Our Kensington Tour of Sri Lanka and the Maldives was nothing short of five stars. From the coordination of a fabulous itinerary to amazing resorts, everything was flawless. Our guide/driver Sumith in Sri Lanka was one of the best we have ever had. Always full of information and willing to go above and beyond for any of our needs, he made the trip all the more special. We have traveled with some stellar tour companies such as AndBeyond and Quasar, but Kensington Tours ranks right up there as one of the best. I would highly recommend using them and if you travel to Sri Lanka be sure to ask for Sumith as your guide. You won't be disappointed. read more

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Boasted as luxury travel, we found the actual tours to be "off the shelf" and events scheduled easily by yourself at a fraction of the cost. We book a "Farm and Cooking" class in Mykonos, and the farm tour was at an event center where a few animals were staged in a walking circle. The cooking class (at another location) was good, and other attending paid 1/2 the price we did. Drivers who picked us up (and dropped us off) at locations were not in special vehicles and uber style (yes they did have a sign). Had to cancel 1/2 way through the trip due to a hospitalized emergency. No credit given "because we did not buy the insurance" for costs they did not incur, or received refunds/credit for. Would not use again. read more

make sure you read all the fine print...we had to cancel and were charged 30 percent of the whole tour... way too much... fine while you are paying but try to get a fair refund very hard... and our tour specialist was often out of the office when we had questions read more

This would be zero stars if it were allowed. I had to cancel my trip 15 days in advance due to contracting pneumonia. I was told that there may be some cancellation fees since I was within 30 days. Once they canceled my trip, they informed me that they were unable to refund any money. They could only offer a credit for future travel for roughly 40% of the travel. The next day I asked them to reinstate the trip so that my daughter could travel instead and they refused since "it had already been canceled". I also received my first offer of trip insurance the day that they confirmed cancelation - far too late to be useful. I am out 100% of my expenses - why would I ever use them for the travel credit that they could easily and rightfully have refunded me - and would NEVER USE THIS COMPANY! read more

Kensington Tours was amazing! Just two weeks before my sister's trip to Rwanda and Tanzania, I found out I had some time off. Kensington Tours stepped in and managed to find flights and hotels for me with less than 12 days notice. They answered all my questions about the visa I would need, which airport I should fly into, and every little thing in between. They coordinated everything seamlessly - from the airport pickup to my hotel, and then from the hotel to the domestic airport the next morning. They even planned the flight so that when I landed, my sister and our amazing guide were waiting for me right on the tarmac. And can we talk about the hotels? Kensington Tours really knows how to pick them. I felt so pampered and well taken care of at every stop. If you're looking for a luxury tour that lets you experience incredible wildlife and stunning landscapes while having every detail handled, this is the company to book with. They truly take care of everything! Plus, as a solo female traveler in a foreign country, I felt completely safe the entire time. The guides were great, the food was great, the hotels were great (5 star hotels), and Tanzania was great! read more

Kensington Tours was a disaster. We landed at Mexico City and they were supposed to pick us up with a guide and English speaking driver. No one was there even though we were in the right place and our flight was in our Kensington itinerary. My wife has mobility issues and we do not speak Spanish. After nearly half an hour a man showed up with a sign for another member of our family (who was not travelling with us). No guide as promised...he was the "English speaking driver" in our itinerary. His English speaking was confined to four words..."Me no speak English". I tried to contact Kensington from the hotel but no one was available. The manager was, apparently, "out". The next day we were supposed to be taken to a restaurant where we had reservations for and looked forward to. We were taken by a man from Kensington (not a guide, since he told us he worked in the office) to a totally different (and very poor) restaurant. He had not looked at the itinerary that Kensington prepared. We have never had an explanation of how they screwed up so badly from the outset, or recompense for an expensive trip that they promised would be seamless and was anything but. Don't go with Kensington Tours! read more

