Vardhaman Vacations

Dear Rajiv

I have just returned from Australia (Friday) so sorry about the late feedback.
The Tour was organized superbly and on the whole except for a few hiccups we thought it went very smoothly.
Just a couple of points:
All the tour guides except one spoke very good English – (trainee in Kujaurau – not good English, however we got by!) Amritsar – no guide, only a driver who could not speak English.

We would not hesitate to use Vardhman again for our trip to India and would most definitely recommend Vardhman to our friends who decide to travel to India for a vacation. We will know they are in very capable hands with a well organized tour company.

On a personal note Rajiv, thank you so much for making our holiday such a good one. The service you give is exceptional and I am so glad that after much research re which Indian Tour Company to use for our first trip to India, we chose Vardhman.

We certainly did our research and it paid off, you were there on the first day of our arrival in Delhi to welcome us and then on the last day in Delhi to say farewell which we so appreciated. We have never had such good service from other Tour Companies around the world. For this we greatly thank you.

I will access your Vardhman site and put my review on it.
Thank you once again for all your company did to make our trip magical.

Best
Melinda
New Zealand

Hi Rajiv
My husband and I will be visiting Kerala in December 2016/January 2017 from Canberra and our friends Mr and Mrs Jeyanathan referred us to Vardhman vacations for assistance with the tours.

We are landing in Cochin (International) airport on 26 December 2016 just past midnight (27 Dec early morning at 12.10am) via Singapore airlines. We will be staying in Kerala for about 6 nights from 26 Dec to 1 January 2017. After this, we will fly to Chennai on 1 January and stay another 8 days before returning to Canberra.

While in Kerala we would like to visit Guruvayur temple (just spend half an hour or so at the temple not joining the queue for close Dharshan) and a couple of tourist locations as time permits and also do boat trips in Alappe?. We will be joined by a group of family members (about 4 more people) who will only arrive in Cochin on 29 December and accompany us on these tours. Between 27 and 29 December my husband and I are happy do some shopping on MG Road or close by, while waiting for the rest of the group to arrive.

Would you be able to arrange a tour itinerary for us (starting from airport pick up for the two of us on 27 Dec ember early in the morning and drop off at the airport on 1 January for the domestic flight to Chennai) and make arrangements for places to visit and the boat trips (perhaps during 29 - 31 Dec)? Tours to places and boat trips will be for 6 people. We would need a good transport vehicle with a driver for the shopping and tours.

Please note we will book all the flights and accommodations. In Kerala we are planning to stay in The Avenue Regent on MG Road. Would this accommodation be suitable for us or do you have any suggestions (prefer 4 stars or above)?.

Please also send us the detailed costs for all the activities including vehicle/boat hires.

Appreciate you help.

Regards.

Dr Niranjani Saverimuttu
Australia

Dear Rajiv,

I am Mrs Chithra Nimalanathan would like to consider a trip to India in September 2016, around 10th of Sept on wards.
My plan is to fly to Mumbai from SriLanka with my sister (just the 2 of us) then spend 4 days in Shirdi see places around there first. Secondly fly to Delhi and do the Golden Triangle trip.
I hope 2wks is enough for us to see places and return to homeland from Delhi. I have visited your website to get some ideas.

Your name, service and tour organisation was recommended by Sivapatham family in Australia in 2013, and Niru family in Australia in January 2015. Mrs Siva is my sister in law.

I have also viewed Niru family's plan re the Golden Triangle and prefer a similar trip.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Regards
Chithra Nimalanathan
UK

Hi Rajiv

I am not certain if you can still remember me. I am Jeyanathan from Australia and I used your tour services back in 2004 for doing my Agra, Delho and Kerala packages with my family. Following the good experience and the excellent service you provided to us then, I referred a number of my friends to your company since then, recently you may recall Mr Chandramohan (April/May) and Gunaseelan (Jun/July) both from Australia and soon Mr Saverimuttu who will contact you soon for visiting Kerala in December.

