NLT-150327-LC52345 [Jan 1, 1970,  from Australia]
Hello, Lillian, thank you for arranging our recent trip to China. rn rnWe have taken lots of photographs , met some very nice people, and now have many happy lasting memories .We thoroughly enjoyed finding a new local restaurant each night, and found that we could eat out most nights with a beer for around $25 Aussie dollars which for us was a highlightrn rnWe very much appreciated the convenience of the driver/tour guide aspect of the trip.rn rnWe must also thank Susan (the Guilin Guide ) and Novaland office staff for arranging a new itinerary at short notice. We left our original itinerary in our room at the New Globe Hotel in Xian, and despite numerous calls and a fax, we had no response from the hotel, to locating the missing file which contained personal information, such as medical and passport details and forward airline tickets . rn rnA special thanks also to Colby in Chengdu to waited until 3.30am for our plane to arrive from Guilin due to air traffic congestion caused by bad weather.rn rnWe found the majority of drivers courteous, and the guides friendly, well informed and had good command of the English language. rn rnThe high speed trains were awesome and we would use more of them should we ever visit againrn rn rnHere are a few notes we made from our trip rn rn rnHoliday Inn Central Plaza Beijing. Excellent staff , nice clean hotel room, would be happy to stay their again any time.rn rn Grand Nobel Xian, Nice room, centrally located., however, breakfast was a nightmare with just too many people, and no seating until staff cleared tables and there where long queues for breakfast food . We would not stay here again.rn rn Guilin Park Hotel Guilin. Nice hotel, great breakfast lovely riverside location with lights for an evening walk rn rn Green Lotus Hotel, nice hotel, good breakfast rn rnCelebrity Rucheng Chengdu Centrally located, but the worst hotel of our entire trip to China this hotel is not a four star hotel any more, the carpet in our room was filthy and the breakfast area was tired and in desperate need of a renovation. Breakfast was also disappointing for western tastes. Poor choice of hotel from Novaland and we would not stay their again.rn rnCrown Hotel, Yictang, very nice hotel, river view, good breakfast, not much to do in Yichang, in retrospect would have preferred to have caught the train to Shanghai as several of the cruise passengers did, at the conclusion of the three Gorges dam visit.rn rn Les Suites The Bund, Oh what a lovely hotel! and the pick of the trip, fabulous room, sensation view of the Pudong Area and service to match.rn rnSummary of the sights visitedrn rnBeijing, Tiananmen Sq, Forbidden City, Summer place, Temple of Heaven, Great Wall at Badaling, Cloisonne factory all iconic sights and well worth the visit.and the guide was very informatative. rnWhat we did miss out on was the Scared Road tour and somehow ended up with a retail tour of a huge Jade Shop, which was not on our itinerary , the purpose was apparently to have lunch! Howvever rather than sit in the dining hall, with other tour groups, we were escorted to a back room where another couple were seated food was just OK , but it was at least double the price of what we were paying for our evening meals, not good value at all. Not a good choice for lunch. rn rnHutong Tour, The rickshaw ride was also disappointing, it lasted around 15 minutes and doubled back on many of the same roads, the meal was tasty , but not really an authentic family lunch, just another tourist stop, we met the owner /chef which was nice. We found more authentic Hutongs ourselves that afternoon.rn rn We enjoyed the Terracotta warriors, guide however seemed have trouble in filling in the afternoon before we caught the plane to our next destination.rn rn Dumpling Banquet, Not sure how much Novaland paid for this, but a total disappointment, rushed, noisy surroundings, we did not know what we were eating, would have been nice to have an English menu. We