About us

Testimonials

Please have a look at a little of the feedback we have received from clients over the years...

Here at Brazil we firmly believe in the feedback of our clients, be it good or bad, as it really is the key to us moving forwards and improving our service and the overall experience. With the price of hotels and flights only on the increase we feel it is important to know where we have gotten things right and where wrong. In the below, please see what our clients are saying about us and judge for yourself. (please note that ALL of the reviews we feature are 100% real and unedited. If you would like to speak to any of our past clients please let us know).

Furthermore, we have started to gather customer reviews through Trustpilot so please take a look at our page on there to see how we are doing. Trustpilot Reviews >>

Hi Nick,

Thanks for arranging the internal flights, airport transfers and hotel bookings at such short notice. We have just returned home after our successful and enjoyable trip. I hope you will find my feedback useful when making recommendations for other clients.

Buenos Aires
We liked the Nuss hotel and found the staff very helpful and the location near the many attractive shops and restaurants ideal. Two excursions the concierge arranged while we were there was getting tickets to Swan Lake at the fabulous Teatro Colon and to a salsa show at the Cafe de Los Angelitos which has an excellent who in a miniature theatre at the back of a restaurant where we could see the show for $45 each which included transport from our hotel, drinks and the show without having to pay for a meal as we managed to eat at La. Cabrera first. They also got us 2 tickets for $50 each for the best seats to see Swan Lake with less than 24 hours notice. Although this price was through an agent and was 5 times the face value of the ticket it was a huge bargain when compared to Covent Garden and the standards of music and dance were excellent!

Iguacu
The Hotel Das Cateratas was a very special place to stay when visiting the falls and well worth the price tag! We cut out some of our private guided tour to the Argentinian side as we wanted to get back to spend time enjoying the hotel pool in the afternoon.

Mendoza
We found the city itself and the neighbourhood of Maipu where we stayed rather scruffy and disappointing. The Villa Victoria was very attractive but fortunately we were upgraded to their first floor suite at no extra charge as the B&B was very quiet. The standard rooms looked rather small and stuffy. The staff were very helpful and arranged taxis for us to visit vineyards and restaurants but the location was much further away from the places we wanted to visit than we had expected. Villa Victoria serves a very good breakfast but no other meals so we had dinner on the first night at Club Topaz but found the service extremely slow and not very helpful and the restaurant was empty until 3 other guests arrived later. While that hotel looks attractive I think the rooms were rather small and modestly furnished and some are no doubt affected by the noise from quite a busy road nearby.

On our second night we went to the famous 1884 restaurant belonging to Francis. Mallman. It was a beautiful setting in a courtyard of an old winery and the food pricey but worth it! The location was scruffy so my advice is not to arrive too early as there is nowhere to wait if you arrive before the large wooden doors to the courtyard open dead on 8.30. On the last night we went to the small restaurant in Chacras called Nadia OF which had very good food. We chatted to the owner who says she is closing that restaurant to open in larger premises near the main square of Mendoza.

We saw a little of the town of Chacras and could see it would have been a much better place to stay than Maipu. Apparently they have many small hotels or restaurants with rooms so it is worth finding more suitable places for your clients if the first choice places are fully booked. Villa Victoria would suit a group of friends or a large family as they could fill it up and make it more lively.

Punta del Este
It was only a 35 minute flight from the small airport in buenos Aires to the small but modern airport at Punte del Este and the drive to la Bluette at La Barra only took less than 30 minutes. La Bluette was a small family run hotel with 2 excellent suites at the front with large terraces with sea view. Most of the other rooms are around the central courtyard garden with swimming pool. The house is stylish with grand marble internal staircase and many interesting pieces or art and furniture. The breakfast was excellent and usually served outside on the front terrace. The owner Hugo is very friendly and helpful and could arrange car rental and advise on local restaurants. The beaches are magnificent and. Bikini beach is just across the road! Our favourite restaurant was la huella on the beach at Jose Ignacio, about 20 km away from La Barra. It is very relaxed and most of the customers see to be friends with the owners. Food and wine were excellent and waiters very friendly. It is best to book, especially at lunch on the weekends as it gets very busy. The small town of Jose Ignacio has many relaxed looking holiday homes belonging to Rich and arty looking Argentinians who spend their weekends and holidays there. In the evening there is a lovely wood fire to warm the bar area and the cooking BBQ warms the restaurant area.