I am visiting India in August with my wife (2 adults) and would like to visit few places in Kerala which I haven't visited in my previous trips. If you are interested, could you please kindly send us your quote. Details as follows:

Segment 1:
7 Aug (Day 1) - Arriving Trivandrum 9.45pm 7 Aug 2016 (from Sydney via S'pore). Check-in to a hotel in Kovalam (see Note1).
8 Aug (Day 2) - Kovalam and Trivandrum city tour. Overnight stay in Kovalam.
9 Aug (Day 3) - Visit to Kanyakumari including other popular places and return after seeing sun setting. Overnight stay in Kovalam.
10 Aug (Day 4) - After checkout from the hotel, drop us at Trivandrum Railway station to catch the train to go to Ernakulam (see Note 2).

Segment 2:
10 Aug (Day 4) - Overnight stay at Ernakulam
11 Aug (Day 5) - Drive to Munnar. Overnight stay at Munnar
12 Aug (Day 6) - Drive back to Ernakulam. Overnight stay at Ernakulam.
13 Aug (Day 7) - Overnight stay at Ernakulam
14 Aug (Day 8) - Overnight stay at Ernakulam
15 Aug (Day 9) - Checkout, go to Cochin airport to catch the flight to Chennai.

Please quote segment 1 and segment 2 seperately. Reliable vehicle with good driver preferably Tamil speaking. Please note the following:

1: We would like the hotel in Kovalam to be atleast 4 star (preferably Leela Beach Resort - if available).
2: Let us know If you can arrange our train ticket (the best class only) for our Trivandrum to Ernakulam train journey.
3: For shopping convenience, ABAD Attrium (MG Road) is ok for our stay in Ernakulam from Day 7 to Day 9 (after the Munnar trip). We stayed here a number of times before and although it is 3 star only it is convenient. But you are free to book us a different hotel for our stay on Day 4.
4: We're thinking of booking our Cochin to Chennai flight (15 Aug) ourselves but if you can do this for us let us know.

Thanks. Please reply at your earliest. Also advise, if it is ok and safe to travel Munnar as it is a monsoon period.

Jeyanathan
Australia

Hi Rajv,

How are you? We have used your service a lot with our families and friends. My Brother In Law ( Mahesan from UK) just finished the Golden Triangle trip and left.

Now My Sister In Law ( Mrs Chitra Nimalainathan from UK) is making arrangements with you , please assist her. She will be travelling with her sister, please ensure you book 4 star hotels and English speaking driver.

Can you please arrange a local Mobile phone for them also.

Thanks again.

Ananthanathan ( Nathan) From Australia

Dear Mr. Naveen,
I have meant to write to you after our trip from India but then I was busy with work and then was on a retreat for another 7 days followed by more work.
I truly want to thank you for making such a wonderful arrangement for the cars and having the two friendly and helpful drivers.
Though we only have about 8 hours with them but it was a wonderful experience visiting the places that we wanted to go. I would definitely use your service and recommand your service to my friends should we visit Delhi again. Thank you again. We enjoyed the afternoon sightseeing very much.
Best regards,
Rita Sze
Singapore

Let us thank you for taking all the trouble to arrange accommodation and journey for me and my family on our tour to Delhi. The arrangements that you had made for our tour transportation were more helpful. If you had not spend your helping hand, the journey would not have comfortable and useful one for us. Thanks once more time Mrs/Mr Naveen for all arragements.

Thanks and best regards

Sreeji.T.K
UAE

Dear Vardhman Vacations,

Your company has arranged tours for me in the past and I was more than satisfied with the service you provided. I also felt that Vardhman offered more value for money than other companies I have used in the past. My wife and I wish to make a three week tour of Rajasthan next year. Can you provide a suggested itinerary? We require a car and driver and three-star hotel accommodation. We would prefer the hotels to be in the central district of each city as on one previous tour our hotel was on the outskirts and not convenient for exploring the town on foot. What in your opinion is the best time of year to travel in Rajasthan? Could you provide a costing for the tour?

Best wishes
Colin Stevens
Australia

Dear RajivBhai,

How are you all.

I apologise for the delay. Our trip of Rajestan was excellent. All the Hotels you provided was excellent. The Driver you provided had a very good English. . Very Helpful. Showed us all the Interesting Places. It Has led us to very good memories. All our Family enjoyed very well. There is no Negative Point at all. Any of your clients wants to know anything . They are most wellcome to ask us. Once again ,Thank you very much. for your custom.

