Secret Escapes Reviews 

Amazing deals and easy to use worldwide!

We have travelled frequently with Secret Escapes over the years and, until now, have always had positive experiences. However, this latest booking has been incredibly disappointing and has completely changed our opinion of the company.

Our Peru & Bolivia package cost £5,743 and we then had to pay a further £922.80 simply to change the outbound routing from a Miami transfer to Madrid. That alone felt excessive for what was already an expensive “premium” holiday package.

What has become increasingly apparent is that this trip has clearly been put together using a low cost brokered/consolidator fare arrangement across multiple airlines including British Airways, Iberia and BoA.

Unlike every previous Secret Escapes holiday we have booked, this is the first time we have discovered that we cannot properly manage or upgrade flights directly with the airlines themselves. Every request has to go back through the package operator because of the restrictive ticketing arrangement that has been used.

On previous Secret Escapes trips including South Africa, Costa Rica, Bali and Sri Lanka, we were able to deal directly with the airlines and arrange upgrades ourselves without issue. That is exactly why this experience stands out so badly. The difference in ticketing quality and flexibility compared to previous bookings is obvious.

After speaking directly with the airlines, it became clear that the fare classes used on this booking severely limit flexibility. Secret Escapes then quoted an astonishing £6,780 to upgrade the flights to Business Class despite the fact that I can purchase entirely separate one way Business Class flights home for around £2,000.

This is simply not what customers expect when spending nearly £6,000 on a holiday package.

Had we been able to cancel and receive a fair refund, we probably would have done so. Unfortunately, like many package holidays, the cancellation terms are heavily weighted against the customer, meaning we would only recover around 65% of the package cost.

The most disappointing part is that we are loyal returning customers. In fact, we are travelling with Secret Escapes again next week to Greece. Sadly, after this experience, that will almost certainly be our final booking with them.

Secret Escapes have unfortunately now lost two loyal customers, myself and my partner.

A real shame, because the company never used to feel like this.

We booked a hotel in Devon very last minute through Secret Escapes. We got confirmation straight away from SE and then a few minutes later from the hotel. We liked that there were a few extras included in the deal although this time we were not staying long enough to take advantage. The booking process was quick and easy we would definitely check out Secret Escapes next time we're travelling.

Room - air con not working although a fan was supplied on asking, safe not working, dodgy tap to sink so you got soaking wet on turning this on. Not enough staff overall in hotel. Restaurant staff need more customer care training. When a 2 course evening meal is included I do not expect supplement costs for basic pie and chips, fish and chips etc, if it was steak then I could understand this. Glass of white wine £13.90. Breakfast was a shambles with no bread for toast, no fruit, hot food running out, and despite myself and other guests asking for some had to ask again 10 minutes later. Shame as a lovely hotel in a gorgeous setting. Just needs some good management

Booking was easy and although we would have liked a longer trip, it met our objectives.

I found contacting you frustrating and unhelpful. Firstly for a holiday company rep not to know Radisson Blu is shocking. I had to spell it out numerous times because he didn't know the hotel chain. The call took so long because he couldn't speak English very well so I had to keep asking him to repeat himself. The price quoted online for the dates I wanted increased when i went to book (by over 50%). I told him i had vouchers and asked if i could use them online. He confirmed i just needed to put the code in. When i came to do this the code wasn't recognised so I called back. The second rep didn't speak good English either so I had to phonetically spell things out. In the end I ended the call and fathomed it out myself.

My first time using Secret Escapes, I found the booking easy and liked the fact that I could edit things before paying to see which dates suited me best

I was unsure to book as I have a bad experience on booking seats on the airplane after booking a trip. I called customer services and spoke to Mashaal and he couldn’t have been more helpful and even called me back 3 - 4 times which was much appreciated. Due to this I booked a trip to Japan

Secret escapes is my to go to company always.
Booking is quick easy and so straight forward.
Keep up the good work guys.

Always a good experience booking with Secret Escapes. Easy to navigate the site, with all the information you need regarding the offer, hotel facilities, location and transport options etc. will definitely keep coming back to use Secret Escapes.

Booked a fab hotel in London at a great location and price . Quick and easy to book .

I contacted the hotel that was booked and confirmed through SE before setting off on a long road trip. I always confirm the reservation direct with the hotel as I don’t want to take the risk. The hotel told me they were fully booked the whole week and copied in SE customer services and they also told me they already told SE to contact their customers but they hadn’t in this instance until I called them to find out what was going on. The agent on the phone said they would call be back that afternoon (and didn’t) next communication from SE was the day after, it was a generic copy paste email offering a meagre compensation which doesn’t make up for the disappointment, hours wasted to try and find somewhere on a hot bank holiday weekend which was impossible, out of pocket costs for new reservations and plans. I called again to follow up and have heard nothing since. This is in the latest examples of fails from SE. It’s a real shame.

Easy to use website and some cracking deals

A last minute booking and we still got a great value room with added extras- so much cheaper than the hotels own site. Secret escapes is my go to for a uk hotel now as we’ve always had a lovely room at super price.

It was easy to book the Greek Island hopping by ferries including flights to Athens, all hotels and taxis between ferries and b&b hotels of good quality.
All went without a hitch

We have booked a number of trips a year both in the UK and Europe over the years through Secret Escapes.
The discounted deals we have generally found to be of excellent value with very few exceptions.
Booking is straightforward and simple with immediate confirmation and details via email. In a number of reservations the accommodation will also contact you directly with dietary requests etc.
Vouchers can be purchased and given and received as gifts.
Overall we highly recommend Secret Escapes.

Recently booked a river cruise. Good service and price.

I found the process very easy.
The only thing thing that would make it better would be confirmation directly from the hotel.