In February, my wife and I chose Kensington to plan our trip because we wanted the details taken care of. We applied for a Vietnam visa, as they instructed, but when we asked whether we needed to get a physical copy, they said no, that we would be given one when we arrived in Hanoi. We went to Chicago to catch our non-stop flight. At the gate, we were told that without a copy of our visa, we couldn't even board the plane! They said that they could rush the visa, but that it would cost $550 per passenger to do so! Long story short: We did make it to Vietnam. To do tours in Vietnamese cities, we had to cross streets that had swarms of motorcycles, sometimes with four passengers! Our first guide gave us this safety advice: Just walk forward slowly, and the motorcycles will flow around you, like a river flows around a rock. The guide should have been much more explicit, like warning you that because the drivers often text as they drive, they won't even be aware of your presence until they hit you. Subsequently, I did get hit. I was lucky not to have died. After that, we had to abandon our tour so I could get treated. (Another long story short: One ambulance ride and three trips to emergency rooms in the next five days.) When Kensington subsequently asked me to fill out a post-trip survey, I told them what had happened. Their response: "We're so sorry to hear that your experiences did not live up to your expectations." They weren't interested in what happened to me; they were just interested in selling me another tour! We had purchased the travel insurance that Kensington recommended, but they were reluctant to make good on the trip-interruption portion of their insurance. I asked Kensington for help on this matter, but after saying that they would look into it, they stopped responding to my emails. Bottom line: Kensington is both uncaring and dangerously incompetent. If you value your comfort, safety, and well-being, stay away! read more

Kensington Tours - Smashed hand - Tours Near Me - Wilmington, Delaware

We have a covid-era deposit with Kensington we have tried to apply for multiple years. Each time they provide us with a proposal, we do our due diligence, and see what the trip would cost if we booked it ourselves. No airfare, simply hotel nights, airport transfers and a tour or two. Each time (multiple times) they price the trip at 350%+ over the actual cost. This feels unreasonable. We have finally given in - exchanging $3500 in vouchers for a three night stay in Porto we could book easily for ourselves for less than $1000. Very disappointed. read more

Kensington helped find us a yacht for a Greek trip. Unfortunately, they forgot to tell us that the itinerary they suggested is highly unlikely during that time of year due winds. We were very disappointed to have to change our itinerary at the last minute. They knew about the potential of these winds and just never told us. Kensington advertises that they tell you the all in price, including all the out-of-pocket expenses. They underestimated our all in thousands of dollars. I signed up with Kensington because they have a good reputation I feel like you're a sleaze ball brokers who got their commission and then screwed you. I would never use Kensington again. read more

we just came back from Africa. Our trip was exceptional Heather since day one was very helpful and put together an awesome trip for us, all the accommodations were excellent just like we had imagined, our safari guides were also exceptional Nelly in Nairobi, Louis is masaimara, John in Serengeti and our Ngorongoro guide (sorry can't remember the name). The staff in all the different accommodations were also amazing. Finally want to thank Oscar for putting together our round trip flight. all in all was an amazing experience thanks to all who made it possible. read more

I did a tour with them last year in Egypt. Horrific experience. Will not book with them again. What I experienced: 1. Guides took you into shopping traps (which are not on our itinerary) where the asking price is 100 times of the fair price (they did warn you that you should bargain). Entirely fraudulent shops and guides are in cahoots with the shops. We did get our money back after complaining to Kensington, but the scams ruined our trip and more guides still insisted on taking us to shops (no matter how much you tip). 2. Excessive tipping guidance from Kensington with very subpar service from the local guides. You have to manage a payroll to pay dozens of people on a daily basis after you've paid an expensive tour package to Kensington. One guide still solicited tips from us after being busted for the fraudulent shopping tours he took us on. 3. Guides would skip items on the itinerary. You need to monitor where you've been and where you are headed to constantly. Guides are entirely untrustworthy. They skipped items in the itinerary to take you to shopping traps or to tourist attractions that are not on your itinerary and that need extra payments. 4. Advertise local guides as Egyptologist. The biggest joke of all. Guides speak great English but otherwise are ignorant local folks who are not shy about fabricating. 5. Kensington blamed all the above on " local culture" and "local partners/subcontractors". Easy peasy. read more

I would give this company a 0 if I could. My wife passed from cancer and I booked a trip with them thinking I could use a nice vacation. When all was said and done I purchased the insurance through Zurich in case I was not able to go since I booked so far out. Circumstances came up and could not make the trip so I had to cancel. Not only did it cost me 2000.00 for the insurance but Kensington took 5700.00 because I canceled early. Not even giving me a reason! So now I am out 7700.00 which I could take a nice trip with. I would NOT use this company and if you do, DO NOT purchase the insurance through Zurich cause it's a waste of money. Belen Tovar will not help with anything if you need it all she wants is your money!!!!!!!!! read more