Regards
Rajesh , and Anita Shah. .

Hi Rajiv,

I just got back after a long vacation. Yes, the trip to Agra went smoothly. The driver arrived promptly, and the guide was helpful.

Thank you.

Usha

Dear Mr Rajiv.

Thank you so much for organizing such a nice sightseeing journey for us. We also appreciate very much the gesture of the 2 000 Rupees. Everything was perfectly organized and the driver took us safely from one place to another and in the evening he found nice restaurants for us where we could dine. The guides were very nice and had very good knowledge about Indian history. They were also flexible so we could change the schedule according to our wishes.

We will recommend Vardhman Vacations to our friends and next time when we plan a trip to India we will contact you again.

Best regards
Peter Kolderup-Finstad and Kerstin maurin-Graessner
House S1, Coconut Sands
PO Box 30, MaenamPost Office
84330 KohSamuiSuratthani
THAILAND

For about ten years I have been attached to several UN sponsored projects in India, mainly the ones of the National Leather Development Programme financed through United Nations Development Programme etc. For several years Rajiv has organised our various trips in India, even local daily ones. His services are most professional, even my friends and relatives have been using his vacation services around India. All of themhave been most happy about the professionality and care, the care in the sense that he and his team are continuing following up the progress of each trip. Even without mention for example when I arrive by train to a railway station there is his man, driver or such, standing in front of my coach to carry the baggage and directing me to the car. I warmly recommend Rajiv’s services.

Vointodellakinsuositella Rajiv Jaininpalveluja.

Terv.

TimoNiklas-Salminen
Footwear Technology and Management Consultant

TO THE ATTENTION OF RAJIV and NAVEEN

Good afternoon,

Now we are back home, and I would like to inform you that we have been very satisfied with your organisation : either with the 2 guides (Agra and Jaipur "specialy the one in Agra who was above expectations" + with the taxis driver SANJAY who is a very good driver.

Whishing you an happy new year,

Michele Yazami
Singapore

Dear Rajiv,

Just to thank you for organising our trip to India. We really enjoyed our holiday very much. In particular we would like to mention our driver Ram whose friendly assistance at all times, excellent English and (very safe) driving skill helped to make our tour such a success.

If we return to India some day we would not hesitate to use your services again, or to recommend them to others. We attach your questionnaire duly completed.

Very best regards,
Bill Owens and Milagros Iturri
Spain

Dear Rajiv

We are now back in Israel after a great experience in India.

The main purpose of this letter is to thank you very much for the magnificent job that you made in organizing our trip at such short notice. There was not a single hitch and all the plans made went off perfectly. Also a special word for your driver Sanjay. He is a real gentleman. Always a smile, always willing always there, and seemingly never tired !

The two hotels that I must single out for praise were the Oberoi in Shimla and the Hotel in Amritsar. Superb. But all were very good and provided oases after the very long hours of traveling.

Rajiv, you gave world class service and I will recommend you with pleasure.

With very good wishes
Namaste and Shalom
Shimon and Sara ben-Horin
Israel

Dear Sarita and Rajiv,

Namaste and shukriya!

We would like to express our warmest thanks to you both for a wonderful and truly memorable trip through Rajasthan, Agra and Kanha. Your organisation was superb: our air and rail bookings were all in order, our accommodationbookings were perfect and there was always someone to meet us as arranged.Despite our having postponed the day before we were due to depart SouthAfrica in November, you reinstated all our arrangements quite smoothly, andwe sincerely appreciate your time and trouble.

A representative always met or phoned us to advise times of sightseeing tours. Jacky (spelling?) (Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer) was a very good and careful driver, although his English was limited. I am sure this will improve with time. When we had a puncture, he speedily and efficiently changed the wheel. Sanjay was a true gentleman, punctual, courteous and considerate and a very good driver too. We really appreciated having him as our driver from Jodhpur to Jaipur to Ranthambore and up to Agra.

We feel the following feedback may be of interest to you:

Imperial Hotel, Delhi
excellent; smooth and rapid check-in, beautiful room, delicious breakfast; we loved exploring the corridors and enjoying the exquisite art.

