Luxury Private Tours: An Interview with Founder Jeff Willner of Kensington Tours

Imagine being able to design a trip around your personal interests and go where few travelers have been. Imagine having just as much luxury or affordability as you want. Add to that being able to kick back and not worry about the details and challenges that arise with travel. That's just the cake.

The icing on your travel cake is adding someone who actually lives where you are going, someone who knows the area intimately, someone who can show you the very best of what the area has to offer... The "icing" is in the form of a private tour guide, plus you and whomever you wish to bring - a private tour guide who can show you the way, make all the arrangements, and satisfy virtually every travel whim you can dream up. All of this sounded so perfect for what I want out of a travel experience that I decided to research private tours further.

Private Tours: the Newest Idea in Travel

Concerned that a private tour would be expensive, I checked it out. I found one private tour company, Kensington Tours, that goes virtually anywhere in the world at reasonable prices. There are of course other private tour companies, but after some research I found Kensington Tours to be the highest-rated, most professional, and the most reasonably priced private tour company. I also discovered that Kensington Tours was the winner of National Geographic Adventure's 2008 and 2009 awards and has a 98.3% customer satisfaction rate. Having such a rating from National Geographic carries a lot of weight in the travel world, much less in the private tour world.

Curiosity driving me forward, I contacted Jeff Willner, the founder of Kensington Tours, for more information on private tours. As I talked to Jeff, I discovered that he has experienced extraordinary things that few travelers ever get to see, taste, touch, or feel. He thinks those things shouldn't be for just the very wealthy or the intrepid backpacker. So Jeff Willner started a company that could give people a unique travel experience at reasonable prices through private tours.

Jeff grew up in the Congo, he revealed to me, plus he has traveled to over 70 countries, including a round-the-world trip 12 months long. He is also a Royal Geographic Society Fellow, a status few reach. (Royal Geographic Society is the UK equivalent of the US National Geographic Society.) As we talked, Jeff explained to me the benefits of taking a private tour.

Why Take a Private Tour on Vacation?

Simply stated, private tours give you the most bang for your buck. I myself have taken private tours on vacation. In all cases they were more than worth the money I paid for them, because private tour guides took me to "secret" beaches and waterfalls, let me taste outstanding local food, and gave me a view of local culture I could not have had otherwise.

At my request one private tour guide I had in Nassau, Bahamas, took me to eat "the best conch on the island". The place was nothing more than a bar "over the hill" in the non-touristy part of the island. To date, that is absolutely the best conch I have ever had. Plus I got to see a part of the island only the rare tourist ever sees, which made this trip well worth the few extra dollars I spent on a private tour guide.

Private tours are extremely flexible and conform to your own schedule, your own idea of how a trip should go. Your very own private tour guide, along with a private vehicle, has such intimate knowledge of the area that your time is used in the best possible way.

Also, one thing travelers may not think of is that should a sticky situation arise, your private tour guide can get you out of it much more smoothly than either traveling on your own or with a group. Through private tour guides, Kensington Tours got travelers out of Europe when the volcano eruption on Iceland stranded most tourists.

Kensington Tours was also in Mumbai, India, when terrorists took over a hotel there. All of Kensington Tours' travelers were protected by their private tour guides and got out of Mumbai quickly and efficiently. In this day and time, when such things can happen anywhere, this kind of service gives travelers great peace of mind.

Private Tours Customized to Your Interests

Do you like tea? In China, a Kensington Tours private tour guide took one tea-loving traveler to an unmarked tiny tea shop, where they stayed for hours, absorbing China's ancient knowledge of tea from the shopkeeper.

Or do you like wildlife? One monkey-loving traveler stopped with her Kensington Tours private tour guide at a park where there were tons of monkeys. She was having so much fun, she asked the guide if they could stay, effectively canceling the rest of the plans for the day. The guide smiled and obliged. After coming home, that one stop observing monkeys in a park was all that traveler could talk about.

That's one of the beauties of traveling on a private tour with a company like Kensington Tours. Not only is each trip customized to your own likes and dislikes, but the trip can evolve in real time, depending on your mood and whims. You are totally in control on a private tour.

Prices of Private Tours

Kensington Tours gives customers a private tour guide on a trip exclusively designed for them - for less money than a group tour would cost. 30% less, to be exact. Also, one thing surprised me. Jeff Willner told me that Kensington Tours can book hotels for less than I could book them myself.

Apparently, in foreign countries hotels have an in-country rate for people who live there, and a "tourist" rate for people who live out of the country. With private tour guides all over the world living right in each country, Jeff said that their private tour guides book hotels directly and get the in-country rate, something I could never get by booking on my own.

Also, there are no set prices for private tours. Group tours have set times and prices. Private tours do not. You go when you want and at the rate you want on a private tour. Jeff told me that Kensington Tours can arrange a trip that includes hotel stays at varying rates and "star" levels, so that a person can stay in inexpensive hotels for much of the trip and a four star hotel once in awhile if they so desire.

If you want ultimate luxury a private tour company can provide that as well. Stay in the finest hotels, be pampered all day long, have an elegant dinner in a remote, private location - whatever you can dream up, a private tour company can provide.

Examples of Private Tours Available

According to Jeff Willner, many travelers who use their services are honeymooners, families, someone taking a once-in-a-lifetime trip, or someone giving a private tour as a special gift. Myself, if I were taking a once-in-a-lifetime trip, I would definitely want to go with a private tour guide. No question.

For example, Africa has always interested me since I was a child. Going on safari, seeing gorillas up close - these are a couple of my personal travel dreams. When I looked at Kensington Tours' Masai Mara trip in Kenya, I was blown away by the accommodations. I've seen safari tents before, but Kensington Tours' safari tents looked more like four star hotel rooms.

Other trips I have dreamed of are vacations in Bora Bora, Moorea, Tahiti, or Fiji - or a trip to Belize before it gets way too touristy. Scuba diving in Belize is world-class; reefs are still pristine, and the undersea flora and fauna are colorful and diverse. Kensington Tours goes to all of these places, of course, since they go pretty much everywhere.

Frankly, when I looked at Kensington Tours prices on these destinations, I was surprised at their affordability. Definitely do-able, and I am far from wealthy. As National Geographic Adventure says, Kensington Tours' guiding principle is "luxury without the high price tag".

These are just a few examples of what a private tour can add to your travel experience. The possibilities are really up to your own imagination. The next time you travel, I highly recommend you look into private tours and all that they offer.

Kensington Tours

Kensington Tours' specialists can virtually perform travel magic. One specialist is considered a "wildlife connoisseur" and challenges us to come up with any animal-related request. Myself, I would love to see gorillas up close... or a lioness with cubs. Doubtless she could do exactly that.

Another specialist can arrange adventure travel anywhere, even to Antarctica, while yet another can get you into world sporting events or even a lunch with McEnroe. Want to paraglide in the Swiss Alps? Or travel by Ferrari through the Italian countryside? Kensington Tours can do all that, too.

After exploring the Kensington Tours website, my imagination is expanding by the minute. Travel experiences I never thought were possible are within reach with private tours. The prospect of being able to design my own trip with the help of a specialist that can turn travel planning cartwheels is exciting to me. Now all I have to do is narrow it down to just one private tour at a time. That's no problem, for planning a trip - the anticipation of a trip - is half the fun.