Secret Escapes Reviews

Name: Secret Escapes
Rating: 1.32

1.3 Rating 252 Reviews

8 %

of reviewers recommend Secret Escapes

Company Reviews

Questions

Metrics

1.3

Based on 252 reviews

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Own Driver
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Telephone, Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Over A Week
Customer Service	1.1 out of 5
Returns & Refunds
Refunds Process	Difficult

Visit Website

Phone:

0845 078 2029

Email:

support@secretescapes.com

Location:

20-28a Hatton Wall, London United Kingdom
EC1N 8JH

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Secret Escapes 4 star review on 27th March 2025

Ann Ferrier

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Filter: Rated 1 None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“Hotel happy to refund but as SE have not paid them yet, they can not refund me. SE will not refund despite hotel being CLOSED. SE have CHANGED their Ts&Cs on 12th March! Read their rubbish replies on TWITTER @secret_escapes What a disgrace.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I am a 73 year old widow, I booked a holiday for myself and my 17 year old granddaughter to Morocco to start 7 April. Secret Escapes cancelled the holiday due to the virus. After countless emails by myself and my daughter in law we received no further information. We tried phoning to no avail. I do not want vouchers or credit notes, next year things could be completely different, with my granddaughter being in a another part of the country and me being another year older. I hope this company honours their policy and returns my money.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Had to cancel hotel due to self isolating as mother-in-law is 94 and in poor health. Response from SE that hotel was non- amendable and non-refundable, so lost out. Under circumstances you'd expect better. Lesson learned. Will never use SE again.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Absolutely disgraceful. In lockdown in lanzarote. They have failed to communicate in any form or offer support. They are not answering phones or e mails. Despite booking a holiday package with them our flight was cancelled and they couldnt care a less. We have purchased a rescue flight.... costing 1,700 from lanzarote to stansted. They need to sort this issue”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I appreciate that we are in the middle of difficult times for everyone but their response to the current pandemic has been appalling when other companies have managed to find solutions to help people. Terrible communication, no way to speak to anyone and no refunds despite the hotel we are staying in having a 100% refund policy if booking direct. Would never use them again, total waste of over £1,000.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Awful awful company. I have used secret escapes over 10 times last few years. I sent a simple request for a cancellation certificate yesterday for my bank and they took upon this as ME cancelling. So no refund and nothing the bank can do now. Over 2k wasted. Times are hard and stressful enough as it is.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Despite being atol protected and in their own terms and conditions saying they will refund holidays affected by coronavirus this is a lie! Paid almost 5k for a once in a lifetime holiday and in emails they first said they will only give credit on account for use at any time, then since advised this was for use by end of the year. We don't know when this will be over and I can't take another 2 weeks off work for a holiday when I've already lost the time for a holiday they no longer offer! Would give zero stars if I could.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“DO NOT USE - THEY HAVE NO REFUND POLICY - which is not obvious at the time of booking. They will not refund my trip despite the chaos of COVID - 19 DO NOT USE”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Not very happy... Impossible to get through on the phone. I rang the hotel direct yesterday who said they would happily change our dates (we are due to be going next week within the uk) but we have to do it via Secret Escapes. We cannot get through on the phone so we emailed them but got a stock email back saying that if we hadn't heard from them assume our break is going ahead... A bit difficult when we are being advised not to make unnecessary journeys.... Contrast this with a well known holiday cottage company who have already informed us that we can change the dates of our holiday next month for any available time during the next 12 months with no extra administration costs. The difference in customer service is startling. This is very frustrating especially as the hotel itself is prepared to move our booking and is indeed offering either cancellation or new dates to their customers. Next time I will book with the hotel direct rather than using this agency.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Very very difficult to contact and receive any reply. Issues along the way with what was included in the package and having to book trips that only had the travel provided but not the entrance fee! Can get no reply re the coronovirus and how this might affect our holiday - just a standard message that says check with gov.uk for travel advice! Won't book with them again - very unprofessional and give absolutely no confidence.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Very poor customer service during Coronavirus outbreak. I have tried to contact 3 times about altering one element of package. No response!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“No stars should be an option. I booked with them and made a claim for price promise as within an hour I found same package £80 cheaper on loveholidays. They sent copy paste reply which wasn’t even relevant to my query. When I forced them to read my email they came with every excuse on the planet not to honour their own price promise. Never going to book with such an unethical company again. Customer service is shocking , when I managed to speak to someone she kept talking over me as main agenda was not to listen to me and not having to pay £80. Lost me and many others as future customers , very clever thinking.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Absolutely shocking service DO NOT USE. Had booked a holiday for a trip too the Maldives costing nearly £5k as we have had a bad year and we decided to spend on a holiday we weren't going too forget in a ocean villa for my wifes birthday. We arranged our holiday dates with work and have had everything sorted ready for a memorable holiday in January 2021. So we have had an email advising that the ocean villa we had booked was for a beach villa instead which we had no desire too book. All I can say is thanks Secret Escapes for ruining plans for a holiday we had always dreamt of and I will be seeking legal advise due to you trying to get away with advertising something that apparently is unavailable even though I have checked with the company and the villas are available. I can assure you that this issue will not go away and intend taking this further and using social media to ensure that other people looking for a dream holiday don't get scammed. Also try ringing the customer service lines too see how good services is if you were thinking of booking through these as it will give you an idea of how important customer service is too them especially if you've been trying too get too speak to someone for days. It reminds me of the Carlsberg hotline advert if your old enough too remember. Only advise I can give is AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ANY COST. Sorry I couldn't give a zero but maybe they should add specially”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Do not answer or reply to emails so we still do not know if our trip is on. No customer service what so ever, they have your money so don’t care. With all the negative reviews you would think they would improve there service to customers book at your own peril. I only wish I had read the reviews before booking”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I’m three days away from going on a package holiday that I purchased through SecretEscapes. So far, no flight details, no transfer info, each day I’ve called and keep being told ‘we have escalated it, you’ll receive the details today’ still nothing. I’ll never book with them again.