Reviews from Mr.Andy
CLIENT NAME: Mr.Andy
NATIONALITY: USA
TOUR DATE: Aug 06,2013
ITINERARY: 12 Days Hunan Children Reunion Heritage Tour
Hi Lisa,
I am sorry to be delayed in giving you feedback on our tour. Here is a high level summary of my thoughts.
Positive
+ In general, the tour guides were very good. They had positive energy and were willing to be flexible with the schedule when necessary (for example, when our planes arrived late at night and everyone was tired and needed a little extra sleep). There were a few things about the tour guides that were outstanding which I will detail below.
+ Emily, our tour guide in Guilin, was the best. She got a friend to deliver our bags to the airport early so that when we arrived, we did not need to wait to check our bags or get our boarding passes. This was exceptional service that we wished all guides would perform. She was also extremely friendly, happy and had a good sense of humor. She was able to converse and joke with the children and everyone liked her very much.
+ In Xian, Bruce was a very good guide and extremely knowledgeable about many things. Some of my family thought he talked a bit too much, but I enjoyed learning from him. When we toured the Terra Cotta Warrior museum, he could have done more to keep the group together - and to walk and talk (as opposed to stopping by the side of a building to give us a 'mini-lecture' which was difficult for the kids to sit still).
+ Our guide in Guangzhou spoke outstanding English and she was particularly helpful for us while shopping and to get us all to the airports.
+ The hotel in Guangzhou was excellent. Good size rooms. Very clean. Good food. Good location near shopping. WiFi throughout - rooms and lobby.
+ The bus drivers were all safe. They could all be a little more friendly, smile, and say "Hello" to everyone.
+ When my daughter was ill (stomach ache) in Chengdu, the guide (Lily) was able to devise a way for us to meet the family later in the day - by asking another friend of hers to pick us up and take us to the meeting spot. That was very creative and also terrific customer service.
+ Your obtaining my iPad and working diligently and creatively to return it to me was truly amazing.
+ We were happy with all the sites that we visited. Our favorite sites were: The Great Wall, The Li River, The Pandas, The Terraced Rice Fields, The Chan Clan Temple. We didn't realize that we would enjoy shopping as much as we did. We realize now that our children are not big fans of temples so if we were to go again, we would go to fewer temples.
Improvement Opportunities
- The hotel in Changsha was very poor. Lots of smoking - in the lobby and rooms. Air conditioning was not reliable. There were very few alternative food options near the hotel.
- The hotel in Beijing was very old. The food in the restaurants was expensive and was not very good.
- The Beijing tour guide's (Bamboo) ability to speak and understand English was OK, but not as good as the guides in all of the other cities. She did not seem to understand our questions as well as the other guides. Her microphone was not working well, and it was difficult to hear her. Sometimes she talked in her microphone when we were not close to her.
- For dinner meals, it would be ideal to stay at hotels where there are good restaurants in walking distance (outside the hotel - as the food is very good and much less expensive). Also, it would be good for the tour guide to provide recommendations for the best places to eat. This was the case with the hotels and tour guides in Xian and Guangzhou, so the meals were great.
- Before our trip, it would have been good to have a clearer schedule for when you would communicate with us so that we were not worried if we did not hear from you for awhile.
Overall Summary
We loved our trip! We learned so much about China and we were very please with all that we saw and did. We appreciate our guides and their customer service. We appreciate your attentiveness and responsiveness to our questions and concerns, as well as your handling of our Visa arrangements. We are especially impressed with your work in returning my iPad. Please let me know if you have any specific questions regarding my feedback or anything else where I can be helpful to you.
Warm regards,
Andy Chan
