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Where We Have Been! May 2019

16th May 2019

The Dream Escape team is constantly travelling in search of new experiences. Here is what we have discovered in April and May.

 

The Dream Escape Team has been out and about exploring the far corners of the UK and Ireland meeting with suppliers and educating visiting advisors as well as keeping our own teams up to date with new experiences and information on our destinations.

It has been a busy time of year for all departments and we are delighted that we have been able to share our expertise and love of Ireland with preferred advisors in back to back educational trips. Dream Escape hosted a very successful and enjoyable Irish Educational Trip with JH Hotels & Companies last month, led by Head of Guiding, Rosie and joined by Head of Sales, Emer and owners, David and Holly Tobin. Read our blog to find out more, and watch this space for exciting news on the Valerie Wilson Educational journey we are currently hosting.

 

 

Sales and Marketing Team

Sue Morris – Head of Marketing 

Sue visited Cowdray House and Park for a site visit, meeting with the sales team and was treated to a lovely afternoon tea. The sun was shining and the estate was looking beautiful, a perfect location for an exclusive use stay in the English countryside.

Sue also met with Dream Escape owners, Holly and David, Emer (Head of Sales), Louise Murray (Creative Planner), Sally Strange (London Guide) and Sarah Butler (Marketing Executive) for a Sales and Marketing meeting and catch-up at the Covent Garden Hotel, part of the Firmdale Group. The group met in Tiffany’s Library meeting room and enjoyed the warm hospitality and beautiful interiors of this Kit Kemp designed hotel perfectly placed for a wander around the eclectic streets of Covent Garden.

Emer Mortell – Head of Sales 

Emer was on the road for sales meetings in Minneapolis, St Louis and Chicago with The Merrion and Adare Manor. She also visited Denver, Phoenix, San Francisco with partners Gleneagles and Adare Manor, meeting new advisors and educating them about Dream Escape and what we can do.

Emer also enjoyed a fabulous luxury stay at Sheen Falls Lodge in Kenmare , Adare Manor in Limerick and Dromoland Castle in County Clare over Easter.

 

Planning Department:

Lesley Scott – Head of Creative Planning 

Lesley took a well deserved break for a site visit to Ireland’s south coast visting Cobh, Kinsale and Cork. She enjoyed a private maritime themed, walking tour in Cobh, a private foodie tour in Cobh in addition to a private tour of Midleton Distillery.  She also visited some of our Irish properties including Castlemartyr and Hayfield Manor.

Michael Davies – Creative Planner 

Michael was joined by Managing Director Claire Stone for a walk around Oxford with lunch at the Old Bank Hotel.

Over Easter, Michael took the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Steam Railway from Cheltenham to Broadway – popped into the Lygon Arms and also visited National Trust Properties – Dyrham Park near Bath, and Westbury Court near Gloucester.

Michael also enjoyed a lovely lunch at Simpsons-in-the-Strand, at The Savoy.

 

Guiding Department

Rosie Peattie – Head of Guiding 

Rosie covered much of Ireland during the Dream Escape and JH & Hotels educational trip.

In addition she travelled far and wide in Scotland and covered a private post opening visit to the Royal Yacht Britannia, Brodick Castle, Isle of Arran, the newly refurbushed Wallace Monument, Stirling Castle, Old Logie Kirk & Graveyard, Innerpeffray Library, Culross, Blackness Castle, Falkirk Wheel, Rough Castle, Antonine wall (UNESCO World Heritage Site), Cawdor Castle, Culloden Battlefield, Dunkeld Cathedral, a picnic Buffet at Loch Ness, Fort George, and a 4×4 tour and picnic at Rothiemurchus Estate.

In London, Rosie visited the Royal Opera House and Covent Garden.

Sally Strange – London Guide 

In London, Sally visited the Kingsman Room for lunch at Berry Brothers and onto Huntsman for suit fitting.

She attended an Easter Day Pre-Opening at The Tower where the Yeoman Warders were in their State Uniforms for Her Majesty’s Birthday, a Street Art Tour and the newly conserved Painted Hall and Undercroft at Greenwich (pictured below).

Outside London, she visited Cliveden Spring Gardens, Palm Sunday Parade at Taplow Church, and Ashdown Forest – following in the footsteps of the iconic children’s literary character, Winner the Pooh.

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  • "Incredible service ! The BEST tour guides, tour options and always available to help smooth over any "snafus" that we ran across during our vacation. 5-star, A+ rating from us."

