Thank you for your good wishes. We arrived home in good health but (naturally) a little tired from all the travel - 9 hotel transfers, 2 overnight train trips, 4 Vietnam / Cambodia plane trips and an overnight flight home in three weeks. On reflection it was a wonderful experience, very different from any other of the many holidays we have undertaken.
We were very satisfied with the services - reservations, guides and drivers - you provided and thank you for the itinerary change you made for us whilst we were in Vietnam. We have no hesitation in recommending your company to any travellers from our country who wish to travel extensively through Indo-China in the most "user friendly" fashion.
As this was our first visit to Vietnam we were keen to see a lot of the country. Whilst we are in good health for our age, this turned out to be a little too ambitious for us - our fault.
The trip to Sapa was really exhausting. We found the overnight train trips were not a good experience and the luxury carriage inadequate. On the morning we arrived in Lao Cai, we visited the Flower H'Mong market. It was really colourful and a special experience but the drive took 3 hours each way on difficult mountain roads in poor weather.
We would recommend that you warn customers who are going to Sapa, especially older ones, of the extent and difficulty of the travel. Whilst it wastes a day each way, if travellers have enough time / money we would recommend day train to and from Sapa.
The guides were all very good and especially helpful with after tour advice on eating and shopping, etc. The drivers were all highly skilled in the difficult traffic conditions we encountered especially in Hanoi, Saigon city and the mountain areas. Having these guides and drivers took all the stress out of travelling in non-English speaking countries with unfamiliar languages.
As to the accommodation and places, all satisfied our most important needs for cleanliness, cooling, comfortable bed and adequate bathroom. Due to its location and position within the hotel, our suite at the Grand Hotel (HCMC) was quite noisy. All the hotels served good breakfasts and some were exceptional. Given some hotels were much dearer than others it is not fair to rank them without regard to price. Nevertheless these were our impressions:

1. we really enjoyed staying at "La Residence Hue" and the Hue area. This is a very elegant art deco / colonial hotel that had excellent staff, amenities and food and warranted another day of relaxation to utilise all these things and for further sight seeing / shopping within Hue central;

2. "Hotel De La Paix" in Siem Reap is the most fabulous hotel we have stayed in but not quite as welcoming and easy to meet others as La Residence Hue. It has one of the most magnificent pool setting we have ever seen. The Angkor temple sites are stupendous and Siem Reap was worthy of another day;

3. The Indo-Chine junk and Halong Bay were magnificent;

4. The Hotel Victoria Sapa is a nice place but we had shocking weather (0 - 2C) whilst there and did not get to see the famous views from the hotel of the surrounding area;

5. The alternative visit to the ancient capital of North Vietnam and the Tam Loc / 3 caves river journey were a great substitute for the Perfume Pagoda visit;

6. The two hotels we stayed at in Hanoi - Hoa Binh Palace and Rosaliza - were very good considering they are 2'nd rung hotels. Of the two we slightly preferred the Hoa Binh Palace as a hotel but preferred the less noisy position of the Rosaliza;

7. the Beach Resort in Hoi An claims to be 5 star but we would rate it far less. It is not in the same class as La Residence Hue and Hotel De La Paix.
On the other hand, we were very unlucky with the weather in North and Central Vietnam and did not have any sunlight until the last day in Hoi An. We had a lot of tailored clothes made up in Hoi An. These were all very good quality and exceptional value for Western tourists as is the food throughout Hoi An and indeed everywhere we went in Vietnam;

8. whilst we had a lovely suite in the old section of the Grand Hotel HCMC, we were not impressed with the hotel as the room was noisy, the light, TV and air-conditioning controls too complex, the pool sub-standard and the front office staff not as friendly as everywhere else. Perhaps this is standard in HCMC ? The pool was really disappointing as we were looking to some relaxing times in the heat by the pool yet the pool area only has sunlight for a few hours a day and is in a v poor setting with very few deck chairs for the hotel size. We could have cut back HCMS another day.

