Asia Vacations - Testimonials

Testimonial about Sharon Walters, Exotic Vacations and Tours Specialist: Thailand, Phi Phi Village

Hi Sharon -
You totally read my mind, I've been meaning to email you. So sorry for the delay. The trip was AMAZING!!! Thank you so much for putting together such an incredible honeymoon. It was so beautiful, well organized, and we had a blast.
The Phi Phi Village Resort was gorgeous and we had amazing weather. We went diving, went to Maya Bay, and Ton Sai. It was so incredible...the food, massages, everything was so good.
Pimalai was absolutely gorgeous as well. The hotel was incredible and we loved the island. We rented scooters everyday, rode elephants, and played on the beach!
The Four Seasons was beautiful...we didn't have much time in Bangkok, but the time we did was very special.
I would love to show you pictures - I'm adding them all on shutterfly and I will send you a link soon.
Thanks so much for arranging the trip, the pick-ups and service was amazing.

If you want to hear more details for further clients give me a call anytime.
I've been telling my family we should arrange something with you for next summer....a dive trip!
THANKS. Hope all is well with you.
Warm Regards,
Melinda

Testimonial about Linda Barber, Exotic Vacations and Tours Specialist: India, Bombay

Hi Linda,
Got in at 5AM today. Doing laundry ,etc, etc. This trip was "over the top". Micato is a first class operation. Don't send anyone to India with anyone else. Our every need was taken care of---just like being in a sedan chair. Micato's itinerary was exceptional. We saw so much but it was done leisurely so we did not come back exhausted. Guides, hotels, excellent. Michael said the trip was a huge success, just like Egypt. Our reputations were on the line for this one! Speaking of Egypt, what is it doing to your client base? Tell them to go to India instead. My itinerary is a good template. It was very hot and humid in Bombay and further south is worse. If people cannot take the heat, then my itinerary is for them. We did not do the Sound and Light because it was freezing in the evening and the guide said we would be bored since we saw the temples at Khajaraho that day. Instead we went to see folk dancing from different parts of India.

I was met at the airport in Delhi with a lovely gift, received a book on Jaipur as a surprise, and for my birthday I was given a pashmina shawl. In Bombay I was met at the airport with flowers. Guess they want to make a good impression. In addition Lisa or Kim called us several times to find out how we were and checked with our guide everyday. I told them I would recommend them highly to you.
You did good!! As usual!
Harriet

Testimonial about Sharon Walters, Exotic Vacations and Tours Specialist: Thailand, Koh Lanta Island, Pimalai

Hello Sharon
It was wonderful. The pictures and info on the web site was exactly what you got. The room was spotless. I didn't see one stray hair and
I'm the sort to notice. Room service and house keeping responded immediately as if I was the only person there. There were tiny ants in
the kitchen but they were so tiny it wasn't a big deal. I didn't notice mosquitos or any other pests.
I moved rooms because the guests above me were looking into my villa on several occasions and waved each time I looked up. They couldn't see into the entire villa, just the living room corner, but I moved because I felt like I needed to keep the blinds closed and stay away
from that end of the pool. The room I moved into was just as clean, with a smaller pool but no one could look down into my villa. There
were ants in that kitchen as well, again not a huge deal at all. They didn't get the car service right. When I arrived there was a big
sign with Pimalai, drivers with Pimalai shirts and the car had a big Pimalai sign on both sides, but they didn't have my name anywhere. So
I passed them by thinking there was another car .... nope, they had my name on a tiny "secret" piece of paper. I guess they missed the point
=)
I would go back.
Thank you for helping me find this place. It was a very nice vacation.

Ria

Feedback about our Australia, New Zealand, Asia Specialist: Cambodia, Six Senses Resort

Everything was fabulous (as always)! Thanks for all your assistance. The Six Senses Property in Nha Trang was unbelievable. Secluded, wonderful amenities, and outstanding service. Really all the hotels were top notch.

Thanks for all your help in arranging these tours. We will keep in you mind with our next trip.

