Hi Jack,
At the very top, the trip organization was faultless. The pickups and drop offs were all on time or a little early and everyone was ready to go punctually.
Drivers
All excellent. Safe, skilled, thoughtful.
Guides
All exceptional. English was good to fully fluent. All very caring and concerned for our welfare and willing to make changes to suit what we required.
Of special note Linda in Beijing and Cecily in Xian who went to some trouble to help us.
Oscar, Richard and Morgan also fantastic.
Hotels
All very comfortable. The one in Shanghai seemed a little out of the way with nothing around it. The Eastern House in Xian was perfectly positioned as was the one in Yichan?? (at the end of the short cruise from Guilin). They were near places to eat and were in interesting places.
Generally
We would be very happy to recommend China Discovery to anyone wishing to visit China and we already have.
A suggestion
This is a communication issue rather than an organisational one
I think there is a big omission from your web site. It may be there and I may have missed it but I did look very hard.
These days people are very suspicious of scams and other unpleasant experiences so it's important for companies to present a clear, efficient and detailed process.
People need to know and have explained to them that they will get full details of the trip before they leave home.
I know that we got all this but should have been told rather than having to ask for each piece.
The perfect place would be to put this at the end of your payment section which everyone will read. EG. Plan the trip, make a booking, pay deposit, pay balance and then you will get all this other information. This last point seems to be missing. EG telling me I’d get a confirmation message really tells me nothing if I don’t know what is going to be in it. Telling me that I’d get an information pack and what would be in it would add a lot more confidence to dealing with the company.
Another small matter. Once money is paid, it is important that people get quick and formal recognition that funds have been received. Having to ask for a receipt for payment also does not build confidence in the company.
Thank you for organizing the trip. It was outstanding.
Cheers
Graham