Ms Wallbank - Vietnam

Jo
I would just like to express my thanks to you for arranging another fabulous holiday for us to Vietnam. Everything about it was perfect. The hotels were very good quality, some of the best I've ever been in, & the tour of Vietnam was excellent.
I would like you to pass on our thanks to the Vietnamese tour operator (Vidotour), for their proffesional approach with everything that they did. All pick ups from the airport were on time, with the reps waiting for us with our names on boards, & this was followed up with excellent service from the reps & drivers for all the areas that we visited. All of the reps were very friendly, & very knowledgeable about everything that we went to see, including some good local bars & restaurants. Both myself & Dave were very impressed with their understanding of the English language too.
We would very much appreciate it, if Vidotour could acknowledge our appreciation to the reps that we had, which were :- Thuy Pham (south), Tien Le (central) & Hang Nguyen (north), as they really made the holiday very enjoyable. So much so, that we have already decided that we will be going back next year.
Congratulations to the company on an excellent service.
Thanks again.

Miss Monton - Mexico

Hiya Jo
Just wanted to drop you a quick note to say thank you for the postcard, and to say thanks to you and your team for organising such a lovely holiday for us. We got back on Tuesday following a 2 week stay at the Bluebay Grand Esmerelda in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. We have had such a great time. It was a beautiful hotel, lovely food, fantastic service and really friendly staff. I would definitely recommend it. A cot and king size bed was ready for us, and our friends got the double room they asked for.
We spent the day at the Moon Palace for my friend's wedding and had a lovely day but didn't think the hotel was half as nice!! (Glad we didn't pay the extra money!)
We got the medical seats on the flight that you arranged there and back, and the were perfect. Thomas Cook stewardesses were great too. Aidan was the perfect baby the whole time and loved all the attention, don't know what I worried about. I just 2 made up bottled in a cool bag and bought cartons of milk at boots when we went through security. Easy!
Thanks again for all your help, especially the baby advice, I will definitely recommend you to friends and family.
Keep up the good work!

Miss Smith - Thailand

Hi Jo, and Happy New Year!
Thought I'd drop you a note to say thank you for organizing our fab holiday to Thailand - although now I'm back at work it feels like I've never been away!!
All our hotels were fantastic - I can easily say The Chedi is the best hotel I have ever stayed in; the service, the location everything was perfect. They had a huge party on New Year's Eve which was great. I would definitely recommend people going to Chiang Mai if they were going to Thailand, it's beautiful and much nicer than Bangkok.
Plus I got engaged on Christmas Day - so at some point this year will want to talk about Honeymoon options, we're thinking possibly New Zealand or South America as potentials.

Miss Ramsay - Australia

Hi Jo & Lauren,
I've been meaning to mail you since we got back from Oz to say a huge thank you for arranging everything. The boat was fab and the hotel in Hamilton Island was lovely as well - all total luxury!
The apartment in Melbourne was great as well and we had a brilliant time everywhere we went.
It was a pretty special holiday and Paul proposed on New Year 's Eve overlooking Sydney harbour! Total surprise, but I guess Lauren since they rigged me catching the bouquet and Paul catching the garter at Julie & Jason's wedding, then it had to happen!
Thanks again and let me know if you want me to provide any reviews or anything of the places we went.

Mrs Fosset - Paxos, Greece

Hi Jo
Just to say Matt and I had a great time in Paxos and I would recommend the area to anyone - peaceful, not too many Brits - lovely food in the restaurants much higher quality than I remember for Greece - air to port transfers etc., all ran as planned no problems at all.
I much appreciate the assistance you gave us in sorting this holiday out it was very memorable.

Mrs Colley - Egypt and Cruise

Hi Lauren
Egypt was absolutely fabulous. We all loved it.
The Regency Boat was lovely, a great way to see the sites and we met so many new people because it was small enough to get to know everyone. I would describe the boat as intimate! Our guide around the temples etc was fab, so much info! We chose the right boat, it was clean, food fab, it was relaxed and I would say it was the highlight of our holiday. The crew made a real effort trying to make our holiday a special one. We saw some amazing sites and we were all surprised how much we enjoyed the whole holiday experience in Egypt.
The hotel in Luxor was lovely, its the best one in Luxor. Great place to relax and get over those early morning 6am calls on the boat for all those tours. My only criticism of the hotel was it lacked any evening entertainment. We were surprised they allowed smoking in all the public areas in the hotel which kept us away from the only bar in the hotel and the reception seating area. The location was spectacular though, what a view from the infinity pool! I would recommend any who visits Egypt to take sweets or pens etc for all the children who beg on the streets. We definitely had a holiday to remember and many thanks once again Lauren for your help. The whole package that you put together for us, we would highly recommend to anyone thinking about visiting Egypt.
Thanks a million Lauren. Will be in touch with your help re Australia!

