology. A stressful and disappointing holiday. read more

The location is lovely. After having spoken directly with the owners we are assured of a good experience. I tried to get similar information from Oliver's but they were helpless to give us any information regarding catering, the facility's layout, or the services available, in fact they wanted me to pay a second deposit before they even would answer my questions. The staff at Oliver's Travels are lazy, disrespectful and underhanded. They charged my credit card for the balance due without an email or call to me. This unacceptable behavior was covered up, and arrogantly defended. If you find a property they represent, go directly to the property. It's not too hard to do since most are listed on multiple sites. You will save aggravation and money. These people are unprofessional and rude. read more

Ten of us booked the Old Millhouse (Logan Manor) via Oliver's Travels and had a marvelous time. The house was spotless, and the representative (Johanne) was exceptional. She did everything, booked our local excursions, arranged for tickets and transportation, and helped with securing local chefs for three of our in-house meals. The house is stunning and was the perfect setting for our group. The grounds are meticulous, and there's no sense of being near a city. Each of the rooms is well-furnished and extremely comfortable. The call was to Johanne whenever we needed anything, who made us feel right at home. Our group doesn't usually go back to the same places, but we may make an exception for the outstanding treatment we received at Logan Manor from the staff, chefs, drivers, and locals. Definitely a five (six?) star adventure. read more

Don't go near Olivers Travels. I booked and paid for chateau in France with some £9,000 handed over. They have a Covid Policy which means crap as they don't honour it and due to Covid are cancelling my booking rather and have refused to move the dates and with our refund. My mother would turn in her grave! Don't throw your money away. They are not backed by the Government with false information on their website. They act illegally, dishonest and have no ethics read more

1 star: Bad Updated a minute ago Horror Story, Beware We leave a lot of reviews for the experiences we have but most often if we do not have a good experience we don't comment. In this case we want to share how we have been treated as a cautionary tale for people interested in booking with Olivers travels. Our group of 13 family aged from 8 months to 85 spent 4000 Euros for a Christmas get together in a Chateau in Normandy. Advertised as 16th centuary Chateau Normande but actually called Chateau Val our experience is awful and now, sat here on Christmas morning we are unable to enjoy each others company due to the accomodation issues. All of the photos of the place wers completely misleading. Here is an email we sent to Olivers travels "It is 1.45 am and I cannot sleep with the worry about the refund for the booking we were refused entry to by the owner Karin. When we told the owner that you guys had asked for photos they said we would not be granted access to do so and we could not stay there. They also said they would not refund our money. So you have rented us a place, we arrive and made some fair complaints, then the owners refuse to let us in to document the issues, can this really be happening? You allowed us to be homeless in a foreign country 2 days before Christmas and you refused to refund our money until you had worked it out with the owner. How can there be anything to work out when you and they have taken our money and then refuse to let us in? Can you allow this to happen to your customers? Alison, you could not have made stronger gaurantees about one of your colleagues getting back to us yesterday , Christmas Eve, but no one did and our stress levels are through the roof. I have infants and elderly in our group and we had to borrow money to rent a B&B for a night and then find another property with more borrowed funds. Incidentally, this new owner used to advertise with you and he said in 10 years you never sent anyone to check the property as you state on your website. I cannot believe you checked Chateau Val as it was terrible and it was your brand and the quality of the other villas that gave us confidence to rent this place. The matresses were very old, grubby and uncomfortable. The bedding was old. The rooms led into one another giving no privacy at all with up to 3 rooms being accessed through other peoples room. There was dog poo on the floor in the hall which the owner laughed about and asked us not to look at. The bar area had been recently used to shoot a horror movie and there was a sign of the occult painted on the floor and a pigs head on the bar. There was a strange a musty smell throughout the property and spiders and cobwebs in every room. The "dining room" which was accessed through a "bedroom" was in disarray and was an absolute mess. The fridge in the main kitchen was small and Francois told us to carry the food to other fridges located in the bedrooms elsewhere in the Chateau. Francois, Karins ex husband, explained to us that he and Karin had divorced and there was clearly no way he was managing the place correctly as it was in such a state. We booked this place 10 months ago and have traveled from Australia and the UK to be met by this horror and you have not done anthying to help us. Please respond with what will happen now about getting our full refund" Merry Christmas! read more

