Reviews

Well organised. Good hotels. Interesting place to visit and learn about another culture.

Our tour guide, Sky Kim, was very unprofessional, not very knowledgeable, had very poor time management and could not effectively manage a large group. As a result we learnt very little about South Korea.
- she was often the last to arrive in the morning.
- she told stories about her love life that were irrelevant and inappropriate e.g. wanting an ex boyfriend to donate his sperm to her.
- she used the 'f-word' a lot.
- she told a story about her period and a sanitary pad.

She couldn't manage a large group.
- she lost two people on day 1 so wasted a lot of time looking for them which meant we missed our dinner reservation and had to go somewhere else.
- she couldn't count correctly. She told the coach driver to leave when one person was missing. Another member of the group had to tell her three times to stop and that we were missing a person.
We were late for the changing of the guard in Seoul. At 9.55am we told Sky we needed to get there but she wanted to take a group photo. She said we wouldn't see anything anyway. We had to run to get there and missed the beginning.
Her communication skills were very poor. She constantly changed timings and did not tell the whole group.
She would start talking before everyone was off the coach so we often did not know what was happening.
She was not clear about meeting times and meeting places.
She did not give us time to look around after she finished talking so we could only listen or look - not both.
She rushed around interesting temples and museums and then gave us free time where there was not much to do.
Also, some of the meals were very poor quality e.g. The Welcome Dinner was just a bowl of dumpling soup.
One evening we didn't get dinner as she said she had spent the budget on another meal.

The tour was definitely not the standard we would expect based on our previous trips with Wendy Wu. It was not good value for money and the very poor service from the guide meant at times it was not enjoyable.
Many people in the group were struggling as it was so disorganised which in turn caused friction.
Based on this holiday, we will not be booking another holiday with Wendy Wu and many people on the tour made the same comment.

This tour gives a glimpse of a fascinating country, but there was too much emphasis on temples and virtually nothing on Japanese culture. The frenetic pace left too little "free time", and the tour is definitely not for an experienced independent traveller. And the so-called tour guide for the first half of the tour was awful, with limited English and prone to giving incomprehensible and/or inaccurate information. As a solo traveller, this tour did not provide value for money.

Excellent tour through Cambodia and Vietnam, visited many amazing places and made unforgettable memories

This is a really intense holiday - very little time for r&r - but what you see is incredible! Our tour guide, Betty, was fantastic and the food was incredible. I honestly can’t gush enough about this holiday. And seeing pandas on two consecutive days was just a dream…

The Wendy Wu Wonders of China tour was my first trip to China. It was 16 days long and covered all the major sites you could think of; the Great Wall, Forbidden City and the Terracotta Army. Our guides were amazing. Nothing was ever too much for them. We had a National guide, Britney/Zhang Ru, who is just an amazing person. She was super helpful and one of the kindest people I have met. Our local guides were all very informative, knowledgable and passionate regarding their area/city and country, especially our Beijing guide Alan/Jiao Yang.
I would 100% use Wendy Wu again to go back to China in a heartbeat! Or even to try another country.

A wonderful trip to Japan, This was a great way to experience Japan. The food, iconic places, culture. It was a busy agenda with so many new experiences. An open mind and good fitness is required to get the most from this holiday.

Prompt and helpful response. Flights were sorted out efficiently and very quickly.

The guides and staff were extremely good and helpful but the food on the cruise was poor. Hot food served at tepid temperatures. Every meal was accompanied with salad and starters were always salids. Most meat was tough and chicken overcookrd.
Poor hygiene standards for a well known company.
I traveled to China with you several years ago and as a food scientist was delighted at your high standards. Not so on this trip.
It explains why myself and others has several attacks of severe stomach upsets.
I am disappointed at how your standards have slipped.
More seriously I was asked several months before trip to extend holiday for 1 day due to bad connections. Which i was charged exyra for. As I am female, have type 1 diabetes (which you knew about) in my 70"s traveling alone. I asked if there were others also extending their trip and was assured there were. In my group of 22 there were not. When I asked names of who these other people were you refused to tell me. I did manage to find the 1 couple who had made arrangements for a day trip which I was unable to join. So in other words you abandoned me. Others in my group flying to Heathrow had no problems getting advertised flights. Another bad mark against you.