We found the town on Punta del Este disappointing on the restaurant choice but an amazing place to visit in the day is the stunning Museum and Hotel at Casa Pueblo near the whale watching point on the Montevideo side of Punte del Este. The museum is the home of the famous Uruguayan artist Carlos Vilaro, friend of Picasso, who died aged 90 just 3 weeks ago. Original works are available for sale. He built an amazing hotel next to his home with stunning sea views. It is no doubt pricey and we found the service in the hotel restaurant very slow but it is such an amazing place it is worth spending a couple of nights there to experience the views which inspired Carlos!

Renting a car in Punte del Este is a must as taxis are expensive. the roads are very good and traffic light so driving is much easier than in Argentina.

La Bamba de Areco Estancia
This elegant estancia is about 2 hours drive from the international airport in Buenos aires and owned by a French entrepreneur who lives in London and runs it for tourist guests rather than as a working estate. The room rates are high but are all inclusive but clients should note that this includes the chance to do some escorted horse riding around the estate, breakfast on a terrace in an outbuilding overlooking the polo field, and evening meal in the elegant dining room in the main building. Standard rooms are in another outbuilding which do not have a shower or a proper wardrobe or a stand on which to open your suitcase. We had expected the "all inclusive" rate to cover a gaucho show or polo match but apparently these are extra activities which can be arranged for a fee. Fortunately some day visitors pay for these activities in addition to the BBQ lunch so La Bamba guests can watch at no extra charge. We saw an amazing Gaucho demonstrate horse whispering skills and were taken round the polo field in a horse drawn carriage. We went on a weekday and on the first night there were only 2 other guests and on the second night we were the only guests. It would have been more fun to have other guests or to travel with friends or relatives.
An excellent excursion is to visit the pretty town of San Antonio de Areco which was the prettiest town we saw in Argentina and has many old style shops and pubs and a beautiful church. We engaged a guide called Magda, a history teacher from the towns school who is very knowledgeable and speaks good English. The population is made up of at least 50% of people of Irish descent and even though they have lived there for 3 generations they look and sound completely Irish and have Irish surnames. A brilliant place to visit on the main square opposite the church is the jewellery workshop and museum Draghi which makes silver pieces and sells them. Other shops specialise in leather goods and every November there is a large gathering of Gauchos parading their horses through the town.
There are several hotels and hostels in the town so if you don't want to pay La Bamba prices you can go there on a day trip instead.

Regards
Christine

Brian and Christine
March 6, 2014

Hi Nick

Sorry its taken me so long to get back to you.

Firstly i'd like to say that the trip was really well organised and that we had no problems with transfers etc.

I definitely think it was worth going through an agent as it was nice to know that the transfers were all booked and everything was very fluid. Although some of the transfers to the domestic airport were a little early in that we arrived more than 2 hours in advance which wasn't necessary.

Thanks for organising the champagne bottles- all the hotels except the NH (funnily enough) offered us a bottle of cava.

I hope you find this helpful.

Take care

Niraja

Niraja and Silvio
February 6, 2014

Dear Nick,

The short answer to your question would be that the holiday was fantastic. We couldn’t recommend Argentina and your company highly enough. We will certainly return to Argentina.

Allow me to provide a bit more colour to the brief verdict above as it might help you with future bookings:

1) The Park Hyatt was a fine hotel. Did exactly what it said on the tin so not much to add here. Probably more suitable for the business traveller but it was perfectly fine.

2) El Chalten was WINDY – like being stuck in a Boeing wind tunnel at full blast. Perhaps you should highlight this fact more in your correspondence. We had a great day’s hiking but I must admit that the experience was jaundiced somewhat by the wind. Outside, Mrs N struggled to make headway the wind was that strong. Even in the hotel, the howl was unremitting. Having that said, the conditions suited well the “frontier town” feel of the place so no real complaints but future travellers might appreciate more of a heads-up from your agency.

3) Eolo was top class. Great in every way: views, service, food, etc.. Not that it bothered us in any way but all the other guests were 70 years and above – just for your future reference.

4) Cavas was also perfect in every way except one slight niggle: while the food was on par with Eolo, the portions were very ‘North American’ in size. This is probably a function of the large number of US guests but nevertheless it slightly cheapened the dining experience. Sometimes less is certainly more.

5) The Home Hotel was super cool and hip and bohemian with great service and an excellent bar staff – the best Bloody Mary ever. Two issues gave cause to gripe though: while the garden suite was fantastic, it was A) swamped by mosquitoes, and B) right next to a football pit where the locals played footie every afternoon very loudly – again, this did not bother us too much but some future guests might find it irritating.

Hope you will find the above feedback useful…

Best,
Mr and Mrs N

Mr and Mrs N
January 22, 2014

Hi Nick

Now that we are back from our trip I thought I would write you a short note about it:

There is no doubt that we all felt that the trip was a great success and we enjoyed ourselves very much.