Used them in Italy and they were absolutely horrible. Concierge service they advertised was non responsive and misrepresented the villa had a/c and provided no support or follow up to fix the situation. Reached to both the co-founders with no response. I would stay away from using them! read more

Why book with a travel agent when it is so easy to book direct? Oliver's travels boast on their website that it's for "exceptional customer service", "trusted travel experts" and "lowest price guaranteed". The first lesson I learned from the Oliver's experience is to be aware that you may have to pay more for your holiday than your bargained for. Oliver's will insist that you pay for your holiday in Pounds Sterling, but most of their overseas properties will be priced in local currency. This poses two problems. The first is that you are exposed to currency movements between booking your holiday and making the deposit and final payments. The second is that Oliver's set the exchange rate themselves and guess what, they choose one of the lease competitive conversion rates available. When I queried this with them they said: "The exchange rate we use on the website is updated weekly and is competitive with the retail rate of any of the big banks.". They sent me 3 links to justify their approach, which linked to 3 banks giving rates for converting holiday money. These allowed you to buy a small amount of travel money (because larger amounts would give a better rate). Not applicable rates to use to calculate the payment of a €30k holiday. This and the fact that they choose retrospectively which daily conversion rate to use, worked out hundreds of pounds to my disadvantage. Also be aware that if you pay by credit card, which I felt I had to for the added protection, you will pay a 1.9% credit card fee which will be calculated in the local currency and then converted into Pounds Stirling at their appalling rate. My credit card transaction was made in Pounds Stirling and not in Euros so this is a blatant additional charge. When I pointed out to Oliver's that I had overpaid them by several hundred pounds (you will only realise this when making the final payment) and that a fairer basis for a transaction like this would not be to use travel money rates, they offered me only a 50% refund on the conversion discrepancy. Work out for yourself whether you think this is fair. Interestingly, we were told at the end of our holiday that Oliver's still had not paid the owner of the villa and that their payment was long overdue. On to the holiday. Upon arrival we were shown round by the manager who spoke very good English so there could be no misunderstanding what she said. She presented us with a list of services and extra charges which came as a complete surprise. The pool was unheated but we could pay extra to have it heated. We would need to pay extra at the end of our stay to have the villa cleaned. The maid service was 1 hour per day (for all of the 9 bedrooms, kitchen, dining room, etc.) We could pay extra for a full maid service. Towels and linen would be changed once. We could pay extra to have them changed daily. We were told we couldn't use areas of the hotel that Oliver's website stated that we could use i.e. infinity pool, jacuzzi, etc. as these were for the hotel guests and not guests of the villa. The problem with this (aside from having paid €30k and then being presented with extra costs within minutes of arriving) was that Oliver's website listed what was included: heated pool, maid service, towels changed daily, use of indoor sauna, jacuzzi i.e. the hotel facilities. So the phone calls and emails to Oliver's started. Not a great start to your luxury holiday. The hotel/villa management claimed that Oliver's had misrepresented what was included. A long saga short, we didn't pay €500 to have the pool heated which was a mistake as it was too cold for toddlers. We did pay €200 per day, so an extra €1,400, for a full maid service which meant that we didn't need to pay the compulsory €1,000 at the end of our stay. We did pay €20 per room, so €1,260, for soap, toiletries, etc. There was clearly a discrepancy between what the hotel/villa management were including and what Oliver's had sold us, and on the basis that Oliver's completely updated their website page to mirror what the hotel were telling us, it was obvious who was responsible. The additional hassle of phone calls, emails, discussions with the management did spoil the holiday. By changing their website Oliver's should avoid the next guests having similar problems but that didn't help me. Being a reasonable person I asked Oliver's to meet the €1,400 cost of the maid/cleaning service and I'd put the additional €1,260 I paid, and other problems down to experience. So far, Oliver's have offered me €400 for my troubles and 10% off my next holiday with them. read more

Booking with Olivers Travels was excellent. I received all the help I needed from Harriet. Everything went so smoothly. Boarzell was a beautiful house with excellent views from all rooms. Everywhere was spotlessly clean and the owner David was on hand when we arrived to show us around the house. A perfect setting for our family celebrations. Excellent. Would recommend Olivers travels and Boarzell to everyone. A+++ read more

