JazzDrew posted some message on Fodors.com, and shared his experience in booking the tour from Easy Tour China and how he and his family were treated during the whole trip.
It it a long review starts from tour planning, itinerary change and on the road, with time ranged from Aug 30 2010 to July-13 2011.At the end of the posts, there’s another customers who show another review on Easy Tour China.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JazzDrew on Aug 30, 10 at 5:13am
My wife and I, along with our 17 year old son, are planning our first trip to China in June 2011. We have traveled extensively in the past (Europe, Africa, South Pacific, etc) and usually make our own arrangements. This will be our first trip to Asia (unless you count Turkey). For this trip we plan to use a tour company with 5 star properties for this trip.
Here are the plans so far:
We will travel in June 2011. We plan 3 days each in Beijing, Xian, Tibet, Guilin and Shanghai followed by a weeklong cruise to Japan and South Korea out of Shanghai.
We usually make all of our own arrangements, but as you can tell from the above list we are looking for Western, non-local hotels. While I have read here that it is easy to make one’s own arrangements in China, we have decided to use tour operator for this trip. We had a great experience when we planned our African safari a few years ago. We found a super local operator (Roy's Safari out of Arusha, Tanzania) who took great care of us in style for a great price. We are hoping to find the Chinese version of Roy's Safari!
Here is a list of tour operators that we are considering:
Wild China
Easy Tour China
China Absolute Tours
Keningston Tours
China Discovery Tours
Pacific Delight Tours
Travel China Guide
China Spree
Asia Connect Tours
China Odyssey Tours
China Highlights
I would welcome any comments on these properties and tour operators, especially if you have had personal experience. I really respect the Fodor's community and look forward to any suggestions or comments.
Regards,
JazzDrew
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JazzDrew on Sep 6, 10 at 1:49pm
I truly appreciate the comments to date, although we are still quite confused and are bit frustrated as we attempt to make a decision on how to get about arranging our trip.
The good news is that we are more comfortable with the itinerary. Less time in Shanghai and Xian allows for more time in Tibet, Beijing and Guilin.
We are also comfortable in the properties was have posted. It appears that all of the properties from our list should fit our needs (no "dogs" on the list).
I consider my expectations reasonable:
1. I am ok with paying a reasonable tip for quality service.
2. I want an English speaking guide who will take care of us (be respectful, keep my family safe, give us an insight to the culture and customs of China, be on time, be honest, etc)
3. I am ok with an occasional shopping tour, as long as it isn't too long. I get the economics with this...
4. We want a seamless tour from Beijing, Xian, Tibet, Guilin and Shanghai. A private tour that we are confident that our guide will be waiting for us at each airport and will pick us up each morning at our airport.
5. It would be great is we had a guide/operator who allowed us the flexibility to modify our private tour a bit so that we can stay a little longer or leave earlier if we choose (even at a modest cost).
Our short operator list includes Easy Tour China, Pacific Delights and China Odyssey. We would be thrilled with the proposals with any of these operators if they were legit and conformed with our expectations above. There are 3 other operators that we received bids from that we would be happy with. But we simply are at a standstill in choosing an operator with so much contrasting information.
Once again I thank you all for your help.
JazzDrew
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JazzDrew on Nov 14, 10 at 11:10pm
Hello all...just an update on my original post. Since I posted we have had new opportunity to travel with family on a safari next summer in South Africa. So we are torn between China and SA! If it is China (we should know after Thanksgiving) then Easy Tour China's itinerary and price still is my favorite, although I have yet to read very many first hand reports thay I can trust. I was able to call a couple who lives in South Carolina who actually used Easy Tour China and they had a good experience. It would still be nice to have a more substantial confirmation of how they do things. (Read true reviews of Easy Tour China on Tripadvisor)
The plan is:
3 nights - The Peninsula Beijing - Dongheng District
2 nights -Sofitel on Remim Square Xian Hotel
3 nights - Lhasa Hotel - Four Points by Sheraton
fly to Chengdu to see the Pandas then fly to Guilin
2 nights - Sheraton Guilin Hotel – Xiufeng District
Li river cruise then
1 night - Green Lotus Hotel, Yangshuo
2 nights - Le Royal Meridien Shanghai
The we will depart Shanghai on a cruise to Japan and South Korea with return to Shanghai for one more night at the JW Marriott (points) before returning to US.
It is really hard to choose between this and the safari with great relatives....
Thanks to everyone for all the help. I will continue to plan both trips until we make a decision!
See the original message on Fodors, http://www.fodors.com/community/asia/first-trip-to-china-5-star-hotel-and-tour-company-comment-requests.cfm