We did have a great trip to Alaska, but would have been much better off planning it on our own than using Kensington. They added very little and did nothing to correct their mistakes. We hired them to plan a pre-cruise tour of Alaska. Our travel agent explained our expectation, that it was a pre-cruise trip and we wanted King accommodations. The guides and activities were very good, but there was little attention to detail. We did not receive king accommodations at any hotel. In Anchorage they booked us at the Hilton. It is a tired hotel. We got a room with two double beds and a view of a parking lot. The guide/driver to the next destination, Talkeetna, was excellent. Although we liked the accommodations in Talkeetna, a cabin on theSusitna River with amazing water and mountain views, the lodge did not provide any food and it was a 1.25 mile walk along the highway to the town. Although that dosen't sound like much, it rains a lot in Talkeetna, and you have to rely on your feet. There are no taxis or Ubers in town. The guides were good, but we were not provided with their identity until they showed up. Things got markedly worse in Denali. The accommodations were poor. The room wasn't big enough to comfortably accommodate us and our bags because once again there was no king bed, but instead two queen beds essentially occupying all the floor space. The bathroom was so small that the sink was in the room and there was no closet. The room was filthy. When we went to sleep we discovered stains on the sheets that appeared to be blood stains. I slept on the bed covers fully clothed. We learned that there were newer, better rooms that would have been available if Kensington booked them when we paid our deposit. They didn't give us any option, just went with the cheapest option despite us paying $2K a day. We contacted Kensington and just got lip service. I called 4 times and each time got a different person who had no solution. Our travel agent contacted the Kensington representative assigned to us and she just gave lip service. She was insulting and suggested there was something wrong with us if we didn't want to walk 2 1/2 miles along a highway for every meal, or that we weren't accepting of accomodactions worse than a bad Motel 6. They are terrible. It was a waste of money to use them. We could have easily done the same cursory research that they did on Google or ChatGPt. Using Kensington is flushing your money down the toilet. The only thing that saves the review from 1 star were excellent guides in Talkeetna. We learned they were the only hiking guides in the area so Kensington couldn't have screwed that up. read more

Completely BOGUS pricing they provided for a trip to Greece. When I asked for a price breakdown, I no longer received any follow-up. Very concerning that they will take advantage of people like this. read more

We've done 3 extensive trips with Kensington Tours. Each one was expertly planned incorporating our input on the destinations and detailed itineraries. We have opted to travel "hosted," with KT, meaning they set up and book all itineraries and travel arrangements. Their hosts meet us at the airport when we arrive, and transport us to our hotel. Each time we change locations (new city, new hotel) they provide transport to the train station and make sure we're on the right train and car. When we arrive they transport us to the new hotel. We were driven from Tokyo to Hakone, as part of an 8-hour guided tour, just us with a driver and a guide. They make all travel reservations, book hotels, set up local guides, and purchase all tickets. With KT handling all travel logistics, for us, this relieves the most stressful elements of travel. I'm recounting our recent 18-day excursion to Japan. We traveled to 6 cities, 2 or 3 nights each. Tokyo, Hakone, Takayama, Kanazawa, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Osaka. According to our plan, KT provided guided tours on about half of the days overall. Either a 4- or 8-hour excursion. The tours were guided by local experts and each guide was enjoyable and knowledgeable. The remainder of the time in each destination we were on our own. Our KT travel expert provided valuable suggestions for things to do on our own time. He also provided super advice on restaurants. Over 18 days, KT's execution of our complex travel itinerary was FLAWLESS. Perfect. Never a missed connection. Always prompt. They were equally perfect in our previous trips. The itinerary planned for us was beyond expectations. We even had a terrific cooking class in the apartment kitchen of our instructor In Kyoto. We give Kensington Tours the highest marks!!! We'll be traveling with them in the future. read more

We had a great experience our first trip with Kensington and booked a trip. Our second trip was not a good value and we would not recommend them . Interestingly, when we tried to give them helpful feedback ( sharing what was good and bad) we got an automated response from Kensington. Really ? read more

We worked with the agent Pankaj and he was extremely helpful! We booked a year in advance our trip to Africa and he helped us with every detail. I could call him with all my concerns about packing Visa money exchange and he was always available. While we were traveling in Africa for an extended stay, he checked in on us and made sure that everything we had booked was working well. We were so cared for and we will always use Kensington Tours when we travel out of the United States. read more

They offered me a $10k tour of Wales for 3.5 days. This is nothing like I asked for. When I reiterated my goals they couldn't even be bothered with helping me since clearly I wasn't stupid enough to accept their extremely overpriced price gouging tour. So sad they don't want to help travels unless they make bank off of us. read more