We booked a villa in Greece with this company and had to carry out two hours of cleaning (there were ten of us) before it was hygienic enough to unpack; previous guests old fish in the fridge, wardrobes which needed sweeping (yes, sweeping they were so dusty), plaster peeling from bedroom walls, a dirty sock under the bed, black grime in showers, a wash in the machine, sticky kitchen cupboards, standing water with algae in front of outside seating area. All this and more for £7000 a week. We alerted Oliver's to this on arrival; they never returned phone calls or followed up with us in any way - hence the cleaning ourselves to make the best of a bad job. Made an official complaint on arrival back in the UK which it took them four weeks to investigate. The company founder's response is below... Either this company has a flagrant disregard for its responsibilities towards its clients or its personnel are more accustomed to other people's fish, socks and general grime than is normal. Hello Katie I hope you had a terrific long weekend. I have now had the chance to speak to my product manager who has seen the villa. Was there anything additional you wish to raise? Discuss. The product comes recommended / recently inspected. Clearly you feel let down, owe best can we guide the owners? I look forward to your response. Warmest Regards, Ravi Sabharwal | Co-Founder cid:image001.png@01D35A19.53E25360 T: +44 (0)800 133 7914 | E: ravi@oliverstravels.com | Skype: ravi.chateau | Connect: Linkedin Unit 6G, Clapham North Art Centre, 26-32 Voltaire Road, London SW4 6DH www.oliverstravels.com | blog Description: Description: facebookDescription: Description: twitterDe read more

Don't book with this company. Their terms and conditions are completely unfair and They do not offer a refund no matter what. They also don't respond to any contact or queries. They just take your money and keep it regardless . They have received many negative reviews recently about their appalling behaviour and response to refusing refunds to anyone due to Covid no matter what. They are totally shame full and unscrupulous and shouldn't be allowed to continue trading. I have asked several times for them to call me to resolve my travel issues for our honeymoon yet they keep ignoring and havent called. They have said the villa isn't ready due to Covid but won't give us a refund if we cancel. My recommendation is DONT book with them. read more

We booked a holiday to Gozo in October with Oliver's Travels. Every morning, before dawn (about 6.30am) we were woken by shotgun blasts very close to the house. It turns out that the locals spend a couple of hours every morning shooting tiny migratory birds. Many of which are endangered. Oliver's Travels did not tell us about the daily slaughter before we went, although we saw other people had written about the same problem in the guest book at the house. Our children were really upset about it. They offered us vouchers as an apology and only gave us a refund of about £200 when I carried on complaining. This is the worst holiday we have ever been on. read more

My extended family booked a chateau in France for a week's holiday together. There are a total of 21 of us, who fly in from the four corners of the world to spend time together. Oliver Travels promised us a stately home for our retreat, allowing us to relax and enjoy. Yeah, not so much. The first location that we booked sounded fantastic - then Oliver's came back and said, actually, no, we made a mistake and now you can't have that location after all. There was not much left available, but having all made the plans for travel, we took the other option, a chateau in the Aquitaine region of France - read "Middle of Nowhere". They had promised we could purchase services for cleaning and a chef - neither were available. What we did have to purchase, directly from the owner, were sheets and towels! The chateau was in rough condition. There was much broken furniture, and several pieces of furniture labeled not to touch, including a piano. Why have a piano in a family house stay and then say, don't touch? Our group consists of ages 8-86, and it was ridiculous to have nowhere to put your clothes because you were not allowed to open the wardrobes. We were greeted by a page of Rules for the house, including not making noise and no dancing. Reminder, we are in the middle of Ruffiac, a village hamlet of perhaps 2 homes. The owner's live on site, in the next house, which was also uncomfortable. He would come by each night and survey, making us feel that we were not at our leisure to enjoy the site. The furnishings are all old, musty and the house has outdoors stairs that were crumbling away, making it unsafe for my grandparents to get around. We were thrilled to have the time together as a family, but disappointed in the service altogether. For the price, we could have stayed at a hotel in much better surroundings and upkeep, closer to the Bordeaux region, rather than an hour away by car with the owner surveying our every move. We will not use this service again. read more

