Mr. Luong (North of Vietnam): Was an excellent guide – one of the top guides of the tour. He made an effort to include the children in the activities, which they appreciated. He also made an effort to make the tour a personalised tour for us.

Ms. Ngoc (In Sapa): Was a good guide, but not quite up to the standard of the top guides – she was preoccupied with her part-time studies for some of the time

The guide provided in Nam Cat Tien National Park for the one day birding trip was excellent – both his knowledge of the birds and his English communication

Mr. Hieu (In Dalat): Was a very good guide and made a lot of effort to meet our needs, in particular my birding requirements.

2. Accommodation:

Chain First Eden Hotel (In Hanoi): This hotel was noisy as a result of the traffic noise, but otherwise the accommodation was fine and of acceptable standard.

Hai Long Boat (In Ha Long): Excellent accommodation and meals – was a great trip

Guest House (In Cuc Phuong): There was an initial mix up in that we were not expected, but other than that the accommodation was fine and we appreciated the quietness of the National Park. The kids enjoyed this park as well, also because Mr Luong played cards with them

Dong An Beach Resort (In Hoi An): Lovely hotel, one of our top hotels. We enjoyed the river views and also our stay in Hoi An

Guest House (In Nam Cat Tien): Similar to the accommodation at Cuc Phoung, although had hot water at any time of the day. Really enjoyed our stay in Cat Tien – next time it will be for a longer period also an expensive meal which was one of the worst meals we had in Vietnam. We complained to the manager of the hotel but never heard anything more. I would recommend that alternative hotels are considered in the future

Saigon Can Tho Hotel (In Can Tho): Excellent hotel with a good location close to the river

3. Transport (Land, water and air):

All of this was of high standard; the only minor issue was the standard of the driver at SaPa. Enjoyed the boat trips, especially Halong Bay and Mekong Delta

4. Restaurants:

In the North: The best food in the North was in Halong Bay. Had lots of exotic fruit in the North which we enjoyed.

In Sapa: Excellent – enjoyed the French food at the hotel and also the Chinese restaurant in SaPa

In the Centre: Had an excellent meal at the Full Moon restaurant in Hoi An

In Dalat: Good food and enjoyed a meal on the lakeside one evening

In the South: Enjoyed a variety of meals in the South, especially on the Mekong Delta trip. We appreciated the variation in the meals from the North though to the South of Vietnam

5. Places you visited:

We enjoyed all the places we visited, but the top sites would have to be SaPa, Halong Bay, Dalat, Mekong Delta, My Son, Hue, Nam Cat Tien, Cuc Phuong and Hoi An – which is most of the places we visited

7. Design and management of your tour:

It was an excellent tour and well organised. We appreciated the personalised service and also the ability of the guides to sort out any problems. Also appreciated the follow-up on issues and the phone calls to see if everything was OK

8. Are there any recommendations or criticisms of services, restaurants, shops, visit sites and so on that you’ve visited on your own?

We had no problems with the visits and meals we did by ourselves, except for the dinner at the New Epoch Hotel.