Without exception the guides and vehicles provided were excellent. The only problems we had were: 1. It was impossible to contact the numbers given when we were in El Calafate. In the end this did not matter but would have been a problem in an emergency and so might need sorting. and 2. The confusion in Punta Arenas which turned out not to be the fault of your agent but simply that we had not been told that Cruseros were to look after our luggage. This gave rise to a rather unsettling time at the Comapa offices until we were rescued by the help of one of their employees.

Apart from these two minor problems the arrangements were faultless and the guides and drivers very professional.

The Hotels also worked out well. Sue and I would probably have preferred to have stayed at Cataratas but given that we had agreed not to stay there the Loi Suites was a very good hotel. (with odd quirks such as informing us that Tissues were only supplied in higher rated rooms than ours).

The Algodon was one of those Hotels of which one would say ‘Why would you stay anywhere else?’ There were three hotels in this category.
The Eolo was the second of these and the Awasi was the third.

So there you have it: Really nothing to complain about, a very enjoyable and fascinating trip that all ran like clockwork. Without exception the locally provided services were excellent, everyone we met was charming and helpful.
Don’t know why we came home!

kind regards
Tony

Sue and Tony
January 18, 2014

Dear Nick.

Thank you for your e-mail.

We loved the holiday, every day was a revelation to us. Your guides were really great , the one in Santiago was the only one who was not superb but I guess that is because Santiago and Valparaiso are not so awe inspiring.

The hotels were equally good, the Loi Suites was good for staying in as we were able to get to the town for dinner, our only comments were the staff were very slow in the dining-room so we ate out. The rooms were good though they did not supply shower-caps, bath-robes or slippers as they said we did not pay enough! therefore I would call it 4star not 5 but we loved the position and the gardens.

The Algodon, we loved everything about it. The Eolo was my favorite , without a doubt it had the best food, the staff were lovely and I loved how laid back it was. Your tour was excellent to the glacier though I think Tony would have preferred to go to to more, Nigel and I were very happy.
Los Cauquenes, was fine for 1 night once we had changed our room away from the lift and stairs with minimal trouble.
The ship was really fantastic but we we’re lucky to have a nearly flat sea and we were able to go around the Horn and get off on that and all other places.

Santiago, The Hotel was our least favourite ,Lastaria is a very noisy hotel, the floor boards creak badly and the rooms you can hear what goes on in the corridor as the doors have a gap on the bottom , we were all agreed on that one.

The hotel in Valparaiso was very good but I was not very impressed by the town. The Vineyard visit was lovely.

The Awasi was fantastic we all loved it and Nigel and I had a fantastic guide ‘ Pierre ‘ I really recommend him if you are active, he was also an amazing photographer.

I think our next project is Peru and Columbia.
Thanks Nick for your help.
Penny and Nigel

Nigel and Penny
January 17, 2014

My husband and I both absolutely loved our trip to Argentina and Santiago. We went to fantastic and very different places but we never would have got so much out of it if we hadn't arranged everything through Nick. He arranged things for us that we didn't realise we needed until we got there - like a great and really well-informed guide for Peninsula Valdes. We also thought the trip was great value for money. Whatever kind of trip you've got in mind in South America, we would definitely recommend you book with Nick's company.

Jen & Will

Jen & Will
November 16, 2013

We are safely at home and really appreciated the efforts made to organise the holiday, I know that the work put into the links was significant and if they go wrong the whole holiday can be affected.

Time and time again people turned up on time. We had to chase the local company a little bit to find out details such as when they were due to pick up. I thought they could have avoided this by providing that detail on their itineraries, sometimes they did but not always.

In every case bar one their staff had name signs which eased identification for both parties. Of course the locations were the holiday and all bar none were super. We enjoy personal hotels and the stay at Bariloche (upgraded room) was a highlight, El Chalten was excellent, El Calafate and San Martin were v.good and Iguazu was good. The hotel in BA was excellent and a v good - the staff in particular were so helpful.

We look forward to working with you again in a couple of years time. Regards Dave

Dave and Monica
September 14, 2013

Hi Nick,

Thanks for your email. All worked out fine, both of us had an amazing time! What a beautiful country.

As requested some feedback below, just note these are the only 'critical' notes we could come up with. Overall we were really satisfied with the arrangements.

1) Hotel Nuss - great location and very friendly and extremely helpful staff. Would definitely recommend.

2) Design Suites Calafate - beautiful hotel, although staff not very helpful nor friendly. Had to find out ourselves that there actually are taxis going to town, but when we asked them they only hinted at the shuttle going in 4 hrs... Out of town (10mins by taxi), probably good to mention. Would not stay in Design Suites next time.

