Dear Wanda,

We are back home and getting the clock adjusted for this side of the world. I wanted to take a moment and THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING! Our trip to Croatia and Montenegro was spectacular. I know it would not have been the same without the help of your amazing team. The itinerary you and Iva put together was flawless!

I’m cautious to use the word “team” because everyone from Tasteful Croatian Journeys (VisitCroatia.com) seemed more like speaking with friends and family. Having Iva on the ground as our local concierge was a great convenience. It seemed that everywhere we visited; the hotels, restaurants, guides, shops and drivers had received a call from you or Iva right before our arrival making sure they were ready to welcome us with warm, open arms. The service was first class all the way…everything we expected and more!

It has been years since I used a travel agent; the Internet seemed to make the task of booking travel easier than before. The Internet does have its limitations. The personal touch and care that you and your team brought to our vacation was so appreciated. Your insight, guidance and advice was flawless and invaluable!

I will be recommending your company to my friends, family and business associates. 

My only regret is that you do not provide travel services for the rest of the world!

Warm regards,

Henry Seidner – New York, NY
September 25, 2016

Dear Wanda,

Thank you very much for all your help planning our trip to Croatia.

It really was incredible and we all enjoyed it very much.

Your contacts throughout the trip for transportation, walking tours, boat, hotels and restaurants were all excellent. 

Everyone was great and the logistics were so efficient and easy it made the trip a pleasure.

Your expertise was invaluable!

Kimberly & Matthew Scott McCormack & family – Summit, NJ
September 14, 2016

Dear Wanda,

We returned safely yesterday from our wonderful trip to Croatia. We had a fabulous time.

All of the sights, food, wine history, culture, scenery, architecture, and spectacular scenery were exactly what we were seeking on this vacation. Great hotels too. 

I hope to return to Croatia some day soon to see everything we missed.  

Best regards,

Peter & Lisa Rosenberg – Kentfield, CA
September 12, 2016

Dear Wanda,

As I already indicated our trip was near perfect in every detail.  None the less there are two things that were a matter of our personal preference that I would consider changing.  We all felt the second day in Split would have been better spent as a second day in Korcula.  For us, we loved the visit to the later and would like to have had another day there.

Second, we would have eliminated the visit to Montenegro.  By the end of the trip we were all traveled out and an extra day at the hotel in Dubrovnik would have been nice.  The rides to and from Montenegro took a long time in and out of slow traffic.  The restaurant you sent us to was lovely and served an excellent lunch but was probably not worth spending so much time in the car to go all the way to Kotor..

I say all this not as a complaint but just as a note you might consider for future travelers who don’t want to spend all that time in the car when the end result is a city that is lovely and interesting but doesn’t take long to see.

Again thanks for your assistance and we will of course recommend your services should the opportunity arise.

Edward Halpern & family – Santa Monica, CA
August 17, 2016

Dear Wanda & Team Croatia!

Thank you for following up with us and checking to be sure we had returned home safely.

We (myself, my husband and our 12 year old daughter) had a wonderful experience in Croatia, and I say “experience” rather than trip because I felt like we were much more immersed than we would normally be in an area thanks to our wonderful drivers and tour guides. 

Every person we interacted with was so personable and friendly and did not hesitate to answer our many questions. They were also very good to point out sights or supply facts that were interesting to us as tourists in general and also Americans.  Who knew we’d have to travel all the way to Croatia to find out from our driver in Split that our own USA White House is made from stone from that area of the Dalmatian Coast? 

Another thing we all three enjoyed was talking NBA basketball with our drivers and tour guides, several of whom were OKC Thunder fans.  

I also want to say how more than punctual each driver and tour guide was.  They always arrived early which was a great peace of mind to me.

We enjoyed each location we stayed (Zagreb, Split, Korcula, and Dubrovnik), each of which had it’s own unique vibe and personality and therefore did not feel repetitious.