Warmest regards,
Howard and Anne Silver from Sydney, Australia

Wonders of Indochina in Jan and Feb 2008

Dear Tommy,

Thank you very much for the wonderful time in Vietnam. We enjoyed the trip and and like your country and your people. The organization was perfect, so everything worked excellent. All accommodation in Vietnam were superb, especially the Nam Hai Resort in Hoi An. Thank you again for the great experience on the Jasmine Junk in Halong Bay and your great support for having an upgrade. The guides and drivers in the different places we visited were extremely kind and very helpful. Thank you also for arranging german speaking guides. We will definitely recommend you and your company to our friends and everyone else. I hope that we’ll come back in the next years.

Best regards and all the best to you

Helmut and Beate Zahn

Schießstättstr. 22

82319 Starnberg

email: helmut@zahn-sta.de

Click links below to see  travel stories written by 

Ennid Berger and David Berger from New York, USA

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Dear Tommy,

 "As for Vietnam, we will not be returning anytime soon. We had a fun time golfing and the tour agency's arrangements were top notch; however, the weather is similar to LA's "June Gloom" of gray skies and haze. The best golf course was Phoenix in Hanoi. It has the "wow" factor. It is unique in the world and the Korean's have the right idea of building several courses with a hotel/villas so that golfers can just go there and stay in the compound and spend all their time there without having to fight the scooters, pollution, poor roads, and dodging traffic collisions and street vendors. Although Long Thanh was voted best golf course in Vietnam for 2007, Phoenix's Championship course is the course to play. Long Thanh is beautiful and only two other groups played the course on the day we were there. Phoenix is "Ha Long Bay on land." The second course at Phoenix is also worthwhile to play. King's Island is unique because you have to take a boat over to the course but the condition of the greens were poor and the layout of some of the holes were weak. We played the mountain course which we were told was not the best of the two, so maybe the other one is spectacular. Chi Linh, voted the most difficult course in Vietnam, lived up to its reputation. We played 36 holes there and it was spectacular... a must play in Vietnam. Dalat is a pretty town and has pine trees instead of palm trees but the course does not have the "wow" factor. Although Richard birdied the 16 hole all three rounds we played, we were upgraded to the Presidential suite, the French restaurant Rabineau was elegant and delicious, it was memorable but is not a town we would go back to. Overall, the Vietnam golf courses we played are all very scenic and enjoyable and certainly recommendable; however, the poor roads, traffic, noise, chaos on scooters, and weather does not incite us to return within the next few years. There are too many other countries to visit for golf, including China which would be our next golf adventure. The Hyatt's Opera Italian restaurant was the best with a very relaxing after dinner drink in the jazz lounge! Sheraton's food is just average but the rooms were huge with the best view of Saigon. The Sofitel Metropole is the hotel to recommend in Hanoi. The Spices restaurant had excellent Vietnamese food without having to venture out of the hotel but the French restaurant was maybe a B-. The hotel is in the old quarters and had the best service/ambience of all the hotels we stayed at. It is an oasis. Thanks again for your perfect arrangements.

R. P and K.Y. P from Los Angeles, USA

Vietnam Grand Golf Tours in Dec and Jan 2008

Dear Tommy,
Ninette and I would like to congratulate you for putting together an absolutely unbelievable holiday package that we will never forget. One large Australian travel agent and airline company both cancelled our tours at the last moment for no apparent reason after holding our deposit for five months and left us in a real dilemma as we had already paid for the international airfares. We chose Luxury & Leisure Travel off the internet by chance. Your company did a fanstasic job to put together a holiday package within a few weeks to suit our needs. The hotels you chose were first class. The service, food and position of the rooms would have suited a movie star. All the guides were very entertaining and informative and all the drivers were very courteous and drove safely at all times. We would have no problem travelling with your company again and would recommend our friends to travel with your company. The little problem with the visa was entirely our fault as we should have applied for a multiple entry instead of a single entry, but we will put that down to experience and we will know next time. Touring Vietnam and Cambodia with your company was an absolutley 10 out of 10 experience.
WELL DONE LUXURY & LEISURE TRAVEL
Best and kindest regards
Robert & Ninette Crockett from Sydney, Australia (email: ...optusnet.com.au)
Signatures Of Indochina in January 2008
 P.S. We wish you and your family all the best for the Tet celebrations

Hi Tommy,

Thanks for the email and nice to hear from you !!!