The Big Ice was amazing. We are both young so no problems and probably had our most amazing day, but I guess not all travellers automatically can do this tour as it is physically demanding (good to ask for 'fitness level').

3) Casa Los Juncos Bariloche - a shock when we arrived but once inside absolutely amazing. The owner Gabi was extremely helpful and arranged us a rental car on the spot. You definitely need one here, as its a good 20mins by car out of town. Food was great. Would stay here again.

4) Posada Salentein Tupungato - beautiful location yet far from Mendoza (1:20hr). You definitely need a car here, unfortunately due to its distant location not easy to arrange (suggest to rent straight at airport). Posada itself very nice, great rooms and food was good. Note that there is no choice in dinner, and given the location you must eat there every night, a few other guests were struggling with this as well. Somehow they built this posada without view of the Andes! Weird if you ask me... Nevertheless, Valle de Uco is amazing. Might stay here again (def Valle de Uco though), although the neighbouring posadas look very -if not more- interesting.

5) LOI suites Iguazu - large but beautiful hotel set in midst of jungle. Great food and service. Village itself not very inspiring so the two nights here are sufficient. The Great Adventure trip is really worth it, the falls are awe inspiring. Would stay here again.

Transport was well arranged and comfortable, always on time.

All in all an amazing trip, will recommend you to our friends who are very keen to go after seeing the pictures! Thanks for the arrangements in the short timeframe, worked out without flaws.

Take care,
Rik and Natalie

Rik and Natalie
April 11, 2013

Trip was great.  El Colibri worked out perfectly for us - great riding and other diversions as well.

Thanks for your help.  Hubby wants to get to Mendoza sometime so I'll be in touch!

Beth and family
March 17, 2012

Hi Nick,



Sorry for the massively belated reply.



The trip to argentina was absolutely amazing! We both loved it. I am not very good at long drawn out emails so despite the brevity please be assured we had a phenomenal time.



Buenos Aires is beautiful. The hotel you choose for us was perfect, they kindly upgraded us to the suite on the top floor. They could not do enough for us, the decor is wonderful and they are extremely generous. 

In BA we went to the cemetery, popped over to Colonia for lunch and doesn't the day wandering around the city on the lonely planet walking tour (the highlight is the ice cream shop)!



The night bus to cordoba was perfect, I would highly recommend it. If you have any clients that are willing to take it I would encourage they do. The food is terrible but the beds are comfy and there is no wasting any of your time in airports. 



Los Potreros is one of the favourite places we have ever been. It was stunning. The horses are amazing, the Beggs are very hospitable and the guides were brilliant. We had a wonderful time playing polo, herding cattle, rounding horses and galloping up and down the rolling hills - beautiful. They treat the horses so well and the head gaucho was brilliant. I cannot recommend them highly enough. 

Again night bus to Mendoza was perfect.



Lares de Chacras is a funny place. Good value for money but could be so much better. It was nice the food is excellent and the beds comfortable. The staff are friend and helpful they just lack the initiative that would make this place wonderful. The private tour of the vineyards is pricey but well worth it, Ruca Malen is THE place to go for the most wonderful lunch. For a more rustic but equally good and low key lunch Bodega Pulmary. We also went white water rafting and zip lining. The rafting is quite take but food fun. It is a lovely drive in to the Andes and a decent day out for relatively good value (£90 for both of us). 

The internal flights are very good to be fair. Brand new planes with TVs and ok snack food. 



Porto Madryn was fine, the attraction is the Valdes peninsula. The hotel was lovely with great food. The Patagonian Pinot noir is the best pick of the wines. We saw penguins, sea lions, elephant seals, lamas, ostriches and mares. So a decent safari. We also saw seals swimming under the pier. 



We then went back to BA. The mine hotel is ok. No where near as good as the mitico. But fine. Maybe a bit pricey for what they offer. We spent our last two days wandering around Palermo and the race track and polo ground followed by la boca, which is enormously touristy. I am glad we went but only to see. I am sure the food is average as is the tango. 



So that is about it! Thank you also to you Nick for organising us a great trip and your help whilst we were there. It was all impeccably organised. Though the complimentary wine was terrible!! ;0) I have forgotten to mention the tango lesson, this was great fun and the teacher is very good. We then went to the tango show which was good but again very touristy. Which is fine but worth noting. 



So I think that is about it. I hope this is interesting and helpful to you. Most of all we had a wonderful time. Thank you.

Alex and Catherine
February 10, 2012

Pages