Ross Watkins from Australia

Hi Luong
Apologies for the delay in answering the email, I will be happy to fill in the questionnaire. I am traveling at present (work travel in Australia), I will get to it by the end of next week.
Be rest assured, it will be 99.9% positive, Jane & I had a wonderful time in Vietnam. We felt that your company made it that extra special for us, for this, I thank you. Vietnam is truly a beautiful place, as are its people.

Kind Regards

Ross Watkins 

1. Guide (s):

Mr. Son (North of Vietnam): Mr Son’s relaxed approach was a good welcome into Vietnam. Mr Son’s professionalism and willingness to ensure we had a great time was always his 1st priority. His sense of humour made him fun to be around. Highly Recommended

Mr. Dung (In Sapa): Mr Dung was pleasant & polite. He has potential to be similar to Son & Khou. We enjoyed our time with Mr Dung and the Sapa region.

Mr. Vinh (Centre of Vietnam): Mr Vinh was fantastic; he was knowledgeable & passionate about Vietnam. He presented historical facts with pictures and comprehensive documentation. Highly Recommended

Mr. Khoa (South of Vietnam): Mr Khoa had an infectious personality that made us continuously smile and laugh. Mr Khoa is very knowledgeable on the south of Vietnam and was a pleasure to be with. This guide made you feel you were the only people who mattered to him, he made feel special. I would recommend Mr Khoa as a permanent guide for your company in HCMC. Highly Recommended

All our guides arrived at our hotels on time and suggested extra sights when time permitted. We found all our guides honest and respectful towards us and others. Each guide was an excellent ambassador for Vietnam and your company. We felt we befriended each of them as we said our goodbyes.

2. Accommodation:

Zephyr Hotel (In Hanoi): Excellent accommodation. Clean and catered well for tourist (or business people) in Hanoi. I always judge a hotel by asking myself ‘would I stay there again?” and the answer is yes I would. I would also recommend this hotel to friends & family

Army Hotel (In Hanoi): It was adequate for the 3 hours we spent refreshing our selves after the over night train trip. It would be unfair to make further comments as we did not experience an overnight stay

Sapa Hotel (In Sapa): A very nice hotel, great service and good room.

Bai Tho Boat (In Ha Long): This was one of the highlights of the trip. It was simply beautifully appointed, comfortable with great food & service

Huong Giang Hotel (In Hue): A very nice hotel, great service and good room

River Beach Resort (In Hoi An): A great resort hotel. I could spend a week in this hotel relaxing by the pool

Rex Hotel (In Ho Chi Minh City): While we had a small issue at the beginning of the stay, the remainder of the stay very good. No regrets.

I would recommend while they are constructing a new wing, you put you guests in an alternative property. However once the building has been completed, it would be a fantastic place to stay. I would stay again at this stage

3. Transport (Land, water and air):

All modes on transport were very good. The overnight train was comfortable and clean. The planes were good.

I would like to pay compliments to our drivers, particularly our driver in Ho Chi Min City. This driver provided ice cold bottle water and refresher towels at least twice a day. However I don’t want to take away from the other drivers – they too were excellent. At no time did we feel in danger or concerned with there driving style. They were all safe, professional drivers.

My only criticism is the car (not the driver) we had in Sapa had poor suspension. In the region we traveled was very uncomfortable which resulted in severe neck pain. I believe this driver & vehicle was a substitute to our original designated driver for Sapa.

4. Restaurants:

In the North: The food in Vietnam is a food lover’s paradise, we found the restaurants we visited were of excellent quality, clean and provided great service. Not one restaurant was a disappointment. This comment is consistent for all the regions we visited in Vietnam. The hotel breakfasts were equally good

5. Places you visited:

The places we visited from the north to the south was extremely interesting, at no time where we bored. Our guides knowledge of the local region made the tour most interesting. They gave us good and unbiased information on each place we visited. It is hard to single individual places out. But I would say our favourite places were, Ha Long Bay, Sapa, Hoi An & the Mekong Delta. Our only regret was that we could only do a 15 day tour, and that we could not see more of Vietnam.

6. Design and management of your tour:

Simply brilliant! Gia Linh Travel staff and contracted staff we dealt with from the time we first emailed with our enquiry to the time Mr Khoa put us on the plane in HCMC to go home, was a pleasure to deal with. We felt ‘special’ by all staff at all times.

I cannot recommend Gia Linh Travel highly enough. You deserve the high praise

We would also like to thank you for the gifts we received on our arrival into Hanoi, it was very welcoming

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

As we designed a very full tour, we had little time to explore outside the tour times. However, when we did have free night the restaurants we visited was at the recommendation of our guides. Not one of the recommendations disappointed, they were all excellent.

We would be happy to provide highly positive references for any one who would like to contact us regarding your company, the organisation of our tour and of Vietnam itself. It is a destination I would like to bring our children to in the future. We are also passing you name onto our friends in Australia, hopefully some of them will see that Vietnam and Gia Linh Travel can give them a complete holiday experience that they will remember for many years to come.

Thank you for making Jane & I feel like VIP’s for the tour duration