TrovaTripReviews of trovatrip.com

Let me start by saying, our tour guide was amazing and Italy is a beautiful and magical place! HOST 0/10 - Host was late to dinners & tours, not present when she actually did show and was primarily focused on getting content for her socials. She also missed a couple planned dinners to do her own thing. She was hungover one of the days and I would overhear her talking poorly about other trip-goers on occasion. The historical tid-bits she provided on the bus were the only contributions she made. She was late to every event and was focused on outfit changes and personal photo shoots during tours - in front of the group. It was awkward and unprofessional to say the least. She showed up to the goodbye dinner super late & drunk off of espresso martinis (along with the photographer). We were all waiting for them to arrive so we could eat - as Nene Leakes would say " So Nasty And So Rude!" PHOTOGRAPHER 2/10- The photographer that was included in the trip, was solely there to only take photos of the host. Very clique-y and weird vibes overall. The 2 photos I had were great, I just wish she was more focused on doing her actual job. It felt like she was another girl on the trip rather than a working professional. She would drink, eat and only follow the host around. You literally had to beg her to take a photo of you and even then, the host would have first dibs, so if there wasn't time during the tour to take your photo because she was busy taking photos of the host for 2 hours, then too bad. She was bubbly and talented, just wish she would have put down the wine glass and do her job. TOURS & SCHEDULING 6/10 - Pasta making and the farm were AMAZING! The Vatican was great. The schedule was definitely hectic and felt rushed! Schedule was anxiety inducingly bad - wish they hadn't crammed so many things together. We would rush through a morning tour to have lunch only to have dinner an hour after lunch. Didn't feel like I was on vacation. Felt more like I was in boot camp. Didn't have time to get dressed, do my make-up or hair. Not that any of that even mattered because no one was taking photos of us. There was zero down time to explore the City on your own. Colosseum tour was on the itinerary, but we didn't even have tickets to go inside the colosseum. Bike tour was more like extreme sports riding on busy Roman streets and not a stroll around the City as advertised. It was raining and there weren't any alternatives planned. Bus and hotel rides were as advertised. MEALS 4/10 - Lunches and dinners were a joke - looked tasty but there were no options! Italy is known for amazing food - Trova Trip really cheaped out when it came to the meals! The first lunch was fish and seafood salad. Other dinner examples were pork and potatoes and pizza. There wasn't a pre-fixed menu or alternatives. Dietary restrictions were not taken into consideration. If I wanted to order something outside of the planned pork & potatoes I had to pay out of pocket. A lot of the girls paid out of pocket for lunch and dinner, which is not fair to say the least! I paid out of pocket for all but 2 meals - can I get a refund?? Restaurants were very casual, nothing fancy or worth dressing up for. All in all, the trip was not worth the price. I justified the costly trip because meals and photography were included. Both were awful.

