HF Holidays Reviews 

Before I read any of these reviews I saw the stars and felt compelled to write a review. This was my first hf break for 3 nights and 2 full walk days. The accommodation was very good,clean and peaceful Evening entertainment included some quizzes,table tennis,skittles and board games.There was also a quite lounge and bar area.The food was excellent with plenty of choice and very tasty.The guided walks were excellent with fantastic views and good leaders. I stayed in Shropshire and enjoyed every minute.I will definitely book again .

I do not recommend this company. We made a booking and then had to cancel 10 days ahead of time due to serious illness. We had already paid in full for our holiday, but they would not give us any credit, and kept 90% of what we paid them. No flexibility whatsoever, even for illness. Also, company never seems to respond to email.

As with the previous correspondent I too travelled from Canada for the March 30 Isle of Wight holiday. I was in Brighton when I got the email on Friday night that the holiday was cancelled. This left me stranded in Brighton, on my own, effectively homeless for a week. At significant expense I made alternate arrangements to stay in London for a few days and have booked a flight to Toronto for an eye watering £2200. My long planned two week holiday has been less than a week in length and has been an absolute disaster. I telephoned HF on Saturday morning but after 45 minutes on hold, gave up. I emailed on Saturday yet at the end of Tuesday have yet to get a response. I see that you told the previous reviewer that you tried to contact him but he was unavailable. Please don’t even suggest that in my case. I have been available by phone and email continuously.

My son and I travelled from Vancouver, Canada to visit the Isle of Wight to participate in a HF walking tour. My father passed away from COVID in Dec 2021 and it was our memorial trip to visit this place where his father, my Grandfather, was born, raised, served in WW1 before moving to Saanich, BC. Our tour was scheduled to begin on March 30 and on Good Friday, March 29th, after arriving on the Isle of Wight, I recieved an email with a pdf attached letter stating the walking tour was cancelled and offices were closed until Saturday. No assistance available, no customer service. I requested a phone call and have not heard anything from HF. I regrettably do not recommend this tour group.

**Please note: I was not provided with alternative accommodation nor was I provided with a contact telephone number.

An incredible trip and so sad to be home. Extremely knowledgeable, passionate and kind walk leaders, definitely made the week for us. Interesting to learn about the area and local flora and fauna. Walk options were great each day and catered to different abilities. Lovely group of hikers. The scenery is phenomenal. Accommodation was great too - fab location and food options, easy to take packed lunch.
Really recommend! Would do it all over again.

I am really surprised by the number of negative reviews about HF holidays. I have just returned from my 4 th short break with HF and I intend to do more. Nearly everyone I meet on these breaks has been on many HF holidays which shows they are doing something right!
. I have just been on 3 nights guided walking in Sussex… lovely house, good size rooms, good food pleasant staff, excellent walk leaders. It seems that the trust pilot score is low because of issues with refunds during Covid, not to do with the standard of the holidays which seems unfair. I have already booked another holiday with HF- highly recommended .

Everything is always great. I have done about 10 houses so far, and intend to do them all, plus going on a few out of uk trips in the future. The leaders are great, we meet nice people, the managing of the houses is well done, and the food is great. My holidays, flying from Canada is always a good deal. But I would suggest they pay better all the employees, as they do work hard and are always friendly.

We booked a walking holiday with HF holidays, however due to an severe illness we were unable to attend. To move the holiday they change a large fee to basic copy and paste and entry to a new date. The following year I was still severely ill and asked could we change dates and they tried to charge a high fee again. Rather than keep a customer and build their customer base they decided it was better to keep the deposit as I refused to pay their high charges and lose a customer. Customer service needs to improve, then maybe their rating will.

Thorns Hall, Sedbergh. Fantastic historic house that would cost considerably more to stay with a company that operates for profit. Food was top class and everyone was very friendly. Although the weather was challenging with snow and rain, the walk leaders coped admirably.

Just back from a 4-night self-guided stay in Shropshire and we had a great time, with good and plentiful food, interesting company, solicitous and friendly service and very clear guides for walks in the glorious countryside around. Longmynd House is undergoing refurbishment so was not looking its best but we had been told about that in advance - and got a free drink each night in compensation.