Nella and Kensington tours provided us with excellent suggestions, flawless itinerary and accommodations in our recent trip to Portugal and Spain. I would not hesitate to recommend them. They continuously checked in with us and contacted the hotels when we had concerns about the beds. All guides and drivers spoke excellent English. Since I played golf in the Algarve region, I was alerted by Nella that one of the most expensive course was undergoing maintenance issues 48 hours before my tee time and she saved me $300 by cancelling the tee time and giving me better options. We used them for a recent trip to Morocco and had a similar excellent experience. We also used their travel agency for flights and they ended up saving us a ton of time, booking thru different cities than we investigated originally. Thanks for the memories! read more

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I recently traveled to Italy with a tour arranged by Kensington Tours. The tours were planned terribly. My daughter and I had to arrange for our own transportation from St Peter's Basilica to the Coliseum. Then we had to arrange for our own transportation back to our hotel. We were forced to walk over 6 miles back to our hotel. Also, speaking of hotels-I asked that a fitness facility be in the hotels. There were none. Poor, poor planning by our host. My daughter and I chose this company because of the "personalized tours". When in Sorrento, we had a tour of the coast on Saturday. For lunch the guide stopped at a winery and a meal. My daughter and I assumed this was included in the tour. Oh no, we received a bill of over 500 Euros. I warn anyone thinking of using this company for a personalized tour-do not even consider it. It is very, very expensive. I went to Greece several years ago with a different tour company and it was much cheaper with exceptional tours. I would never consider Kenningston Tours again. read more

Horrible horrible company. If you need to cancel for any reason trying to get your money back is damn near impossible. One, they might not give your money back if you're reason for canceling doesn't line up with their guidelines. And if you eligible to get your money back, you need to submit a jokingly amount of paper work just for the hopes of getting your money back. Horrible horrible company. read more

We booked a week long "Costa Rica Family Luxury" trip for spring break / March 2024. It was an abysmal trip-- far from what we expected and not even close to the trip we paid to take. In fact, after comparing the itinerary we purchased from Kensington, I firmly believe we were bamboozled. From rundown lodges, waterfall trek's that were anything but and let down after let down -- even with daily conversation with our travel agent, it was increasingly clear that Kensington Tours didn't care about us at all -- they'd made the $34,000 sale and moved on. In the end we were sold a 'luxury' trip and, overall, received the most basic of experiences from rundown properties without amenities and unnecessarily duplicative excursions. As such, I wrote to Kensington requesting a partial refund upon our return AND WE HAVE YET TO HEAR FROM THEM! Kensington Tours is a terrible vendor, an unreliable travel company and a horrendous company. read more

I had a customized one week Germany bucket list trip that Kensington organized and managed for me. After flying from the US, the trip was based out of Munich and I spokewheeled out to numerous World War II sites from there. I had the same private driver all week long and one on one private tour guide guides each day. The company was phenomenal from the minute I stepped on the plane for my first class adventure until the moment I got off the plane at the end of the week. I highly recommend them! read more

We have used Kensington tours for three trips over the past 10 years: the Amalfi coast, southern Spain, and in October the Scotland Ireland Explorer tour. All three trips were excellent, and everything went as planned--airport pickups, tour guides, transportation between cities. We had two exceptional drivers in Scotland and Ireland. All accommodations were good to excellent. The only reason I gave 4 stars is that they're very expensive. I was able to duplicate their Portugal tour by booking it all myself for half the price, but this is not always easy or feasible. We've always been very satisfied with our Kensington tours. read more

Kensington Tours - Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland - Tours Near Me - Wilmington, Delaware

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When they are good, they are good, but when things go poorly they do not offer assistance. First if they tell you your drivers all speak English saying hello must qualify because many of our drivers had little English skills. We had taken Italian so we were able to navigate the issues, but without it we would have been lost. Second, if they tell you that things can be changed while your on your tour be skeptical. We ask for a couple of changes and neither were actually worked on. Our drivers were normally late or canceled at the last minute making us responsible for our own transportation. The drivers had little clue where we were to meet the tour guides. We were just dropped off and had to rely on our abilities to talk to locals for directions. Lastly, if they tell you they will reimburse you for getting your own transportation when they fail just don't expect that to happen. The owe me 100€ that I doubt I'll ever see. I'd be hard pressed to use this service again. On the good side most of our guides were fantastic. read more

