Kensington Tours - Toronto, Ontario

Grant S.

I contacted Kensington tours earlier this year as I was seeking help planning my honeymoon to Morocco. While the initial consultation was lovely, I found my assigned travel consultant completely ignorant to what I asked for. She first tried to sell me a cookie-cutter “luxury” trip with 3 and 4 star accommodations for nearly $40,000, twice the budget I gave her. I asked for modifications, specifically asking for more luxurious accommodations and she said they “would be tricky to fit into my budget”. The 2nd iteration of our itinerary was completely unaligned with what I had asked for, despite incredibly clear email instructions. This was very frustrating given the amount of time I spent working with our consultant.

I contacted a local company based in Marrakesh and was blown away by the service they provided. Within 24 hours they had assembled an itinerary for me that matched my every wish, within my budget. We ended up staying at resorts such as La Sultana, Royal Monsour, Four Seasons, etc - all within budget. Goes to show how much of a margin these large corporate travel agencies take.

I would never book a tour with this company based on my experience. If you’re booking a trip, I highly recommend you search out credible local options. You will be much better served.

Bill

In February, my wife and I chose Kensington to plan our trip because we wanted the details taken care of. We applied for a Vietnam visa, as they instructed, but when we asked whether we needed to get a physical copy, they said no, that we would be given one when we arrived in Hanoi.
We went to Chicago to catch our non-stop flight. At the gate, we were told that without a copy of our visa, we couldn’t even board the plane! They said that they could rush the visa, but that it would cost $550 per passenger to do so! Long story short: We did make it to Vietnam.
To do tours in Vietnamese cities, we had to cross streets that had swarms of motorcycles, sometimes with four passengers! Our first guide gave us this safety advice: Just walk forward slowly, and the motorcycles will flow around you, like a river flows around a rock. The guide should have been much more explicit, like warning you that because the drivers often text as they drive, they won’t even be aware of your presence until they hit you. Subsequently, I did get hit. I was lucky not to have died. After that, we had to abandon our tour so I could get treated. (Another long story short: One ambulance ride and three trips to emergency rooms in the next five days.)
When Kensington subsequently asked me to fill out a post-trip survey, I told them what had happened. Their response: “We’re so sorry to hear that your experiences did not live up to your expectations.” They weren’t interested in what happened to me; they were just interested in selling me another tour!
We had purchased the travel insurance that Kensington recommended, but they were reluctant to make good on the trip-interruption portion of their insurance. I asked Kensington for help on this matter, but after saying that they would look into it, they stopped responding to my emails.
Bottom line: Kensington is both uncaring and dangerously incompetent. If you value your comfort, safety, and well-being, stay away!

Andre L.

We have taken 36 vacations around the world and I travel for work also being a lifetime Titanium Marriott member.. I have always booked my own vacations but decided to use Kensington Tours for my father/Daughter trip to Kenya. Our experience with Kensington Tours was first class from start to finish. I dealt with Tony Oyier who was very professional and booked all of our safaris and excursions. My daughter and I are so glad we chose Kensington. What a trip! Everything went according to plan and we had the best guide in Kenya! Ask for Michael if you go! You will thank me for it. Absolutely perfect trip! Thank you Tony, Michael and all of the professional drivers we had. Thank you Kesington!
I highly recommend using them.
Andre

Lawrence S.

For what we paid, we did not get the service we expected. We are a family of four who traveled to Japan in July 2024. We had used Monograms for individual ground escorted tours in the past, but thought that Kensington offered a better package, and therefore, shelled out the additional bucks to go with them.
Two months before our trip, we provided Kensington with a list of restaurants where we wanted to dine in each city we were to visit. Approximately one week before our departure, "Laurent", our trip representative, called to say that she was having problems making reservations due to "limited availability." When we asked why the reservations were not made two-months prior, she said that restaurants in Japan don't accept reservations that far in advance. While in Japan, our local tour guide told us that that was a lie and that just like in the U.S. one can make reservations two months in advance. Additionally, Laurent used the wrong residence address on our credit card to book the one reservation she attempted to make, and of course the card was rejected and the reservation not made. How this could have happened when the same card/address was used to pay for the trip is unimaginable.
When we encountered a few issues on our trip, we called back to Kensington's 800 number in the US only to be told that we should be speaking with our local trip contact in Japan. Needless to say, we were never provided with a local contact prior to, or during the trip. It became comical when the U.S. agent told us he did not speak Japanese and therefor could not help us. Would have been nice to have a local guide. The hotels Kensington picked were just so so, and not at all the quality I would have expected for the price we paid. The hotel staff did help us when we needed to communicate in Japanese, so that was a tremendous help.
The local guides in each city were wonderful and made the trip worthwhile, but keep in mind they were provided by a local vendor and were not Kensington employees.
We returned from our trip on July 21st, and Kensington has made zero effort to contact us to find out how our trip went. To me, that says a lot about this company. This will be our last trip with them. Check out Monograms. You will like their service much better.

Gordon B.

Kensington Tours did an absolutely amazing job with our trip to Kenya. Starting with Carolyn planning and customizing our trip to the moment we arrived at the airport to the second we left for home, their staff was there to answer questions and made us feel very well taken care. I really want to thank Nelly, Ken and Kenneth they were all so great to us on our trip and Kenneth was an absolute Rock Star on safari, getting us to all the best animal sightings and he was an absolute joy to be around and always putting our safety first. This was our third time in Africa and without question the best trip because of Kensington Tours. I highly recommend Kensington tours.

Fred L.

My wife and I just returned from a month-long trip to IndoChina (with a stop on the way in Seoul), and we are over the top in terms of what a spectacular trip it was. Chloe helped us plan an activity-packed itinerary that allowed us to see many of the "don't miss" sites in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The food in all the countries was excellent, spicy, and varied. The guides and drivers were very knowledgeable and extremely helpful. The minor hiccups we experienced along the way were not terribly unexpected for this length a trip, and Kensington Tours was on them in a flash when identified, and very, very quickly rectified. We would undoubtedly and unreservedly recommend Kensington Tours for any travel needs. They are amazing!!

1 (.

I did the 15 day SE Asia Signature Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand, May 1 - May 15, 2022. Solo, 71 yr old American man, retired. It was the nicest travel experience of my life. The Company KT, provided me with one great experience to another, from meeting me at the arrival gate to managing every step of processing, and insider shortcuts to get me to my hotel. I read about experiences they planned and provided me fantastic service and the best hotel rooms with beautiful views. Every move was precisely accomplished, Drivers were completely professional, the Tour Guides were beyond my expectations including, specialists, when helpful, a full itinerary of fantastic adventures, and quality time in the best hotels for rest. KT knows the travel industry and provided me with access to 24 hour support, contacts at every location and customized my adventure specific to my travel wishes. I am a retired office worker, well traveled, and I just had the best tour of my life, thanks to Kensington Tours.

Joe G.

I just got a quote from Kensington for 12 days in Australia, 7 of the days is driving a rental car, the quote they gave is twice the amount of booking the exact trip myself. I was shocked. When I questioned it, I was given some crazy answer around suppliers and 7/24 support. I used them for South Africa back in 2018 and was delighted with their price and service. I don’t know what has happened, but it looks like they are price gouging now like many others.
Make sure you price check any quote you get from them!!!