Lake Palace Hotel, Udaipur
a dream come true! The view from our window of the City Palace was breathtaking. We loved it! Ratan Vilas, Jodhpur - a real gem! A lovely family home, set well back from the road, with 21 spotlessly clean and charming rooms with interesting historical photos - ours opened on to a peaceful courtyard. We enjoyed chatting to Mr Singh, the owner, aswell as other guests, which you often don't get a chance to do in bigger hotels. Dinner was excellent. Location is also very good. Well worth using for guests who want a more personal stay. Excellent value for money.

Hotel Victoria, Jaisalmer
delightful! The manager, Susil, was so welcoming and treated us so well with cups of chai on the roof, and freshly squeezed orange juice and delicious banana and honey pancakes for breakfast. Our room was lovely with a beautifulbathroom and we loved staying in the fort and watching the sunset and activity at the market below.

Balsamand Garden Retreat, Jodhpur
very pleasant room. We loved walking round the beautiful and well-maintained gardens.

Rambagh Palace, Jaipur
what a magnificent hotel! We loved the tour of the hotel (and glass of champagne in the Polo Bar afterwards), our walk round the exquisite gardens and a swim in Maharani Gayatri Devi's indoor pool! A very special place.

Khem Villas, Ranthambore
very peaceful and tastefully decorated.Excellent vegetarian food; every little detail thought of - hot towels after a dusty game drive, torch in the room, a blazing fire round which guests meet and chat in the evening. Usha, the charming owner, and her team run a superb establishment.

ITC Sheraton, Agra
very good; excellent service, good location loved the view of the Taj from the roof.

Wild Chalet, Kanha
- rustic and comfortable cottages in a wonderful location overlooking the river so tranquil - a magical spot. The naturalists were extremely knowledgeable and really enjoyed sharing theirexpertise with us.

Palace Heights Hotel, Delhi
a perfect choice for our last day. Wel located, quick and smooth check-in, delicious breakfast, very helpful staff. Great value for money.

So, as you can see, we were extremely happy with every place we stayed!

It was as a result of an itinerary on your website that I picked up Kanha, and must thank you for this. Coming from South Africa, we love wildlife. We thoroughly enjoyed Ranthambore and were lucky enough to see 4 tigers there, 3 close up, but we felt Kanha was a more real wildlife experience: the forest is beautiful and the naturalists are superb - highly professional and passionate about the animals - we also saw 2 tigers there, 1 close up, as well as sloth bear and wild boar, which was so exciting. The naturalists were passionate about the trees and the birds as well and we so enjoyedlearning from them: many species are similar to what we have here - barbets,rollers, ibis, hoopoes, hornbills...

We loved our train journeys: your trains are so punctual and efficient - they left exactly on time and arrived exactly on time. It was such fun finding our compartment on the name list next to the door, and it was greatgetting the lovely clean sheets and towels.

May we just forward one comment regarding the shopping: we feel the shopping stops should not take up valuable sightseeing time and should only be at the end of the tour. All the tourists we spoke to throughout our trip felt the same way: we all know that shopping is an integral part of visiting India,but the high commission makes the prices very expensive, with the result that tourists are reluctant to shop at the places guides take them too. Sure, commission is part of the game, but reduce it, as these shopping stops are counter productive. I pass this on in the hope that you can communicate this to all agencies and guides - it is not only a reflection of the ones we had. We were very aware of how much tourism has fallen in India after 26/11 and we are so sad for your beautiful country, as we know how many people's livelihood is dependent on it. If the commission is reduced more tourists will buy and both the shops and the guides benefit.

As a result of our trip, a friend of mine is very interested in visiting Ranthambore and Kanha, and based on our excellent experience with you, will certainly book her trip with Vardhman when she does come. We will also pass your details onto a local travel agent here in Johannesburg, and, as promised, I will be posting a report on Trip Advisor.

I brought a box of chocolates for you Sarita, and forgot to give them to you- I am so sorry! It was lovely meeting you ,and when we come back to India to see some of the south (Kerala maybe, and some more national parks certainly!) we will be booking with Vardhman.

