Gracious Getaways — Local services in Siesta Key

Lael was VERY patient with us as we planned our first vacation to Italy. She carefully listened to what we were hoping for, provided multiple options, helped us when we couldn’t decide, and then put together an incredible itinerary. She was there at all the right times. When one of the tour guides was late, we called the company - it went to VM. Unsure what to do next, we did what she suggested to us more than once while planning - we contacted Lael. Within minutes we had a call from the company with explanation (car trouble) and a driver/guide was there minutes later. The hotels she recommended were less expensive than the ones we were considering and much nicer. The food recommendations were wow! She asks you what you want and then she makes it happen. What more could...

We took a three-week family vacation to Italy that involved a great deal of planning and coordination between airlines, Royal Caribbean, tour companies, hotels, and transportation companies. Lael did an amazing job making all the arrangements and everything was perfect, even down to the times that a car was to pick us up. She arranged many private tours for us that were quite interesting and enriching. She and Meg put together an “app” for us that contained every detail of the trip, complete with photos and maps of our tour meeting points. The package contained regional tips, restaurant recommendations, emergency numbers, etc. The detail was impressive and must have taken hours to put together – it was invaluable. We will use Gracious Getaways again,...

I can’t say enough great things about Lael as a travel agent. Before I met her I had been on plenty of self planned vacations. I can say none of them have come close to being as amazing and stress free as the vacations she will plan for you. Lael truly listens to her clients and seems to intuitively know what will make her clients’ vacations something special. The last trip she planned for us was literally the best vacation I’ve ever been on. She takes care of every last detail for you (if you want her to) and goes above and beyond when it comes to taking care of her clients. Vacations are meant to be special and most people don’t go on a whole lot of them so why take a chance with a random internet company? I will never book another major vacation...