Egypt/Jordan Trip - 05 September 2011

Hi Johanna,

Thank you and a very special and big thank you again.

Thanks for all you did to make our trip to Egypt and Jordan a fantastic, successful and memorable one.

Thank you for the patience shown to me while we were putting the package together. Nothing was too much for you. You altered and changed the itinerary again and again until you were sure that I was happy and you made me fell completely at ease through out.

The planning that went into it was extra ordinary. I am sure, in fact I know it took hours to accomplish. I will have no hesitation in recommending Azure Travel to my friends, colleges and even strangers; in order for you to plan their perfect holiday.

The hotels and resorts that we stayed in were great. Thank you for organizing a room in the middle of the Hauza Resort, right across the main swimming pool. This was truly a blessing, as my wife has a knee problem. The Oasis Hotel was truly an Oasis in the middle of a jungle of buildings and masses of traffic - not to mention the heat of the desert.

A special thank you too Mahmoud M D of Travel Art for the interest shown in us. Nothing was too much for him and his team of experts. We were pampered and cared for from the beginning right to the end of our holiday.

We had no hassles at the Airports, Train Station, on the Nile Cruse, at the Hotels and on the organized Tours.

The drivers were brilliant and so patient through the masses and masses of traffic in Cairo and in Alexandria. The agents and Tour guides that were supplied by Travel Art were brilliant and very knowledgeable, a special thank you to Othman for the courtesy shown to us through out. His knowledge of Egypt is more than excellent, it is outstanding and he is an asset to Travel Art.

Once again a big thank you to Azure Travel and Travel Art for a brilliant and perfect holiday experience.

Kind Regards
John and Laetitia Pietersen.

THAILAND & SINGAPORE

Edelstein Pty x 2 18 November Thailand & Singapore

My husband and I had the best holiday imaginable!
Singapore stop-over was great (Thanks)
Thailand was amazing! The hotel was fantastic…
Looking forward to booking another trip with you soon!

Regards
Staci Edelstein

Morrocco

Hello Johanna

Just a quick mail to say a BIG thank you after our mind blowing Morroccan tour,it was so much more than we could have ever imagined!!! We would love to return this year and want you to find out for us if a tour would be possible to obviously first go to Casablanca,then to Marrakesh and then do a desert trip for a couple of days and then return to Marrakesh again for a day or two and then back to Casablanca and then back home.We really enjoyed the Imperial cities tour,but would love to see the Sahara desert.The company that you guys work with in Marroco,Atlas Voyages are also top notch!!

Thank you again

Regards
Kallie& Mariaan Coetsee

SPAIN HOLIDAYS

Hi Chris....

REPORT BACK

Travel arrangements were without problems. Transfers were efficient and on time. Taxi transfers at smaller towns presented no problems and were not expensive (by Euro standards). Pre-booking of airline seats - which we did online - is advised.

HOTELS

Santo Domingo Madrid: very nice, ideal location, full of art-works. Would ask to stay there again unless we had a specific reason to choose another hotel.

Hospes Palacio del Bailo Cordoba: Essentially a luxury botique. Food excellent - no point in going out for meals. Could be a Parador if it wasn't a Hospes - built over the ruins of a roman villa which can bee seen through a glass floor in the dining area. Would definitely want to stay there again.

Petit Palace Santa Cruz seville: Comfortable hotel in "HighTech" group. Full of hi-tech features though not all worked - we did get hi speed internet connection after plugging our computer into the cable in place of theirs.

Bathroom is semi-transparent glass "box" at side of bedroom which some may love and others find a bit disconcerting. Well located however. Next time we might ask for the 4* "Casa 1800" which is about the best located hotel in Seville, looks very nice and has a roof-top view terrace.

Alhambra Palace Granada: Magnificent grand hotel style. Surely the best in Granada (the currently being refurbished Washington Irving at the Alhambra gate may rival it in future). We would definitely ask to stay there again. The Alhambra itself was very interesting but exhausting - requires pre-booking which can be done very easily on line with a credit card.

Donjon Carcassonne: Very nice and in the middle of the ancient town.
Should request main hotel rooms (for convenience) as there are 2 annexes.
Probably the best in Carcassonne except for the over-priced Hotel de la Cite.

Has some limited expensive parking next to hotel, but not advised as streets are VERY narrow and full of tourists - there is free parking just outside the city walls with regular transfer by a hotel car. Best to phone ahead for details.
Carcassonne is recommended for anyone who is even vaguely in the area - a perfectly preserved mediaeval walled town.

Parador Hondarribia: An absolute must. Worth a long detour just to stay there. Close to the San Sebastian airport (no plane noise problem however) so an ideal starting point for people visiting northern Spain or SW France (Madrid-San Sebastian is a better choice of route for SW France than Paris- Bayonne).

Credit cards: Visa and Mastercard. accepted everywhere, Diners and Amex less widly, especially in France. PIN based card expected, but swipe cards still OK. Don't expect to pay for petrol at a fully automatic filling-station in France with a non-French card - use a filling-station with a cashier. ZA credit cards usually OK for automatic parking and road tolls.

All-in-all we had a wonderful time. And now for our next trip.......

Regards...
...Malcolm & Nanette Coulter

EGYPT HOLIDAYS

Good Afternnon,

My wife and I would like to thank you for taking very good care of us when we visited Egypt.We found your commitment to your profession very refreshing indeed.You made our stay in your Country very pleasant and memorable.You personally made this possible.

