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Julia-Kostina
Elegance and Great Luxury Comfort

Virtuoso™ Luxury Travel Advisor

Meet Julia, your luxury travel advisor based in Toronto.

For more than two decades I’ve been busy helping travellers to get the most of their journeys.

I’m always on the road, passionate voyager, and explorer myself, and that was long time since I’ve learned how to serve my clients sufficiently being out of the office.

Not always easy, but proper travel advisor needs to taste travel ingredients before combining them to the perfect itinerary and offering to clients – the same way the chef does when preparing his exquisite dish. And well… you can relay on my taste, I guess. I hold master’s degree in architecture, and I’ve got a bit of experience sleeping in the best of the best hotels of the world.

When I say “the best”, I mean not only expensive and high-branded. Even high brands are my best and easiest sellers, I’m always in search for what we call these days “authentic luxury”: hidden gems in alternative, less known destinations. I have many of those in my portfolio, and they are at your disposal if you are open to step off beaten roads.   

 

how it works?

Luxury travel business is all about connections.

Julia Kostina

More than any other business. My connections are your connections, and my hotelier friends (owners, GMs) are your friends. That is how it works. And works beautifully.

Being as independent in my work as I can handle, I’m proud to be part of one of the oldest travel establishments in Canada. Renshaw Travel is a family-owned luxury retail agency, 3 generations and tons of glamorous history, and me being with them for last 20 years. Literally, I’m not part of the family, but Don Renshaw Senior (the founder and true legend) was my mentor, somehow kind uncle and dear friend. I learned a lot from current owner Don Renshaw Junior, and oh…I remember Renshaw girls (3rd generation) being schoolgirls – now fabulous professionals and dear friends too.

All photographs on this site, with the exception of those of the Renshaw family, are mine and real. Call me old fashioned, but I’m known for travelling with real photo camera. I mean, camera, not a smartphone. Yes, it is heavy, and yes, you can’t post pictures to Instagram in real time, but quality requires a bit of effort (and back pain). When everyone goes Instagram-worthy, I go focused, and I think it is good to be different. It is true luxury. And quite authentic. Also they say that old-fashion is a new fashion these days. Like slow food vs. fast food.

I have few passions, and one of them is Italy. I’ve got as passionate about it, that I learned fluent Italian and travelled this packed with treasures country through and through. It is just a little part of what I can offer as a professional, but cherished part, and truly learned by heart.

Email me [email protected]. I’m here to make your next journey special. And easy.

what they say

Reviews & Testimonials

Dear Julia,
I am so excited that we have arrived in London and are at the Ritz! Thank you so much for the wonderful introduction to this beautiful city and hotel. Our room is incredible and there is champagne and birthday cake in our room! There is even a birthday card from the hotel! From the moment we arrived, everyone from the bell hop to the front desk to the concierge greeted us by name and wished me birthday greetings. I really appreciate your excellent attention to detail and for providing such exemplary service. Please give my thanks and gratitude to your GM friend and colleague here, we are so happy with everything. Love this city and hotel!!

Kind regards, Michele

Dear Julia
With your kind assistance, we had an amazing trip to Amalfi coast. Hotels were fab. Sergio was wonderful and handsome as ever????. Blue Capri was safe and reliable.

Can’t thank you enough.

Regards, Brenda, Vancouver

Aloha Julia,
Bill and I would like to thank you for making his birthday a special and memorable experience.

Our room upgrade was exceptional and his birthday cake was delicious.

They were able to give us a late checkout which we were grateful for.

Four Seasons Hualalai employees go beyond what is expected of them.

Friendly, happy and polite!

Regards, Bill and Jeanette

We are wrapping up our trip to Italy as we prepare to fly home tomorrow. I wanted to thank you for all your help in planning it. We had a wonderful time.

All of the hotels were very accommodating and made us feel very welcome and the concierge were all very helpful.

As I am sure you like to get feedback on the trips I wanted to point out that David at the Relais la Corte del Papi has a wonderful hotel and he is very friendly and helpful as well as serving excellent food. I highly recommend using his hotel for your clients.

The Capri Tiberio Palace was also very nice and extremely accommodating. We loved this Hotel.

The Santa Caterina is a wonderful Hotel in a wonderful setting over the water as well. Very nice. Wow!

So there is some feedback for you.

Overall we had an amazing time and want to thank you for arranging it all for us!

Scott & Judy, Vancouver

Dear Julia,

You have excelled yourself! Even as we arrived and had lunch in the bar before our room was ready we felt this was going to be our perfect short break vacation from now on. When we saw the upgrade to a suite with a simply beautiful view over Monterey Pines to the Kenmare river we could hardly believe it. We partook of our included dinner last night but enjoyed it so much we’re going back tonight (although perhaps for slightly less food!)

