Yvette S.
Yelp
I would love to shower praise on Butterfield and Robinson, but alas, honesty compels me otherwise. After interviewing three other agencies and engaging in hour-long discussions with each about my dream Cycladic adventure, I ultimately chose Butterfield and Robinson. They seemed to understand my desires perfectly--or so I thought.The brief was simple: no Santorini or Mykonos (too touristy for my taste), and a strong preference for Corfu, Paros, Naxos, and especially Sifnos, the foodie island. Winery visits, cooking lessons, and hiking were the core activities, with a heavy emphasis on the first two. After carefully reviewing all proposed itineraries and costs, Butterfield and Robinson seemed to tick all the right boxes. This was mid-January 2024, and I made my preferences abundantly clear. Yet, when the first itinerary revision included Santorini, I was irked. I had explicitly said no Santorini! The travel specialist assured me there was an "unmissable" winery there. Hesitant, I said, "Fine, but only if they age their wine in the sea or something equally unique." She assured me it was worth it. Spoiler alert: Santorini is beautiful but swarming with cruise ship tourists. The experience was akin to being engulfed by a horde of locusts. Looking back, this should have been my first red flag. I started planning in Jan2024 to avoid last-minute chaos, yet a week before my trip, I still didn't have the name of the so-called "unmissable" winery. When I finally did, my heart sank. It was a regular winery, nothing special. Furious, I did a simple Google search and found a genuinely unique winery myself. Butterfield and Robinson then booked the visit I found. I paid a premium for their bespoke service, only to end up doing their job. Their lack of attention to detail and failure to provide the bespoke experience I was promised were astonishing. I could have Googled it myself and saved a fortune. The final straw? My flight arrived in Santorini at 11 AM, but hotel check-in was at 3 PM, and they scheduled an experience for 5:30 PM. I had emphasized the need for an early check-in back in January. Up until the Wednesday before departure, nothing was arranged. It took escalating to a manager to fix it. The travel specialist should have had the foresight to understand that after an overnight flight, I would need a shower and rest before any activities. Instead, they were asleep at the switch. They also failed to secure a cooking experience on Sifnos, despite my clear passion for it. Instead, they scheduled a hike. The luxury hotels they booked were underwhelming, with malfunctioning air conditioning and delayed check-ins. In the end, my supposedly bespoke luxury adventure was a series of poorly managed experiences. Butterfield and Robinson, you had one job, and you failed miserably. Upon being escorted to my room, the moment the door swung open, my jaw hit the floor--and not in a good way. For the lofty price of over $1200 a night, this room is a complete rip-off. Not a single thing is complimentary. No water, no nothing. The minibar fridge contains nothing but their overpriced water and soda (a whopping 7 Euros for a bottle of Coca-Cola or Coke Zero). The bathroom? It's smaller than a NYC closet (see picture). The shower is a mere 30"wide and just over 3'deep, leaving me unable to fully extend my arms. There's hardly any counter space, and the sink is an ill-fitting disaster. Drop something on the floor near the sink, and you'll likely bump your head on the way back up. The food was forgettable, the drinks lacked any ounce of creativity, and, surprise surprise, everything was overpriced (22 Euros/cocktail, 14 Euros/gllass for Prosecco).In the end, it's abundantly clear that Butterfield and Robinson is teeming with so-called specialists whose wheels are spinning, but the hamster is long dead. The staff is inattentive, lacking in creativity, innovation, individual thought, or any consideration for their clients' experiences. Rather than an adventurous, stress-free experience, I found myself micromanaging to avoid missed timings (several experiences had no pick-up time or incorrect ones) and getting into the wrong transport vehicles because no names were provided. I also had to escalate issues to ensure my physical safety as a solo traveler, dealing with stress caused by the very agency I paid a premium to ensure a stress-free trip. They had one job&failed spectacularly. To add insult to injury, their in-country concierge badmouthed me to the guides, stressing them out to the point of hesitation. However, they were pleasantly surprised when they met the "monster" described by the agency and found a cool, fun, and funny person instead. Maligning and assassinating my character for holding you accountable is not only unprofessional but morally reprehensible. This agency proves that things can always get worse and exemplifies moral erosion.So, if you're looking for bespoke, off-the-beaten-path experiences this is a DON'T.
