Hello Mike/Maria,
just wanted to tell you that we are very happy with the arrangements and that the tour went overall very well.
The hotels were all good, some even excellent. Same can be said about the guides.
Some minor inputs only:
1. We never received the promised water/refreshments(wet wipes). Nothing to worry about but you might take it out of the description.
2. The time in Hoi An was too short. You need more than one day there even to get just the minimum of possibilities.
3. The excursion from Hanoi to Tamcoc was slightly disappointing – not because of the scenery but because the lady on the rowing boat was constantly trying to sell us something or kept asking for refreshments and for tips while we only wanted to enjoy the scenery and also the lunch at the hotel was the worst we got in Vietnam. (Everybody else was disappointed as well).
Re the restaurant in Tam Coc: it certainly was a fine setting, but the service was not satisfying. We only got one of the courses at the end (after the others, though it should have been the second) after we mentioned it hadn’t come. The prices for drinks were Hotel prices (so a bit inflated, but this is acceptable).Our main complaint though is that the food didn’t have the quality I expect in a hotel – indeed any food stall around would have had better food on offer. The portions were tiny, but as the quality wasn’t there it didn’t matter. Everybody we talked to shared our opinion. I’m sure the restaurant can do better – there was a vietnamese party on the ground floor and their food did not only look god, they also seemed to enjoy it.
You might talk to the rowing boat operators and change the restaurant)
Again, overall we enjoyed the trip greatly and plan to be back in Vietnam shortly.
I will recommend your services to the publishers of Seat61 and also to my friends and family.
Thanks again and Best Regards
Erik & Eva