Do not use - way overpriced. I have used Kensington for trips to Greece, Portugal, and Zimbabwe in the past. I started to use them for a 15 day trip to Japan and they quoted me a price that was over ten thousand dollars then what I managed to get for myself. Incidentally, I booked higher class hotels than Kensington offered and still came in a lot cheaper. I realize that tour companies need to make a profit but I am not interested in being gouged. With internet services available (I.E. Hotels.com/tours by locals) - with a little work, individuals can put together an itinerary themselves and come out WAY cheaper. read more

My husband, two friends of ours, and I starting planning our trip to Egypt in early 2019 with plans on taking the trip in March of 2020. Needless to say, our plans had to be shelved due to the pandemic. We initially thought that we would be able to travel in March of 2021, but no. Finally, we were able to take this amazing trip last month (March 2022). Kensington allowed us to push the trip off for 2 years, and there was only an additional charge of $1200 for the 4 of us due to some changes in bookings (we found this additional cost to be extremely reasonable). We started working with Kensington Tours in 2019, and our contact person was Heather (who has since left the company), who was excellent. She was responsive and helped with even the most minor detail to ensure that we were going to have an excellent trip (e.g., additional transfers, restaurant reservations, etc.). Upon Heather's departure, we started working with Robert, who was also very good. We were finally ready to take our trip to Egypt! Our trip was amazing and I think that we owe A LOT of the credit to Kensington Tours. The trip was logistically FLAWLESS--there was not one single hiccup of any kind. Everything was amazingly organized. I think that the biggest reason why the trip was so great was the people that we met. Soliman was our main point of contact. We loved him. He was smart, funny, and knowledgeable. He was genuinely concerned about our welfare and even when we weren't with him, he took the time to check in on us (via WhatsApp). He was also a great source of information, and we really enjoyed spending time with him. The next person whom we met was Abeer (we called her "Abby") who was our tour guide in Cairo (both at the beginning of our trip and at the end). Again, pleasant, knowledgeable, and fun. Abby really took a lot of time with us. She was able to find a great balance between being very professional, but also playful with us. We simply adored her. In Cairo, we had a driver, Ahmed, who was courteous, conscientious, and a great driver! In Luxor through Aswan, our point of contact was Abo, who was also amazing--just an extremely helpful and kind man. For these stops, we had a tour guide named Hassan. Like Abby, Hassan was outstanding. We loved his passion for Egyptian history and culture. He taught us so much, and we really liked spending time with him. We had a driver named Tarek throughout these stops who was also excellent...he had the added task of driving us from Luxor to Hurghada--a 3 hour drive! We cannot say enough about all of the people above, as well as the many others we met in Egypt and who we dealt with at Kensington. It is also worth mentioning that the selection of hotels, restaurants, the Nile cruise ship, the sites were perfect. In Cairo, we were at the Mena House in Giza, adjacent to the Pyramids. For our Nile cruise, we were on the Historia (a last minute change in our itinerary) which was so great. The Hilton in Luxor, the Oberoi Sal Hasheesh in Hurghada, and for our last night in Cairo, the Kempinski. All were fantastic! We thank Kensington Tours for creating a trip of a lifetime! read more

