Friendship Travel Singles Holidays Reviews 

I had a lovely time at Christmas at Newbury. Our hosts Mel & Hayley were great, arranging dinner for those of us who arrived the night before the main event and various activities during the stay.
My room was very comfortable though the hotel is looking a bit tired nowadays. Food was good and the staff were truly wonderful.
I would recommend Friendship Travel to anyone looking for a sociable Christmas break.

From the 24th Dec, until 27th, 2024 The hosts were very good. Full of energy, they didn’t stop until the last day. They worked very hard to make sure everybody was ok

A good mixture of male and female, the tables were well set out for our christmas event, the hosts Mel and Haley were great fun and organised quizzes to keep us amused !, They were very approachable for any queries, and also joined us on the Dance floor.

Friendship Travel Singles Holidays offers a friendly and easy booking process, with helpful representatives who provide assistance and organize activities. However, the experience is marred by some notable drawbacks. The hotels could use some updating, with small, minimally equipped rooms and disappointing food quality that often arrives lukewarm. The atmosphere can feel exclusive, with certain groups already familiar with each other, and the additional charges like £100 for air conditioning can add up. While there are positive aspects, there are also areas needing improvement, making it an average choice for solo travel at best.

Hotel a bit tired smallest room l have stayed in no fridge ,phone ,hooks,no proper reception

Never again! Advertised as a ‘house party’ but bore little resemblance. Half the party already knew each other so there was an exclusive clique from day 1. Food of very poor quality and very meagre. £100+ for air con. Very amateur ish tour rep who complained nonstop about management. So relieved to get home! So many other great companies offering solo travel - do not book with them unless you enjoy the company of a band of chavs.

Amazing :) Karen at friendship travel couldn't have been more helpful. We received emails with information on everything we could possibly need. She was very patient with me when i struggled to check in on the Ryanair app & went above any beyond to sort out alternative flights when Ryanair decided to cancel our original ones. Casa Rosa, where we stayed was perfect. The staff were so friendly and attentive, we didn't want for anything. Our painting tutor was far more than just a painting instructor, she told us so much about the area and helped us in every aspect of our holiday from booking restaurants to arranging a private boat tour, so we could truly relax.

I had a great holiday at Hotel Dunas in Fuerteventura in February. It was good to have some winter sunshine! The host, Colin, was excellent and arranged trips and outings for us. He was also on hand to help if anyone needed it and really made the group gel.
The hotel was quiet and peaceful as it was 'Adults only' and not far from the beach.
We were not far from the nightlife with a variety of bars and restaurants and 'Music Square'

I spent Xmas & New Year at St Lucia-my first FT holiday, & had an amazing time. I recently had 2 weeks in Cape Verde, again booked with FT & had fun again.
The service & help when booking, from FT staff, was excellent, as was both holidays. Indeed, so good, I've again booked with FT, to spend next Xmas & NY at St Lucia.
On the holiday to Cape Verde, Boa Vista, our FT Rep was Emma Wilson. In years of holidays, the Reps have been excellent, good, average...'why were they there?'....etc etc. Emma stood out as by far the best Rep I've ever met. Unquestionably, she's most enthusiastic about her job, highly motivated & keen to ensure everyone was having fun! We saw her daily, numerous times, always checking we were OK. We had the special FT table for taking meals, & she ate with us.
I'm sum, well done to FT, & also to Emma Wilson! Thank you! X😎

This is the second UK event I've attended in the past 6 months and both events were well organised. I thoroughly enjoyed them and the group were very lively and friendly. I would definitely use this company again.

Relaxing and enjoyable week in the sun and light of the Costa del Sol in February is much needed after a long dark UK winter with its constant winds and frequent storms and rain.
The hotel was OK and close to the sea, and bus routes. However the hotel food was disappointing and was usually warmish rather than hot.
Jayne the host was helpful, positive and attentive.
Except for the problem of the food it was a good value break.

Easy and friendly booking service, flight arrived early and met by Friendship rep at airport, then taxi to Hotel.
The representative was very helpful and organized trips out and entertainment. Only downside was the Hotel. poor quality food, and often lukewarm. Bathroom not cleaned thoroughly with mould showing between bath and shower screen.

My trip to Kenya Safari and beach was amazing. Loved every minute and everything was great. Traveling in the jeeps was long. But this is Africa and the transport system not like UK. Also heavy traffic on the ferrys Nort a fault of Friendship travel. The Papillion Hotel was of good standard and staff were wonderful. The company was great.

