Espíritu Travel Reviews 

When arriving in a country like Cuba, one wants to really trust that the travel plans one has made are legitimate. I was very pleased with Espiritu in this regard. Karin helped us shape an itinerary to meet our interests. We were very pleased with our guide, Carlos Prevot and his right-hand-man, Carlos driver. Most of the local guides were also exceptional. We felt very safe the entire time, learned a great deal about Cuba and shared a good number of laughs. It was actually cheaper for us to travel on a custom trip with Espiritu than it had been for us to be part of a tour in Western Cuba. The only reason I did not give a rating of 5-stars was due to not being able to see the uplifted marine terraces at Disembarco de Granma National Park. This had been a prime motivation in going to Capo Cruz and learning that it was not actually accessible once we got there, was a disappointment. Some of the itinerary was too ambitious, so there were minor adjustments that had to be made on other days. Overall I highly recommend Espiritu. This part of Cuba is difficult to research online. Unlike UNESCO sites I have visited elsewhere, this designation does not necessarily lead to easy access in Cuba. If you have a destination that is of great importance to you, be sure to communicate that to Karin clearly as you make your plans.

My husband and I just returned from an incredible cultural exchange in Cuba using Espiritu. We were hesitant about using a company since my husband has been to the island before, and I speak Spanish. However we are so happy we did. Everything was super professional from the start. Karin happily customized our itinerary and honored each of our requests in a timely manner, including making sure there were seatbelts in the cars and helmets for bikes! At first, I was a bit apprehensive to stay with a Cuban family, but Maria was such a gracious hostess and her family was so nice. She even let me use her phone! I loved having a huge breakfast each morning and chatting with them about their day, jobs, and life. Our guide, Yillian, was full of energy, vibrant, and truly interested in helping us have the best experience. Our driver, Armando, was equally as eager to please us, and we even hired him for the day to take us to a resort and beach for some R&R. He was more than happy to accomodate when we requested to be picked up later. We loved having honest chats with them about the history and current situation in Cuba, and we truly feel enlightened by all they shared with us about their personal lives. I must admit, my favorite part of the whole trip was the 15 km bikeride through Vinales, which Karin literally organized for us 2 days prior to departure! It was such a unique experience. We wanted to get to know the people of Cuba and, through Espiritu, we feel we did just that. Just as Espiritu was recommended to me, I would, without hesitation, recommend it to others interested in this type of exchange.

We highly recommend Espiritu for travel to Cuba. The Cuban driver and guide that were with us did an amazing job. We were able to take in a rural setting, city setting, and a beach setting in our one “free” day all while learning a lot about Cuba.

Educational, knowledgeable guide, beautiful country, good people.

Espiritu Travel treated us to the real side of Cuba, not just what most tourists see. Staying at a casa particulares every night in a typical Cuban neighborhood was so much better than any hotel experience
Our tour guide, Fernando, treated us like family. He went above and beyond what the itinerary called for. There were always "surprises"; arranging a special night out on my husband's birthday, the "Meridage ceremony" with cigars, rum, and chocolate--- and I won't forget the Havana nightclub scene until 2:00 AM.

We wished that we had more time with Kerenia in Playa Lago, a sweet little beach town. Definitely had the best home cooked meal here.
Trinidad was probably our favorite. There is so much music there--- and can the Trinidadians salsa! Kerenia ( of Trinidad) gave us such a great background and history of the area. We asked where we could take a salsa lesson and who knew that she is also a dance teacher! So much fun! She gave us the confidence to get out and dance with the locals.
Cuba is a complicated country, but the people are welcoming and generous.
Espiritu Travel is easy to deal with, everything is up front and the US contact is easy to reach.