Thank you so, so much for organising this and please pass on our thanks to your contact – we’ll be back!

With best wishes,Adrian, Dublin

Hi Julia:
We got back to Vancouver last Saturday afternoon from our trip to Spain and Portugal and just wanted to drop you a line to say that – in no small part due to your assistance – we had a wonderful vacation.

The hotels you booked us into were nice with the Hotel Ritz, Madrid probably being our least favourite (pretty small and a bit ‘tired’ room) and the Six Senses in the Douro Valley being absolutely wonderful. The Hotel Alfonso XIII in Seville, the Four Seasons Ritz in Lisbon and the Intercontinental Hotel in Porto were all very good and the both the Hospes Hotels in Granada and Cordoba were surprisingly nice. Having the Virtuoso Amenities at all hotels was a very nice feature and made our stays at all the hotels just a little more special!! Also of great assistance was the concierge service at each and every hotel.

Just to repeat – the highlight of the trip was our stay at the Six Senses in the Douro Valley. The setting and the property are just beautiful. We could definitely see ourselves going back there some day and not doing as much moving around as we did on this trip!!

Thanks again for all your help. Look forward to working with you again on future vacations.

Best regards / Frances + George, Vancouver

Hi Julia,

I wanted to send you a quick note to thank you for arranging our trip to Croatia. All the connecting flights worked out perfectly. The hotels you suggested were very nice. We had a great time!

Regards, Wayne, Vancouver

Hi Julia!!!

Still dreaming of Italian days, nights, and the wonderful people we met on our trip.

I am very grateful to Pam who put us together, as without your help, we would not have had the most memorable vacation.

First, the accommodations were outstanding. Many thanks for being persuasive about The Santa Caterina in Amalfi. We were treated so well by all of the staff!!

Our upgrade was nothing like we have ever experienced, thanks to you. We sincerely could not believe our eyes. We drank a LOT of wine on the terrace overlooking the sea.

And Sergio. Well , what can I say. What a sweet man. I’m sure I drove him crazy with all of my questions.He is the consummate professional driver !!!! We felt so safe in his charge and he made our trip seamless and enjoyable. As you told me, well worth the expense.

With many, many thanks!!!!

Anda and Phil Teal, Vancouver

Lucie and I keep saying to each other when we visit these places you book for us that we are absolutely gobsmacked (a British-ism) how well they treat us. We’ve started calling it ‘the Julia effect’!

J.Parr, Crosspool, UK

Julia,

A big thank you from me and Teodora. We had a great event in Sorrento.

Everyone asked me why we chose Sorrento. I said I trust Julia! It was a great call versus Rome.

Batubay, London

Dear Julia,

Roberta and I just returned from our special 60th anniversary trip to London, Positano and Florence. Bravo to you for your outstanding help in making this “a trip of a lifetime”!

The hotels, the people and the service was World Class! Everywhere we went they knew about our anniversary and made every effort to make it special. You are very well known and respected and that made a big difference in the way we were handled.

Thank you agin for your T.L.C. in making this trip so wonderful.

Warm Regards, Stan Fishman, California

Hi, Julia.

We are back and just wanted to let you know we had a marvellous time in Italy. The accomodation was very good and people helped us when we needed anything. The 9 days at the borgo were very unique – we enjoyed the country experience and especially the people there.

Catia was excellent -she got our GPS going when it was not working and gave us plenty of ideas for touring the area. We saw a lot of beautiful countryside, hilltop towns and ate a lot of great food !

San Michele was a once in a lifetime experience – incredible ! The service was the best we have ever enjoyed in our lives. Who knows, we may return there in the future.

Thanks again for everything.

Regards, Moyra and Reg, Vancouver, BC

Dear Julia,

Just wanted to drop you a line to thank you for your assistance in organising Four Seasons Hampshire. To say it was amazing would be an understatement! We were welcomed back and there was a definite recognition from management as to our booking through you as a Preferred Partner. There were notes from the General Manager and Front Desk Manager and the Food & Beverage presented himself to us upon arrival to say that they had created some special Christmas cocktails for us and had reserved a table in the bar that evening. The cocktails were incredible and all complimentary. On Saturday they surpassed themselves by putting on a special ‘Mr & Mrs Parr’s Steak House’ menu (complete with personalised menus) in the restaurant as I’d mentioned in passing that I had really wished the Steakhouse were open during our stay. Everything, as always with FS Hampshire, was just perfect. In terms of room allocation I’m pretty sure they had given us the very best Grand Manor Room (1105). We had the three windows at the front right in the middle above the main entrance (see attached photo). The view couldn’t have been more perfect! Once again a huge thank you from both of us – it was just what we needed to recharge the batteries.