Mrs Hopkinson - Dubai

Hi Jo
Just wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know what a fabulous time we had in Dubai last week.
The hotel was fantastic and the transfers, the service, the surroundings and the people made this one of the best short breaks myself and Mike have had in years.
I hope that you have done as good as job for me and my sister for our trip to New York in November.
A great big thanks to you for finding us a great deal in Dubai and I'm sure we'll be re-visiting at some point - maybe Christmas this year ..??

Mr Wold - Peru

Lauren
Thanks for the card and yes we had an amazing time.
As for feedback everything went extremely smoothly. We felt like royalty with our own guide and driver for all the trips and excursions. I was really surprised by the quality of everything we encountered. The hotels, the local restaurants and the quality of food and service were exceptional and not expensive. We did of course have to try Guinea Pig, Alpaca and Ceviche (raw fish) and these too added to adventure along with the local drink, Pisco Sour !
The weather was perfect for such a hectic schedule. Lima is apparently always under a sort of damp cloud which cools the air but does not restrict travel. Cuzco was mainly warm and sunny but not too hot and although there was an odd shower again not restrictive and the altitude was not a problem - although we did avoid alcohol for our first two nights there. Machu Picchu was brilliant. We had some mist on the first day which gave way to sunshine and then some light rain for an hour but neither caused any problem. The second day was lovely and sunny all morning before showers again in the afternoon.
The schedule was ideal for me an Matthew with a few early starts and just a couple of mornings off. The only really tiring bit was the four hour return bus journey from Ica to Lima following the flight over the Nazca lines. Getting there was interesting as it was daytime with views over the desert and the Pacific Ocean but coming back in the dark was less attractive. We did however get Angels & Demons to watch and were fed and watered. Overall, although a busy schedule, it was not too demanding and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the region. If you have any specific questions about the region or trip in general please ask away.

Miss Macdavies - New York

Hi Jo,
Had a fantastic trip to NY ...flights on time there and back (although food wasn't great on plane); Intercontinental Barclay was excellent - brilliant location, great service, smart and clean room; walked for miles and found some excellent places to eat; did all the main tourist attractions and much more....
Thanks to you and your team for all your help (and understanding) with our booking.
I believe my friend has already booked to go to the same hotel with you which is great (McDonald - going to NY then onto Miami).
Thanks again.

Mrs James - Cuba

Hi Joe,
Just a little note to thank you for arranging our holiday in Cuba, especially keeping a secret that my sister and brother-in-law were going to be there.
What a lovely surprise! We had a 4hr delay so when we arrived we were told to go directly to the dining room as they stopped serving food at 10pm. What a shock, my sister walked in with a birthday cake, I think I was in shock for about 2days.
We had a fabulous holiday, hotel great, although don't think they've done much refurbishing (perhaps a little bit of paint here and there), animation staff brill and the food fantastic. Best place we've been for good food.
Weather was pretty good too most of the time. Had 1 day of rain, 1 cold day but the rest was good.
Everything went like clockwork apart form the 22hr delay my sister had going home, but at least they got to stay an extra day and night with us.
Thanks for everything , again and for sorting out a holiday for Jodie and Gareth.

Mrs Halder - Dubai

Hi Lauren , have just come back from Dubai where we all had a great time!
Everything from the flight to the hotel resort was excellent. Thank you for your time in organising this trip, we could not fault it at all. We even got a room upgrade! For future reference the hotel is very good,it may not have as impressive a facade as the other 5 star hotels but the facilities are excellent. The staff especially were wonderful. The Barasti bar is an excellent place to hang out but if you have a sea view room you may hear some music in the night so families with young children may mind .....personally I think the noise level was not too bad! We all got a good night sleep every night. The beach area and pool area again were excellent I would definitely go back there again! Thank you once again and I will contact you again for our next holiday!

Mrs Shettard - New York

Lauren,
We're back (thanks for the card), shattered, broke and very happy! We had a fabulous time and did all we wanted, including shopping. The location of the apartments was superb - would recommend them to anyone, as we were able to return after the morning or day's activities before setting out again. The show was great and we had front row seats! We didn't just see the sweat, we felt it too!!
The attached picture is taken from the top of the Rockefeller centre - we were just a block away, the sky had cleared and we went up on impulse, with no queues and spent two hours watching the sun go down and the lights come on.
We also did the hop on, hop off tours with NY city tours, and the river cruise. It was all just fabulous.
Thanks again for all your help.

Mr Jones - Egypt

Hi Lauren, sorry for not contacting you earlier.
Just to let you know we had a fantastic time at Baron Palms. Hotel was spotless. Service was out of this world especially on the beach. The food was spot on, in fact we couldn't fault it. Snorkelling was amazing. The hotel sent Jo flowers on our anniversary and we had a meal on the beach at night. Very romantic and Jo loved it.
Speak to you soon regarding next year's holiday.