Fantastic experience. This tour had a variety of activities and covered a lot of places. There was a mix of local and western meals and the hotels used were of a good standard. Our guide (Michiko Doi) was excellent. She was knowledgable, spoke very good english, had a sense of humour and was passionate about Japan. She worked extremly hard to meet everyone's needs and made our trip. I would recommend this tour.

We really enjoyed our tour of Cambodia and Vietnam. We saw so much in those two countries and had so many different experiences which made for a very memorable time. Our guides, Arun and John were excellent and wanted us to get as much from our time in their countries as we could. The group size, seventeen, was good. The schedule was very packed though, and personally we would have preferred doing a little less and having a bit more time to ourselves. It was exceptionally hot, 36 C on most of the days, so far too hot for long, full on days. The food was good, but meals were fairly repetitive and we often had similar set menus at lunchtime and in the evening wherever we went. A smaller meal at lunchtime would have been fine. Having big lunches also took up a great deal of time. Having some evening meals in our hotels would have given us more time. So much to think about and so many photos to look at!

We have just returned from an excellent trip, Japan Uncovered. Blessed by outstanding weather, and in cherry blossom season this trip covered all the major sites that we most wanted to see in Japan. Our guide, Mina, was fabulous. Patient, knowledgeable and with a great sense of humour. Her English was excellent. Our group of 27 included English, Irish and Australian participants. A few of us had food requests and allergies which Mina took time to understand and to ensure that the restaurants were aware of.
Before embarking on a trip such as this though, I would urge people to do their homework. This is a trip designed to cover as many peoples interests as possible. Therefore, there will be occasions when you like certain activities more than others. This is not a personalised trip. This also applies to the food. Sometimes you will eat at fairly high end restaurants and sometimes the equivalent of a cafe. The food is predominantly Japanese because that is what people eat in Japan! I am not a huge fan of Japanese food but I tried everything and I was never hungry. The days are long and there is often quite a bit of walking. So when it is stated that a good level of fitness is required, that is what they mean. On the first day we walked over 20,000 steps as well as travelling by coach and boat; and recovering from jet lag. English is not widely spoken but with a smile and a sense of humour most things can be communicated. We were happy with all of the hotels that we stayed in but Japanese hotel rooms tend to be small and rather warm. There often isn’t a bar to relax in, in the evenings but the vending machines are excellent.
We will definitely be keeping our eyes peeled for other Wendy Wu tours but I think that this one will be hard to beat both in terms of cost and the amount of Japan that we were able to see. Just a couple of thousand photos to go through now.

Poor value. The guide had never travelled with a group and he had no idea what he was doing. Often he was lost at large historical sites and so a lot of time was wasted. We often did not have enough time to queue up to see the sites we were visiting.
The hotels were very good, however the lunch and dinner venues were often very cheap, rather nasty places. We often arrived late for lunches and the food was sitting waiting for us so cold. Not pleasant.
Lack of information in a daily basis. Such as where we were going, meal times etc.
The coach transport was of a very high standard with plenty of room. Great drivers.
In general I could not recommend this company. I feel the holiday was very overpriced for the service we received.

What a lovely ship. The staff were incredibly attentive. Once they knew what you liked, the next time, it was ready waiting for you, you didn't have to ask. They took an interest in you and were happy to chat to you. The accommodations were as good as any 5star hotel. The food was excellent. We got to visit the Captains Deck and Engineering and learnt about the excellent environmental processes on the ship. A lovely and very comfortable sundeck. A superb bar. An inclusive guide on the many landside visits by tender that you could choose to go on. My time on the Victoria Mekong was only 4 days and only part of my inclusive Wendy Wu trip of Cambodia and Vietnam, however, it was most certainly my favourite part. I was informed that the ships company is starting a seven day trip of the Mekong; now that would be very special.

Very patient advisor.