We thoroughly enjoyed the tour. The drievrs and guides were excellent on all segments of the trip. Most enjoyable with only four people. The itinerary was top notch as well as the hotels and meals. Your tour guides and drivers are the best we have ever dealt with, very efficient, friendly and courteous. We enjoyed Vietnam very much and we will highly recommend you to anyone interested in going to Vietnam
Best regards,

Mr. Maureen &  Mrs. Clayton Wickens
Mr. Lawrence & Mrs. Dianne Swabey

From Nova Scotia in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Classic Vietnam in Jan 2008 

Dear Tommy, Thank you very much for your wonderful trip that you had organized for us to Vietnam and Cambodia. We enjoyed the trip very much.  We have been very pleased.  Thank you for sending Mr. Hai to meet us after the mix up with connections.  He is a very good guide.  Mr. Ming is an excellent driver as well

Lois Pesola, Anthony Pesola and Katherine Pesola

16146 Lake Side Ave SE Prior Lake, USA

Treasures of Indochina in Dec 2007

Dear Tommy,

Michael and Joel are Much better and the hospital was very good. Vu was absolutely fantastic. He did a really great job for us in Saigon!! Despite the accidents in Phu Quoc we are very happy with our trip and your team. Thank you very much for all your help. We will come back to Vietnam and yes we recommend you strongly.

Robert Fitzpatrick & family
Pritzker Director, Museum of Contemporary Art
220 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, Illinois  60611, USA

Jewels of Indochina starting from the 29th of Dec until 12th of Jan 2008

Dear Tommy,
The trip was fantastic ! The tour guides and drivers were all very professional and the standard of hotels were exceptional.
We both had a very good time and will highly recommend Luxury Leisure Travel and Vietnam to other South Africans.
It was, for us, a great insight into your country and culture. We are truly amazed at the politeness, respect and dignity that the Vietnamese people have. You must be proud to be Vietnamese. Thank you once again.
Steve Mcdonald & N from Germiston, South Africa
Classic Vietnam in Dec 2007 and Jan 2008

Dear Tommy,

We had a wonderful time in Vietnam.  We enjoyed your country and your people. The tour guides were great. We enjoyed Christmas in our country with our children and we can hardly believe that it is already well into 2008!  We wish all of our tour guides and your company and staff a happy 2008.  I would like to mention that Tiger (we had him in Central Vietnam as a guide) was my favorite out of our guides.  He loves his country and shared his war experiences as a boy with us that made it so much easier to "understand" what it must have been like living during the war.  He taught as about your customs and food and we enjoyed his humors.  The hotels we stayed in was excellent and vehicles were comfortable and in excellent condition.  The guides were functional and reliable. They were very helpful and went out of their way to make the holiday an unforgettable experience.  We will definitely recommend your company and country to any fellow South-Africans.

Kind regards,

Liana Grunewald and family from Pretoria, South Africa

Classic Vietnam in December 2008

I would like to thank you for the great trip you have put together for us. In addition I would like to give you a special thank for the very professional way you handle your business. Even though the pick up at Ha noi airport did not work, I was very happy that you have a 24 hr phone line to contact you and you had found a solution to get us to the hotel at the spot.

We all appreciated this great service. The trip was just fantastic. The hotels were all great. The Victoria in Hoi an was really super.

Ben van Vlaanderen and family

4 Chemin de Botterel, CW1222, Vesonaz, Suisse

A Glance of Vietnam from 26 of Nov to 03 of Dec 2007

Thank you for asking and for following up.  This demonstrates and confirms my impression of Vietnam's people genuine hospitality and culture that we enjoyed so much.  The services that was offered to us thru you and your company was in most cases beyond our expectations.  Your guides and drivers were always helpful and very informative and have made our journey very enjoyable and pleasant, particularly the driver in Hue who stayed with us all the way until he made sure we got out of the flood and our flight was not cancelled.  This demonstrates the dedicated service. The customization of the tour and the schedule that you have set up for us was excellent and as you said (price very competitive!) and I sincerely appreciate that.  We were able to see the whole country from North to South at our easy pace at our leisure.  To say the least, I would not hesitate to recommend the same package with you to any of our friends. Tommy, thank you so much for the follow up.  Looking forward to organizing another fabulous package with you again.

