Kunden über LOGO! Reisen:
22320 Dr. Astrid R. und Dr. Claus-Friedrich L.
10.01.-26.01.2009 Indien-Rundreise
“Von Küste zu Küste Koromandel bis Malabar”
Wie war die Beratung bei LOGO! Reisen?
Sehr gut.
flexibel und hilfsbereit, sehr kompetent.
Wie hat Ihnen der Flug mit Emirates Airlines gefallen?
Gut.
Service sehr gut, Sitzabstand (im hinteren Teil der Economy Class) recht eng.
Wurden Sie auf den Transfers zwischen Hotel und Flughafen pünktlich abgeholt?
Immer.
Wie hat Ihnen die Rundreise gefallen?
Sehr gut.
Die Fahrt mit Mr. Samy und seinem Hindustan Ambassador ist allerwärmstens zu empfehlen.
Wie waren Sie mit der Betreuung durch die Agentur vor Ort zufrieden?
Le Passage to India: Sehr gut.
Saba Tours & Travels Chennai: weit mehr als “Sehr gut”.
Wurden Sie von unseren Agenturen rechtzeitig über Abfahrtszeiten für die Rundreisen und Ausflüge informiert?
Immer.
Diese Aufgabe hat unser Fahrer übernommen
Wie haben Ihnen die über LOGO! Reisen gebuchten Hotels gefallen?
1 Accord Metropolitan, Chennai: Sehr gut.
2 Fortune Chariot Beach Resort, Mahabalipuram: Gut.
3 Annamalai In.t, Pondicherry: Gut.
4 Parishutam, Thanjavur: Sehr gut.
5 Sangam, Trichy: Gut.
6. Gateway Pasumalai, Madurai: Sehr gut.
7 Elephant Court, Thekkady: Sehr gut.
8 Trident Hilton, Cochin: Gut (Abwertung wegen der Lage und “Kühler” Atmosphäre)
9 Alleppey, Hausboot: Gut (besser als erwartet)
10 Tranvancore Heritage, Kovalam: Sehr gut.
Mögen Sie die asiatische Küche?
Ja, sehr.
Wie war die Verpflegung während der Rundreise?
Sehr gut.
Gut bei Hotels Nr. 2,3 und á la carte am ersten Tag in Nr. 8.
Zusammenfassend war Ihre Urlaubsreise?
Sehr gut!
Würden Sie LOGO! Reisen weiterempfehlen?
Ja, weil.. 1. Beratung sehr kundenorientiert (siehe oben)
2. Reiseprogramm abwechslungsreich und gut aufgebaut war
3. alles wie am Schnürchen geklappt hat
4. sehr gutes Preis-Leistungsverhältnis
Vorteil Privatreise: viel Kontakt mit Einheimischen,
Bewohner von Tamil Nadu und Kerala ausgesprochen herzlich und freundlich.
Insgesamt: völlig stressfreie Reise.
und hier die Reisebeurteilung im Original...
Email an:
Le Passage to India Tours Travels Pvt Ltd
attn. of Mr. Wilson
Ground Floor, 1 A, A-Block
# 599, Anna Salai
Chennai – 600 034
INDIA
E-mail: chennai@lepassagetoindia.com
Our South India trip from Chennai to Thiruvananthapuram 11-26 January, 2009, booked via Logo!-Reisen, Schwabach, GERMANY, at your incoming agency
M..., 11 February 2009
Dear Mr. Wilson,
We hope you have received our written questionnaire on our trip from your representative in Thiruvananthapuram. As promised we send you an additional e-mail, reporting on our experiences, assessments and remarks on the itinerary in detail. We apologize for the late response, but we are back in the normal course of life – with all its obligations and distractions. Please find our comments in the paragraphs below.
Summing up in advance we would like to express how completely content and happy we were with this excellently planned and organized trip, and how much we enjoyed it. We spent two weeks of hassle-free and relaxing holidays. Everything worked completely well, we returned home with an incredible bunch of exciting and enjoyable memories of India (and 31 film rolls …) that will last for long. So thank you all so much who contributed their excellent services to make our dreams of “Incredible India” come true.
Transport
Particularly we would like to express how much our driver Mr. Samy (not Swamy as written in the tour book) contributed to the success of our trip. He was the “good spirit” of our journey, with genuine and cordial friendliness, never ending efforts and success to make us happy, driving us safely through the sometimes very chaotic Indian traffic, being completely reliable, highly motivated and even more on schedule than a businessman. By stopping at additional sites en route he enabled us to visit even more places of interest than pre-scheduled (e.g., the Sree Brahadiswara Temple in Gangakondacholapuram half way between Puducherry and Thanjavur, or an Elephant ride in Periyar). We should also compliment on his perfect knowledge of the way throughout the whole journey – we did neither encounter any delay nor any detour. Travelling with him through South India was a great and highly convenient experience, Mr. Samy’s performance has to be rated as “much more than excellent” (A+++)! If we should happen to travel again in his area of activity we would definitely opt for him as our driver.
