Luxury China Vacation Review: Beijing, Xi'an, Guilin, 8-Day Trip

I was born in China and grew up in the States.  I'm fluent in Chinese and have a very good understanding of the culture and language.   This travel company coordinated a private tour (for 5 of us) across three cities -- Beijing, Xi'an, Guilin.  The master coordinator was absolutely amazing in terms of fluency of English, availability and detail-orientation.  We received several quotes from different tour companies.  Her quote made the most sense and was the most tailored to what I had requested.  Once we were on the ground and added her to WeChat, she answered every question I had immediately.  Here's what we thought about the actual tours:
1. Attractions - the places they picked out are must-sees and they take care to not take you to shop.  Of course, these places are not for locals they are tourist spots but if it's your first time there, these are the places to visit.  I would imagine other tour companies pick more or less the same places. 
2. Accommodations - they book 5-star hotels.  We loved our hotel in Beijing and felt "meh" about our hotels in Xi'an and Guilin.  The latter two hotels were dated and felt like mega-conference catering places that turn over guests.  The breakfast buffet that was included in every hotel was great and had plenty of western and eastern selections.  The lunches that were included when we were out were touristy cafeterias that were really not good.  In terms of hotel, the tip here is whatever travel agent you go with, spend time curating your own selections and ask the agent to book it rather than sticking with defaults.  The cars that took us around also left a bit to be desired - they're old vans that are not very comfortable for trips that are 2hrs+.  
3. Tour guides - the tour guides were pretty awesome they spoke good English and are very responsive on WeChat.  Particularly in Guilin, he's the best in terms of enthusiasm and energy. 
4. Pace - The default itinerary gets you to go to 2-3 attractions per day which turns out to be very taxing.  If you're not the type that likes to breeze though attractions as if you are checking off a list think more about how you want to spend your days.  We found that we liked it the most when we went to 1 attraction per day and had free time rest of the day. 
Overall the travel company was professional, cared and delivered on the quoted itinerary.