    Clients of Jessica Thompson, Fairway Travel, Virtuoso

  • "....their time in the U.K. was PERFECT – loved everything you guys did for them, and sang praises for everyone! Thank you!! "

    Connie Hanes, Herff Travel

  • "Everyone, from the Tour Guides to our excellent driver, were amazing. All aspects of the trip were beyond expectations. Even changing our day schedule for outside reasons (like the airline sending my bag to a city 120miles away) they were always happy to help and move the schedule around so we could keep enjoying our trip. Everyone made us feel at home and like family."

    Client of Leah Molinari, Molinari Travel, Gifted Travel Network

  • "Dream Escape was the trip of a lifetime. Excellent choice of hotels, tour guide was awesome, the planned tours were wonderful and very informative."

    Client of Trisha Rathke, VIP Travel Designs, Gifted Travel Network

  • "Dreamscape designed an itinerary that combined an exploration of Scottish history and culture and a visit to some of the filming locations for the hit TV show Outlander. The tour guides provided were personable and knowledgeable and responsive to our interests. Our driver who was with us for the entire trip was professional and pleasant and again, flexible and sensitive to our interests. The hotels were magnificent and the pacing of the trip, spending at least two nights in each hotel was perfect. The itinerary was everything we wanted!"

    Client of Susan Morley, Journeys around the World, Cadence

  • "Sally Strange was wonderful so knowledgable, friendly and fun. 100% would use her services again. We feel like we have a friend for life! We LOVED our tours, where we ate lunch, and spending the days with Sally......Thanks (once again!) for looking after our clients so well. We so appreciate you. "

    Lauren Ainsley, Black Tomato

  • "Rosie...thank you for giving us such a world-class experience in Scotland. Everyone had such a wonderful time and your presence was a large part of that. Your warmth and generosity in taking care of us on our little excursion is so beyond appreciated and I can’t wait to work with you again soon."

    Alex Martinetti

  • "Thank you so very much for the amazing trip to Scotland that you planned for us!! It was truly a once in a lifetime fabulous family trip!! Not only were the accommodations perfect, the activities were above expectations, given the people involved with so much knowledge and compassion for what they do....Many, many heartfelt thanks for making this trip so very special for our family. "

    Clients of Kristen Meckem, Kristen Meckem Travel, An Affiliate of Brownell

  • "I work regularly with Michael Davies, who I can not praise enough! Michael is a gem to work with and always delivers extraordinary client itineraries. "

    Jennifer McCrea, Boutique Travel Advisors

  • "We cannot thank you enough for all you did for us during our stay in Scotland! We loved every minute of it....and we loved you teaching us the history of each town and visit. "

    The Pogue Family - Clients of Amy Spence, Strong Travel

  • "We are so grateful for professionalism, expertise, and purely fun personality to entertain and educate our clients in all things royal! I do believe it was a smashing success. 😊"

    Pat Bowden, Red Letter Travel, an independent affiliate of Brownell

  • "Michael does such an outstanding job with making sure every itinerary he works on with me is well thought out. He is attentive to detail and always allows for the clients interest to be reflected in their tours. He makes sure that the perfect tour operator and chauffeur is paired with each client. I wanted you to know what a pleasure it is working with Michael and knowing my clients will always be well cared for when traveling with Dream Escape! "

    Jennifer McCrea, Boutique Travel Advisors

  • "Without a doubt, what made all of it so special and unforgettable was having the true pleasure of having Sally Strange as our guide. She was truly incredible..so full of life, energy, amazing historical knowledge anywhere we visited was extraordinary. Her sense of humor and fun personality made her extra special. Sally was a winner in every way."

    Clients of Betsy Talbot, Travel by Talbot (Brownell)

  • "Your team excelled on all levels! The execution of the itinerary was flawless!!! Well done. The clients LOVED Sally and this was just the second note from them about how exceptional she was. "

    Cathy Major, Cerulean World Travel

  • "I just wanted to send an e-mail to compliment the excellent service I have received with Susie Little. She has been absolutely wonderful to work with. She is quick to respond, easily answers all of our questions, and has had to be patient with my clients as we have made many changes and updates to the itinerary. I really appreciate all of her hard work and the beautiful itinerary she put together for my clients. They said they were in AWE and everything looked fabulous! Thank you for providing such excellent service and I look forward to working with you in the near future! Thank you so much!"

    Krista Boyles, Unique Romance Travel

  • "I want to extend my deepest gratitude for your incredible work on this project, we really could not have gotten it across the finish line without you and your team 😊"

    Marieta Carrrero, Boost Journeys

  • "I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone at Dream Escape who helped in making the Gialamas' visit to London special. I know Dream Escape has many people behind the scenes that work on making an itinerary such as this flow seamlessly and I just wanted to say thank you for all of your hard work! "

    Jennifer McCrea, Boutique Travel Advisors

  • "Activities & Tours - All the events and guides were outstanding.- Guides - Simply the best. All of them. All outstanding! "

    Black Tomato Clients

  • "Thank you for everything you did to make the entire trip, special presentations and events so special. It has added a sparkle in my life!"

