Hi all,
Has anyone used VaPiano Travel for your private Italy travels? I believe the owner is Robert Gandini. Would appreciate knowing your experiences working with them and all they coordinated for you. Thank you
Posted by
1 posts
Yes! We just returned from.an Italy trip booked through Robert at VaPaino. We did Venice, Florence, Rome & Amalfi Coast.
PRO's:
- Apartment and hotels were all in good locations with great service
- Private drivers were all punctual and professional
- Had direct access to support through a contact on WhatsApp while in Italy.
CON's
- Were told we'd have a cooking class with an authentic Tuscan chef - were booked at Pastamania and literary had the time listed 30 minutes before the class started so we waited 45 minutes for the class with a young girl who is NOT a chef - it was a fun class but not the exclusive experience promised.
- The private tour guides that we were told were their local experts to tailor tourd based on our needs were actually guides through another tour agency and toured based on their history agenda. We were very clear food, culture and wine were our primary focus. Venice guide pointed to "wine" area but never took us over there rather 3 hrs of history down alleys and looking at her guide book. We were also promised our "local expert" would point out none tourist restaurants etc., this only happened in Florence.
- Only went to 1 Winery in Tuscany yet were on a 6 hour tour that ncluded stops at 2 tourist towns. This was by far the most disappointing part of our trip.
We were provided a very brief itinerary prior to our trip but details like length of tours, details of what would be covered and what to expect were not provided. We should have asked more details but assumed the "tailored" agenda would cover all we communicated. Overall it was a fabulous trip but felt several aspects of the trip fell short of what was promised.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thank you jhover99 for sharing your feedback and insights! It is much appreciated!