Exoticca  Reviews 28,905

My wife and I traveled to Portugal in March, 2025. They erroneously charged us for excursions not booked. They have NO customer service!!! I mean literally! I have never, ever, been connected to anyone after dozens of attempts,including their 888 and local customer service # and their contact email. They’ll take your money, but other than that, you are on your own.

Date of experience: March 13, 2025

This independent tour was great for us, as it covered all of the details including flights, hotels, transfers and tours. We still had free time to choose things we wanted to do and see. I very much appreciate all of the details being covered and a great team to provide customer service throughout the trip!

Date of experience: April 11, 2025

Turkey in 12 days

First group tour with me for trip, and what an experience!

Excellent itinerary, seamless coordination and communication of every day schedule and pickup. We had a fabulous tour guide, Lider! His knowledge and ability to relay that information made the places come alive to us. Our driver Hasan was skillful and made the journey very smooth. It was so much fun.

Good night! Wake up. wake up… Thanks to Exoticca!

Date of experience: April 02, 2025

We just came back from Peru trip. Exoticca did a great job in organizing the trip. We choose charm for stay. The hotels were good and in good location for accessing restaurants and shopping places. The guides were amazing in their knowledge and very friendly. Our flight schedule were pretty tight. Our flight from canada left here 9:00am and had a 7 hour layover in Bogota and reached Lima early morning at 1:30am. So we were a bit tired for early morning tour. Everything else was really great. Thank you so much. We do a lot of travelling with Exoticca and we always enjoyed our trips.

Date of experience: March 26, 2025

We've booked a trip with this agency. When we first inquired, we had agents calling us 3 times a day. Now that our trip is coming up and we need to make a change to a part of it- it's taking days to get a return call. Just typical anything to get your booking and then we'll never hear from you. Can someone please get back to us!!!!

The response from Exoticca is so insulting. We keep calling almost everyday. Your rep didn't get back to us on April 9th- we called again. We have still not heard back from a supervisor to fix the situation. Including calling agin today April 11th advising your rep that it was essential to hear back today. Terrible service!

Date of experience: March 31, 2025

Three couples just returned from Costa Rica-Magical Night of the Sea Turtles. A wonderful trip. Many memorable moments. We went on several of the Exottica optional tours and several of their other suggested optional tours we booked independently.
Our first guide, Alex, who was with us at Tortuguero had encyclopaedic knowledge of the floral and fauna and perfect English. We actually contacted him and he gave us a 1/2 day tour of San Jose on our last day.
The reasons for not giving a 5* rating- a) there were three mistakes with pick up times.None proved a major issue but arriving for our last transfer 45 minutes early made for a less than leisurely breakfast. Presume this a fault of the local agents. b) we had two relatively short notice changes of accommodation. One certainly worked in our favour at La Fortuna, so many creatures in the garden. The alternative accommodation for our stay in Monteverde was certainly not “similar or better”.
c) one couple deliberately took a different routing but the airfare did not include luggage. Something to be very aware of.
d) very often experienced long waiting times when when trying to speak to Exottica agents on the telephone.
Four of us had already been on the Victoria Falls,Safari Days and Giant Dunes trip in September last year which was again a fantastic trip. There was minor admin issues then also (again local agents and dealt with to our complete satisfaction).
With the pricing being so competitive I can put up with minor inconveniences.

Date of experience: March 25, 2025

The excursion covers most of the interesting areas of the country, each of them uniquely amazing. The organization of the trip was excellent, the local guides were very caring, informative and knowledgeable. Accommodations were clean and transportation was convenient. An amazing string of insights in the diverse natural wonders, the history, culture and the nice local people of Equador.