Kensington Tours may rip you off. Kensington Tours is a vendor with nasty, pushy old school sales tactics and sketchy opaque pricing to get you fleeced in my opinion, read on ! Kensington Tours pre-charged my Amex Centurian card a staggering $85,985.00. for 6 nights without international airfares in one cost-opaque invoice. This consisted of a simple assembly of 9 hotel room nights in 3 locations, 6 in-country economy flights, 3 airport pickup/drop offs, a 2 day 'tour' and a 1-day expedition on a small boat. It was so bad we declined the 2nd tour day and boat trip. The full retail cost of the trip, which would include profits to Kensington Tours, is estimated at $30,140.47 versus their invoice of $ 85,985.00. That is a staggering overcharge of $54,859.43. see details below. The experience should have been amazing for this amount of money, but the cost was so egregious for the average to low quality of the tours, flights, boat, and cheap or kerb-side restaurants and food establishments I decided to assemble the full retail price for these activities by speaking directly with all the major vendors. These are mostly time-specific cost comparisons on the days we were there. Both hotel general managers informed me the costs were about the same as on the previous days for the day extensions they quoted. i.e. peak season pricing. The full retail costs I've assembled would include any tour outfits profits on the hotel, airfare and lunch as they buy wholesale. It should be a close season-specific estimate. This was verified by a call from Kensington Tours Director of Asia sales who confirmed she couldn't reveal room prices because they have contracts with the hotels for discounts over retail. Kensington Tours provided near zero value, I also didn't get the typical additional hotel $ benefits, comped amenities and prestige of direct Centurion bookings, instead the reservations showed as a lowly Kensington Tours operator booking. Kensington Tours unilaterally declares their sales brochure is a de facto contract agreement without either attaching the contract doc to my knowledge or getting a counter signature, i.e. it's not a contract and would never hold up. They attempt to hide behind 'private discount contracts' with hotels and insinuated to me costs were 3x reality The comped me back $30,000.00 because I have some leverage, it should have been $55,000.00. I'm still considering whether to file a quick suit, they'll eat at least the balance defending against me in attorney fees. I'll see if I can be bothered to do that. I probably will, to let others know to be careful and not use an outfit like this. Hopefully save folks their hard earned money. My bottom line, Kensington Tours is a disgrace run the other way. Paolo T Here are the cost details: #1 HOTEL : CHANG MAI : FOUR SEASONS 3 BEDROOM VILLA RATE: THB 179,250 + 18.7% TAX & SERVICE CHARGE PER NIGHT X 2 (2 NIGHT STAY) COST USD: $10,262.06 COMMENTS: PRICE FROM HOTEL #2 HOTEL : KRABI : PHULAY BAY ROOM 1 VILLA RATE: THB 63,000 + 18.7% TAX & SERVICE CHARGE PER NIGHT x3 COST USD: $5,409.18 COMMENTS: PRICE FROM HOTEL ROOM 2 VILLA RATE: THB 78,500 + 18.7% TAX & SERVICE CHARGE PER NIGHT x3 COST USD: $6,741.18 COMMENTS: PRICE FROM HOTEL #3 BOAT : PRIVATE SPEEDBOAT FULL DAY RATE: THB 36,251 FOR 3 PERSONS INCLUSIVE 17% COST USD: $1,034.93 COMMENTS: TRIP DECLINED. PRICE FROM BOAT VENDOR #4 THAILAND IN COUNTRY FLIGHTS BANGKOK AIRPORT TO CHIANG MAI RATE: $211.40 USD PER TICKET ECONOMY x3 $634.20 + TAX COST USD: $634.20 PRICE FROM CARRIER CHANG MAI TO KRABI RATE: $256.00 USD PER TICKET ECONOMY x3 $768.00 + TAX COST USD: $756.00 PRICE FROM CARRIER KRABI TO BANGKOK AIRPORT RATE: $195.80 USD PER TICKET ECONOMY x3 $587.40 + TAX COST USD: $587.40 PRICE FROM CARRIER #5 KENSINGTON TOURS : ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL SERVICES ROUND TRIP TRANSPORT FROM AIRPORT TO HOTELS ESTIMATED COST PER TRIP: $150 x6 ($900) INEXPENSIVE TRIPS + LUNCH ESTIMATED COST PER TRIP $500 x2 ($1,000) NO PRIVATE TOURS #6 MANDARIN ORIENTAL HOTEL BANGKOK DELUXE 2 BEDROOM SUITE RATE: THB 98,600 + 18.7% TAX & SERVICE CHARGE PER NIGHT x1 COST USD: $2,815.52 (ONLINE ESTIMATE) TOTAL ESTIMATED COST: $30,140.47 KENSINGTON ESTIMATED COST 80% $24,112.37 KENSINGTON COST PROFIT 20% $6,028.09 KENSINGTON TOURS AMOUNT CHARGED TO CUSTOMER: $85,000.00 COST DIFFERENCE: $54,859.43 read more

The rating is based on several issues that remain unresolved for more than a week after my travel and with no response from Kensington. The private transport never happened and there was no reimbursement; scheduled prepaid dining event was cancelled for understandable reasons but rescheduling caused a disruption in other planned events with no compensation; agent was unavailable for the entire duration of the trip and "emergency" number was not helpful. However, tour guides, drivers and and hotels were great. This is the first time using the service, but will not use it again. read more

