Dear Ricky
Thanks for your email. Apologies for the late response; the work backlog from our holiday seemed to take weeks rather than days to clear this time...
I must say that Sarina was absolutely wonderful. We were thoroughly impressed with her, and her personal touches were brilliant. The tour was fabulous all the way through. I would say we had no issues whatsoever with the logistics of the flights, hotels, etc. Moving from one place to another was very smooth and there was always someone at the airport to greet us and go through our itinerary for the next few days. The tour guides were very good for the most part. The only place we felt our guide wasn't that great was in Shanghai (we had Megan). I think the language barrier may have been the biggest issue there. But everywhere else we had guides who spoke great English and were very knowledgeable. Our favorite was Chin (in Guilin). We also appreciated how well the arrangements were made for Zhangjiajie, which is obviously not a place so commonly visited by foreign visitors. We had the best time there - and the Pullman hotel was actually quite good (better than we expected). I think the Green Lotus in Yangshuo also exceeded our expectations, as it's so new and so idyllically situated. The Sofitel in Xi'an was lovely. Les Suites Orient in Shanghai was pretty good (great view but rooms rather small and dated). The disappointment would be the Sheraton in Guilin. Awesome location but the rooms are really not worthy of a 5 or even a 4 star rating. So if there was any feedback I would give on the hotels it would be to try to find a better 5 star hotel in the same location to recommend to your international clients.
Once again I just want to emphasize how instrumental Sarina was in planning and executing this trip for us. She was also kind enough to meet us in Guilin, and that was great. I felt like I knew her so well after all the emails, which she would send responses to very promptly and often over the weekends and at odd hours. I travel a lot for work and always stay in 5 star hotels, so my expectations are always sky high and I'm not an easy customer. Sarina deserves an employee of the year award for the way she dealt with us and handled our arrangements. She really was exceptional.
Any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
My best
Sahana
Sahana's Guided Private Tour to China
Day 1 Shanghai Arrival
Day 2 Shanghai: Morning free at leisure, the Bund, Nanjing Road, Old Quarters, Shanghai Huangpu River Cruise
Day 3 Shanghai to Suzhou to Shanghai: Humble Administrator's Garden, Garden of Net Master, Grand Canal Cruise, Pingjiang Old Quarters, No.1 Silk Factory
Day 4 Shanghai: Shanghai Ocean Aquarim
Day 5 Shanghai to Zhangjiajie: Shanghai World Financial Centre (Floor 100), Chenghuangmiao, Jinmao Tower, Jade Buddha Temple
Day 6 Zhangjiajie: Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Huangshizhai Scenic Area
Day 7 Zhangjiajie: Yuanjiajie Scenic Area, Tianzi Mountain Nature Reserve
Day 8 Zhangjiajie to Xi’an: Tianmen Mountain National Forest Park
Day 9 Xi’an: Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum, Big Wild Goose Pagoda Park, Bell Tower, Grand Mosque, Muslim Quarters
Day 10 Xi’an to Guilin: Ancient City Wall, Reed Flute Cave, Elephant Trunk Hill
Day 11 Guilin: Seven Star Park, Guilin Zoo, Seven Star Cave, Fubo Hill, Folding Brocade Hill
Day 12 Guilin to Longji: Longji Rive Terraces
Day 13 Guilin to Yangshuo: Li River Cruise to Yangshuo, free at leisure on the West Street
Day 14 Guilin Departure: Moon Hill, Countryside tour, Banyan Tree, Bamboo rafting on Yulong River