Respectfully

Josh

Feedback about our Australia, New Zealand, Asia Specialist: Indonesia, Bali, Singapore, Four Seasons

Hi Hi!! Happy Holidays! I’m so sorry I didn’t respond. We returned to absolute chaos at work and I’m already in need of another vacation.

The trip was absolutely spectacular, it was everything we had hoped for and more – you certainly outdid yourself! Our favorites were actually Four Seasons at Sayan and Singapore. Bali is truly an incredible place to see, very relaxing and spiritual, yet – the rafting and cycling allowed for just the right amount of adventure.

I am headed back to work but wanted to make sure you heard back. We look forward to our next trip (which as of now is far on the horizon and we lack vacation dates) but we will be in contact soon!

Best Regards,

Josh
PS – How was the south pacific? We’ve talked a bit about Fiji and I know you’re quite the expert.

Australia, New Zealand, Asia Specialist: Thailand, Bangkok, Chaing Mai

Thank you so much. The trip was wonderful. We were already talking about when to come back even before we left. The accommodations and tours were excellent. Especially in Chiang Mai, the Chedi and tour guides were great. Really no problems in Bangkok, lots of European travels stuck due to the ash.

As always we were extremely pleased with the entire package. Looks like I will be going back to Afghanistan, so the vacation fund will be replenished. I will definitely be in touch with you once dates for our next get away develops.

Again thank you for all your work in putting together such a wonderful and relaxing vacation.

Sincerely

Josh

Testimonial about Sharon Walters, Exotic Vacations and Tours Specialist: Thailand, Bangkok, Krabbi

Dear Sharon,

Everything....and I mean EVERYTHING has been wonderful and magical. We're on Krabbi now and loving every second. I'm walking out to breakfast soon. Its as beautiful as you promised. Thank you for making me come here. You never disappoint.

I'll send more pics from here. And we loved the little part of Bangkok we've seen so far. They even re-arranged our schedule so we could see the Jim Thompson house. Very kind and accommodating. Everyone has been lovely. Thank you!!

Hope you are having a terrific week, sharon. We'd love to meet you some day!
-mb n mom

Testimonials about Caribbean, Fiji, Tahiti Specialist: China, Shanghai

Dear Sirs
,
Thanks again for helping us with our vacation. Le Meredien Shanghai was great - no complaints. We will likely stay there again next time we travel to Shanghai.

I'll be in touch with you once we determine our plans for the next vacation.

Best regards,
Ching

Testimonial about Sharon Walters, Exotic Vacations, and Tours Specialist: Far East, Diamond Princess Cruise

Hi Sharon,

Just a quick line to say how pleased we were with our cruise to the Far East on
the Diamond Princess - we had a truly blessed and fun time, it was fine- we could see everything and were so
central to everything. Thank you for that - and we would like to keep in touch with you regarding further cruises. We're looking at the Amazon, Cuba
etc.

Keep in touch and I look forward to hearing from you,

Blessings,
Anne E. Bailey

Testimonial about Kristi Fletcher Australia, New Zealand, Asia Specialist: Thailand

Dear Kristi:

We want to thank you for handling our trip to Thailand. We had a fantastic time and everything went smooth. You did a fantastic job for us and we will highly recommend you to any of our friends traveling to the Far East.

Again, thank you.

Kim and Wally Stuhlmann

Testimonial about Kristi Fletcher Australia, New Zealand, Asia Specialist: Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand

Kristi,

Everything went very well on the trip. The tours in Thailand were excellent! JoAnne has pictures of her with a fully grown Tiger with his head on her lap. His head is bigger than she is! We had a blast. The tour in Hong Kong was ok. There wasn't the same amount of attention that we got in Thailand. Using the trains in Japan is ok, but it is had to manage the bags in the train stations. That is a thought for other people to consider. There were no serious problems with any of the connections. The rooms were excellent all the way. The hotel in Hong Kong wanted a very high price for internet use. The rest of the rooms had free internet. The Marco Polo Hotel was not bad, but it is getting a little bit old and frayed on the edges. There was a slight smell of mildew in the room. We suspected that it was in the carpet. It didn't slow us down. JoAnne got her jade in Hong Kong and rings in Thailand. The hotels in Tokyo and Thailand were excellent. By the way, The Rex Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City is an excellent Hotel. The rooms were extremely large and comfortable. You might want to try to use it if you book anyone into Saigon.

