Yelp and Travel Edge Reviews
”France and Portugal”
“David helped us plan a wonderful trip. The execution of our plans was flawless. We will plan travel with him again and recommend his services to our friends and family.” -L.D.
“Glorious Aspen”
David's attention to detail is amazing, he leaves nothing to chance or assumption--he's on it! The best part of the trip was having my bulky luggage and ski equipment shipped ahead of time given the frequency of cancellations and diversions when flying to Aspen. From the special request at the hotel, to the comp Main Cabin Extra seat, David's services are essential for any travel.
— A.S.
“We felt like we were on a honeymoon for a couple richer than we are.”
We spent 2019 frantically and stressfully moving states, starting two new jobs and planning a wedding in a different city. In all of that chaos, we knew one thing was being attentively cultivated and taken care of - our honeymoon. We’d decided pretty early on to book with Designed Travel. That turned out to be the best decision ever!
From before we arrived in country David made everything seriously non-complicated. We had an app with all of our travel documents / itinerary and even interesting things to do in each location.
From the moment we touched down, we never had to guess about where we were supposed to be and when - or how we were getting there. We had private black SUVs, boats and shuttle services. The best of the best resorts - location and amenities.
My husband and I jokingly began saying to each other pretty early into the honeymoon that we’d never travel without an advisor again. But I know that’s absolutely true now. And 9/10 it will be David and designed travel!
— A.G. and J.G.
“I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders…”
I was trying to plan a trip for the first time to Nigeria and I contacted a local travel agent in my area. When I did, that travel agent seemed to judge me and actually didn't get back to me with information regarding my trip. I know now it was a blessing in disguise because when I linked up with David at designedTravel, I felt like I had known him for years. He set up a google meet with me and we went over what my travel goals were. I needed to not only make arrangements for Nigeria, but I also had to go to a visa interview in a different state, which he booked for me happily. The visa interview date happened to be my birthday weekend so David also helped me find an amazing hotel where I was able to have a wonderful and relaxing weekend. David was so attentive and guided me through the whole process for the visa. Due to some circumstances that I couldn't control, I had to reschedule hotel stays and flights to Nigeria and David helped me through it all. Immediately after I met David, I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. He is seriously a one-of-a-kind person that has always had my best interest at heart. He has traveled a lot around the world so I trust him when he has travel information for me. I would recommend David for any and all travel needs. He is absolutely wonderful at what he does.
— J.M.
We can't imagine going on another trip without David's guidance. He has become a family friend, literally.
David Hawkraven has "designed " two extensive trips for us and we can't sing his praises enough. The first was a 5 week trip through Portugal, France and Scotland. The accommodations he selected for us were perfect. He interviewed us personally before making all of the arrangements and he clearly understood that gaining knowledge of the history of each area was important to us. Consequently, we couldn't have received better guides in each location.
The second trip was a family trip, including grandchildren, to the Galapagos and Machu Picchu. Once again the accommodations were ideal and the guides were outstanding for the age ranges between 73-6.
David uses an App called Trip Plans which has every single detail of the itinerary and all the corresponding documents. The plans and accommodations for each day are spelled out in detail. We can't imagine going on another trip without David's guidance. He has become a family friend, literally.
— C.K.
All of the tour guides he picked for us were top notch, and the hotels and restaurants were a dream
We are so happy that David Hawkraven planned our 50th anniversary trip to New Zealand! He had every detail worked out, and loaded the whole itinerary on our phones including confirmation #'s, who would pick us up and where (or if we needed a taxi), who to call if there were problems, maps, descriptions of what we would see, whether it was prepaid or not, etc. We started this process in April or May, for a Christmas trip, which allowed him to put in reservations and pin down tours and travel arrangements. He met with us and got a good idea of what we wanted. Since we are in our 70’s, we leaned more toward wine tastings, private tour guides and upscale hotels and restaurants. We did not want hiking and bungy jumping. He listened to us and designed the perfect trip. His fee was so small we felt guilty, for all the work he put into researching the trip. If we ran into any problems he was a phone call away. For example, the day we were to leave, we got a message that our flights were cancelled by the airline, due to snow storms. He and his team got on the phone for 4 hours and managed to get us alternate flights. We were only a couple hours late getting into New Zealand. All of the tour guides he picked for us were top notch, and the hotels and restaurants were a dream.
— P.D.
