Flavours Holidays Reviews

The first two cooking holidays I went on with Flavours were amazing experiences. The chefs were very knowledgeable, the cooking lessons lasting around 3 hours each and covered starter, main courses, side dishes, sweets and desserts, it was extremely interesting and interactive. The meals we didn’t prepare were of a very high standard and delicious.

Last year I chose to go on another cooking holiday with Flavours to Seville and unfortunately the cooking experience was extremely poor. The kitchen was too small and ill equipped for the number of guests to prepare food safely and therefore the hands-on cooking was very limited averaging around 75 mins a lesson with us only preparing a main course dish.

The food was basically a variety of different stews, oxtail, cuttlefish, vegetable tagine, and the desserts were predominantly bought in. As the villa was very remote, there was no opportunity to go to a local town in all the spare time we had due to the lessons being so short. The chefs attitude was quite unusual, his comments made it clear that he would prefer to just rent out his villa than be involved with cookery lessons or providing meals for guests.

Flavours emailed all course members a couple of days into the holiday and several of us expressed our concerns at this point.
On my return I completed the customer feedback and requested a call back, I then had to email 2 weeks later to ask when they would be calling. I had further discussions with 2 members of staff before I then had a conversation with Lorne, CEO of Flavours, her attitude was dreadful. She claimed that no other guests had left negative feedback about the holiday, when in fact they had, and stated all other previous guests had rated the holiday very highly.

I was offered £200 off a future holiday but I believed that I should be compensated for the holiday that I had just had, before I considered booking another one.

This was sold as a cooking holiday, it cost £1899 (this price does not include flights) and promised ‘a truly inspired gastro experience where you will be cooking up a storm with our local Andalusian chef’.
After 3 months I have reached a most unsatisfactory settlement, which was basically take it or leave it. I can only hope that Flavours take on board all the constructive criticism and actually deliver their future guests a holiday they will remember for all the right reasons.

It is truly regrettable that I find myself writing this review about a much-anticipated Tuscan Italian Language Course Holiday with Flavours Holidays, on 17th - 24th June 2023, which has left me feeling cheated out of the £2,000+ cost and disappointed by customer service.
The catalogue of issues are suitably long enough to fill at least two A4 pages and I only have 500 words, so I shall synopsize the main unacceptable events.
Inexplicably long wait at Pisa airport to be transported to our villa, no air conditioning for 3 days in temperatures of 33o due to Flavours holidays allegedly not paying for the use of air con.
The Flavours holiday experience comes with a Chef and Host in your isolated villa. Unfortunately, the chef (I use this title very loosely) served appalling food that was inedible and, most of the time, not sufficient in quantity for all the guests. One evening (even though I had informed the company I was a non-meat eater) I was served some sort of processed chicken or maybe turkey, that was grey in colour and completely unrecognisable as any form of edible food. It was a meal I would not have fed to my dog. This was a recurring theme throughout the week, so most nights I went hungry.
Breakfast, not much better. We were served stale bread, prepared in a dry frying pan as there was no toaster. No fruit was available, until a complaint was made, and then not enough was provided for all the guests. A continental breakfast of sorts was provided after two days, but it was inedible due to being left uncovered to be feasted on by flies while wilting in the heat. Completely shocking, that, in a country famed for its delicious food, fresh fruit and vegetables, that none of it was available on this holiday.
The entire holiday (I can only call it this as the Tuscan landscape made it such) felt like a ‘rip off’ from start to finish. In a time of economic difficulties, no one takes parting with such a large sum of money for a week’s holiday lightly
Before writing this review, I informed Flavours of my dissatisfaction with the holiday. Following various back and forth emails, I have been left feeling as though the onus was on me, as the paying guest, to seek out the owner of Flavours to complain about the many, catastrophic issues this holiday was presenting, as opposed to speaking to the Flavours representatives that were present on the holiday (which I and the other guests did, to no avail).
To my knowledge, when you book a holiday you book it in its entirety and expect all aspects provided to be of a certain standard. When paying at a £2,000+ per week price point it is not unreasonable to expect the equivalent price point in the holiday experience and provided service.
I believe Flavours completely misrepresented the holiday that I paid for in their brochure, leaving me feeling cheated and ripped off.
In my final email from the company I was offered, as recompense, a discounted price for a Flavours holiday next year. Why I would choose to part with my very hard-earned money to risk going through that awful experience again beggars belief.
If, like me, you type your holiday choice into your internet browser searching for that perfect holiday, I would advise that when Flavours Holidays comes up, continue scrolling.

Superb week away in Sicily. Of course, being with a nice group helps, but the Flavours staff could't have been more helpful, and the week was a nice mix of downtime, tours, and cooking.