Excellent! Awesome trip from the day I was picked up from the airport until the day they dropped me off to fly back home! Tai, who is my guide, is so on point! I felt like she was my Public Relations Manager! She knew so much and knows so many people! Tai is the greatest! David our driver, well you don't find many like him! He is on time for everything! I had to step my game up to make sure I was ready to go way before he arrived! This trip is very educational and a lot of fun! I learned so much about Cuba and it's people! My place of stay in Havana was great! Host Marie is awesome! She made sure that everything was right when I left in the morning and when I came back in the evening (afternoon)! My place of stay in Trinidad, Cuba was equally on point! D'Lena is awesome! Just like Marie, they treated you like family! Desiderio is an awesome chef! We experienced his Cuban Culinary skills a few nights while we were there. You did very well Desiderio! Your entire family is awesome! I thank all of you for a fantastic experience in Cuba! I will see you soon!

I recommend Espiritu for traveling to Cuba. It's not an easy place to organize a trip. I generally organize everything for my family, but with the lack of internet and travel restrictions for Americans, this was not easy, so having someone with expert suggestions and contacts in country was very helpful. I would say this was actually one of the easiest trips I have ever planned, thanks to Karen and Carlos (who met us when we arrived and organized everything for us while we were there). I would consider traveling with Espiritu again.

Espiritu Travels Made My Trip to Spain Wonderful! They connected me with places and guides I would have not found on my own. I really got a great sense of what southern Spain is all about, and I am ready to go back again!

We had a lovely time in Cuba. The casas were nice and the owners lovely and accommodating. People all over Cuba were friendly. Our guides and driver were very good-especially Kitty. We got to see and learn a lot about Cuba. We especially liked the supper club and the lunch we had at Alex's place with the music. It was so much fun and Alex was a charmer.

Great experience of Cuba. Didn't see any museums as Monday they were closed on free time day. We should have gone the prior day with guide and driven to the monuments the next day. Would have liked to see the Museum of the Revolution and the Fine Art and Cuban arts museums. Would have enjoyed going to artists' studios.
Our reservation at Obama's restaurant was not recorded but we were able to attend.

We had a great experience with Espiritu Travel on our recent trip to Havana. Our English-speaking local drive was friendly, knowledgeable, and flexible in adjusting his style and schedule to meet our needs. He drove us in a midsize, brand new, rental SUV with air conditioning. All of the recommendations were on point and we had a great time. Cuba is a very different place, and they helped us to make the most of our visit. Highly recommended.

We are writing this email to express how happy we were to have Santy Requena and Eduardo as our guide and driver respectively.

Santy is smart, funny, energetic, and very knowledgeable about Cuban life, history, and architecture.

He kept us very engaged each day. We felt we understood Cuba much better than if we took a cruise ship and spent a few hours driving and walking in Havana.

We also felt completely safe with Eduardo as our driver. We appreciated his great sense of humor.

Unfortunately, I (Gary) became ill at the end of the trip and needed to go home a day earlier than scheduled. I had had 2 open heart surgeries in 2018 and needed to be very proactive with my health. I visited my doctor when I got home and am starting to feel better.

Santy and Eduardo were concerned, caring, and supportive in handling the situation.

We will tell our friends to put Cuba / Espiritu on their bucket list.

Sincerely,

Gary & Debby

I feel that the guide was very accommodating in every way. The driver was also great. The different tour guides were also great. Each Casa was clean and the people were very nice. My major objection was that we had many different guides that needed to be tipped. On other tours the main guide person came around with us and explained many of the sights. This was not the case in this tour. For example we went to Hemingway's home but no person explained anything. Thus, going there was almost a waste of time.

We were 6 people needing 4 rooms. Would have been more comfortable if we were no more than 4 in our group needing 2 rooms. Could not all stay together in same Casa in Havana and Bay of Pigs. That being said our Casa hosts could not have been nicer. - especially Maria in Havana. Two of our Casa houses had dogs even though we were told there were no animals - one of our companions had strong dog allergy- thank god no major incident. Our guide Oscar was fabulous - always went out of his way putting our needs 1st. Our driver Carlos was also great. We traveled long hours by taxi on many days - being 6 people - sometimes felt like we were crammed in a Volkswagen Beatle- LOL. Our private city tour guides (Kitty in Trinidad!)were all so wonderful. (Forest hike guide!)
The people of Cuba could not have been more welcoming. Have to say personally - as a seventy year old woman with orthopedic issues it was a very strenuous vacation. Streets were difficult to manuver as your walking on all different surface: cobblestone/stone/broken concrete/dirt road/over roots of trees/etc.(some days walked 5 miles 87 degree humid temp- end of feb) DO NOT miss the Buena Vista Social Club- dinner not the b/est BUT the music entertainment and FUN - you will never forget - one of our highlights.
Bottom line - all said and done we had a great time.