Thanks for Everything

Jerry & JoAnne Casada

Feedback from our Thailand Specialist: Thailand, Phuket Island, Ko Sumui

HI TW Team,

Thank you so much for all of your help, our trip was amazing and well planned out! It seemed too easy going so far away and not having to worry about anything! The resorts were wonderful, we thought we definitely had the best ones wherever we went, especially in the islands b/c ours all had their own beaches whereas most hotels down there did not have direct access. We were able to upgrade our rooms at the Kata Beach Hotel in Phuket and the Phi Phi Island Resort. Phi Phi was by far our favorite place, very seculded and the resort was absolute paradise! I'm attaching 2 pictures of us for you.

I think the only thing we would change is the scheduling between Phuket to Ko Phi Phi to Ko Samui. It makes more sense to have gone to Ko Phi Phi, then to Phuket and then to Ko Samui b/c from Phi Phi to Ko Samui we were are the mercy of the boat schedules and flight schedules, both of which only run twice a day. The earliest boat schedule that left from Phi Phi to Phuket still wouldn't have allowed us to take the earlier flight from Phuket to Ko Samui (as there are only 2 flights a day, early morning and evening). So essentially we lost a day travelling (and more or less waiting at the airport). That would just be our advice for future booking, but we DEFINITELY loved every minute of Thailand, it was so beautiful! Thank you again for all of your help!

Best regards,

Ashley and Andy West

Feedback from our Japan Specialist: Japan

Michael,

We had a wonderful time in Japan! Your planning was perfect and everything went off without a hitch. The guides were great and helped us every step of the way.

Thanks

Andy

Feedback about our Australia, New Zealand, Asia Specialist: Malaysia

Dear Sirs,

Thanks for the well wishes over the last couple weeks. Robin and I had a great time on the honeymoon. Everything went really smoothly and the service in both countries was unparalleled. Seriously... in Langkawi, it was the best overall service I've ever had at a hotel.

Singapore was scorching hot, but we used the metro to jump all over town, and it was really easy. We had the most fun in Chinatown, eating weird unnamed foods and meeting random people. The street food is SO good. Hard on the system but really really tasty. We had one nice dinner at Rang Mahal (Indian restaurant at the Pan Pacific Hotel, I think?) and it was excellent.

Both the Andaman and the Datai were amazing properties. The service, as I said above, was more than excellent. Everyone was prompt and courteous. Smiles everywhere. It was weird... the staff was invisible and yet doted on us the whole time. We were so happy with it.

It rained pretty much non-stop while we were there, which actually worked out nicely, because you could really only take an hour or two of sun at a time. We saw a ton of wildlife, which is one of my personal favorites. We got chased by a monkey... it was special. The spas were great, but not really worth raving about. The food at the Andaman was pretty mediocre, with the weird exception of the beach bar. The food was much better at the Datai, especially at the Thai Pavillion restaurant.

We also had dinner at the Four Seasons' Ikan Ikan restaurant, which was excellent. Besides that, we ate at the street markets and a traditional Chinese seafood restaurant in town, and both were great and a lot of fun.

Pacific World did a great job with all of the transfers. Out of the six drivers, five couldn't have been friendlier. That's pretty good odds. The company checked in with us at each stop and they coordinated well with hotels.

Side note... Robin and I want to thank whoever set up the six o'clock checkout at the Datai over and over again. That made our traveling so much easier, so thank you very very much.

Cathay Pacific wasn't the most comfortable, but coach never is, and I think we just got a bad draw in terms of older planes. We got stuck with the electrical box seats a couple times, but we switched back and forth and made do. Silk Air was great.