Date of experience: March 27, 2025

OMG! I have never experienced a "Customer Service" as poor as this company offers. My advice to anyone reading this: BE AWARE and read other 1-star reviews. Here is my story:
On April 7, 2025, while excited about the prospect of going to Italy, I booked a tour on your website for January 20 to 28 from Miami (US-EX2025366511 ). Then I made the mistake of calling your company to ask about the possibility of adding one extra night at the end of the tour, and that's when my nightmare began. The call was answered by someone called Natalie. She aggressively took over my original booking and created one herself(US-EX2025366702 ). I will not go over how unprofessional she was; that will be another story. What I want to go over is that she booked the flights I wanted and agreed to give me the extra night (January 28) with a return flight on January 29. She gave me a quote, and I approved, understanding that the extra night in Venice was included. I paid the 60% as requested and received an email with a Trip Summary. I immediately replied that there was a mistake because the night of the 28 of January had no hotel assigned. However, a night in a hotel that was never discussed (Marcella Royal Hotel in Rome) was listed for the night of January 18. Please note that I will not be in Rome until January 21. I proceeded to ask her to get it fixed ASAP. She brushed me off, saying that she no longer has access to the record, and sent me the following:
"No mistakes were made, Mr. Carlos. We booked and confirmed everything as you requested.
I already sent a request for your complaint about changing the hotel in Rome, Soon you will have an answer; we still have time, as your trip is only in January. "
Well, first of all, I did not request an extra night in Rome for a night I will not be in Rome.
Second, I was not requesting a change of hotel in Rome, I was OK with the one the tour package offered. My request was for an extra night at the NH Venezia Laguna Palace in VENICE for January 28
Third, my trip may be in January, but I want to make sure I am paying for what I asked for and not for what she wants to impose on me. This kind of sloppy work will eventually hurt your company.
Please do what is right and correct what she did wrong.
I have been unsuccessful in trying to get a hold of anyone to help me out. I already gave thousands of dollars only to feel that I have been scammed.
This is not fair. Someone needs to reach out and answer my futile request for a correction. I have a copy of all the emails sent and received from Natalie in the event you require verification of my communications with Natalie.
How can I possibly think about doing another booking with Exoticca after this experience?

Date of experience: April 07, 2025

The guide and the driver were both excellent. The guide was very knowledgeable. The places we visited were very interesting, we really enjoyed the itinerary. The transportation was comfortable. We chose the basic accommodation which was fine for the amount of time we spent in the room.

Date of experience: April 09, 2025

We had a very good experience with Pena who helped us put together our trip to Portugal. She was very patient as we were new at this type of adventure. Once we decided that we wanted to go. We asked her to call us back later so we could give her the final details. She was very helpful, professional and knowledgeable. Thank you for all your help

Date of experience: April 09, 2025

This is the second time I and my friend used Exoticca for our vacations. There were lots of challenges of this trip because there was no direct flight from Toronto to Lima. However, it worked out well with the local travel agent plus Exoticca. Despite a minor mistake that our Larco museum visit were not on our itinerary. Besides this, everything went well and I appreciated lots of the local tour guides and the receptionists at all our upgraded hotels who greeted us warmly except a female slim lady at Aloft hotel in Lima. Other male staff did a great job there. The other hotels are all well selected and gave us a "wow" feeling but it became cold at night. I would like to thank Gotta on the 27/03 as our driver to pick us up at Lima airport. He's friendly and recommended us mostly tourist hot dishes. Probably all of our hotel restaurants did better than we had expected. Love to thank Raefel for taking great photos. for us at Machu Picchu! Also, Elvis, our tour guide in Cuzco for the Sacred Valley, he is so responsible, well-knowledgeable and great in spoken English. Lastly, would like to thank Ruff for our female walking tour guide for doing an excellent job on our last day in Cusco.

Date of experience: March 31, 2025

Our first trip with Exoticca, and we enjoyed it completely. There are so many things to recommend:
- Arrangements: flights, shuttle to hotel, rooms, most meals and the coach were all well organized and worked smoothly. This took a LOT of stress out of our travel. Just for this we will travel with Exoticca again.
- Itinerary: while there was a lot packed into each day, the variety kept us interested all of the time. We visited museums, mosques, bazaars and historic sites. We met with artisans making carpets, pottery, leather and silk. And everywhere there were incredible landscapes.
- Guides: this was a highlight for us. Our guide, Mehmet, was courteous, very knowledgeable, handsome and humourous. Along with our driver Yalmiz, we moved safely and swiftly through Anatolia. Mehmet has an amazing skill for navigating the traffic cycles, weather, crowds and unforeseen events to keep us moving. We never got stuck waiting anywhere over ten days, incredible! I am a fan of ancient history and had so many questions, and his depth of knowledge and passion for the country shone through. In fact, I want to go BACK to Türkiye to see all of the things that he mentioned that were not on this tour!

Date of experience: March 27, 2025

We have booked 5 trips with exoticca, 4 of them gave us very good experiences so we keep booking with exoticca but the last one of Balkans gave us very very bad experiences: 3 actives was cancelled, no others actives instead, no entry fee refund: Tito's bunker, the Tunnel Museum, the Kolasin National Park. Our itinerary shows we have 4 stars hotel in Durmitor National Park: bouqitue apartments & rooms dora but we changed to hotel & restaurant pirlitor: the temperature was under zero outside but entire hotel no hot water no heat no extra quilt(we put our clothes/coats on top of quilt to got warm), entire hotel only reception area was warm. Only half piece Flatbread with some Stale bananas, no black coffee for breakfast. We have traveled over 50 countries and this was our worst experience.

