Testimonials

July 16, 2007

Hi Dwayne,

Thanks to you we had a wonderful vacation. The property was quite nice and we were able to check in as soon as we arrived. The condos were large and of course new. Location was good.

We only used the cabana once. The first day we didn't have any time and they weren't set up for us so they said they wouldn't charge us. The second day they had it ready but we found that it wouldn't work for us since the children couldn't be seen from the cabana so I canceled it for the remainder of our stay.

We did rent the chairs and umbrella's by the beach and that was good.

Myrtle Beach has changed a lot but it has still remained a great location for families and has some theatres that have entertainment everyday. It is also quite reasonable pricewise.

The transportation was perfect also.

We also appreciated the fruit baskets. They came in handy for those occassional snacks. Thank you so much!!!

Best wishes,

Jodi

July 11, 2007

Dear Steve,

I am writing on behalf of myself and my wife regarding the amazing service that we received from JoAnn Austin during a recent vacation. My wife and I and 5 of our friends booked a Mediterranean cruise through JoAnn and also spent 3 additional days in Venice upon disembarking from the cruise ship. It was a fabulous trip with excellent accommodations and fabulous excursions and great food. JoAnn gave us great travel ideas and tips for every destination. While we were grateful for her help in all of those areas, she really stepped up her service on our return home. We happened to be at the airport in Venice during the recent air traffic controllers strike. We were told by the airline to either contact our travel agent or take our chances rebooking our flight through Lufthansa. It was 10:00 am Venice time, which meant that we would be calling JoAnn at 2:00 am local time. We have worked with JoAnn for a number of years and knew we needed to call her. Fortunately, because my wife does a lot of international travel, we had JoAnn’s home phone number. She answered the phone, heard our concerns and had us booked on new flights the next day within 20 minutes. Most of the other passengers were still in line trying to book other flights and we were on our way to a hotel room knowing we were already confirmed on flights the next day.

We live in Colorado and have trusted JoAnn with our travel plans for at least the past 10 years. We have often wondered if it would be wise to find someone locally. I can assure you that, in light of the unbelievable service we get from JoAnn on a regular basis, as well as this recent “above and beyond” experience, we will be trusting her with our travel plans for a long time to come.

Respectfully,

Jim and Robin Parker

May 30, 2007

Dear Steve,

I just wanted to let you know how pleased I was with the service from Joann Austin.
I just returned from a cruise that she orchestrated for a group of 7 of us and I can tell you that she was very efficient and supplied us with inside tips for every port.

The cruise was fantastic, but the amazing service we received when we arrived in Venice to find an air traffic control strike and our flight was cancelled was the utmost in customer service. We immediately called Joann (no less 2:00 a.m. for her) and she had booked us a flight for the next day even before we could get assistance from the ticket counter representatives.

At the time I did not realize how important this would be for me until I reached Denver to find out my husband was scheduled for heart by-pass surgery. With the strike in Italy, he had to rebook my flight with Frontier Airlines and they were not very helpful and charged him full fare on top of what we had already paid.

I received an email upon my return to Utah from Joann asking if I enjoyed the trip and she expressed her concern for my husband.
In my responding email I happened to mentioned how we had to pay extra for my return trip to UT and that Frontier was not very accommodating on the situation even though it was beyond our control. I never expected any action on this situation. On her own Joann contacted Frontier Airlines on our behave and was able to get a credit issued for the extra charge.

This I felt was above and beyond her responsibilities and we greatly appreciated her act of kindness and diligence to her job.

I am sure you are well aware of her qualities and excellent customer service she provides to her clients, but I could not let pass how much we appreciated all her efforts in assisting us with Frontier Airlines and all the attention to details on booking the cruise.

Regards,

JoAn Gunning

May 29, 2007

Hi Dwayne -

I have been meaning to write you ever since we got back, but we absolutely hit the ground running with all of the end of school/memorial day activities.

Our trip was amazing. You did a fabulous job organizing everything for us. We were actually really glad we did not rent a car while we were there.

Rome was just as I imagined. We hit the ground running from the moment we got off the plane. We did a great job of seeing Rome in the 2 days we were there.

Our favorite hotel was definitely the one in Florence. It was beautiful! It was a lovely 2 room and huge bathroom suite. The linens and fabrics were amazing. The service was impeccable as well.

My only suggestion might be to arrange Uffuzi tickets through the hotel there when you book the reservation. They told us that without a reservation, we would not be able to get in and they could not get them for us on such short notice. John and I did happen to stumble upon a store front that was able to get them for us with a bit of a higher fee (nothing really outrageous). The hotel was, however, able to arrange reservations for us to the Accademia to see David.

One of the biggest highlights was our gormet tour with Elizabetha and her driver. She was delightful. The processes were so much fun to watch and each stop we made, the people were very hospitable. We ate so much that day! The most amazing part was of our tour was to this man's villa in Modena, where he creates traditional balsamic vinegar. His barells of balsamic were on the 3rd floor of his villa. After he had shown us his process, we had a meal and tasting in his dining room (not planned). There was no way we were eating dinner that night!

Also, the hotel was in a perfect location for the school. It was just a few yards door-to-door. It did look like there was a lovely spa right next door, but we were not able to get in.