have eaten better dumplings with far better service in Perth . Never again. rn rn Li River cruise, Very pretty , Susan the guide worked hard to point out highlights along the river, but not sure if the trip was necessary given that we were doing the Three Gorge river, a couple of days later, Could another option could be been presented? rn Not sure of the cost, but lunch was disappointing, as we were about the last couple to join the table as we waited to see the hills on the 20 yaun note. - a better alternative would have been to hold the lunch service until after those hills rn rn Reed Flute cave , beautiful and unique , Elephant cave and the climb to the top great exercise.rn rnChengdu, Pandas, (panda photos have not been permitted for about 12 months so suggest this is removed form your notes Wenshu temple and Jinli Street very interesting and made a great day out.rn rn Chongqing A visit to the old town for a couple of hours before we went to cruise. Great use of time available rn rnCelebrity LegendrnGreat boat, lovely cabin, clean, very pleasant hardworking staff, superb scenery, well organised shore excursions. We very pleased we took the dining option, and we were disappointed that we were asked to pay extra for Wi Fi, and English speaking movies, in our cabin, and for an optional trip to the bridge! you wouldn't expect to pay for these services in a four star hotel, so was hard to justify why on board. rn The biggest disappointment for us was the captains farewell dinner, all passengers were asked to be in the main restaurant at 6pm. What a free for all, we arrived at 2 minutes past 6 and there was 380 passengers swamping the buffet as if it was their last supper. A table call up would be a far better option. Tipping was out of control, with additional collection for the cruise director, who apparently does not participate in the the crew tips.rn rnShanghai rnDinner at the oriental Pearl tower, what an excellent night, and thank you for arranging the window seat. Our guide seemed to run out of things to show us in the time we had in Shanghai, so not sure if Novaland planning department put enough thought into planning our time in Shanghai. rn rn rnSummaryrnOverall, we were happy with with our Chinese adventure, However your companies policy of pricing everything in US dollars and emphasis on tipping, are aspects that would make us think twice about booking with Novaland in the future. rn rnWe believe this practice made the entire trip more expensive than it needed to be, and certainly compared to other Asian countries we have visited. , and we are not convinced that Chinese Nationals were asked to do the same. rn rnIt would have been worthwhile to get a “welcome pack” to china including city maps, city high;ights this would have help us get oriented quicker in the very large towns. Also we found that the guide kept many of the admission tickets to the places we saw, as a visitor admission tickets are quiet a nice souvenir for the photo album!rn rnHowever we will do more homework on this as we move forward with our next trip. rn rnAgain thank you for all of your hard work and patience with the emails.rn rnChris and Maurine
NLT-150327-YK55826 [Jan 1, 1970,  from America]
Hi Joanna,rnSo kind of you to ask about our trip! Everything has exceeded our expectations! You have done a beautiful job coordinating everything! Great job Joanna!!! I will give you details on our guides later! Chol Lee and Cindy are the absolute BEST!!!rnWill our guide in Busan give us our train tickets to Daegu and later Seoul?rnRegards,
NLT-150328-CJ38382 [Jan 1, 1970]
Yes Cindy our friend is here, they are very happy and impressed with all the arrangements, hotel was comfortable, coachrnWas good, and the guide was good and helpful .rnOn the last day our friend left early for the airport since the hotel staff advice due to pick season the crowd will be hugernSo better there well before, they took the taxi by themselves.rn rnThank You for all arrangements, will contact you in the next trip.