We would certainly reccommend your company and especially you to friends who would like to visit Egypt.We also like to thank you for the choice of guides.Both Shahenda and Mohammed did an excellent job and ensured that we learnt as much as possible in the short tie we spent with them.We certainly enjoyed our time with them.

Given the opportunity we will return to your Country in the future.

Best Regards
Thomas and Marilyn Havvas

INDIA HOLIDAYS

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Johanna and Nadia for taking care of all the arrangements and making our trip to India a memorable one.

Our first trip to Egypt in 2009 was superb and this trip to India was fantastic and its thanks to Azure travel.

I would definitely recommend Azure Travel to take care of anyone's holiday needs and will definitely arrange my next holiday with you

Kind Regards
Desmond

EGYPT HOLIDAYS

EGYPT HOLIDAYS

Hello

Compliments of the season to you too! Mariana said you phoned the day after we got back, thank you for that.

As Mariana told you, we had a fantastic trip. It will remain fond memories in our hearts for ever and a day, and I’d be delighted to give some feedback to Azure Travel.

Besides the fact that Egypt in itself is of course a fantastic place to visit, especially if it’s one’s first visit, the single biggest reason why it was such an unforgettable experience for us, was the way Sanabel Tours and its staff handled our tour. I travel extensively internationally because of the work I do, and I've come across many travel agents and tour operators in my lifetime, but I have never before come across such professional, dedicated, caring, knowledgeble and friendly people as everyone at Sanabel!

From the moment that Mr Mahmoud Bayoumi, the General Manager whom I'm copying on this, personally picked us up late one night at the airport, through to each and every place we went and experience we had, we were treated like kings and simply could not have wished for better! Here’s why I say this:

• One would expect that the individual tour guides in the various places we went, would all have different approaches to the people they show around, have different levels of knowledge, etc. The outstanding feature about all the guides assigned to us, were that they all had the right personalities in terms of friendliness, everyone’s English was outstanding, they were all extremely knowlegeable, they all had the absolutely right attitude towards client service and, above all else, they did not simply provide information but they made the whole experience and the history come alive for us!
• One thing I’m personally a stickler for, is timeousness and accuracy – not once was anybody a minute late for a pickup, not once was there an understanding that wasn’t honoured. Everywhere it was clear that things have been arranged accurately long before we even got there – we never had a moment’s worry or tension or stress on us.
• The same applied to the transport we were given – everywhere it was brand new, clean and tidy Toyota kombies, just for the 4 of us - which was fantastic for the family experience it gave us. I even noticed a couple of times that the vehicles got washed between a late night drop-off and the next morning’s pick-up! And the drivers were suberbly capable – I was conscious of the fact that we had our entire family in one vehicle, but not once did we have any reason whatsoever to feel nervous about anybody’s driving.
• All accommodation was 100% acceptable, to expectation and in line with what we asked for.
• The typical tourist “problems” we had (luggage left behind by the airline, no-one in Egypt wanting to change SA Rands, my son forgetting his laptop on the nile cruiser, my wife misplacing the expensive big papyrus she bought, etc, etc) were taken out of our hands and calmly and efficiently solved for us – it was unbelievable!
• And aside from the pre-arranged tours and visits, none of our last minute special requests were ever too much trouble or too difficult to arrange, my wife and I remarked to each other how this was “ exceptional customer service in action!”

As you'll deduct from the above, we are very satisfied customers. If my feedback is all positive, then it is simply because I do not have anything to be critical about! Mariana and I are already starting to make plans to return there in a year or more’s time, and then I’d for sure want to have the same people in charge of our itineraries. In the meantime, I can only repeat our sincere thanks to all concerned, especially Mahmoud Bayoumi and the people at Sanabel Tours. The next time you have prospective first-time visitors to Egypt who could benefit from a chat about what to do, experience and expect over there, please feel absolutely free to give my phone number to them!

With kind regards,
Blackie van Niekerk.

EGYPT HOLIDAYS

Hi Johanna,

I must add that the Sanabel Tours people were also fantastic – both Mehmood and Tarek took a personal interest in our requirements and ensured that everything met or exceeded our expectations.

I believe that you guys make a winning team for tours to Egypt and as Nisha has said, we will continue to recommend Azure Travel to anyone wishing to visit Egypt.

Regards - Satha

EGYPT HOLIDAYS

Dear Johanna,

Just wanted to write and let you know what a wonderful time we had on our trip in Dec 2009 to Egypt.

Your planning and attention to detail was great as everything went according to the itinerary. We had a personal tour guide for the whole trip and that was really amazing.

Since we traveled with our two girls aged 6 and 9 and we were initially concerned that Egypt might be a bit too much for them, but this was not so the tour guides made sure that our kid’s needs were taken care of even to the extent of transporting us in a vehicle decorated in the colour pink!

On the excursions the tour guides were very mindful of the kids and explained complex Egyptology to them in a fun-childlike manner. Our kids had a ball and learned a lot.

The Cairo hotel was fabulous, apart from the fabulous service, it had a fancy jungle gym and the kids loved this.

The Nile Cruise ship was something else, it really was a 4 star floating hotel. Once again their services excelled in catering for our needs.

We travel a lot hence our expectations are very high, this trip certainly exceeded our expectations and for the price we paid, we really received value for money and had a fantastic holiday.

I have already recommended this tour to all of our colleagues, friends and family.

Thank you for all your efforts, it was much appreciated!

THE PILLAY FAMILY

Johannesburg.