I have 2 complaints in with them at the moment but don't hold my breath for any resolution. I have just returned from Kenya safari, it was sold to me as a very small exclusive trip of a lifetime, firstly after telling me there was only 2 spaces left (in my opinion to pressure me to book there and then) they added another jeep so 6 more people without informing us at all, this stretched the holiday so far we were on different flights and it was not the casual relaxing experience it would have been with the 7 people as promised. Following on from this all of the itinerary was out, and I mean hours out, getting to the hotel too over 3 hours not the 1.5 approx stated meaning we missed lunch and arrived very dehydrated after having no water or Aircon on the journey. for the 3 days safari we spent 10 hours in the car the first day completely missing one of the nature walks, the next 2 days we were in the car between lodges for at least 6 hours a day. We spent a total of 4 hours of the 3 days actually on safari dives or a walk. I'm not going to write about the hotels or safari company here as this is a review of friendship travels service. The icing on the cake was they had given us all including the rep out there the incorrect flight times and reference on our itinerary, it turns out we were all on different flights and found this out my checking with the airline! Our flight was very late in the day and the last hotel we had to check out at 10am didn't have any air con areas at all in 33 heat! We had to sit as best we could in the shade for 4 hours to try and keep cool, we also had to pay for lunch on this day which wasn't stated. As the flight was later than we were told by friendship travel (16.45 on my itinerary) but then moved to 18.45 without friendship informing me and then Was delayed by an hour which is obviously the airline but meant we got to the final hotel at 10pm too late for dinner and have to be up for 5am to fly! It was the most disorganised tiring experience and the age demographic was quite a lot older than me (a good mix and everyone was lovely) but with a few health problems and I'm just so relieved no one got seriously ill. I'd definitely recommend this type of holiday as the people I met were lovely but I would not in anyway recommend traveling with friendship. I work in the retirement industry and I find the way they operate incredibly concerning.

I went to Lanzarote for Christmas and paid for a room upgrade. Having checked in I was surprised to find the room was located outside the hotel and access to It was via a pathway. Being a single female traveller this lack of security concerned me and so before going to the room returned to Reception and requested a room inside the hotel. I was told this was my allocated room which could not be changed. Reluctantly I went to the room and discovered the flush facility on toilet detached from the wall, and the balcony lock was broken. I hastily returned again to Reception. After a long time the Manager told me that no room change would be possible until an unspecified time the following day, but probably afternoon. I didn’t unpack, felt completely exhausted and phoned a friend, who on hearing I had no idea when a different room would be provided, advised I make the best of a bad situation as waiting around the hotel would mean I’d lose two days out of my 1 week’s vacation. At this point I was VERY relieved and consoled myself I was indeed there for just one week.
The WC & lock were repaired but the room was very noisy and I always felt vulnerable and uncomfortable returning to it in the evening. The aspects which made the holiday bearable was my good fortune in meeting nice people and good weather without which I would have been miserable.
I have just been told by Friendship Travel, the room I stayed in with broken WC, outside access, noise from pool etc.was in fact one of the hotels upgraded rooms so best they can do is ensure I wouldn’t be allocated it again!!
Over the years I have stayed many times in the Lanzarote Princess, always in an upgraded room and never has it been like the one I spent my Christmas vacation in, memorable for the wrong reasons.
I am writing this as I hope to save other travellers who entrust their holiday to Friendship Travel the unnnecessary expense of paying a supplement for a room upgrade.

I have just received a letter from Colin the CEO of friendship Travel stating that is not going to give me any compensation for what he put me through by my flight's not being the right one at the right Airport he put it down to human error hasn't taken to consideration the amount of times I had to change to trains to get to the airport plus I have to pay for a cab from the hotel which they paid for but which was miles away from the airport and they haven't taken into consideration that you're traveling on your own as a single woman basically I think Collins attitude is so bad looking at his comments from other complaints on this site he really doesn't give A damn about his customers as long as he gets your money he really could give a damn whether you enjoyed the holiday or not I have never known a company that really doesn't take any notice of the complaints that are being made you still owe me for the price of the taxi from the hotel to airport you've not mentioned that in the letter have you and you still didn't answer whether you would put your mother through what you put me through so you are so so heartless

Excellent and friendly customer service experience. I felt they bent over backwards to accommodate my travel availability and at short notice.