Thank you once again for organising a superb trip!

Kindest regards,
Sue Briggs
South Africa

Hi Rajiv,

Happy New Year to you too! Sorry I did not manage to call you before we left Delhi. The journey back was ok, we were all very exhausted and still in shock over the turn of events. Thank you for your support, we were informed that someone called the embassy informing the tragedy.

Our thanks to the driver, Mr Sunder Pal, who was with us throughout the journey. A very competent driver. He was ever so willing to help and accomodate our wishes.

Thanks again.

Kind regards
Nura

Hello Rajiv!

After leaving India, we have been to Malasia and we were very busy to send E-mail to you. First of all, we are thanking you for your kind service and for the arrangement for a good driver Mr. Ram who spent most time with us in our tour. Mr. Ram very obedient, humble and understanding driver served us since he picked up us from the airport till he dropped us at the airport. At the begining, our driver Mr. Ram hestitated to talk to us, but after some times we could communicate in English very well. We had no problem in communicating with him.

I would like you request to thank Mr. Ram on behalf of ourselves for his excellance service.

We took some photo with him. I will send a copy of it to Mr. Ram to your address when it is ready.

He was fined by the traffic police for not wearing his uniform which he was not provided at that time.

Could you send Mr. Ram's current or village permanent address in E-mail.

We wish your tourist service for a good future.

Regards.
Rajah.
(Australia.)

Hello Rajiv & Team Vardman

Thanks a lot for yours whises!

It was a very nice stay and very well organized trip from you.

Happy & prosperous time also for you all,

Regards,
Jose Pinilla
Madrid, Spain

Dear sir!

We want to thank you very much for our journey to India two weeks ago! Everything was so well organised.

City tours were exellent and our guides were great. We hope you gave our Delhi guide greetings for a good service! We learned so many new things and heard so many new stories so it'll takes a while to handle everything.

It was great to see your cities and also your counryside. So many different animals were walkin around, it was amazing.

Our driver, Mr Ram was the best part! He was so good driver and a great person! Without him out trip could have been much worse. Please, say hello to him when you see Ram. We miss him and his services! Here are also some pictures taken during our trip.

Hotels were good (especially in Delhi), in Jaipur there were a little bit bad service and bugs in our room. But we didn't even demand anything else than budget class.

With best regards,
Ms. RiinaKettunen
Ms. Mari Hiilloskivi
Finland

Dear Rajiv

Now back into Uk for the first day and very busy.

Sorry for the delay in filling in your Evaluation Format the end of the tour.

Catherine and myself felt that we would like to add detailto the tour and comments on the guides that would not havefitted onto the form. We hope to have this finished by theend of the UK weekend.

We would both like to Thank you for an excellent holiday,the tour was first class and we enjoyed the sights.

Will return to you later this week.

Many Thanks
Bryan and Catherine Watson
UK

Dear Rajiv,

We have just returned to Manila from our trip to India. We just wanted to thank you for the arrangements you have made for us. We most especially want to thank you for giving us a very good driver, Ram. We were very impressed with the quality of service he gave us -- the safety in driving, his very good command of the English language, his ability to explain the various tourist sites, monuments and important places in India, his cleanliness, respectfulness, trustworthiness, and his willingness to always go out of his way to make us clients very happy. Our stay in India wouldn't have been very great without Ram. With our wonderful experience with him, we will definitely recommend your Company to other Filipinos who would like to visit India. Again, thank you.

Mr. and Mrs. Leviste
Manila, Philippines

Hi Rajiv,

Thank you for a terrific trip in India.

I have contacted Ian Kershaw and explained to him the excellent service that we recieved from yourself. He will get in touch with you in due course.

Another friend, Lynn Anderson is interested in travelling to India in the summer. Her contact details are: pinni62@hotmail.com she would appreciate you getting in touch to discuss possibilities.

I also have contact details for another person ( an air steward with Virgin Atlantic) who is interested in hearing what your company can offer. I will send his details next week as I have left them at home.

I hope this is encouraging for you and I will continue to promote your company to anyone who is interested in travelling to India.

Once again thank you for organising a brilliant trip in India for us. It was a great experience.

Regards,
Robin Campbell
England