    Gretchen Ashworth Stewart, Client

  • "Dream Escape, to no one’s surprise, is the best in the business. I cannot begin to thank you for crafting a perfect vacation for these clients. They had nothing but fabulous things to say about each and every event."

    Nancy Ebel, Virtuoso Travel Advisor

  • "Couldn’t have asked for a better 1st trip to London!......The sites we saw were the best & Sally, you went above & beyond to make it memorable"

    Shannon Marie Long - Reed and Mackay

  • "Delightful to spend time and see the incredible city of London with you all. Dream Escape for a flawless job in seeing the best bespoke sites, Sally you are amazing. Thank you again as this was amazing"

    Josh Whitaker - Owner, Rudi Steele Travel

  • "Probably the best of the best in the UK and Ireland for organising amazing trips. They know their stuff, have fantastic relationships with suppliers and always go the extra mile."

    Rob Arrow, Al Tayyar Group

  • "Lovely suite. Fabulous private tours. Everything has exceeded our expectations. "

    William A Heim, Client

  • "I had the most wonderful time with you and learned so much...What you offer is rare and much needed in the truly exclusive travel world. "

    Jean Newman-Glock, Signature Travel Network

  • "You were the heart and soul of the trip….I truly admired your sunny personality, sense of humor, organization and professionalism.  You also demonstrated  that a guide’s work is never done as you were constantly researching….. Did you ever rest??? "

    Sharon Delano, Frosch

  • "We want to thank you and the team from Dream Escape.  All six of us in our group had a wonderful time, and we all agreed we owed that in large measure to the work of Dream Escape. From the onset of working with you, you demonstrated a tremendous knowledge about all the activities we wished to pursue —from playing golf to dining at excellent restaurants to seeing historical sites and the Tattoo and Fringe Festival.  And, then you executed "

    Thomas Cohen, Client

  • "THANK YOU a zillion times over for choosing/assigning Rosie to be with this family.  She MADE the trip for them – there’s no other way to put it! "

    Jill Jergel, Frontiers International Travel

  • "Our holiday in Scotland now tops their lists of best trips…… To their growing list of amazing and memorable first-time experiences, our sons may add fishing for trout and salmon on the River Tay; steering a motor boat on Loch Ness; and taking private guided tours on Culloden Moor Of the eight full days we were in Scotland, Alex and Mattie thought each and every day was the best"

    Michael Guadarrama & Trammi Nguyen, clients of Peter Carideo. CRC Travel

  • "All six of us were deeply moved by the whole experience. Bravo Dream Escape "

    Max Levy, Direct client

  • "Thank you Karen and all of the staff and guides affiliated with Dream Escape…..the Flemings are having an awesome tour of Scotland. You all have made me look like a star! "

    Joni Gerace, The Travel Society, LLC

  • "Thanks for all your help and we can chalk this one up as a big success!   Our anniversary celebration was all we could have hoped for "

    Clients of Courtney Regan, Affiliate of Brownell Travel

  • "Rosie was MORE than outstanding – she went out of her way to help us in every regard...She was so knowledgeable – we all loved her"

    Jill A. Jergel, Frontiers International Travel

  • "I cannot thank you, Nicola and all the Dream Escape “clan” for the wonderful care & attention you have provided, and are providing for my clients"

    Cindy Evans, Travel Consultant

  • "I hope I have another opportunity to work with Dream Escape in the near future. The company is so professional, yet approachable and easy to work with. It has been a pleasure!"

    Carole McFarland, Universal Travel

  • "Dream Escape is delivering in a superb manner. Jim Johnston is a great driver and one of the best guides we've had - I wish to very much thank the Dream Escape Team for fulfilling a Dream…"

    Donald M. Davis, President, Luxury Travel, Inc.

  • "Thank you all so much it's great to have trusted friends on the ground to take care of our clients!"

    Peter Carideo, CRC Travel

  • "The trip was great.... Dream Escape is the name of the game"

    Ann Lipschitz, Worldview Travel

  • "Your level of service is just outstanding"

    Debra Fini, VWTI

  • "Dream Escape don’t just organise trips – they create adventures"

    Financial Times, How to Spend it

  • "It was, without doubt, one of the most spectacular weekends I have ever had"

    Country Life

  • "David Tobin’s an ace at getting inside private castles and estates and he’s well connected.... "

    Conde Nast Traveller Magazine

  • "The level of service they provide is outstanding. They truly care about every aspect of the trip to ensure you have a fantastic stay. Rosie is a hidden gem of a tour guide. Just fabulous."

    Yvonne Malka, Signature Travel Network, April 2018

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