Exoticca: Travelers’ App

I have traveled with exotic, many many times. By far this was the worst. I usually book everything myself but this time I decided to book it with an agent. I asked if this is an independent tour and I was told this is escorted partially. We didn’t have any meet or greet with any tour agent. It was very confusing. We didn’t know where to go who to meet where to meet. Even though the location of the meetings were told on the itinerary, but since we didn’t know who our contact person will be at the meeting point it was very confusing. I had to contact exotica myself to figure out what’s going on. The hotel in Florence looked like a jail house. This was not 3.5 star. This was less than two stars. The fridge wasn’t working. The hairdryer was belonged to World War II the shower was a mess. The AC wasn’t working and it was really really hot. The hotel in Rome also the fridge wasn’t working and the safe. The funny part is the package says superior. Nothing was superior about this trip. We had some older people on the tour that they were so lost and confused. After traveling to Greece with Exoticca, I decided not to ever travel with Exoticca again, but I wanted to give it one last chance. But I’m done. I’m never going back to Exoticca. This was really bad and the store was not cheap at all. Also, not to mention since my luggage was unsent from Frankfurt to Rome my ride did not wait. He said he had another assignment to go to. When I called him, he didn’t pick up anymore.

We’re seasoned travelers, but this was our first time booking with Exoticca—and honestly, we were really impressed. From the smooth and easy booking process to the overall experience, everything ran seamlessly. The itinerary was clear and well thought out, and all airport and hotel transfers were right on time, which made the trip feel stress-free from start to finish. The tour guides were fantastic—friendly, knowledgeable, and super efficient—and the hotel accommodations were great, conveniently located near major highlights and very comfortable. The standout moment of the trip was, of course, Machu Picchu. Huge shoutout to our guide Carlos, who made the experience unforgettable—he was fun, engaging, and incredibly informative. We especially loved the small group size (just six of us!), which made the tour feel personal and never rushed. We had the perfect balance of learning, exploring, and soaking in the beauty (with plenty of time for photos). We enjoyed our experience with Exoticca so much that we’re already planning our next adventure with them!

My family just returned from a trip throughout Peru. While our guides were amazing and knowledgeable, we were greeted with a new face daily. This became a problem because many times we didn’t know our schedules until the morning of. The most egregious of examples would be our arrival at Cuzco. Our guide dropped us off at around 5:00 pm and informed us we would know by 7:00 pm our plans for the next day (which was our bus and train transfer to Machu Picchu, the whole reason for the trip). We were informed at around 8:00 pm that there would be a meeting in the hotel lobby with our next guide at 9:00. Not a big deal but we did just get off the bus after spending 10 hours on it with stops. 9:30 came and went and the guide notified the front desk worker via text that we would need to be down in the lobby for our bus at 4:10 am, in 6 hours! Not a big deal for an adult but for the children on the trip this is a problem. We went back up to our room and fell asleep until 10:20 pm to which we were woken up by a telephone call to tell us we would actually need to get down to the lobby at 4:50am. This really put a damper on a day that, while it turned out to be a wonderful life changing experience, could have been better by receiving proper communication and frankly proper effort put in by a company we paid a substantial amount of money to. We won’t be using this service in the future.