NLT-150328-TK54442 [Jan 1, 1970,  from Australia]
Hi TinarnrnYes, arrived safely home last night at 12.00 midnight and had a sleep in. I was going to email you anyway and thank you for organising the tour. I also wanted to know how to comment on Trip Advisor as we do appreciate what you did for us. rnrnThe hospitality from the Jeju branch - Jeha tours was amazing as this Jin actually came to the airport and helped us with the problem. That was why he could chat with you. The ground staff actually lend us her mobile phone to call around. It was incredible. I don't believe that we will get that in Australia or in many other countries. Both of them were very polite, calm and helpful.rnrnWIll tell you more and comment on your service as what you have stated below.rnrnI will definitely travel with Novaland tours again.rnrnTIna, you did a great job. Well done!! Maybe I will get to meet you one day when I go to China.rnrnRegards
NLT-150329-EK54681 [Jan 1, 1970]
Hi Emma, rnrnJust want to express my warmest appreciation to you and Novaland tours for a great experience for me and my children. That was so great. Looking forward for our next tour with you in the near future. God willing. rnrnRegards,rnrnNancy
NLT-150329-LJ35728 [Jan 1, 1970,  from America]
Dear LillianrnThank you for all the arrangements and we had a wonderful trip covering Tokyo, Mt. Fuji, Hakone, Kyoto, Kanazawa, Katayama and Shirakawa-go. Everything worked out well and everyone in our group enjoyed the trip.rnrnI will write to you separately soon.rnRegardsrnKumrnrnDear LillianrnThank you for all your arrangements. Sorry about the last day confusion at Shiba Park Hotel. I hope the hotel canceled one of the extra booking and did not charge you for it. I fould Shiba Park Hotel making many mistakes. They forgot to give us our train tickets and they also did not understand the duplicate booking. The computer is there to remind when passengers arrive.rnShiba Park Hotel has to get this fixed. rnrnI spoke to my friends and here is what they recommended:rnrn1. It will be beneficial if Novaland Tours gave the local (Japanese) contact agent's name and telephone number. We did not know who to contact except your international telephone number. rnrn2. Shiba Park Hotel MUST have a message on arrival that there is a package (say train tickets or name of contact etc) for all arriving passengers. Since everything is computerized it should be in the computer against the group name.rnrn3. Tour guide should be knowledgeable of local history. The guide we had (who was a student) was only good as a translator. rnrn4. All the hotels had the wrong name as when I gave my name they could not find it. Then we saw all bookings were under the name Kevin Chan. It will be easy if a group name is made and all bookings are under that group name.rnrnThe driver was a very good driver and we had a nice van to take us from Kyoto to Kanazawa, Takayama and Shirakawa-go. rnrnHope my comments helps you.rnrnQuestion for you: Do you have contacts in Myanmar (Burma)rnI am interested in going on a 4 day Irrawaddy River Cruise (November 24, 25, 26 and 27) I ONLY want the river cruise and no sightseeing tours as I am planning a stopover when I go to my home country of Sri Lanka. (party of two)rnrnRegardsrnThanksrnKum
NLT-150329-YK54160 [Jan 1, 1970]
Thank you very much for the great service accorded to our family.rnrnThe tour was great except that for children, going to the jewellry factory and the Ginseng Tea Shop are not of much interest to them.rnrnWe will surely recommend your tour in the near future.rnrnMRS CARMELA GO
NLT-150330-CC34620 [Jan 1, 1970]
Hi Cindy,rnrnOverall we had a good trip, except for Guiyang :rnrn1. The driver did not turn up, Nicholas the tour guide came some half hour later & he had to bring us out of the station to take 2 taxis to our hotel. The taxis do not have air-conrn2. The next morning, the driver again turned up more than an hour late to fetch us to Anshun. So I guess we skipped some sites there, like the waterfall at the Seven Star Bridgern3. The last day, luckily, the driver was on time, but he dropped us some 150 meters from the station. Nicholas the tour guide helped us with our luggage to the station.rnrnNicholas did try his very best, but with no support from the driver, I guess it was really tough on him. Suggest that Novaland do not use this driver again. Sorry that we have to say that.rnrnRegardsrnrnrnMargaret
NLT-150330-EK55672 [Jan 1, 1970]
Emma, we arrived home safely in Malaysia last Sunday night. Thank you for everything. You did a good job and I might need your help again next year for my Europe tour. Thank you again and nice knowing you.
NLT-150331-FJ54894 [Jan 1, 1970]
Thanks Alice for the reminder. Our first day is quite ok though my comment is that a very few time was allotted for the Asikasa visit. Also, the tour guide does not explain to everyone his topic. He usually engages in conversations to some group inside our group of seat in couch.rnrnI hope the tour guide tom will attend to everyone with full attention to all guests. Thanks and regardsrnrnHi Alice, our tour of Mt. Fuji and Hakone today is superb. Also, Yukari, our tour guide is far more better than Miyata (tour guide on apr 1).rnYukari is very efficient tour guide - she really attends to all of us 38 guests during the whole day of tour. She is an example of a very good tour guide. rnrnThanks for all the assistance and help. We are so far enjoying our stay here in JapanrnrnThanks very much for all the assistance Alice. I will recommend you to my sister who is visiting Japan (together with my mother and some friends) in May 2015. I enjoyed my vacation in Tokyo. Thanks to you!