Our trip to Milan was easy. We went to the Galleria and to the big church right next door (can't remember the name). We walked around a bit more and headed back to the hotel at 4:00 where we rented 4 English speaking movies and ordered $20 hamburgers and diet coke. That was perfect staying in a Sheraton that last night with all the access to English TV and American food. We were ready to head back.

Thank you again for all you did. We are still floating! - Susan

April 5, 2007

I am a very satisfied customer, and I would like to commend one of your travel consultants by the name of Abbe Combest. I must say that I have been more than happy with the accomodating customer service that was provided to me by this consultant. I would like to express my high praises in the way my issues were handled. I will most definitely spread the news of this wonderful agency. Please congratulate this consultant for a job well done.

Happy Easter to all at ARTA Travel and Kindest Regards,
Denzal Anania, Sapkyo, South Korea

November 24, 2006

Tiffany,

Just wanted you to know that I appreciate your help with booking our trip to Mexico. I would highly recommend you and Secrets Capri.

Do you have any special deals for New Years Eve weekend? Looking to go to the mountains, maybe Colorado.

Let me know if you have any deals or ideas.

Hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving Day.

Matt

August 28, 2006

Cinde,

Everything went fabulous. Thanks so much for your help (and Melissa's and Amy's). Everything in our itinerary was as good or better then expected. The Monterey Plaza Hotel was SPECTACULAR . . . . the perfect home base for the trip. Melissa and I originally looked at something on the other side of the bay but I'm so glad we didn't do that. The Hotel was great and the location was ideal. P. Monarch provided timely service and their equipment was good. The only downside was they gave us a different driver every day which took away any opportunity to benefit from his personality. Logistically I understand why P.M. needed to do this but last year we had the same driver every day and his commentary was a real bonus to the experience. All flights and check-ins went smoothly (thank God). So all in all I tip my hat to you guys as we have partnered again on another great success.

In fact, my travelers were talking about something next year maybe to the state of Washington (2nd largest Wine producer in America). If you could find out for me what is the central city for Washington's wine region I can begin planning.

Thanks.

Ray

P.S. - I will be producing a Trip recap video and will send you a copy.

August 11, 2006 - To Joann - letter in PDF

July 11, 2006

Karla,

Use ARTA Travel only if you want the best quality of service and follow up ever!! We had used another agency for eleven years to arrange our annual Realtor trip, and although I really liked them, I didn’t realize what a difference in service we would receive from ARTA and Larry.

By all means, use Larry and ARTA Travel for any group travel. I can only give them my HIGHEST ENDORSEMENT.

Margaret Pesnell
Marketing Director
Hillwood Residential

July 10, 2006

Hi Tiffany,

Tammy and I want to thank you for helping us plan our vacation to Maya Beach Barcelo in the Mayan Riviera. The resort was top notch, food was outstanding, weather perfect, service excellent with help planning excursions made very easy! We would definately go back again, there are so many things to do in the area. We took taxis everywhere and had no problems what so ever. The grounds were beautiful and always clean and well kept, lots of native reptiles running around, very cool! As for the beds, yes they are stiff but who cares, it wasn't an issue. The only thing that bothered me was that the buffets were shaded with fans but not air conditioned. For me it was uncomfortable but the excellent food makes up for it. If it is an issue with your clients they can choose either of the two resorts next door which offer air conditioned buffets at a slightly higher price. The resorts are nearly identical, both Barcelo owned and operated, the two premium hotels are newer with more water features. All resorts can go from pool to pool and bar to bar. Thank you again for helping us to have one of our most enjoyable vacations ever.

sincerely, Mark and Tammy Anderson

July 7, 2006

Thanks Amy! You are the BEST! We had a GREAT time thanks to all of your hard work and dedication. Wish we could have spent more time with the entire group.

Glad to hear that you have entered the world of Text Messaging.

Luan

July 6, 2006

Amy,

You did an outstanding job. The whole trip from the brief to landing back in Dallas was very professional. We will certainly be using your services in the future and of course hope to be back again next year at the Ambassador Club.

Regards,
Phil

July 3, 2006

Hi Steve,

My name is Steve Anglin and while I'm not an actual customer (yet) I wanted to drop you a note about one of your agents. My wife has been working with JoAnn Austin on our family's summer vacation. My wife has really found it difficult to locate a travel agent that acted professional and was responsive. Through Jackie's experience working with JoAnn we really feel like we have found an agency and agent to handle our family's travel needs. She was very proactive, professional and responsive. If you have an office of professionals like JoAnn you must truly have a great business. We will definitely send our referrals to ARTA & JoAnn. Just wanted to let you know.

Steve & Jackie Anglin

June 21, 2006

Good Morning,

Just want to say a big thanks to Dwayne. I booked a trip for seven people to Playa del carmen, with different rooms and flights. A nightmare for most travel agents, who would have not bothered to go the distance to see the job through. Not Dwayne. He was just so cool, never lost Patience and kept going. Very Professional at the same time being completely nice on the phone. I know you guys work under tremendous pressure all the time.

I just wanted to let you know that you have a First Class agent, the only other place that I experienced great service like this was in England.

Dwayne is very good, returning calls and being completely professional. I will defiantly book with Arta again and also recommend you to all my traveling Friends.

Adding a business card with the confirmation really is a nice touch and I can keep it to refer to.

Thank you Lorraine Christensen.

ARTA TRAVEL
5700 W. Plano Parkway, Suite 1400, Plano, Texas 75093
972 422-4000
1-800-678-ARTA

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