2012-04-21 Julie Carlsen from USA

Tourist nationality: USA

Tour itinerary: Guilin-Beijing 7 Days Family Tour

Tour Reviews:

Hi Sarah, 

Thank you for all the wonderful experiences you helped coordinate for our family. It truly was an amazing experience that we will remember forever. Please see my answers below, and feel free to contact me should you need anything else.

1. Guide Service and Shops

a. In general, what did you think of our guide service? 

I found the guides very personable. When traveling with a small group, it is nice that they spend the time to get to know you and tell us about themselves. I think it helps us not only understand the culture better, but also enables us to be more forward with questions. In Guilin especially, Lydia directed us to some amazing meals. I think that because we all enjoyed each other so much, she had a better sense of what we were looking for. I found the number one thing the guides helped us with the most was food. If travelers are hungry (especially kids) they aren't able to enjoy themselves. In China, since so much of the food is unrecognizable, when someone can offer their personal opinion, it really helps.

b. Did the tour guides speak clearly and politely to make themselves understood? 

Yes. Their English was excellent and they were extremely polite.

c. Did the guides agile enough to deal with any emergency troubles? 

Yes

d. How often did each guide arrange stops at souvenir shops or factories? 

We were not interested in these types of stops. While I understand they might be all that can accommodate large groups of travelers, in a smaller group it was more desirable to "get off the beaten path" or be taken to places our guides would take their own guests or visiting families...

e. Did the guide seek your agreement to make such stops or did you feel pressed to do some shopping? 

We did not have any of these in Guilin. I think once John realized we weren't interested he accommodated our request fine.

2. Driver Service and Vehicle

a. How did you feel about our driver service? 

It was excellent.

b. Was your tour vehicle clean and equipped with air-conditioners? 

Yes

c. Also, was the room of the vehicle big enough for you and your families?

Why? The vehicle in Beijing was enormous...I kept waiting for people to join us :)

3. Hotels

a. How did you feel about the hotels we selected for you? 

They were a wonderful blend of Chinese culture with some western comforts. We especially loved the location of the Guilin hotel with the lake and park setting.

b. Especially about breakfasts, are the kids like these breakfast offered in these hotels? 

The breakfast buffets had a wonderful selection and made it very easy to fill the kids up before setting out for our days.

c. Which was your favorite? 

The Guilin hotel as mentioned above

d. Were there any you wouldn’t recommend to other travelers? Why? 

No

4. References

Would you mind serving as a reference and allowing us to post your comments on our website?

I'm happy to be a reference.