Review: Mother-Daughter Trip to India & Nepal, Kathmandu, Jaipur, Varanasi, New Delhi, Ranthambore National Park

I would definitely not use this travel company. My Peru trip was so good through  your agency, I was surprised how little the agency in India tried to make our trip special.

TRAVEL COMPANY COMMENTS: 

Dear Alice 

We thank you for submitting the review. 

We are glad to know that you liked the services of drivers, Jaipur Guide during the trip. 

It is disappointing to know that you did not have the trip experience suiting your expectations. 

We will answer your concerns one by one.

Air Quality: We are sad to know that you found the air quality of Delhi to be bad. We completely agree with your point that the air quality of Delhi was bad during your time of arrival. Due to bursting of crackers during Diwali festival, burning of crops in farms around Delhi and vehicular pollution the quality was indeed bad. In fact it was in the papers as well. You can see the news here http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/air-quality-improves-to-very-poor-after-diwali/article19902558.ece. Please acknowledge the fact that the air quality of Delhi is something that is out of everyone’s control. We apologise for the inconvenience that this may have caused.

Scheduling of Sites and Meals: We apologise for the confusion that you may have experienced in terms of timing of lunch and scheduling of sights during sightseeing. Please note that our entire program of sightseeing is bespoke with no timings given. Some guests take longer to visit a particular monument and some shorter. So, the timing and scheduling of monuments is in guests’ hand. You and your daughter had 2 opinions about scheduling of sites in each city and many of our guides called our head office to resolve this and this resulted in delay in some places. This impacted your sightseeing. Had you both been on the same page, it would have been easier for guide to schedule. Our guide got confused many a times as to whose instructions he should listen - yours or your daughters. But, as an improvement area, we have asked the guides to be doubly sure to ask about about your lunch time preferences and schedule the activities accordingly. 

Recommendation of Meals: We had given clear recommendation of restaurants to you in email dated 4 Oct 2017. But, we did not hear from you regarding blocking of tables. You must have missed reviewing this document. We really regret the inconvenience caused because of this.

Change of hotel in Kathmandu - You asked us to change the hotel 4 days before arrival in Kathmandu to Hyatt regency. We said that the hotel that was initially booked would charge a 100% cancellation charge as the change is done within 7 days from arrival. You wanted this free of change. Please note that Hyatt Regency and better hotels were suggested in proposal dated 11 July but you chose a lower option. We also highlighted in our terms and conditions that any hotel change during the trip may attract a cancellation charge subject to hotel policies that is out of our control. Hope you understand our constraint in this matter. We apologise for the inconvenience that this may have caused.

Guides: 
Women Guides: Please note that Women guides are not available in every city that you visit in India. Women guides were not committed by us as well and you too did not ask for it in advance. Many of our guests request for Women guides in advance and we do provide if there is a special request. But, as an improvement area, we shall have Women guides wherever possible for Women travellers. The process will ensure that this issue would not repeat in future. 

Language and Presentation: The guide in Ranthambore (whose presentation was not liked by you) is being randomly selected by Forest Department and his selection is out of our control. An advisory regarding this was already sent to guest on 4 Oct 2017 before the trip. But, we shall offer feedback to the Forest Department and ask them to improve the quality of Forest guides by imparting proper training. We apologise for the inconvenience arising out of this.  Regarding other guides, I shall personally interact and ask them to improve their presentations. 

Muddy conditions and what to wear: We had given “What to Wear and pack” suggestion in email dated 4 Oct 2017. We also had highlighted the dusty conditions in Kathmandu in email dated 4 Oct 2017. We are sad to know that you have missed reviewing this document. We really regret the inconvenience caused because of this.

Hope the above answers your queries and covers all components of your concerns raised.

Improvement Areas in Nutshell:

1. Have women guides wherever possible for Women travellers
2. Communication to guides to further improve their presentations (Ask precisely the guest lunch time preferences and discuss the scheduling in detail to avoid confusion)

We tried our best to offer the best services and also had informed you about many of the concerns you faced in advance. 

Our team looks forward to serving you again