What else am I missing?

The cost of everything was really pricey, but I expected that. There were basically no Americans anywhere, only English and Russian tourists, which we thought was fun. The beach was great, but the water was really dark, so I think snorkeling and diving was pretty non-existent. We didn't rent a car, we just used the hotel car service, and it was really easy. Pricey, but they wait around for you, so you can change your schedule on the fly. We took a cooking class at the Andaman, which I highly recommend. Worst meal: Japanese Restaurant at the Andaman. Best Meals: Ikan Ikan at the Four Seasons, The Pavillion Restaurant at the Datai, and Din Tai Fung at the Paragon Shopping Center in Singapore.

Anyway, thank you for all of your help. Robin and I had a wonderful trip and we appreciate all your work in making it go so smoothly. It's funny... Robin made a comment about four days in, while we were sitting by the pool: "You know... I don't think I want to travel anywhere but southeast Asia again." She was a little nervous about it before we left, so it's a testament to how well things went. Thank you again.

-Jim

Testimonial about Kristi Fletcher Australia, New Zealand, Asia Specialist: Thailand

Kristi,

We recently got back from our honeymoon that you set up for us. Our trip to Thailand was phenomenal. We want to thank you personally for setting our itinerary with such efficiency and attention to detail.

We just wanted to thank you and your company for everything and will certainly use your services for future vacation.

Regards,

Gretchen & John

Feedback from Bob Mc Millen, CEO of Travelwizard.com about India visit April 1st: India,

We just returned from the 4^th annual Virtuoso Chairman’s Recognition event that just concluded. This exclusive trip is by invitation only, with member agencies selected based on overall production!

The incredible, eight day event crisscrossed India by private jet. We visited Delhi and Mumbai, as well as to more rural areas like Udaipur and Jodphur, and had a fantastic stay at the Oberoi Udaivilas; named Top Hotel in the World by Travel + Leisure readers in 2007. Other highlights included:

A “family” wedding hosted by Aman
Tours of Colonial Delhi sightseeing by Amber Tours
Private tours and shopping in Udaipur and a dinner at the Udaipur City Palace hosted by Micato Safaris
Dinner and fireworks at Oberoi Udaivilas hosted by Oberoi Hotels and Resorts
An in-depth city tour
A final gala reception at the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower hosted by Taj Hotels with everyone dressed in traditional Indian garb

It is difficult to convey the sensory overload such a trip brings with it. I am hope that my videos will show what its like in India.

We stayed at the Oberoi New Delhi, Oberoi Amarvilas and Oberoi Udaivilas, the Taj Lake Palace, The Imperial, the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, The Taj Palace, Umaid Bhawan Palace and Aman New Delhi---all great hotels.

The on-sites all did a great job: Peirce & Leslie Amber Tours.
The tour operators Micato Safaris; Greaves Tours.

One of the memorable events was sitting with the Maharaja of Jodphur during a dinner event. I video’d the event---it was way over the top in opulence! I hope to have the videos on our web site in a couple weeks.

Bob Mc Millen

Testimonials about Paul Breen, Asia, Hawaii, Caribbean and Mexico vacation specialist:

Hi Paul,

Just to let you know we had a wonderful holiday. The tour guides were excellent. All went to plan . We had a good variation of destinations with perfect weather. We really did not waste one minute. United Airlines also were very good. The only problem we had was the hotel in Singapore. The Elizabeth was misrepresented in all the sites I looked at. It was smokey, I am not a smoker and rarely object to the smell but it was overwhelming. We changed to the Intercontinental. Just beautiful and close to Raffles.

We paid for this separately. Your rep in Singapore said that a refund would be made by Swain Travel for the 3 nights we did not use at the Elizabeth. That was the only glitch with our vacation.

The Metropole in Hanoi was fantastic. The boat trip to Ha long Bay was stunning as were the tombs in Hue. In fact we used the National Geographic tour book for Vietnam, all of the places we visited were in it.

We even managed a 13 hour tour into China. Alex our tour guide was superb. All our guides were superb.