Karen Eckhard, CEO of Espiritu Travel, was extremely helpful and responded promptly to all our questions in preparing for our trip to Cuba. She was a delight to work with. After arriving in Cuba, we were extremely lucky to have been assigned a charming and extremely knowledgeable tour leader, Adriana, and a fabulous driver, Osmany, who stayed with us the entire trip! Our tour leader attempted to meet all our request for activities, got us through a few rough spots, answered all of our questions and helped create a relaxed and enjoyable experience! I would use Espiritu for all my travels to Cuba!

WOW, from the minute we arrived at Casa Odalys we felt welcomed and we knew that we were going to have an amazing time in Cuba. Yilian, our tour guide was so welcoming and was truly excited to meet us. She was the best tour guide that we have ever had. She was attentive to every one of our needs, her english was better than ours and she went over and above in EVERYTHING. She is a gem and i would highly recommend someone choosing her if they plan on touring in Cuba. The accommodations at Casa Odalys (in Havana) and at Hostal "Olga Lidia & Dionisio" (in Trinidad) were just great! Our hosts were great and very welcoming and the fresh homemade breakfasts were the bomb! Frank, our drive was great! He was fun and went out of his way everyday to make sure that we were taken care of and that he was always available for us. He was always there waiting for us when when we were done with a tour or event. He is a GREAT guy! All of the activities in the 7 Days In Cuba tour were well thought out and awesome. We really can't say anything bad about any of it. This tour had the right amount of free time and tour time. We never felt unsafe, the people of Cuba are warm and friendly.

Yilian & Frank are AWESOME and they make a GREAT team, we had a LOT of fun with them. Thanks for a great trip!

We had a great experience in Cuba! Many thanks to Espiritu for choosing great casas and tasty, interesting paladars, interesting excursions and especially for assigning the fantastic Leydis as our guide! Her command of English is terrific, her personality warm and fun, her knowledge of her country impressive and her professionalism and patience in the face of tourists new to Cuba was admirable. We would highly recommend Leydis for any group Espiritu has heading to Cuba.

We were also impressed with Santiago as our driver. He seemed to know where every bump in the road was going to be and avoided 99% of them! We felt safe and his van was clean and comfortable. Highly recommend him, too.

I have been wanting to go to Cuba for 20+ years and my husband finally relented in agreeing to go. He wasn't excited about the trip like I was. However, he enjoyed the trip as much as I did and is very happy that we went! The beauty of the countryside, the warmth of the people, the history, the architecture, etc. impressed us both!

Audrey
Maine

My experience in Cuba was wonderful. It began with Espriritu sending a detailed itinerary that included a balanced mix of guided tours and exploratory/free time. In addition, we received information on 1) what to do to prepare for the trip, 2) cell phone use in Cuba, 3) how to be a responsible tourist and 4) what to pack.

Once we arrived, exchanged our money and got settled in the paladares, our guided tour began. The size and composition of our group presented particular challenges that our guide, Oscar, handled with patience, tactfulness and grace. We were exposed to the rich history and culture as well as the ubiquitous music vibrancy of Cuba.

For Americans, I would suggest that washcloths be added to the packing list as neither of the paladares had them.

Our only negative experience occurred when we stopped for lunch on the road to Cienfuegos. After waiting an inordinately long time to be served (some who came after us were served before us), the food was just okay to inedible. It is not an experience any of us wanted to repeat.

Overall, I had a wonderful time and highly recommend Espiritu.

What a fantastic vacation, Espiritu Travel, made everything so easy and went over and beyond our expectations. Karen was fantastic , I could not recommend Her and the team at Espiritu any higher.. Fantastic will book again ..