HF informed me of change of flight from Gatwick to Heathrow 4 weeks prior to departure. They informed other guests months in advance. I had booked connecting flights from Scotland and had to buy another flight to get me home, that cost 200 pounds, as I would not have made it. They say connecting travel is out with their control. It is, but if they don't tell the customers, it is out with their control too.

We have always found the holiday locations/ buildings good, food good and walk leaders good, but only been to uk sites where most people are of retirement age and only book "popular " holidays. I suspect their admin staff are few though and they rely on computer booking systems. 90% of people are returners and most use HF holidays 2 or 3 times per year. But they didn't seem to write on here as this seems full of complainers

We are very disappointed with our recent experience of HF Holidays. We have used them for many years and had not a single complaint until now. However, we had a holiday booked and payed for in full when our flights were cancelled one month before departure. We expected HF to reschedule the holiday or offer us a voucher to use again. In spite of several phone calls they refused even a voucher for part of the cost. Although they had 4 weeks warning, they refunded only 30 % of our money and we lost around £1500. We were very disappointed since other companies have treated their members with much more understanding and goodwill

Terrible .. We’ve just had a holiday in La Palma cancelled , due to start in November . We’re being offered an alternative ( none in the Canaries) or a refund . Since we’ve paid for flights I would expect these to be refunded but I would be surprised if this is offered . I would never consider booking with HF again .

I went on holidays for a long weekend and had a very bad experience, I had dry blood 🩸stains on the matrix protector which thanks to God was exposed when I went to bed. I requested for that to be changed and I was told that ‘it was only the matrix protector’. With strong reluctance, finally it was removed that night as they had to wash it and put the same one back as they didn’t have any other matrix protector. I sent feedback but nobody ever contacted me and nothing was done. During the trip I was given a voucher for a free drink which was not the point.

Appalling customer service, or should I say non-existent: 4 emails, 2 online chat messages, and a lengthy telephone hold which cost me 15 quid before I finally hung up, and still no replies. I thought my information request in support of a booking was simple enough, but apparently they are either stumped by the question or can't be bothered.

holiday cancelled by hf and as is now normal terrible customer service phone line service none existant and rarely reply too emails,sad as hotel staff are always brilliant let down by shambolic management.still no refund or any answers.

No response to two emails. Customer contact number permanently engaged. Call dropped when connected.

Dolserau Hall is really dated and needs renovating. Our room which we paid extra for being a better room was dark'. It had a broken armchair but above all was filthy, with cobwebs, layers of dust/dirt on the toilet/sink pedestal. The paint was peeling due to damp or a previous water leak. The carpet was stained everywhere.

This is our third HF Holiday and in comparison to the other two holidays the food was disgusting. The vegetables were boiled to death. The chicken pie consisted of pieces of overdone chicken floating in an oily water. One of the Walking Leaders also said it was the worst food he had had. Cheap ingredients, used badly. When presented the food was slopped onto plates with no two plates looking the same. The cheese platter changed in size daily sometimes there was one cracker, sometimes four crackers sometimes chutney, sometimes none. It was all inconsistent. Another guest found a wrapper in her mash potatoes.

The service received from Irina was poor. She was unfriendly, no customer care/service at all. No saying hello, asking how our day was etc, she was just not interested. On the last day she asked us for payment for someone else's bill and when we said it was not ours, she asked "Are you sure? " When we listed the one drink we had to pay for, she realised her error and rather than apologising just said "My bad". On arrival she asked us to stand outside whilst she dealt with another guest. No one was checking us in with HF Staff walking past us as though we did not exist. Only until one of the Walking Leaders insisted did someone check us in. No one showed us the bootroom or told us anything on arrival. In general most of the staff seemed to be students. Some kept forgetting things. If they bought tea, there was no milk and so on. There were two many incidences to write here about the poor service. However, I would like to mention that a guest was 5 minutes late for breakfast. She was told that the hot breakfast was not available as the ovens had been switched off but she could get a cold breakfast (cereals etc) but the yoghurt had run out! I found this absolutely ridiculous.

They were slow to refund a cancellation due to covid however most guests were probably happy toleave the money with HF as most guests love HF. Typically 90% or more of guests are returning guests which speaks for itself. In the last resort you can always get a refund from Visa / Mastercard if you are getting nowhere with a HF refund.