Sincere thanks, and hope to hear from you soon.
Mr. Saliba Tawil and Mrs. Nadia Fhaed Yacoub AbuGhazaleh

Ray McDermott Middle East Inc
P. O. Box 16961, Quay No. 8 Jebel Ali, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Classic Vietnam in November 2007

Sheraton Hanoi Hotel was excellent. Everything was first class. The only thing could be better was the English speaking of the tour guide on the boat in Halong Bay.

Ersten Imaoka

4669 Sugar land Circle, Concord, CA 94521-4310, USA

Classic Vietnam in November 2007

All accommodation in Vietnam were superb. You have excellent driver, he is very polite and always with a smile.  Hoa is a very nice tour guide with a perfect English skills and deep knowledge of many aspects of Vietnam. He is also very patient, helpful and friendly

Blanca Señor - Vice President Latin American Sales

Otis McAllister, Inc. 160 Pine Street, Suite 350, San Francisco, CA 94111

Hanoi Stopovers in November, 2007

Your booked accommodations are perfect, drivers are accommodating and vehicles are comfortable. Hai is very nice and professional! THOROUGH, HELPFUL. A BIG THANKS TO HIM.

P & Estelle Hendler from 1955 Ocean Way, Laguna Beach, CA 92651, USA

Classic Vietnam in October 2007

Dear Tommy,

We are back home again. We had a wonderful tour through Vietnam and to Siem Reap. Your tour planning and organization was absolutely perfect. The guides and drivers in the different towns we visited were excellent and very helpful.  We will recommend you to our friends. Thank you very much !

Kind regards

Sigrid an Dr. Alfred Jensen from Hattingen, Germany

Treasures of Indochina in November 2007

Dear Tommy & John,

Five days has gone by so quickly with this VIP  event in Cambodia. And I must say it has been a wonderful and fruitful experience and the business relationship we have had. I have enjoyed so much there and I appreciate having had the opportunity to work with all of you. Thank you for all your support, co-operation and encouragement that you have provided me during my stay in Siem Reap.
Last but not least, I wish all of you good health, happiness and great success!
Photos are attached for good memory ^_^!
Best regards,
Selina Wu from Apex Management & Consulting in Beijing, China

Asia Pacific Motorola Elite Partner Club in October 2007

Dear. Mrs. Ta Thu Trang

Luxury & Leisure Travel in Hanoi,

Thank you so much for the most unexpected and beautiful flowers brought to me by Anh. I am overwhelmed by the generosity of your gift and will treasure the beautiful shawl for many years to come. 

I would also like to thank you personally for the excellent service your company has provided to us. Corresponding and making arrangements with Tommy has been such a pleasure - I really enjoyed planning the holiday with his guidance and knowledge.

The service here in Vietnam have been tip top so far, from the moment we met Thai and our driver Phuc at the airport. We have really enjoyed Thai's detailed explanations and share in his provide of his country. We have been in the hands of the most careful drivers in excellent vehicles, both in Hanoi and in Sapa.

On top of all that, thank you for giving us the upgrade to the Royal Bhaya Royal Suite. For a short while, we lived like Kings on this beautiful boat.

We look forward to the next two weeks of our trip, in the knowledge that Luxury and Leisure Travel have done everything to make it so great.

Jeff and I send thanks and greetings to you and all your staff,

With best wishes,

They had sent us their comments after the trip

We had an excellent time in Vietnam. We were happy with the GHM Nam Hai Resort in Hoi An. The Princess and the staff were wonderful. We want to come back when we can stay longer. Thank you very much for your arrangements.

G. Johnson-General Counsel
CIC Energy Corp, Inanda Greens, Ground Floor Augusta House, Unit 6 Albertyn Street, Wierda Valley Sandton. P O Box 784938. Sandton 2146

Dear Tommy,

After a great honyemoon we have returned. It was a perfect honyemoon and I would like to thank you and your staff for a great and well organised honeymoon. The guides who were with us were very nice and good english speaking. The accomodations were perfect.
Thanks again for everything, I will recommend your services to my friends and familiy and of course in the future we will for sure make use of your great services again!