This company is dishonest. Their representatives are dishonest and while they may refer everyone to their terms and services, their very practices violate their own policies. This company states, " 5.16 Change of Itinerary. The Operators reserve the right to change the Trip itinerary. Please refer to our Website or other Company Programs before departure for the Operator’s most recent updates to the trip itinerary. It Is the Operator’s, and not our, sole responsibility to update the Booking itinerary. 5.16.1 Before Departure. If the Operator makes a major change, we will inform you as soon as reasonably possible if there is time before the Departure Date. The deWnition of a major change is deWned as a substantial alteration to an itinerary which can include but is not limited to; length of stay, departure date, overnight location outside of 100 mile radius of advertised location. 5.16.2 When a major change is made, you may choose between accepting the new itinerary, or cancelling your Booking and obtaining a Trip Credit, without penalty, to be used on an alternative departure." And yet, no notice was given and they knew there was a change in the itinerary that changed pizza making to pasta making. When there was already a pasta-making class. We are going to Italy. Home of the Pizza. This is a gamechanger that would reasonably influence someone to book the trip or not. I followed a youtube home chef. The point of the trip was cooking in Italy and traveling together. The host advertised pizza and pasta making. The itinerary from the Trova trip scrolled on screen for the world to see. Trova's trip had pizza and pasta making on the itinerary. The emails said pizza and pasta making, yet, Trova claimed they "never" included pizza making on their Italy trips (despite their own written, publicly advertised, and email correspondence. To add insult to injury, the Trova trip doubled down and said "Please be advised that while we have no record that a pizza class was booked onto the itinerary." Even though I provided the full email showing their very itinerary. After pointing out all of the above evidence as well as fellow travelers' review, and our group correspondence citing the missing pizza-making class, Trova trip changed their story to "...all operators are allowed to alter activities due to operational or logistic reasons" The truth and proof are on youtube, it is in the email, it is in my review, and it is in my correspondence with my fellow travelers. The gaslighting by this company and the lack of accountability are truly unreal... I learned that a number of travelers booked super late, or in other words, closer to deparature. This means, a number of people lost their nearly $1k deposit. I think that there is a gimmick Trovatrip employs to create urgency. "there are only X spots left." to entice a consumer to quickly book and pay the 25%. Then, naturally, life happens and people have to cancel, and people on the waitlist book. I suspect that this company is making tens of thousands of dollars from lost deposits alone, and even more money from the "add ons" like, paying $500 to book a single room. Imagine being me and paying this fee, only to learn everyone got a single room; paid or not. Knowing from the travelers that did not have to pay and then trova trip lying to me saying everyone paid, when I know that is not a fact. Again, they violated their own FAQ. Lastly, they suppress reviews. Trova emailed me a link to leave a review on their site. 3 weeks later, the review is not posted. How many more honest reviews showing sheer frustration and distrust for this company are withheld from the public? When information is not transparent, people make big decisions based on incomplete and skewed (in Trova's favor) information. Bait and switch tactics, waitlist gimmicks, failure to refund deposits and only offering a useless future trip credit, false advertising, and poor conflict resolution at all levels in this company, as well as, outright lying and deceiving are commonplace for this company. I fear for other consumers...that heaven forbid something more serious happens on a trip, the facts will be hidden, and words will be twisted and taken out of context to paint the picture they want.

This company is refusing to return a substantial deposit after I cancelled a trip for personal reasons. The trip is happening one year from now and I’m sure that no bookings have been made yet, as I haven’t provided my details for booking. Do not organise your trip with them.

I joined a $2k 1 week trip to Bali. The first two nights we stayed at a good hotel but were taken to the worst restaurant in town. The next three nights we stayed in bungalows where it was about 7 STORIES OF STAIRS FROM RECEPTION TO OUR ROOMS. The bungalows SMELLED OF SEWAGE and most were FULL OF ANTS. The restaurant in the hotel served the WORST FOOD I’ve had that I can remember. My “curry” was water seasoned with a Ramen packet full of poorly cooked cubes of chicken and vegetables. Another travelers “noodle soup” was literally just Ramen, and a “pizza” was a giant tortilla with red sauce. The next day we were all crammed into tiny cars and then a tiny boat that we shared with 2 Spaniards that paid only $10–i.e. the markup was astronomical. Afterwards, we were taken to a restaurant where the host’s drink contained an acrylic nail. And, there were MICE seen in both the KITCHEN and at the bar. On top of this, our guide barely spoke English and did a terrible job communicating about what the day would entail, what shoes would be appropriate to wear, and that we would go OVER 8 HOURS WITHOUT A MEAL. When I booked the trip, I let them know I had twisted my ankle—then both my knee and ankle—so I would not hike the volcano. At no time was I informed that the guided portion of the trip was 50% stairs. Despite letting them know I would not hike the volcano, they allowed me to purchase a massage for $66 that unbeknownst to anyone on the trip was to take place directly after the volcano hike. The markup was at least $60. Then, since I had been led to believe that the massage would be at the hotel, I explicitly let them know that I didn’t want to wait around at the hotel for my 11 AM massage; this would have been a great time to clarify. Instead of informing me that the massage wasn’t at the hotel, they only refused a refund and let me rush back to the hotel at 11 only to find out then that the group was actually coming back at 3 PM and I could not get the massage since I hadn’t gone on the hike. They REFUSED A REFUND OF A MASSAGE THEY KNEW I COULD NOT MAKE WHEN I BOOKED IT. Another traveler got COVID on the trip. My discussion of the whole group testing for it was 100% ignored—the response was basically let us know when you feel better so you can rejoin the group. This was 1 of 2 of the MOST EXPENSIVE trips I’ve been on and outside of the company/travelers and some views that took tons of precarious steps to appreciate, the WORST TRIP I’ve been on—and I travel all the time.