Dear Tommy,
 
We would like to say you that everything was ok during the cruise and we enjoyed it a lot.
Thanks for telling us to go on Jasmine Junk, it was really amazing.

Martina & Vincent from France
Hanoi & Halong Bay Stopovers in 21 May 08

Dear Mr. Tommy,
 
Thank you very much for the fabulous trip that we recently had with the Chants to your beautiful country. Vietnam is more like a lot of little countries- there were so many different communities and so many different styles of living. The Sapa mountain villagers were so different to the island dwellers in the Mekong. Quite amazing!
The trip went very well. The hotels were great and the drivers and guides very helpful and professional. They really made our trip very enjoyable. Thank you very much!
Margaret Bechly & group
4 Chardonnay Court, Carseldine 4034, Brisbane, Australia

Highlights of Vietnam in April and May

Tommy, no problems with the name, your company altered things to suit very quickly and we were very happy. The hotels, drivers and guides were excellent we enjoyed all their good directions and courteousness throughout the tour. We intend to come again early next year but perhaps we will bring some other golfing friends with us as well. Perhaps only one suggestion to improve the tour would be to include golf at Long Thanh golf course as it was easily the most superior course we played. I lok forward to talking to you again in the future.

Mr. Lindsay James Gailey and friend

Merewether, Australia

10 day Southern Golf Tours in May 2008

This is just a  note to thank you for arranging our visit to Ho Chi Minh and to Siem Reap. We enjoyed our very short stay there. Indeed, it was a highly educational and cultural experience for the entire family. We can't help but admire the Vietnamese peoples' courage and determination to rise above the effects of war. Also, please thank Hoa for us and the driver too ( sorry to have forgotten his name ).
Pardon me, but I have also forgotten the name of the person and the driver who met us at the airport when we came from Siem Reap. He talks so fast we can hardly catch up with him.
We hope to visit Northern Vietnam in the future.
 
Mrs. Aurora Germano & family

23 V. Guevara St., Pag-ibig Housing , Camague
Iligan City, Philippines, 9200
7 day Saigon and Siem Reap Stopovers in May, 2008

Hi Tommy and thanks you for your email.  We arrived home on Wednesday afternoon and I was going to contact you over the weekend.

Once again, thank you for your hospitality – we thoroughly enjoyed your company and the lovely Thai food.

Once again, we had a wonderful trip which lived up to all our expectations and the trip was enjoyed by everyone.  We all had a fabulous time.  What I said I would do is send your email address around to our friends and they can contact you directly with their comments.  Tommy, I am more then happy to recommend your tour to anyone who asks and I’m happy for you to give my name and email address to Australians who are considering your tour.

As I promised, I will give my views on each place.

Hanoi

Everything was very well organized and Thai is an extremely good guide for Australians.  We like to be happy and have a joke and he was very happy.  Once again the Sheraton Hotel was superb and in a great location.  We were also able to use the laundry up the street from the Sheraton and this could be very useful information for travelers if you wanted to include it in pre-tour notes.  Laundry is always very expensive in hotels all over the world.  The driver of the bus was very good and was always very careful, but also very prompt and maintained a very clean bus.  There was always plenty of water available.  My only suggestion would be to just include an early check-in or late checkout within your original price if the tourists are going to Sapa.

Sapa

Sapa was a fabulous place – very interesting and we all loved our treks to the hill tribes.  The local people are so lovely and friendly and we enjoyed going to three different villages.  The driver in Sapa was also very good and also maintained a very clean bus.  The hotel was fabulous – great meals in the dining room and also we used the spa which was also great.

Halong Bay

As last time, this is the most beautiful destination.  The Valentine Junk was superb so thank you for suggesting this for us.  The meals and excursions offered were great as were the cabins.

Hue

Once again we loved Hue – the hotel was Tony’s favourite last year and he loved it again this year as we all did.  The facilities offered in the hotel are delightful and once again, we were able to find a local laundry which solved any clothes problem.

Hoi An

Again, a beautiful town and we all had clothes tailored and dined in many lovely restaurants.  The location of the Golden Sands Resort was absolutely superb as were the pool facilities.  The Resort itself is very tired and needs quite a lot of maintenance.  The rooms were lovely but there were quite a lot of things that didn’t work.  (We were quite happy but I’m just giving you a totally honest report on everything)

Nha Trang

We stayed in the Vinpearl Resort on the Island which was absolutely first class – pool facilities, restaurants, service etc.  I must say that we think Thom (I think that is how you spell his name) was probably the most professional of all our guides.  Perhaps he is a little bit older but he was superb.

Mekong Delta

This was a great side trip and once again the Victoria Hotel was wonderful – great service and facilities, and also great restaurant.

Saigon

Saigon was once again an extremely interesting city.  The tour of the city was fabulous.  I would also suggest that you could possibly include the War Relics Museum in your tours.  We went there ourselves on our free day and it was very interesting.  The Renaissance Hotel was once again fabulous as were the facilities.

The only small complaint of the whole trip which was totally beyond your control was in Saigon .  Our guide Bien, who was very good during our stay, considered he wasn’t able to take us all the way to the airport when we were leaving as he would have been running late to meet his next tour group.  He left the bus on the way to the airport and got a motorbike taxi to take him to the airport to meet them.  We were a little disappointed that he didn’t finish seeing us off and then go on to the first group.  It is only a minor detail but I did promise to tell you things we were not happy with, as well as the things we were happy with.

Anyway, as you see, we had a wonderful holiday.  We have found the Vietnam people are delightful, the food absolutely scrumptious and the accommodation as good as anywhere in the world.  Once again, we thank you sincerely and do hope to be back in Vietnam ourselves in two years.  As I said, we are more than happy to pass your details on to anyone we know thinking of traveling to Vietnam .

Our warmest regards,

Leone and Tony Chant and group of 10 pax

Brisbane, Australia lm.chant@bigpond.net.au 

Highlights of Vietnam in April and May 2008

Just a quick note to thank you and your staff for a very enjoyable holiday. The guide Hai Hai was great as was the driver who drove very well.
Everything went to plan and my fiancee and I had a great time. I will be reccomending you to my friends and customers.
Many thanks,
 
Mr. Ben Abrahams and friend from the UK

ben_flb@hotmail.com 

Hanoi Stopovers in April and May 2008 

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