Re Villa Sandie in Southern France - June 30, 2018 Beware of this company. My wife and I have been renting houses in Europe with an emphasis on Southern France for 20 years. This is the 1st time we have been disappointed. We rented this property for a week; however, we left inside of 20 hours and stayed in hotels for the remainder of the week. The house is not rural - it is remote. And yet you will have no privacy as the owner lives onsite with a direct view at the house. There is a road in front of the house - literally in the front yard - and on the only morning we were there, a Sunday morning, 3 cars drove by within 20 minutes. The grounds and inside the house (which has no air conditioning or screens) are infested with wasps and bees. You will not be able to enjoy the pool - or any other part of the property - as a result. The house also smells like an ashtray from years of not cleaning the fireplaces. Finally, the owner and Oliver's Travels attempted to put this all on me and my wife -- and the owner only offered a 1000 Euro refund -- keeping over 4000 Euro after such a horrible experience. UPDATE: when I tried to post this review on the Oliver's Travels website, I was told that the owner of the villa said "no" to posting my review. Wait, what? You read that right, the owner of the rental - not the owner of the website. THAT MEANS THAT THE ONLY REVIEWS THAT ARE POSTED ON OLIVER'S TRAVELS WEBSITE ARE THOSE THAT ARE APPROVED BY THE OWNERS OF THE RENTALS. ACCORDINGLY, YOU ONLY WILL EVER SEE POSITIVE REVIEWS. read more

Search function is spot on and the variety of options is great. Only issue I had was that the owner had not been clear about the changeover day, so having booked Sunday to Sunday, I needed to change to Saturday to Saturday. Was raised and dealt with very swiftly, so all's good read more

We've traveled with Oliver's travels 3 times now and each trip has been a fantastic adventure. With trusted quality vacation homes, fantastic hosts and great concierge service we've had fantastic trips that have made amazing memories with friends and family. We love working with Oliver's travels to plan great trips. The only hard part is deciding where to go next! read more

We rented a chateau in the Vendee region of France through Olivers Travels in May 2017, and had a wonderful time. The property was excellent, full of character as you would expect with a chateau, but extremely well maintained. The owners were very attentive, without being in any way over-bearing. We also hired a property in North Wales on a previous occasion through Olivers Travels: again we were very pleased with the property and all the arrangements. Highly recommended. read more

We have just had a 3 generational holiday in Chateau Joncasses, which we booked through Oliver's Travels over a year ago. 21 of us went, aged between 6 weeks and 74 years and whilst we had a happy family time together and the weather and caretaker were excellent, the standard of upkeep in the chateau was far from good, and the caretaker admitted that the owners should be spending a lot to bring it up to standard, but weren't prepared to, and that Oliver's Travels hardly ever came to inspect. Just to instance a few things, we were promised a heated pool, but the heating had long since broken down and not been replaced, so that even our own outdoor pool in England was 8 to 10 degrees warmer, and the 3 x one year olds ( and of course the baby) screamed and refused to go in because it was too cold for them. Moreover the children's play area ( another main reason for our choice since we were bringing 9 children up to the age of 10) was almost non existent, with a swing set that was so broken it was dangerous and we had to ask the caretaker to remove half of it lest the children had a nasty accident, and a tiny sandpit. There was only one sunshade for a couple of plastic tables to seat us all outside, and there were no cups whatsoever, only chipped builders mugs and a complete hotchpotch of cutlery. We did, however, have a good chef whom the caretaker had found for us, and he kindly provided us with one of his own sunshades ( albeit held together with tape) when he saw how difficult it was for us to sit together at meals as the sun was so wonderfully hot. My real gripe with Oliver's Travels, however, is that although I have emailed them 3 times since returning from the holiday, asking them at least to tell us what their policy of inspection is of chateaux, we have not heard a word back. However they send a round robin at least once a week asking us to vote for them as the most family friendly inter generational holiday company in order to win an award or two.....Not only would I never vote for them again ( I did so before the holiday on the basis of their website and the help they gave us in choosing the chateau) but I am afraid that we would not use them again to find a holiday chateau, as the reality simply does not live up to the description, and is pretty expensive, to boot. A great shame. Our whole family had been greatly looking forward to the one week's holiday we have together, and we had, we thought, researched it very carefully. We simply had not allowed for the fact that Oliver's Travels appears to be all spin and no substance. Charis Cavaghan-Pack read more

Do not use this company. Our criteria were simple, heated pool for young children and play equipment, clearly shown by our searches at the villa we chose in Tuscany for a celebration family holiday. Neither were available at the property, the owners said the inclusion on the web site had been an error on the part of Olivers and was subsequently removed, too late for us, there was nothing for the grandchildren to do, and the pool, which was the focus of our holiday, was freezing! Holiday and memorable occasion ruined! read more