Our Policies & Style

All the hotels we use have been visited – and often stayed in – by a member of our staff or, occasionally, by a trusted agent. Hundreds of others have been inspected and rejected.
We look for certain standards of comfort and set a high priority on charm, style and warmth of welcome. An important consideration is location, with a strong preference for the historic centre of a city although quietness, too, is a major consideration.
We have many criteria. The truth is that few hotels can satisfy them all. And hotels vary. There is no such thing as a standard Martin Randall Travel hotel. It depends on what is available. In many places we use the best, but sometimes this means one which we would not have selected had the choice been wider.
Were we to limit our tours to parts of the world where a high level of modern comfort can be virtually guaranteed, we would have to reduce drastically the range of tours we offer, confining our coverage of the world’s cultural heritage to places which are near to the most developed resorts and business centres.
We pursue the alternative course, taking the location of works of art and monuments of past civilizations as the priority for where we send our clients, even if this means accepting lower standards of accommodation.
Star rating. Our hotels are mostly rated as four-star, though some are three-star, some five-star. A very few are two-star. The star ratings we quote are those awarded by the relevant national or regional authority – and the criteria vary from place to place. There is no international standard. A hotel rated as a four-star in one country might scarcely merit three stars in another.
Single-rooms supplements. Nearly all hotels charge a supplement when there is only one person in a room, sometimes charging the same for a room however many people are in it. This means it would cost twice as much per person for a single traveller than for a couple. We sympathise with the annoyance this causes, and always try to negotiate with hotels, but there is little we can do to ameliorate the problem. On some tours we offer the choice between a single room and a double room for sole occupancy.
Staying on. It is usually possible to adjust the flights to enable you to stay on after a tour for an independent holiday. Please enquire. There is an administration fee of at least £25 for making a change to the basic package and sometimes the air fare will be higher.

Martin Randall Travel was founded in 1988 by Martin Randall, a graduate of the Courtauld Institute of Art. There are now 28 staff. In addition, we work with some 100 freelance lecturers and tour managers.
There are two main strands to the business: small-group tours for a maximum of 22 participants, all accompanied by a lecturer. Each has a particular emphasis covering the visual arts, gardens, music, history, geology and gastronomy. Even the walking tours have a cultural focus. With around 160 tours each year, they constitute the largest area of our activities. Secondly there are the all-inclusive music festivals. These are festivals which we devise and organise ourselves in various cities or regions of Europe, and which now number four or five each year.
We are renowned for our first-rate client care and unobtrusive efficiency which leads to the highest levels of customer satisfaction. In 2009, for the third time in four years, Martin Randall Travel was Travel Company of the Year, based on customer satisfaction surveys among members of the Association of Independent Tour Operators. There are no hidden extras. The price covers nearly everything, including wine with meals and all tips. Our tours are considered good value for money. We do not levy surcharges for fuel or for any other reason.