My wife and I took a two week Egypt package starting 18 Sep - just before the current troubles. Moe Sami was the sales guy and he was excellent. I did not find the pricing out of line with other estimates. Sorry for the long review. - MEDI Travel appears to be the in-country agent for Egypt. The Kensington/MEDI crew were awesome. We were met EVERYWHERE and at every stop by multiple reps - At every airport arrival/departure we were escorted through as much of the immigration/security apparatus as was possible by a MEDI "fixer". - MEDI uses local, free lance tour guides. Ours were awesome with EXCELLENT English. Not surprisingly all were licensed in Egypt and 20+ years experience. We had Sally in Cairo, Ayman in Alexandria, Ali from Luxor to Aswan, and Hamad (I think) at Abu Simbel. All drivers were SUPERB. - Hotels were great. During the trip planning phase I felt like there might be better hotels available but I deferred to Moe. When you are in Giza, I just can't think of a better location than the Marriott Mena. Our room and every hotel meal faced the pyramids. The pyramids are not off in the distance, They are right in front of you. Great pool. Luxor Hilton was nice but we arrived late in the evening and departed early so did not get to enjoy it. Ritz in Cairo was also very, very nice - a four day river cruise on Sonesta St George was part of the package. SUPERB ship staff. We've never been on a river cruise. Wait until you see the Nile River cruise activity. I think it is unique. There are a huge number of cruise boats on the river and the whole scene is controlled chaos. Now that we've completed the trip, I think the river cruise was the best way for us to see the sights from Luxor to Aswan - Avoiding travel sickness. We decided that our priority was to see the sights of Egypt so we were super strict on avoiding raw foods of any type. No issues. I did buy a GRAYL water filter and it worked awesome for times when we needed water. BTW - because most of the bathrooms at tourist sites are attended, they are very clean!! - Tipping. I see comments from travelers that feel the "tipping culture" is a scam. I do not see it that way. Tipping is a big part of the Egyptian travel industry and I'm comfortable with it. The Tipping Guide in the Kensington Country Guide was OUTSTANDING. We applied a lesson learned from a previous trip. Although you can buy local currency, it is always hard to find the small bills you need for porters, bathroom attendants. USD and Euros are accepted as tips everywhere. We took a couple thousand USD (with one hundred $1 bills) for all our tipping (guides, drivers, porters, etc). Maybe we were over tippers but I don't care. Kensington/MEDI people were always with us and I gave everyone of them a tip. The service was great and we felt welcome - This tour is medium to high exertion - the summer heat had still not dissipated. Hot as anything at Abu Simbel. Climbing in the pyramids is not for the faint of heart. The recurring thing I observed at all stops was the uneven footing because the floors you'll walk on are a combination of "new' stone, and the "original" stuff from 3000 years ago and its all mixed up!! - Don't wait to go if Egypt interests you. The longer you wait, the less you'll be able to do and explore. read more

Ok...we are long term Kensington clients but not any more. We did their Paris and UK tour. We are seasoned travelers so that is the only thing that saved our vacation. If you are planning on using this company then it is on you. We also do not mind paying for service thus why we have historically went with Kensington but there really was no service just a $50k bill..... France: 1. No consistent guides and none of them had ever heard of Kensington. Nice enough people but basically a pieced together visit with random people that were fitting us in between their Viator tours at half of what we paid. 2. Hotel- Nice boutique hotel but they failed to inform us that they are under renovations in addition we did not even have rooms booked in our names we had to piece that together.. 3. Plans- we did not get our confirmations until I threw a fit and we received 3 days before we left the US. 4. Tickets we were told we would have slowly trickled in so we really did not know if we were going or not to certain things. 5. Train cancelled to the UK which is not their fault but we hopped an earlier train only to find out the UK office was "off" for a long weekend. The paris people were able to finally track someone down to get us picked up LONDON: 1. Wow...drivers simply ghosted us twice then got into an argument with me about how it was our fault the first time.....we sat in the lobby for 30 minutes waiting by ourselves but he was adamant he was there? 2. Ghosted us on our 630 pickup to airport.... 3. Emergency line once again was not answered...we were told to use the WhatsApp but the London people are not on that so it was pointless...they were still on their "long bank holiday" so we were just left to figure things out ourselves. Think about it the people I helped pay to be on holiday left us high and dry....sums these guys up now. 4. Names wrong on reservations but the problem is they book the hotels for their clients...we had to convince the hotel it was us.... 5. Hotel was above average but right next to a military area to protect the palace...thus we had to walk 3 blocks in due to the Jubilee because no one was allowed to drive down the street...not their fault but that is the stuff you pay high end tour companies to know. 6. Tour guides were awesome but they are also independent so why pay kensington. read more