Date of experience: April 03, 2025

The trip was amazing, very organized. Our guide Sebastian was great. We really enjoyed Exoticca. Great price, and the buses were really nice. Definitely will travel again!!!!

Date of experience: March 28, 2025

My 12 day trip to Ecuador including Quito, the Amazon, Galapagos Islands and Guayaquil exceed my expectations. The itinerary was incredibly well planned, the guides were fantastic, accommodations and included meals were excellent, the activities were interesting, fun, and educational. The Exoticca team were very well organized and we felt safe and well taken care of throughout our trip. Ecuador is a beautiful country.

Date of experience: April 04, 2025

My wife and I had a great trip to Portugal and Spain. It was our first organized tour with Exoticca handling all the details of flights, hotels, transfers/transportation, airport meet-and-greets, and excellent tour guides. Will definitely use Exoticca for future trips and recommend them highly.

Date of experience: April 08, 2025

This so called rating and providing some feedback to exoticca always ends with the same response, which should let the writer know that the responses are computer AI generated. The syntax is ALWAYS THE SAME, letting us all know that no one is reading anything, much less providing any changes. Rather pointless to vent.

Date of experience: March 02, 2025

All transportation was handled well. People met us at each airport and bus rides and made the process simple. Jordan tour guide Jafar, was fantastic. We did all of the optional excursions and they were all good.

Date of experience: April 01, 2025

Again, communications with this company are appalling. They continue to send "give us your input" with nothing on the other end. I have given my input multiple times. The trip we booked we could not make the connection in New York either the day of the trip or the next day. Exoticca did nothing. In the interim the cheap airline they booked lost our luggage and it took 5 days to return it - again without any assistance from Exoticca. So they offered $200 trip credit when we paid $8,000. So don not recommend this company. Once they have your money that's it.

Date of experience: February 16, 2025

The experience was one of the worst experiences with a company in my many years. The only time you speak with a person is for sales. Once you give them your credit card you're on your own. The flights were booked by them to meet our tour. The flights we approved were not the ones they booked. That proved impossible to correct prior to the trip. On the day of departure we left our home before 4:30 am to get to the airport. Very bad weather. We drove through torrential rain with tornado watches, got to the airport early and through security. We are seasoned travelers and made every possible effort. The flight was delayed 10 times and over 10 hours. The transatlantic connection in New York left before the plane left Atlanta. We rescheduled a different flight with an extra leg and and were informed by the airline after more delays that we would not arrive in time for that flight connection in a different international terminal connected by airport train and an additional security check. Also no seats next day on any carrier. Unable to get to our tour we returned home after midnight exhausted. Exoticca offered no suggestions, booking adjustments or advice. They made no attempt to contact us to offer later flights to connect with any adjusted tour. Other airlines had numerous flights depart. They didn't advise or suggest options since we wouldn't arrive as planned. They have not refunded our money or offered a different tour date. They "escalate" issues in text but then don't suggest fixes or options and disappear for days when you're stuck. Hollow exclamations with NO HELP. They blame customers and do not treat people as they would want to be treated. NO SERVICE. They lose communications that are not convenient for them that prove they offer hollow lies, even when they are provided customer copies. They will make up facts that are not true. We are a bit less than seventy. Although pretty fit one of us had a cardiac arrest 10 years ago. We don't need special transport assistance but an olympian couldn't make the connection. Instead of a nice relaxing anniversary trip we've been harassed. This was a horrible stress and frustration. WATCH OUT FOR THEM. They have 3 stateside locations by phone which are all call forwarded to Barcelona. You do not get a contact familiar with your arrangements. They text chat with a new person every communication. The tour might have been great if they hadn't handled it like that. Never got to find out. 4/7 Since posting they have given a fractional partial refund determined by them and we have communicated via email. They indicate more resolution will be considered. I will update if this occurs. 4/9/2025 update. Nothing from them that I am aware of. They were not found by a mediator or a judge or anybody to be correct or incorrect. Since the dawn of time the exchange of money for a quoted service would be regarded as a contract by most people in any jurisdiction. When they respond what they imply is more than the actual facts.

Date of experience: February 13, 2025