May/June 2023, Forever Hotel, Turkey. Awful area - built up housing estate with mixture of apartments, private houses and small hotels. Incessant traffic noise, and too many smokers around the pool. Repeated Problems with food: I hade made it clear in writing I was low-carb (as I was pre-diabetic) and their reply was that this was no problem. However, the chef did not know what a carbohydrate was - which led to sugared meat (sweet sticky glazes) for example. The owner or manager called Oz was exceedingly rude and, one evening, REFUSED to tell me what was in the 'sauce'. He was abusive, indicated I was stupid, and said the sauce was 'like ketchup... you know what ketchup is, don't you? Ketchup, right? Got it? Only it's not ketchup. It's sauce. Right? Got it?" Well if it was like ketchup it would have a high percentage of sugar, and being glucose intolerant it would be dangerous for me. So I ate across the road in a restaurant where the manager was able to tell me what was in the food. Also, water was not provided at breakfast and I had to go to the bar and beg some. The chef gave me tap water but the 'manager' told me not to drink it. Confusing, to say the least. Terrible holiday. I paid for 3 weeks but paid for a return flight after 9 days. I'm no snowflake... I arrived at the Forever Hotel from Kazakhstan where I ate horse kebabs, and slept in bunks with fat peasant women. Believe me, Kazakhstan was a far better experience. I waited 3 months to see if Friendship Travel would contact me after the holiday to explain why they had insisted being low-carb would not be a problem... but they have not. Had they informed me that the chef did not know what a carbohydrate was, and the hotel had no ability to provide low-carb food, and would not be able to tell me what ingredients had been used... I would've stayed in Kazakhstan. (I'm sure Friendship Travel would also prefer I'd stayed in Central Asia).

I should add that I have no bias concerning Friendship Travel - I had taken a holiday to Cape Verde with Friendship Travel in February and the hotel provided a wide range of low-carb, and the staff knew what a carb was. It was a good holiday: no traffic (well it was an island!), easy-ish to get away from smokers, and no bullying rude staff. The Forever Hotel, and the attitude of Friendship Travel on that occasion, has, however, put me off ever travelling with them again. So please be aware there may be issues that this company may not deal with as well as some other companies might.

The Apollon is a small 2-star hotel with possibilities for an upgrade. It has a great location right on a minor but busy/noisy road between the beach (5 minutes’ walk) and Tsilivi town centre (10 minutes), with all the bars, restaurants, night life and tourist shops you could possibly want.
The hotel rooms are large, with plenty of hanging and drawer space, a comfortable bed, TV, fridge, hairdryer, kettle, safe, A/C and a good size balcony. The washbasin is in the bedroom, with a shower (plenty of hot water) and loo in a rather cramped en-suite. Ground floor rooms can be a bit 'public', as the French doors open onto the small communal sun-bed area and are only yards away from the busy road – expect eyeball contact if you open up just as someone is passing by.
There is not much space around the hotel, and certainly no view, but there is a small pool (big bonus) and a basic noisy bar selling the usual drinks and bar food, (there are better bars only a few minutes’ walk away). Hotel guests have a separate eating area serving a buffet breakfast and evening meal, both with adequate choices.
Next door is a handy mini-market (great for cheap bottled water) which also offers a money exchange. When I was there the exchange rate was better than the nearest ATM once you take into account the various ATM charges (which can be as much as 5%).
The Friendship rep, Colin, was brilliant. He organised several excellent trips for Friendship guests, was well informed about the island, and a great help in an emergency.
I went for 2 weeks; most of the other guests were on 1-week holidays, so I had a different mix of holiday companions each week. This is one of the pleasures of holidays for me, and unlike another reviewer, I certainly wouldn’t want to know the age and gender mix of the rest of the group. I am fortunate in being able to take 5-6 holidays a year, in Europe and long-haul destinations, with both 'singles only' and standard holiday companies. I find any holiday can comprise an interesting group for someone travelling 'single'.
This was my 3rd holiday with Friendship. It was a late booking, made with a most helpful member of staff who went to a lot of trouble to set out the available options, destinations, flight times etc. for me before I made my decision. It wasn't 5-star but I got all the sun, sea and sand I wanted, in pleasant and congenial company, and I would go with them again.

This was my 3rd trip to the Forever hotel in Turkey with Friendship. As a single traveller I find it comforting to have such a supportive company behind me when I travel. From point of booking to returning home they are there every step of the way. Having been before I was excited to be coming back. The hotel is in a lovely location with beautifully manicured gardens and surrounding scenery and just a short walk from the town centre. It's a family run hotel who recognise returning guests and welcome new with open arms who go above and beyond for you. You can keep a tab running at the bar all week for food and drinks and your safety deposit box/air con can be added to this if required. The pool and pool area is well maintained and welcoming and plenty of space for all. I have always found the food to be delicious, lots of traditional food, which when I go on holiday I like to try. The rooms are clean and comfortable and perfect for what you need. The host, Julie-Ann was new to me this year and did an outstanding job with info of the resort, trips etc and she too went above and beyond to make the holiday perfect. This year I did the boat trip and my obligatory turkish bath but also for the first time tried the jeep safari. This didn't disappoint, well organised and executed, a great day out for a reasonable cost. There are no airs and graces with this hotel, it just feels like home from home which is why I keep returning every year. Thanks again forever family and Julie-Ann for another wonderful holiday. Roll on 2024.