My 12 year old daughter’s favorite hotel was the Lesic Dimitri Palace in Korcula because of it’s “awesome bathtub (China room)”, the cat that frequented our terrace and the hotel’s location across from the Boya crayons store which she fell in love with (www.boyacrayons.com).  My daughter also enjoyed taking a semi-underwater submarine ride in Dubrovnik and shopping in the open markets in Zagreb and Dubrovnik. 

If I could do anything differently I would want to spend at least one night in Kotor, Montenegro in order to see more of the town and be able to walk the wall above the city. 

Our day trip was really fun but not nearly long enough.  I’d also like to spend more time in Split which I enjoyed more than I thought I would.  But this only gives us an excuse to return.

I also want to say “THANK YOU” to Iva, Wanda’s Tasteful Croatian Journeys Concierge,for just being there and available to us.  She helped me find the closest laundromat to our hotel in Dubrovnik and also figured out how to check in for our flight on Croatia Airlines (she actually called Croatia Airlines and figured out that I and our hotel were both using a web browser that did not fully support the Croatia Airlines website).  Just knowing she was there and available to us made me feel much better and more relaxed. 

And also a big “THANK YOU” to Wanda and her team for creating our wonderful Croatian experience from start to finish.  We appreciated your hotel selections (which were exactly the kinds of hotels we enjoy), your restaurant suggestions in each location and your very detailed itinerary and location information.

Your attention to detail resulted in our being able to concentrate more on fun activities rather than having to make decisions about where to eat, arranging transportation, etc.

We would definitely use Wanda’s Tasteful Croatian Journeys again ourselves and I highly recommend them to any persons considering a trip to this area.

Thanks again!

Caroline Holmboe & Family – Edmond, OK
July 25, 2016

Dear Wanda,

I am writing to share with you my sincerest “Thank You” for making our first visit to Croatia one that we will never forget.  With this trip being one to celebrate both mine and my wife’s 40^th birthdays, I wanted this to be as close to perfect as possible.  You exceeded that expectation by a long shot.  From the personal interview process to the final, detailed calendar of events, you ensured our trip was perfectly customized for our needs. 

The concierge service was amazing – they frequently checked in on us to ensure we were enjoying ourselves and to ensure all facets were meeting our expectations. 

Iva in particular was quite attentive to our needs as we made ad hoc changes to our itinerary. 

Should I encounter anyone wishing to travel to Croatia, you will receive my highest recommendation.  Thank you for helping us make such amazing memories!

Mr. Bradley & Mrs. Rachel Galvan – Denver, CO
August 8, 2016

Dear Wanda, Iva and Cynthia,

Thank you for everything you did to help us with our trip to Croatia!

We really enjoyed our time with the guided tours and we are so glad we arranged for that with you. We just finished an absolutely lovely few hours with Alexsandra, our guide in Varazdin. She was very knowledgeable about the city and the greater history and she was so delightful to be with. We even forgot it was raining while we were walking around with her.  

I am so impressed with Croatia. The people are so friendly and everywhere is so clean, safe and beautiful. It is so fun to discuss the complex history with those we meet as I always keep learning something that brings me closer to ” finally getting” how things in the past came to be.

I will definitely recommend that my family and friends make a visit to your beautiful country and that they be certain to use your services.

We will spend the afternoon in Varazdin, explore Zagreb tomorrow and unfortunately leave Saturday so that our girls can go back to school.

Kindly,

Susan Whoriskey & family – Belmont, MA
August 20, 2015

Dear Wanda,

We had a wonderful time in Croatia. The exceptional room and view at Villa Dubrovnik was awesome. We enjoyed our boat taxi to the Old Town. The driver and guide were exceptional on our tour up to see the silk worms, a day to remember. Having the private time there was especially grand since we had spent the previous ten days with tour groups. Our driver the following day took us to a unique restaurant where we had oysters and the best fish we’ve ever tasted. Then we had a nice ride to Korcula where we were met and escorted to “our” Palace (Lesic Dimitri Palace) for the night. We relaxed and enjoyed yet another delicious meal overlooking the bay at the LD Restaurant. We took the ferry trip to Split. We found Split to be our favorite city in Croatia. Our hotel, though not the one originally planned, was very nice. The shops in Split were fine, the palace was interesting. Our guide was exceptional. We really liked her and having the private time with her.