I particularly liked that most of the dishes we learned were local specialities that you're not going to find in an Italian restaurant in the UK so anything I produce for friends will be something different. It was also great to be able to learn how to make pasta with supervision - it's a fairly tactile skill and not something you'd learn easily from a book.

My only note of caution is that unless you've expressed a dietary preference in advance, the meals are pretty much 'you get what you're given', so if you're a fussy eater who will only eat a limited range of flavours then you might struggle to make the most of the week.

I have now been on three Flavours Italian holidays, waiting to go on my fourth in a few months. Nothing is too much trouble for the Flavours team, from arriving at the airport to departure and all the booking process beforehand. The venues have all been superb, in beautiful locations and the hosts have looked after us with the utmost care and made the holidays truly special. Trips out are also included, which have all been really enjoyable and of course the food (and wine and limoncello) are out of this world!! Here's to Venice ...

I've been on two Pilates holidays with Flavours - once to Sicily and once to Puglia and I will certainly book another holiday with them. The locations are fabulous with lots of interesting trips as well as plenty of time to relax by the pool, the food (and wine!) is great and you will make lots of new friends. Highly recommended.

AVOID FLAVOURS HOLIDAYS AT ALL COST
I was to be part of a group going to Sicily this September. Due to C-19 some of my friends were not comfortable so asked if it could be pushed back a year, with the deposit used for 2021.
When we booked Flavours could not have been nicer and more helpful. However they have now become a corporate monster hiding behind what they must do legally, without any regard for exceptional circumstances.
There are so many cooking holidays around, do NOT go with Flavours!

I went on a 7day Italian Cookery holiday in Puglia. I cannot recommend the whole experience highly enough. It was my first holiday of this type and the staff in the Edinburgh office patiently and, it turned out, accurately, answered every question I had so I was properly prepared for the trip.
Once I was actually in Puglia the lovely Livia, the Flavours Hostess, ensured that we gelled as a group (all of us were solo travellers) and that the holiday was meeting our expectations by responding to our requests throughout the week. The cookery lessons were well paced and I was able to learn new skills through very hands on teaching - some of the dishes I cooked that week have become regulars at dinner parties back at home and guests are always highly complimentary. I also thoroughly enjoyed the cultural trips and felt that I had seen the real Italy, not a tourist destination.
Although on first glance it seems like these holidays might be on the expensive side, they are incredibly good value for money as everything except any souveniers you might want is covered in the cost. If you are thinking of trying a cookery holiday , Flavours won't disappoint you, give them a call.

Nice location, had lunch there, ample parking & service was ok

I am a well seasoned traveler with Flavours Holidays mostly cookery, one cannot say enough on the experience from the word go, booking made so easy by really friendly office staff ready and willing to help.
The venues are truly amazing picked for the beauty of the building and the surroundings the staff at the venues are very kind and helpful, the chef will teach you so much about local food and wine how to prepare and cook it and how to eat it, you always have a very good host or hostess who are very knowledgeable and ready to go that extra mile to make your holiday experience the best.
It is value for money, and a wonderful holiday
well done Flavours

Rwally friendly helpful staff. Great holidays - niche market.

I'd never been on a villa holiday before and thought I might be bored as the villa was deep in the countryside but I had one of the best holidays ever. It was a perfect combination of being spoilt by our host, learning Italian, great food and wine, socialising with some lovely, interesting people and sun-bathing by the pool. That was spiced up by visits to nearby towns, meals at authentic (not touristy) Italian restaurants and a wine tasting at a nearby vineyard.

I haven't laughed so much in a long time. I really recommend it and I've already booked my next holiday with Flavours in June.

A wonderful seven days in beautiful Tuscany. Everything ran like clockwork from the especially arranged pick up from Florence Airport to the drop off (again, just arranged for me) at Downtown Florence to pick up my hire car. The watercolour painting classes with Hugh Tuckerman were inspirational, the accommodation was superb and Stefano our chef provided delicious fare every day. Hugh was very clever in knowing just when to advise and when to leave one to just get on. He also shared his vast knowledge freely and gave tips and hints that just made sense. We all had loads of fun, relaxed and enjoyed well thought out outings to absorb the essence of Tuscany. I have met some wonderful people and made special friends. My first time travelling solo, Flavours have now whetted my appetite for more!

Kind, amazing trips to discover Eataly... Eat well, travel well, live well

An amazing cooking holiday! I learnt to cook so many dishes from guinea fowl to biscotti in just 3 days! Wonderful chef and host, beautiful villa and great company. I highly recommend it!

I absolutely loved my week-long Flavours Holidays cooking vacation in Puglia, Italy. Not only did I learn how to make many regional dishes with the help of Chef Antonio, I came away with a feeling of having seen the real Puglia, as our holiday included visits to four of the towns in the area.