Cooking Vacations

Cooking vacations was on my bucket list for a long time. It was the perfect balance of cooking, exploring and downtime. Lauren set us up with an amazing chef and we did two full days of cooking and the experience was wonderful. The third cooking day we went to a pizzeria and learned more of a local pizzeria style of cooking. Both experiences are wonderful. We were also set up in a beautiful hotel with stunning views. We went on three day trips to balance out the cooking and also had a little down time on the beach. It was the perfect balance and I can't wait to book another region. Maybe Sicily. Highly recommend. Thank you Debbie

The Good, the Bad and the UglyWe recently returned from what was supposed to be an 8-day cooking school at Irma’s Country Kitchen on the Amalfi Coast. My husband and I have participated in many cooking vacations over the years, and this vacation was a “mixed bag”.First, the good:- The Market Tour with our guide Ana was amazing. We visited the artisan shops of makers of cheese, bread and salami. Ana was personable and knowledgeable. This excursion also included a pizza-making lesson at Da Nando in Agerola that was absolutely the highlight of the trip.- The visit to Marisa Cuomo Winery and the wine pairing dinner that followed were lovely.Next, the bad:- There were a few days in the program in which we were served breakfast but lunch was on our own. That doesn’t sound like a big deal, but the B&B is literally perched on the side of a mountain, and the nearest restaurants are at least ½ mile away – uphill on steep roads with hairpin turns. If you aren’t in top shape, you need to hire a car.- The excursion to Positano and Praiano was a waste of time because it was off-season and there were only a handful of shops of shops open. If you’re expecting to be able to do shopping, don’t go to the area in the off-season. I wish we’d been so advised.- Irma is a relatively good teacher in the kitchen, but it would have been more enjoyable if she had spent more time interacting with us instead of chatting (in Italian) with her kitchen helper and a friend who stopped by. We take cooking vacations because we learn so much about a culture and region through its food. However, our interactions with Irma were generally limited to cooking instruction.Finally, the ugly:- My husband became suddenly ill on Day 5 and it was necessary to return home early. We asked if we could switch our program to the 5-day program and get refunded the difference. The answer was no. (Mind you, there were no other guests in the B&B or in the cooking class, so it’s not as if they had to turn away other guests because we had booked an 8-day stay instead of a 5-day stay.) Our hotel in Rome and the tour company we had booked in Rome were happy to refund our money. Even Delta was changed our flights and waived the change fee because of my husband’s illness. Cooking Vacation’s response was that they “do not provide money back for any unused part of the trip”. I understand the need for policies - I’ve been an entrepreneur for the past 30+ years. I also know that it’s compassion and empathy that builds customer loyalty, not standing rigidly behind a policy, regardless of the circumstances.Think twice about booking your next vacation through Cooking Vacations. At least from our experience, the minuses far outweighed the plusses.

I would never use Cooking Vacations again. Bad experience.