The only hitch in the entire trip was when we came in on the ferry. There was no one there to meet us. We managed to contact the hotel and learned that someone had come but without a sign and he apparently was told we were to arrive at 4:30. We arrived at 5:00 and were the last to get off since we had so many luggages. So he came back and picked us up at the corner down from the pier.

If you should ever want to use us as a reference, please feel free to do so.

Dr. Sam & Gail Showalter – Nederland, TX
October 1, 2015

Dear Wanda,

Pat and I want to thank you for the great trip you planned for us. It perfectly matched what we were looking for and we hated to come home.

I wanted to pass on some specific comments:

The pace of the trip was just about right. We might have wanted to spend an additional day in Split, but I am not sure what we would have wanted to give up. I was surprised at how much I liked Dubrovnik, when the cruise crowds were not there. We were lucky enough to snag a table on Saturday night at a café near the Cathedral (with very bad food) to listen to the concert with the Tenor Stijepo Gled Markos- the scene was magical!

Guides: While most of the guides were very good, Goran in Rovinj and Stefan in Montenegro were outstanding.

Drivers:  We very much enjoyed our drives with our driver from Zagreb to Rovinj (I apologize for not knowing his name) and with Marko in Dubrovnik and appreciated their willingness to indulge our desire to ask a million questions about life in Croatia. We learned so much from them.

Meals:  We were blown away by the wonderful food and wine in Croatia. Our cooking experiences  TCJ Croatia Immersion – Tastefully at the Esplanade™, in Zagreb with Darko and  the TCJ Croatia Immersion – Tastefully at the Lesic Dimitri Palace™ in Korcula were so enjoyable. As you know, I had reservations about the Chef’s Table at the Lesic Dmitri; however, the fabulous food and wine and being hosted by Drazen totally won us over; we had a great evening. Villa Meneghetti was everything you said it would be and more.

As I had requested, Iva made reservations at Zigante for lunch. In retrospect, we should have allowed ourselves more time to roam around Motovun and probably eaten our lunch there. It would have made for a much more relaxed day. Unfortunately, did not have a good experience at Zigante and ended up not staying for lunch. 

The seaplane was great-the only time I haven’t worried about flying over the water.

Our day yachting was an incredible experience that we will not forget for a long time. The great crew made it even more memorable. We stopped for lunch at Zori-wonderful ambience and delicious food.

We were very happy with all the hotel accommodations. Your selections were diverse and top quality and we were very well treated by the staff.

I know in your website you stress that you have a concierge on the ground in Croatia. I really didn’t give it much thought.  However, it will be very important factor in any future trip I plan. Iva was incredible. We know from our guides, drivers and Drazen, that she was like our personal guardian angel on our travels through Croatia. Pat and I toasted her as we sat in the Venice Residence for getting us the early check in, so we were not sitting out in the teeming rain. What had started out as a miserable day ended up being a fantastic day thanks to Iva.

Thank you so much for making this a trip we will remember.

Mary Ann, Rooney & Madeline Grimberg – Newton, MA
October 7, 2015

Dear Wanda, 

I want to say how much we enjoyed our trip to beautiful Croatia. You created a perfect family vacation, with just right amount of culture and relaxation time. Every detail was so well taken care of, we didn’t worry about anything. The drivers and all the guides were very professional, knowledgeable and flexible and helped us understand the history of Croatia and the various places we visited.  And the accommodations you chose were perfect. We wish we could have stayed longer, especially in that gem of a hotel in Korcula. Thank you for a fantastic experience!

Here’s what my son said:  “I loved jumping into the ocean right from the hotel in Dubrovnik. And walking around the wall was really cool. My favorite place was the hotel with the long table (in Korcula). I wish we had stayed there a few more days.”  Milo Boublik 12 yrs old

Best,

Mimi Boublik & family – New York, NY
October 16, 2015