NLT-150401-TK50845 [Jan 1, 1970]
Hi Tina,rnrnWe are back from our vacation.rnThank you for arranging a wonderful trip for us, my family really appreciate the help that you and Mr Young had given to us during the trip. We felt warm with your service.rnrnThanK you Novaland tours and we hope to contact your again soon for our next vacation.
NLT-150402-TK51574 [Jan 1, 1970,  from America]
Dear Tina and Novaland Tours,rnrnMy wife and I want to thank you, Novaland Tours, and Mr. Lee, Soo Bok, for an outstanding job during our visit to Korea. Mr. Lee was an exceptional tour guide. His commentary and insight were excellent and were full of insight. He understood what we wanted to see and did an outstanding job of representing your company and your country.rnrnOur warmest thanks and appreciation to you and Mr. Lee for a wonderful vacation.rnrnSincerely,rnrnDoug & Lani Moss
NLT-150405-TK55015 [Jan 1, 1970,  from America]
We are a group of 6 Vietnamese American and Canadian citizens who just returned home from a last week visit to Korea. I would like commend Tina at Novoland for a well coordinated 5-day private tour in Korea. Mr. Young , our Seoul tour guiide ,provided outstanding services throughout our 4-days stay in Seoul. He has very good command of English, outstanding knowledge of Korean history , and with great personabilties to be with . He was very flexible to accommodate specials requests from a couple of people for meals, changing of attractions from the original itinerary from my group. He went above and beyond to by taking us to Seoul vista view at night and more importantly , the rnmorning trip to DMZ shortly prior to our depature in the afternoon back to the US which were not included in the itinerary. It was a very historial moment for me at the DMZ We were touched by his personal escort all the way to the the final entrance of the security gate at the airport. I highly recommend having Mr. Young as your tour guide in Seoul. Once again, thank you Tina and Mr. Young at Novaland for a wonderful and unforgettable trip to Korea. Sincerely, WilliamrnrnVisited April 2015
NLT-150407-FJ53983 [Jan 1, 1970]
Dear Alice,rnrnEverything is fine with us.rnWe loved your tour and it was organized very well.rnThe food provided was also nice.rnrnHowever, you forgot to tell us about the JR pass and we ended up spending more money on our travel.rnPlease mention this pass to your other tour guests since it has to be bought before you enter Japan.rnrnWe are very happy with your tour and will definitely recommend your tour to my other friends.rnI will also write a favorable review for Novaland on Trip advisor.rnrnThanks.
NLT-150408-DK53559 [Jan 1, 1970,  from United Kingdom]
Dear Siva,rn rnThank you for your email which I just opened today.rn rnWe returned home last night from a three week tour of South East Asia.rn rnThe tour with Kim was excellent. We were extremely impressed with the way in which she handled our request to change the itinerary. This was our request not to visit any markets as we had seen many prior to arriving in Busan. She remained calm, offered us a change and delivered an excellent tour considering we only had 5 hours. Her command of English was very good and her knowledge of the history of Korea and the Buddhist way of life gave us a better understanding of South Korea and its people. rn rnOur visit to the memorial to victims during the Korean war and also the Buddhist temple by the coast will be very memorable to us for years to come.rn rnShe is a very capable guide, pleasant and gentle and we would highly recommend her to any of your clients. Her car and driving were excellent and comfortable.rn rnThe only down side was the lack of time against the total cost of the tour. At $340 for 5 hours we did feel it was expensive but understood that this was the day rate for Kim plus transport. However without Kim’s insight we would not have gained so much information or seen so much in the short time.rn rnWe hope to return to East Asia in the future and will take you up on your $50 reduction. Thank you once again Siva we will recommend your services to our friends.rn rnTom and Linda Salmon
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