The itinerary itself was well-designed. The daily stages were unexacting, with check-in times in the next hotel mostly around noon, so that we could visit a lot of very interesting sites in the afternoon.
Hotels and Food
We were glad to have chosen the best hotel category offered by your German cooperation partner Logo!-Travel. The hotels were all equipped with the necessary furnishings and amenities; check-in with your vouchers was hassle-free and efficient throughout the trip, the staff handled necessary matters with great competence. We liked most the Accord Metropolitan in Chennai, the Gateway Pasumalai (ex Taj Garden Retreat) in Madurai (they provided #9 as the largest hotel room we ever had – nearly a convention hall …, and the whole atmosphere of our room and in this hotel in general was really incredibly fine), the cozy Elephant Court in Periyar and finally the Travancore Heritage in Chowara, with regard to interior, cordial and efficient service, and delicious food offered at diversified and rich buffets.
But also the other hotels were fine. With the exception of the Parisutan in Thanjavur and the Travancore Heritage, all were equipped with electronic room safes, which is a little bit more convenient than the central safe at the reception desk (particularly if you feel, you should get back your just deposited credit card in order to shop in the souvenir shop of the hotel …) but, of course, also the central safe option is working well. On the other hand, the Parisutam provided the most efficient money exchange service with the best exchange rate, simply by calling a money-changer from the neighbourhood. And he was the one who could offer us enough change notes – only the Accord Metropolitan could offer a comparable service which is really essential (who has enough change if you want to buy water and can only pay with 500 or 1000 Rupees notes you have got from the reception desk?). We also made extensive use of the complimentary tea/coffee-maker offered by all hotels with the exception of the Sangam in Trichy, a little bit older hotel with somewhat less cozy atmosphere, but everything was functioning well there and, instead, they offered a 24h-coffee shop and they provided a nice show accompanying dinner buffet upon Pongal Festival.
In the Chariot Beach in Mahabalipuram, the clientele of bathers apparently influenced the style of the buffet, having been the least Indian-style one, whereby the Indian part of the buffet tasted best. The Annamalai in Puducherry served a rather European-style grill dish without choice; it was o.k., but not as Indian as we would have liked most.
Regarding the Trident Hilton in Cochin we felt that the location on Willingdon Island may not be first choice for leisure travelers. Although being a member of a renowned hotel chain, equipped with every conceivable essential item, the hotel’s location is somewhat remote, both relative to busy mainland Ernakulam and picturesque peninsular Fort Cochin. It is cramped between Indian Navy’s naval base, a shut-down railway station and the huge container port. It may be a preferred location for businessmen, but less so for tourists. Therefore, it isn’t a big surprise that all windows of the hotel are directed to the interior patio with the pool, with no windows looking to the unattractive surroundings. If one could “transfer” this hotel with all its amenities to Fort Cochin, one could stroll around there in the lovely alleys in the evening without being dependent on taxi transport.
It might be worth mentioning that the option with pre-booked and pre-paid dinners worked well.
Guides
We very much appreciated the guidance by Mr. Rao in Chennai who showed us additional sites in Chennai, Kancheepuram and Mahabalipuram, and whose profession as archaeologist contributed to our better understanding of the Hinduistic pantheon. He had even a longer lasting influence beyond his tour proper as he agreed with our driver for the next day to pick us up at a certain spot upon departure in order to let us walk the interesting way from the Mahabalipuram lighthouse to Krishna’s butterball. Mr. Lawrence in Puducherry included additional less known sites into his itinerary as well. Also the guides in Thanjavur (unfortunately, we forgot his name) and in Trichy (Mr. Purushthaman, nick-name “Bruce Lee”) provided good information, and Mr. Ramachandram in Madurai delivered a very good performance as well. Our guide in Cochin, being a business student with deeper insights into the current economic situation in Kerala (unfortunately, we again forgot the name) provided a lot of useful historic and current information and was the best guide at all, or being on par with Mr. Rao. He also spoke the best and most understandable, i.e. less fast, English. Some of the others, apparently speaking Tamil or Mayamalam very fast, applied this speed to their English, too.
Local representatives
Your local representatives were present with one exception, but given the good organization with the vouchers and the efficient handling by the hotel reception desks we did not need any support by them. Upon arrival in Thiruvananthapuram, our driver and the local representative could not get in touch with each other, despite several mobile calls and intermediate stops at potential meeting points. Anyway, our driver found his way to the Travancore Heritage, and we called the representative the next day in order to fix arrangements concerning the airport transfer, which was conducted in-time, even ahead of schedule.
Summing up again, we would like to express our warmest thanks to you for providing the base of these wonderful holidays. This has been one of our most interesting and at the same time relaxing tours. Intensified by the genuine friendliness of the people we met in Tamil Nadu and Kerala we experienced 16 lovely days. Hence, provided the state of our health remains intact, we may predict that this has not been our last journey organized by Le Passage to India and by Logo!-Reisen.
Yours sincerely
Astrid R. & Claus-Friedrich L.