Kind regards

Mark van der Beek and party from Hazenstraat, Hilversum, Netherlands

Vietnam Classic Honeymoon Luxury Package in September 2007

Hanoi Hilton Hotel is wonderful, cooperative hotel staffs on the Executive Floor. Safe and experienced driver made the 3 hours as comfortable as possible. Hoa is one of the best guides we have ever had. I would recommend him to any friend more than being knowledgeable. Hoa made the day a complete believable. Luxury & Leisure Travel has made our stay in Hanoi wonderful and easy, making complicated arrangements to become simple. We are extremely grateful.

Mr. and Mrs. Paul Aferiat - Hanoi Stopovers in June 2006

123 Fith Ave, 13 A, NY, New York 10011, USA

I could not complain anything. Everything was excellent

Wolpe Family - Vietnam Stopovers in June 2007

22 Rosebank road, Rosebank JHB, South Africa 2196

It is a nice trip, all accommodation booked through you were superb and we enjoyed. Thanks for your perfect arrangements, especially for Thai's professionalism. 

Sherry Pool, William and family - Vietnam Stopovers in August, 2007

12 B Tower 2, Red Hill Peninsula, Hong Kong

Everything was excellent. Your tour guides were very informative. They took care of all logistics and made us feel like special guests. The Six Senses Spa resort is amazing! Thank you so much for organizing the upgrade.
Greg Stern and Rita Barcia, PhD - Vietnam Classic Honeymoon in July 2007
Schepens Eye Research Institute,Harvard Medical School

Accommodations and locations were all excellent. Conditions of vehicles were also very good and drivers were very accommodating. Our tour guides are friendly and knowledgeable. Thanks!

Mr. James Coates and Family - Vietnam Stopovers in June, 2007

56 Kildare Rd, Newlands 7700 South Africa

Tour guide was excellent, your driver was courteous, good knowledge of roads and on time. Service was excellent and responsive by Luxury & Leisure Travel in Vietnam throughout from first email. One thing is we spent many wasted hours waiting from the time we left boat until flight to Hue. Perhaps we could have gone to Halong bay first but I am not sure you could do it. Anh was also an excellent and informative guide in Hue and Hoi An.  We are enjoying Ana Mandara very much!

K. P and R. P (Tourist names are confidential) - Best of Vietnam in August, 2007 

2 Honeyguide lane, Steenberg Estate, South Africa

All accommodation is very beautiful. Lai is very calm and good driver. Our tour guide was excellent and very helpful. We are very happy to have him. He gave us good knowledge about Vietnam. Everything was perfect. Thank you!

Classic Honeymoon Tours in Aug - Sep , 2007

Reetta Kotkaniemi and Miettinen Sami - Finnish Citizens in the UK
No 1, 25 Hamilton Road, London W5 2EE, The United Kingdom

Good morning Tommy,
 
Many thanks for your kind email and yes, indeed, we are back in the land of sand and happy to unpack our rucksacks and see the dogs again!
 
The tour programme, as booked through your company was absolutely PERFECT.  What I particularly appreciated, in order of importance, was
1.  your kindness and willingness to make changes to our programme as we went along.  ( Amended train/flight bookings, amended hotel booking in Sapa due to trekking changes).  That really separates the amateurs from the professionals and you did a fantastic job in keeping us happy all the time. Most appreciated was the dayroom you organized for us at the last minute in Hanoi due to the Vietnam airlines flight delay - I was very impressed and it made all the difference! Thank you.
2.  Time keeping by your guides & drivers - they were always there before the appointed time, were well prepared, extremely pleasant company, had lots of good stories to tell, and of course were great facilitators.  Perfect!  In Particular I am thinking of Guide Njan in Sapa, Guide Hai Hai in Hanoi - they stand out and please pass our personal thanks to them.
3.  It was very reassuring to know that we felt that we could always contact you - not that we needed to - whatever time of day.
4.  We feel that we got value for money.  The tour programme was exactly what we had expected and we certainly will promote your services to any of our friends who will be traveling your way.
 
