CaminoWays.com Taylor's Lane, County Dublin D08 TA46

"I booked a Camino hike on the Via Francigena from Siena to Rome. I spent two nights in the lovely Duomo hotel in Siena before starting my hike on 13 March to reach Rome on 26 March. Had I planned better I would have booked a rest stop half way so that I would not be walking for 13 days straight. 13 days of continual walking is not the best at 61 years old. Luckily the weather was fine for most days but one during which it poured rain the whole day. It is not good walking in the rain despite all the wet weather gear. It was a beautiful hike through Tuscany and most of the accommodation booked was in the old parts the town's not far from the trail. Only in two places was the accommodation about 20 minutes from trail at Agriturismo hotels. Very fine hotels but a bit extra to walk although Camino Ways did arrange a transfer from the trail to the stopover. The few times I needed to contact Camino Ways to sort out some matters they were very responsive through WhatsApp - a great communication mode. The only problem was with a change to the last accommodation stop in Rome. I requested a double room after my initial booking so as to accommodate myself and my partner who was meeting me on Rome, but unfortunately the original hotel could not supply a double room as they were booked out. Unfortunately, I was found a double room in the Hotel Kennedy near the Termini rail station. That hotel has seen much better days. One has to carry one's luggage, in this case my partner, up two flights of stairs to reception. The room itself had no bar fridge to keep any drinking water, there was exposed wiring in the bathroom and the walls looked like someone had walked up them. It was the worst hotel I had experienced my whole trip. I would not recommend the Hotel Kennedy. My partner complained to the person at reception but there were no other rooms available. He said we could tell the manager the next day. But as we were only staying one night we did not think it was worth it as we were relocating to an airBnB. Despite the last hotel incident I will not allow that to ruin my experience of the whole trek. It was a great experience and I found the people at Camino Ways always helpful. Attached are some photos of my trip and of the room at the Hotel Kennedy."

"We booked 4 star hotels when we walked the Portuguese Camino. . The first three hotels were very large, sterile hotels with LOTS of tour buses. They were located away from the heart of the cities. There were several lovely hotels but, in addition to the large tourist hotels, there were two that were basic. We booked 6 months in advance so we don’t believe that it was a problem of late booking. We didn’t know specific hotels until right before we left the US."

"Very satisfied with the service provided by Camino Ways. We originally booked for 2020 and had to cancel due to the pandemic. They allowed us to delay for 2+ years with no penalty. We did the full Camino from Saint Jean. Accommodations were charming and in most cases directly on or within a few blocks of the Camino. Luggage transfers — 41 of them — were flawless. Great customer service. Highly recommend and would use again without hesitation."

"Just got back from walking 500 miles from Saint Jean Pied de Port to Santiago and the experience was amazing. I'd definitely go back to Spain and do that again but I have my reservations about using CaminoWays in the future. In my opinion, it's not worth the price as I could have just as easily gone to a travel website and booked all the hotels myself, saving at least $100 per day ($3400 total). There were several occasions where the hotels were being advertised for $50 per night yet here we were paying $200 per night. We opted for not paying for the dinners through CaminoWays and I definitely recommend going that route as there are many options once you are in town. Word to the wise: make sure you are 100% sure you are satisfied with your chosen itinerary BEFORE you pay your deposit. Four months before my trip I wanted to add two rest days and they were going to charge me 180 Euros for making the change! I'm fairly certain they hadn't even booked our hotels yet-very disappointed with how they handled that request. Don't expect any fancy fanfare once you pay up. We didn't get as much as a welcome email or anything when we arrived to France. Just felt weird after spending so much money that the company that set this up "didn't care" to even check up on us. On a positive note, we never had an issue with hotel reservations nor with our luggage transport. They get an A+ for that even if perhaps they shouldn't be taking the credit ;) I believe another review stated that the mileage for each day's stage was not entirely correct. I can confirm that. There were plenty of times where we had to walk a lot more than what was stated in their paperwork. We survived, for sure, but the added walking after a long day just plays with your head, and not in a good way."

"Camino Ways coordinated a pilgrimage for 21 of us doing the Camino Primitivo! The hotels, meals, transfers, luggage delivery and customer service were all exemplary! There was not one single complaint in our group. The trip was planned 3 years ago but due to Covid was delayed. Camino Ways was very flexible and accomodated our multiple changes and requests. I have used this company 3 times now and recommend anyone thinking of doing the Camino (or other trips offered) to use Camino Ways. The staff is consistently polite, efficient and responsive. Oh and the price is reasonable :-) Thank you Camino Ways!"