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“ZERO STAR! BEWARE! Will never use these again - well only for the hotel information/ideas then will book direct myself. We have paid £1800 for two for a 3 night trip to Rome to the Six Nations Rugby which was advertised as a Secret Escapes holiday. Paid the £500 deposit then received an email saying our contract was with another tour operator! I still don’t know which airline we are flying to Rome with so how do we know which check-in desk we go to at the airport? The eticket we received states we have a 6kg baggage allowance! The Secret Escapes holiday stated that the baggage allowance was “as per the airline’s T&Cs” - if we had known we only had 6kg allowance we would not have booked as we have paid £1800 we expect at least 10kg! I sent a complaint email to Secret Escapes querying this and also asked who the airline is! I eventually received a “cut & pasted” email telling me to contact the agent for this information! So what exactly have Secret Escapes done for our £500 deposit? Absolutely nothing. Have since discovered I could have booked the same hotel in an executive room for £300 via another website and the Rugby tickets €40 each. Feel totally ripped off by these SCAMMERS. Book with these if you are happy to pay £500 for nothing! NEVER AGAIN.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Emailed them about a deal to confirm hotel and flight details. Never responded. Glad they didn't as I ended up looking at the same hotel, flight etc as separate bookings and saved myself £250.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“We booked a Secret Escape break to Iceland (January5th - January 9th), lured in by the fantastic photos and excursion descriptions. However, along with many others we only managed to go on just one out of the three excursions due to 'Bad Weather'. Fair enough you could say, but just how often are these excursions cancelled due to bad weather ? If you are going to Iceland to go on these excursions you may, like us be terribly disappointed to learn that these excursions are cancelled. We have e-mailed Secret Escapes and asked them to advise people of this issue when they advertise holidays in Iceland in the Winter Months. It would be helpful to publish the cancellation rate of excursions due to bad weather so that potential customers can make an informed decision as to whether to book or not. As an aside, the weather was so bad that 39 snowmobilers had to be rescued by 300 rescue volunteers whilst we were there ! For us it was the worst break we have ever had, even the return flight was delayed by 10 hours due to 'Bad Weather' We raised a series of points with Secret Escapes, but have not had a satisfactory response. Will be contacting Alex Saint (CEO) in due course if we do not get some sensible replies to our issues. Update: Received another unsatisfactory reply from Secret Escapes, which we have responded to. It appears they are unwilling to warn potential customers on their advertisements, about the chances of their excursions being cancelled due to bad weather. We have had a £106.25 refund for 2 Whale Watching and Two Northern Lights tours - this is a Total refund apparently. We have also had the offer of £50 towards our next booking (as if that will happen) - aren't we lucky !”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Only putting one star because I can’t put less. Terrible service. Booked Iceland as a Christmas present (booked over a month ago), despite chasing before we left we hadn’t received one of the tour confirmations. Chased via mail and then two phone call whilst actually on the holiday to now be told that excursion can not be booked as their is maintenance on the golden circle on these dates even though this was part of the holiday package they were advertising. Funnily enough we have been able to book this ourselves today!! We also received a phone call today from another tour saying our 1pm whale watching was cancelled when had actually booked 9pm norther lights! Terrible customer service - when asked to speak to a manger we were told he was too busy, and as customer service department wasn’t correct department and they couldn’t transfer or call us back!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I’m only giving 1 star because 0 is not an option. A truly awful experience that has resulted in my fiancé and I trying to find someone else to stay for our anniversary 2 days before the event! Having seen their amazing deal for Crazy Bear hotel (where we got engaged a year previously) we chose to book through Secret Escapes rather than booking directly. We were told two days later that the hotel could not uphold the booking due to lack of availability. I was told I could have a refund or choose another date. I asked if they could contact the other hotel in the chain and check for availability there. The sales assistant told me that all Crazy Bear hotels were fully booked for every Saturday for the next year! I did not believe this so I phoned the hotel chain myself and asked if they were available on the requested date. They had plenty of availability and said it could be sorted if Secret Escapes phoned them. So the sales assistant had point blank lied to me! I phoned Secret Escapes to pass this on to them and was assured they’d make contact. I phoned back as much as five times in the following few days for updates. No effort had been made to resolve this issue. In this time I requested to speak to a manager and was told they could not phone me at an arranged time and I needed to keep ringing back until one was available! I then launched a complaint regarding the service (or lack of) that I had received. I phoned a final time a week after the initial booking to say I had had enough and would like a refund. I was told to ring back the next day to start the process as it was too close to closing time! A response to my complaint was not made until I followed up with a further enquiry. My refund finally came through today.. giving me 2 days to try and find somewhere else to stay along with a response to my complaint - a basic sorry and your refund is on its way! DO NOT BOOK THROUGH THIS COMPANY. Every member of staff I spoke with (bar one) was incompetent and unwilling to help. The service has been disgusting, they took my money and did not provide the service I had paid for and made no effort to resolve this!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Secret Escapes is rated 1.3 based on 252 reviews