Best wishes, Jonathan, England

Good morning Jullia.

We have returned from Tahiti and we thank you for organizing out trip so well. Moorea was beautiful but Bora Bora was stunning and fun. We loved four seasons: great atmosphere. Really, the best we have seen so far. Thank you.

Elena.

Hi Julia

Thanks so much for your help with the Skyloft reservation – we had a fabulous time! This was the first trip that I took to Vegas where I wasn’t ready to come home!

Thanks again

Janet, Oakville, Ontario, Canada

Hi Julia,

I hope that all is well. I just stumbled across this old message chain, and it reminded me that I was never able to connect with you after our trip to the Amalfi Coast last year. I tried unsuccessfully to publish pictures from our trip online, with the intention to include you on the distribution list – eventually my wife just posted a few pictures to Facebook (which unfortunately, I’m not registered to).

At any rate, I wanted to tell you that it was an AMAZING trip, and your suggestions and assistance were very much appreciated. It was like a second honeymoon – there were simply too many wonderful experiences to list. Ravello is now one of our favorite places anywhere, and over the years we hope to return to the area many times.

Hopefully, you have had a chance to return since our last conversation – it definitely wouldn’t take much to convince us.

Best regards

JG, Washington, DC

Dear Julia

Just a note to tell you how very much we enjoyed my birthday break in Berlin.

The Regent was perfect in every way, and certainly one of the best hotels in which David and I have stayed.

We left on Thursday wishing that we could have stayed longer!

With thanks and best wishes

Jennifer Williams, North Yorkshire

Dear Julia,

Just a small email to let you know that our Skylofts experience was fantastic !

Warm regards.

Florian & Charlotte, Paris

Dear Julia,

We just get back from Miami – just to let you now we had a wonderful wedding in Mexico!

The place is great and the staff there were great!

Thanks again for your help!

Warm regards

Florian Lacroix, Paris

Hello Julia,

We’re home now and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Moscow & St. Petersburg. The guide & driver in St. P. were wonderful and very friendly and informative. They made our visit most enjoyable and memorable. Thank you also for all of your efforts on our behalf.

All of your suggestions were very well received and we will be referring other friends who may wish to travel to Russia and beyond.

We wish you continued success.

Yours truly

Gail & Howard Addison, West Vancouver

Dear Julia,

This hotel in Prague is out of this world. You were absolutely right!!!! I thank you many times over for suggesting it. The service is superb and the suite is something out of a fairy tale! The vacation is fabulous and very romantic.

Thank you again.

Karen Quinn, California

Julia:

I wanted to thank you for everything you did for us at the Signature. We were upgraded to a one bedroom apartment with a balcony in Tower 1. The apartment was gorgeous and we felt so comfortable. It was a great vacation. I’ll contact you in the future should we need help with a hotel.

Thanks again

Kate Freeman, Lansdale

Hi Julia

Just a quick note to tell you how much we are enjoying the Cirigan Palace. Our favorite place with out any doubt. I believe we received the best room in the same category that we originally booked. I am told the hotel is 98% occupied. We had a wonderful dinner as part of the Virtuoso package we received from you. It was really one of the best meals I have ever eaten. All is well.

Thank you again.

Rita Williams, West Vancouver

Dear Julia,

I have just returned from Italy after a most wonderful holiday with my family.

I would like to say thank you so much for all the trouble you went to on our behalf – we all so appreciate it.

Our rooms at Lungarno Suites were superb – and breakfast was delivered to our patio each morning to be enjoyed in splendour with that amazing view.

We felt like princes ( and a princess) at the Brufani Palace. The staff, despite being so busy with all the musos , were helpful and friendly, and our rooms were asuperb. I was so sad that I only had one night there and was quite teaful to leave. I had to return earlier than the others with my youngest son who is starting school again on Monday. I left the 3 others there very happy indeed!

And the Chick Corea concert was amazing and beautiful – enhanced of course by the best seats in the auditorium. Many many thanks.

I am sure Stanley contacted the manager personally to thank him.

Italy is always such a beautiful place to visit. We all loved our stay there.

I am grounded for a while in terms of international travel, but when I need advice and help again, I know where to get it.

With warm regards

Sheryl Ginsburg, South Africa

Hi Julia,

Thank you so much again! It’s such a pleasure to work with you. I now have even more reason to look forward to more vacations in the future — since I know you’ll be able to help us plan them!

Best regards

Luba Bigman, Houston

Hi Julia,

It’s amazing how easy it is to work with someone who is not even in the same country!!

Thanks again

Jannine Joyce, Chicago

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