Elegant Resorts – experts in the field of luxury holiday travel…
We are an award-winning luxury tour operator, located in the historic city of Chester; renowned for our expertise in tailor-made luxury travel we have been creating luxury holiday experiences for our clients since 1988.
Our hand-picked portfolio of luxury destinations and accommodation, luxury experiences and private travel options is complemented by our highly trained team of travel specialists, whose wealth of knowledge and intuitive personal service is greatly appreciated by our long list of loyal clients, who like you, appreciate the finer things in life and are passionate about luxury travel. In addition to our Travel Consultants first-hand, far-reaching knowledge of our featured destinations, our clients have access to our concierge service, which offers everything from assistance with restaurant reservations and booking golf tee-off times, to visits to cultural and sporting events and nanny services. Whatever your requirements, we'll take care of the details, leaving you with more time to enjoy your holiday.
The long-term relationships we enjoy with a select group of hotels, airlines and in-resort partners means we can provide you with exceptional offers, adding true value to your money, whether that's an African safari, a relaxing beach holiday, a cultural experience, some spa pampering or even summitting Mount Kilimanjaro.
Elegant Resorts is a member of ABTA, the Association of British Travel Agents, and is fully bonded with a licence granted by the Civil Aviation Authority, providing you with security and peace of mind.
The Old Palace, the home of luxury travel
Elegant Resorts has a proud history stretching back twenty-five years to 1988,
where two of the UK’s luxury travel pioneers recognised a gap in the market for
a travel company that offered only the finest hotels and first-class client service,
delivered by professional employees passionate about travel. Geoff Moss and
Barbara Catchpole, who were both from travel backgrounds, joined forces,
rented office space in historic Chester and set about creating Elegant Resorts.
With their sights firmly set on the upper end of the market, the vision of the
company was to include only those hotels, villas and resorts that could be said
to deliver a genuinely luxurious experience. This was complemented by
partnering with major world airlines to ensure that the experience of travelling in
any class – but particularly in First and Club – came up to the standard of the
rest of the holiday. Particular emphasis was placed on producing stunning
brochures, which pioneered the concept of dedicating one or two-page spreads
to a single property. This concept was to convey – through description and
photography – as many of a destination’s attractions as possible, ensuring
clients could picture themselves enjoying all that was on offer.
As our company grew, we needed more space for over one hundred of our staff, so
a new building was required to house us all and The Old Palace was found. A
former residence dating back to 1751 and built for the Bishop of Chester, The Old
Palace is a beautiful Grade II-listed Georgian mansion that overlooks the River Dee
and has been our ‘home’ for over fifteen years.
We are very proud to have a long-serving team who believes in delivering
uncompromising service. This extends overseas too, and we have established
teams working their magic in Barbados, Antigua, Dubai and Mauritius. Our
founders’ and our own continuing dedication to staff training means that Elegant
Resorts’ Travel Consultants are some of the most knowledgeable in the travel
industry, with an unerring ability to match clients with their ideal holiday.
Both overseas and here at the Old Palace there’s a friendly atmosphere conducive
to a good working environment. We like to enjoy ourselves and have had some
fantastic occasions over the years that have included everything from home-grown
theatre productions to events that even our supplier and business partners join
in with.
Every year we host an awards ceremony in London to say “thank you” to the
people we work with. It is our extraordinary relationships with them that enable us
to bring our clients exceptional experiences throughout the year and ensure they
come to rely on us for all their travel needs. Testimony to this are all the wonderful
awards we have received over the years.
The luxury Caribbean market, which was the main area of Elegant Resorts’
expertise, was the initial focus twenty-five years ago. Travel to exotic destinations
within the Caribbean was aspirational to many and, despite an economic downturn,
the company achieved a profit within its first year. A major contributor to the
success of the early years was the weekly winter service to Barbados from British
Airways by Concorde. With a flying time of less than four hours, clients could leave
the UK and be on the golden beaches of the Caribbean that same afternoon.
Elegant Resorts was credited with booking more arrivals to Barbados on Concorde
than any other travel company and it was a sad day on 30 August 2003 when the
last scheduled supersonic service flew from Barbados. Clients who flew – and even
chartered – Concorde now had to find a new mode of transport; the business then
started to focus on private jet travel.
Elegant Resorts grew from strength to strength and gradually, over time, other
areas of the world were added; meaning today, our portfolio now also comprises
hotels, resorts, villas and private islands in
the Indian Ocean, Arabian Gulf, Middle
East, Mexico, North and South America,
Canada, Africa, Europe, North Africa, Asia
and Australasia. In addition, we offer a
range of experiences, from luxury cruising,
yachting and skiing holidays to a selection
of adventure holidays – and not forgetting
space travel – for our more daring clients.