Mr and Mrs Dutley - Canada

Lauren,
Sandra and I cannot thank you enough for the wonderful time we've had on our Canada and Alaska Cruise holiday.
All your selection of hotels was absolutely perfect, from the positions on the waterfront to the excellence of standards and service down to valve for money.
And then to top it all the Holland America Cruise to Alaska was perfection, only surpassed by the beauty of the scenery.
We will be recommending Departure Lounge when asked by friends.
Thank you once again to you and your colleagues

Mr and Mrs Rainer - Peru

Hi Lauren
Just a quick line to let you know how much we enjoyed our holiday.
Everything went without a hitch and we had really good service from Lima Tours and all our local guides, who were very knowledgeable.
It was quite hectic - lots of very early starts - but well worth it. The 10 hour train ride from Cuzco to Puno was very good fun, helped along by a few Pisco Sours and a good crowd of people. Machu Picchu was amazing and we were fortunate to have very bright clear weather on the first day, so our snaps are good.
Ecuador and especially the Galapagos were also great and we would have loved to have spent longer there exploring the islands but unfortunately all good things have to come to an end. Could have done without all this snow on our return though!
Thanks for all your help and advice.

Mrs Hennifer - Australia

Hi Lauren Am back from oz, have had a great time .Everything went smoothly, the flight connections where fine. The service on the flights where excellent.
Thanks for everything you did for me.

Mr Burgess - Turkey

Hi Lauren
THANK YOU (for arranging the top Turkey trip)!
All excellent, and I fear the days of arranging things myself may be in the past. We loved the luxury coach transfer.
Hotel, was terrific, lovely location, and nice staff.
But Dalyan is a lovely chilled out place, no boozed up brits!
I sent the email below to some mates of mine...

What a top place Turkey is!
The whole holiday felt a bit of a trip.
Stroll past Amazans small bazaar in Dalyan and he will forcefully drag you inside, sit you down on a small plastic stool and serve you some fanta. The temperature is in the mid 30s and we were both a bit sticky. So what do we need? You guessed right - number one quality lemon cologne. Luckily Amazan has a shop full of the stuff and to demonstrate the number one quality status of the product, he starts to spray us with the stuff. Arms, legs, face, then to my great amusement, Vanias arms are raised, and he sprays her armpits, then to my horror he sprays down the back of my shorts. With my lemon fresh arse, I look at the non lemon cologne products:

• Hubble bubble pipes
• Please sir (serious expression) number quality pipes
• Evil eye motif key rings
• Please sir (serious expression) number quality
• Various other slightly kitsch knick-knacks which are of course number one quality).

You can really have it all. It is totally exotic, and you know you are in the east the moment you leave the very flashy airport, when you see the first pointy minaret and hear the fantastic music wafting over from the airport bar.
Turkey is the kind of muslim country where you can leave the mosque after Ramadan prayers, and pop to the local for a quick toot of raki (OK we were staying at a holiday resort - but talking to a few locals one got the impression that it is a very tolerant kind of place).
We stayed at a little place called Dalyan, a small slice of paradise, in the middle of a rocky valley by a turquoise river, with the sea and a giant inland lake nearby. Carved in the rocks overlooking town are some Greek temples and burial chambers, which are an amazing sight when they light them up at night. Most hotels and eateries/bars are by the river, and everyone gets around on one of the hundreds of traditional wooden boats.
The best thing about Turkey for me is the Turks - I have never met a bunch of people as friendly and generous. Walking down the main drag into town, past the usual carpet shops and eateries, you would be accosted by various touts, that in most other places would be a total pain. But here they are so unpushy, such a good laugh, and so genuine that it just adds to the experience.
Pack 'em in like sardines boat trips are the norm, and they pack em in from the concrete jungle further up the coast for day trips. Lucky for us we find Ismael wondering around town, he shows us his boat, and offers to be our exclusive guide - turned out be the best thing that could have happened to us. Of course we visit all the usual sights, ancient ruins (walked up to them a sunset to hear the mezzin in the distance, great moment), volcanic mud baths where you float in the mud and then jump into the glassy water of the lake, sea caves, crazily blue sea, giant loggerhead turtles swimming under the boat (really). Then Ismael moors up on a beach/in the middle of the moonlit lake, and gets his BBQ out and cooks some fresh sea bream served with various delicious salads made by his wife. Best still out comes the raki, and our captain like a drink or ten, and is no hurry to get back. The boat is equipped with a car hi-fi and one cassette of various 80s soft rock and other Italian and French europop. I took the iPod out one trip with some Turkish music loaded up, and with the aid of a few Rakis learnt to dance Turkish style with Ismael. On one trip our jolly captain had a few too many rakis earlier on, so he just moored up and slept them off, as we swam in the lake…
The Turkish pop is fantastic, even the local version of Kiss Kiss. I came back with piles of exotic CDs.To me this place knocks the spots off Italy as a place to chill out by the Med - the food is better, and it just so much more fun.

Mrs Parton - Kenya

Hi Lauren
Hope you are well
Just to let you know we are back in sunny (not) England!!
We had a fabulous time - we went on safari and saw the Big 5 and many more ... wot a fabulous experience
We also went into Mombassa - that was an eye opener. The country is so poor. We don't realise how lucky we are.
Thanks for helping us have a lovely holiday
We are starting to save for next year
Take care and thanks again