As regards the content of the sightseeing in every city - superb.  Places visited were appropriate, the guides let us spend as long or as short as we wished, no guides ever pushed us to buy items in tourist shops - although we were offered the chance.  Boat trips worked perfectly. Border crossing into Cambodia was efficient.
Hotel Accommodation: Superb superior room at the Metropole on the way in - a bit less nice on the way out as we had a dark standard room and they were renovating the hotel at that stage - but that didnt matter for only 1 night.  Hanoi Hotel  Hoa Binh Palace was pleasant enough with really nice staff.  Sapa - well, the Sapa Victoria was just the best.  Food was great, location superb, staff excellent, beautiful rooms, a true delight!  One complaint : Extortionate and inefficient laundry service considering that labour costs there should be absolutely minimal.  I paid USD70 for a few pieces of laundry and did not feel that the washing was even cleaned properly.  These are European prices but certainly not with European standards! You may wish to pass this comment on to them. The Victoria Hotel Chau Doc - although it is the best hotel there, seems a bit tired and dated, especailly after having experienced the sleek and efficient Sapa Victoria.  The food was great but I did complain to the Manager about the less than poor massage my son and I endured.  To his credit however, the GM of the hotel could not have done more to make things good.  I think the staff called him in outside of his duty time to deal with my complaint, he was most apologetic, did not charge us for the massage and all is well that ends well.  As they say: a complaint turned around makes for an even more loyal customer next time round and if ever in Chau Doc we'd happily go there again.  The hotel Juliana Phnom Penh  (my choice of hotel) was extremely poor.  The lobby smelled dank and musty, the food was over-priced and unappetizing, the rooms and pool were OK but seriously, the poolman guarded his towels with a ferocity that you would think they were made of gold and throughout the whole hotel every piece of furniture has little pieces of carpet stuck underneath it to stop it from scratching the already sad looking floor.  Truly a disaster. Please dissuade people from going there.  We subsequently looked at the rooms and also ate at a place called the Foreign Correspondents Club or FCC as it is affectionately known in Phnom Penh.  Rack rates there are USD 75 for a double per night and it is PERFECT for European travellers.  One thing though : PP seems to be full of beggars who wheel their disabled family members around on carts and trolleys and they all seem to hang out either outside the FCC or the hilltop mountain temple in PP - sorry I forgot the name.
Cambodia :  Very different experience than Vietnam and a lot more challenging.  We preferred Vietnam in every way but that is just a personal choice.  The guide in Phnom Penh, Mr Ra was very difficult to understand but he was a kindly gentleman and he did try his best.  I certainly wish him well as he seems to have had a very hard life.  ( All we wanted was to be with Njan or Hai Hai !!) The tour operator in PP was efficient, perfect driver, on time, polite, well informed. 
Complaints:  Very few!  On the boat from Chau Doc to Phnom Penh the Victoria Hotel provided a snack of fruit and two miniscule biscuits. From what I could see no one touched the unpeeled fruit - westerners generally wouldn't eat grapes or apples unwashed or unpeeled for fear of becoming ill.  On such a long ( 6-7 hour) journey, far better to perhaps offer a hot cup of tea/coffee and a hearty sandwich or some real cake/biscuits.  But that is only a small suggestions.

Train journey from Sapa to Hanoi.  The Hotel Victoria had printed notices that advised that there would be a restaurant car attached to the train on a Thursday evening.  We had a particular cause to celebrate that evening and wanted to dine in style on board the train.  Only one problem! No restaurant car that night.  No one on the train seemed to have heard of dining cars on that train anyway.  Please advise the Sapa Victoria of this.
 
Tommy, sorry this is such a long account.  Hopefully I am not boring you to death.  Am very happy for you to publish anything or everything I said on the web.
 
Lastly, please once again thank your wonderful team!  Especially also the kind lady from your office - sorry I forgot her name! - who twice had to get up so very early to take us to and meet us from the train! Thank you also to you.
 
Great Holiday!  Many thanks and best regards,
Ria, Adrian and Mark EPPS (German & British citizens living in Qatar)

(Email is confidential and provided upon request)