I am a professional planner, so I know how important it is to have every detail PERFECT. I wanted to find a company to help me plan the trip of a lifetime and Kensington Tours went WAY ABOVE AND BEYOND!! Jules, our assigned agent, is amazing. She is on top of every single detail and has made our itinerary look like something out of a movie. The Travel Department doesn't miss a beat either. They are constantly tracking your flights. We know we are in great hands. We cannot wait to go to Hawaii!! Thank you, Kensington Tours! read more

My wife and I spent a substantial amount of money with Kensington on a Japan trip. We experienced a multitude of issues on the trip. Tour guides with no structured itinerary, no vehicles when we had scheduled cars, wrong/too small cars for pick ups that couldn't fit our luggage. Extremely disappointed given that we paid a small fortune for this service. Look elsewhere. read more

Beware! Kensington tours takes your money and even if the country is closed for tourism refuses to give you a refund. Who do they think they are to not refund deposits timely?! Buyer beware!!! do not book with Kensington Tours. read more

While Kensington was great about holding our COVID dollars for two years, I was very disappointed when the chose to take even more aggressive profits on our revised plans. We paid too much for everything we did with them in Scotland. I'm ok with a premium for managing things but Kensington was completely inflexible when we tried to get a fair value out of our tour. They basically found decent tour guides and hotels then marked them up so aggressively, we challenged them and they refused to accommodate us. We have been to 97 countries and seven continents and this is the only tour company that I would never use again. read more

Just returned from 21 day baltic state and Scandinavia.No one has contacted us to ask of our experience.Tour way to expensive for services provided.Absolutely zero personal service.Tried contacting emergency numbers given out for certain countries, phone and or text not returned.Two countries private guides could hardly speak English.Seemed we never got great hotel rooms that qualified as deluxe or superior.Our family of six spent way to much money with this untrustworthy company,Wish I had read peoples previous reviews before booking with them.We travel extensively but will never consider using Kensington tours read more

If you need help designing a five star custom trip with LESS than 30 days DO NOT USE. They refuse you as a client. Business must be good to turn away paying customres. read more

UNRELIABLE. Poorly planned. We were promised a seamless, first class 2 week trip to Japan. The hotel rooms offered were all standard rooms - in big box hotels, so we booked our hotels separately. We were promised private transportation but our itinerary listed public transportation. We had no choice if a half day tour was scheduled in the morning or afternoon - and they didn't want to release the details of our itinerary until 3 days before leaving. I insisted and got the itinerary about 10days before and contacted my agent when I found numerous problems, but the worst was when we were in country and discovered problems with our luggage. We were not advised the train's accommodate carryon luggage but not our full size suitcases. Later they acknowledged, 'this is a common problem.' Multiple options abound but were not suggested nor offered. At the last minute we made our own arrangement to have our luggage shipped ahead - a common solution but a panic when discovering the problem hours before leaving. What a mess. read more

I have read the reviews but have still chosen to go with Kensington Tours primarily due to our assigned agent, Alistair Kiwana. We did get bids from other companies, and Kensington was very competitive. And Alistair, by far was the best we spoke to in terms of being personable and understanding travel and Africa extremely well----and so we decided to go with him and as a result Kensington. Alistair has been prompt, has thorough knowledge of Africa and has taken the time to listen to what our goals are for this trip and worked very hard to accommodate them from a planning perspective. I can't say enough about his attention to detail and his willingness to listen and his ability to plan from there. When we return, we will make sure and leave another review on the actual trip, which I am confident will be extraordinary. read more

I used Kensington Tours about 10 years ago to take my girlfriend to Morocco for her birthday. They did a really nice job organizing everything. What I liked about it was that, even though it was pricey, everything was taken care of. A driver and a guide for the entirety of the trip. Gorgeous hotels. Great meals. But expensive. I didn't mind it since I did not feel comfortable doing Morocco on my own. I decided to use them again this summer to take my two teenage daughters to Japan. Initially everything seemed fine. I had several conversations with one of their representatives who seemed to know what she was talking about. Unfortunately, about three weeks into our communication, just as I thought we were going to finalize things, I got an email form that person stating that she was just informed by her management that since it's now less than 8 weeks from the time of our trip, they "cannot guarantee the first half of our trip." WHAT??? That should not be my concern. It's their problem. You don't say that to someone BEFORE THE FACT. Anyway, needless to say, I went with another travel agency (HIS) which turned out to be fantastic. Very, very poor form Kensington. read more