Thanks again for a fabulous vacation, good value and perfect planning.

Gwen and Keith

Testimonials about Paul Breen, Asia, Hawaii, Caribbean and Mexico vacation specialist:

The best trip ever. We had an unbelievable time. We upgraded at the Briza to an ocean front, on the sand villa. It was unreal. Our own private patio on the sand, private pool, beautifully appointed, canopy bed and fabulous spot. The food was tremendous with one of the best restaurants I have ever ate at. Daily massages for about $8.00 an hour. A motorbike for $50. for the week. We got exit row seats together both over and back with tons of leg room. The best vacation and best 11 days of my life.

Thanks.

Testimonials: Asia, Europe, exotic tours, luxury cruises and vacation specialist:

Kristi,

Hey, thanks for the nice note and the great experience visiting Thailand! I had an awesome time and probably will return to Thailand if I ever get the opportunity. I don't know if you have ever been to Thailand, but if not, I would recommend you go if you get the chance.

I really enjoyed the Floating Market & Rose Garden Tour. The cultural show & dances at the Rose Garden were outstanding. Also, the Siloam Village Dinner and theater was nice.
I also took an optional tour to Ayuttyah (the ancient city & ruins) that was great and if I would have had an additional day at Bangkok, I would have gone on the Bridge over the river Kwai tour also. Some of these tours also have 2-3 days options, where you stay over and do and see more.

At Phuket, I enjoyed everything. The Phang Nga/James Bond Island cruise was nice, but I also went on a Sea Cave Cruise in the same general area that I highly recommend. Also, the Phi Phi Island cruise, I recommend upgrading to the speedboat which I did, as you get to see more, make more stops and do more swimming and snorkeling in the coral reefs. There is also an afternoon overland nature tour topped off with an evening dinner cruise in the bay that is really nice for couples.

Anyway, as you can guess, I had a really great time.

Thanks again.
Dennis Bos

Kristi,

Thanks you so very much for the Japan tour coordination. Everything exceeded my expectations! The guided tours were educational. During that week, Japan was hit with a typhoon, earth-quake, and tsunami warnings. There were no tour interruptions, and everything went as planned and on schedule. Japanese people are very calm when it comes to seasonal occurrences - "it's nature taking its course". Japan is a exceptional place to visit. The natives as very courteous, and the hospitality is superb. I truly experienced a taste of Japan, and would love to visit there again. We covered more than enough in a eight day period of time.

In addition, we were well-pleased with the hotel accommodations and locations. Even with the language barrier, the daily itinerary was well organized and easy to follow. I will definitely recommend your travel agency to others, and will use you again in future travels.

Have a great summer!

Lisa

We had the times of our lives. AMAZING. We will talk soon. Sooooo tired. Gotta play with my dogs. Thanks again Richard. We can't thank you enough. We're gonna be sending everyone we know your way when its time to travel.

Private name

The trip was amazing. Every pick up time that you arranged was prompt. Everybody was friendly and professional. I have already referred two people to travelwizard.com and I will personally use you again when I plan my next big trip.

Hi Michael,
I want to thank you for the amazing job you did with our trip. It was truly one of the most magical trips I have ever taken. I will contact you this week with the details. Hope all is well. We will probably go to

I hope all is well. I usually wouldn't forward these types of e-mails on to you because I feel doing a good job should be a requirement, but the client sent this and also left a message wanting me to make sure that my employer/supervisor new he had enjoyed the trip.

I am actually sitting at the airport with my wife in Tokyo. The trip was truly magic and amazing! You precise planning made it all the more the more enjoyable. Thanks again for the great work! Im happy to serve as a reference if you ever neen one.

Dear Sam:

The trip was absolutely great, We returned just a few hours ago. In Japan, the services rendered by JTB as well as others is nothing short of A+. Hyatt hotel in Kyoto ws superb. So was the hilton at Honolulu. Everything went well.

You can put me on your mailing list for the next attraction. We have an interest to spend one week in Spain.