Travellers Comments (Commendations)

-----Original Message-----
From: "one time sprl" <info@onetime.be
To: <durjay@compasstours.com
Sent: Saturday, April 16, 2005 1:27 PM

Subject: trip in india

Hello durjay,
Few words to give you a congratulation for your work and this of your team
during booking and our tour in India. We have apprecied -now and later- your cook book. I hope we have the chance in the future to go back in your beautifoul
country and work again with you
thanks again
philippe duquaine
wavre
belgium
15/04/2005

-----Original Message-----
Dear Compass Tours and Travels,

We are writing to express our heartfelt gratitude for the superb and outstanding service you arranged for our first trip to India. How serendipitous to find you on the Internet on a sleepless night! I researched and scrutinized over a dozen tour companies including Sita, Cox & Kings, Abercrombie Kent, Himalayan and General Tours. Most offered similar itineraries and hotels but few would accommodate our specific needs. Only Compass could offer a private high-end tour at low-end group tour prices.

Compass has set a new standard in the travel industry. You have distinguished yourself from your competitors as being the leader in PERSONAL SERVICE. Referring to the clients as "your guests", it is apparent that you embrace the philosophy of Hospitality. In our view, Compass is an exceptional value; attractive packages that are palatable to the discerning travelers' tastes and financially digestible to the cost-conscious.

From all our years of budget, independent and group travel, we have utilized many tour companies' services. None of them have provided the personal attention to details, promptness in response and the flexibility to the numerous changes requested that Compass gave us. In fact, there were a couple of companies who informed us to make arrangements ourselves after several inquiries about accommodations or more details about an excursion. You replied to all 75+ e-mails and each question in them!! We were astounded that each e-mail was quickly answered with full and detailed explanations.

From the beginning our tour was a challenge but you rose to the challenge with class and professionalism unparallel to any company we utilized. After our U.S. tour operator informed us they cancelled the trip due to insufficient group number, we were scrambling to find another operator. We were scheduled to depart September 15, 2001 and our first contact with you in was in August 2001. Our first e-mail was immediately responded with a customized-detailed itinerary. What also impressed us was your perceptiveness of our preferences in our style of traveling. The true strength of Compass was revealed when things went wrong. Indeed, our trip had numerous changes due to several flight cancellations, fully booked hotels and September 11...At times, we thought we were not meant to go to India and contemplated canceling the tour. We were deeply touched with the patience and sensitivity about our fears and frustrations in re-booking the tour.

We finally arrived in India in December 2001 with an itinerary different from the original. However, the personal attention and commitment to service was never compromised. You were able to control the costs without sacrificing comfort. The arrangements were virtually faultless; the accommodations rivaled any hotel in the West and many were a sight in itself. The drivers and guides were punctual, informative and attentive. Each of the guides (Mr. Shevale, Ravi, Yash, KK, Yogesh and Anurag) brought the historical site to life-providing insight to the stories behind the magnificent structures and brought us up to date to the current state of India. All made themselves available to our special requests and patiently waited for us without any word about the time schedule. We appreciated the efforts made by Sunil (our driver) to find our friends and a certain store in Jaipur. We also want to extend our gratitude to the rest of the Compass staff who have diligently worked on our itinerary. Though we may have not met everyone, all deserve recognition for the meticulously planned tour.

Durjay, we want to personally thank you for meeting with us virtually each day we were in Delhi. You have exceeded our expectations of what a tour company provides. We felt secure and confident knowing that you were carefully monitoring our tour. You clearly went out of your way to make sure things went smoothly (e.g., personally inspecting the hotels we reserved). Furthermore, you thanked us for calling you about the little things (retrieving my hat on Air India, getting my sari hemmed) when we should have thanked you! Being re-routed from Varanasi to Delhi was not so terrible because you were in Delhi. In our view, you are already at the top of the travel industry, yet you continue to seek more ways to improve your service.

In conclusion, we want to thank you for the beautiful introduction to India. You made our dream a reality which is now a cherished memory. We long to return to experience the wondrous sites, delectable cuisine and the gracious hospitality. Whenever we return to India, this wondrous and distant land, we will always go with a "Compass" at hand.

Warmest and best regards,

Christine & Jeffrey Moses, California, USA
Cnjmoses@hotmail.com

-----Original Message-----

From: Sedef Artun sedefartun@yahoo.com
To: compassindia@vsnl.net
Cc: Cagla Bekbolet Erden cbekbolet@hotmail.com
Sent: Friday, November 29, 2002 2:16 PM

Subject: Feedback of our trip-Attn. of Durjay Sengupta

Hello Durjay,

I am back home in London. Cagla is still in India and will proceed to Maldives. So I will be writing our eedback on the behalf of us both.

Let me start with saying a big thank you to you and to everyone in Compass India who planned or took part in our trip. On the whole everything went very smoothly and we had a very good 17 days. I can easily say that I would not hesitate recommending your company to anyone I know; and you can use us if you need to provide recommendations for other prospective clients.

Now I will give more detailed feedback about the otels, guides etc..

Delhi: Our guide ( I forget the names but you probably know who they are)in Delhi was very knowledgeable. He was nice and he is good for tourists interested in history. We were also happy about the driver, who also accompanied us in Agra.

Agra: Our guide was nice and helpful. We were grateful when he helped us to find a place for dinner. Obviously Taj is amazing but the stay in Agra can be avoided all together. It is better to arrive there early morning and leave for the next destination in the evening.

Ranthambore: We had a very good time in this place. We saw 3 tigers and 2 leopards. So we cannot ask for more! The hotel (Ranthambore Regency)was very good. Te staff was very nice and attentive. The food was great, the garden lovely, the rooms nice. A perfect place to stay for Ranthambore.

Rajasthan: As you have also mentioned to us in Delhi; having Virendra with us in the rest of the tour made an amazing impact. He made sure that everything went as smooth as possible and worked real hard to make us happy. And believe me we CAN be demanding! He listened to our every wish and we think he went out of his way to make the trip a good one for us. He also familiarized us with the local traditions and culture which is usually very difficult to do as tourists. We hope that you know he is a very valuable asset for your company and we will definitely recommend him to anyone going to Rajasthan.

All the respective guides in Rajasthan were OK. Obviously they all know their stuff. We especially liked the one in Udaipur. He is a fun person.

Jaipur: The hotel (Raj Mahal) is a nice building with a lot of history. and the rooms are good. The shopping in Jaipur is great and we wished we had one more day since we spent almost one day going to Pushkar. It may be a good idea to recommend 2 full days in Jaipur and then add Pushkar if required. I do not know if there is any way to protect tourists from the so-called priests in Pushkar. They are mostly crooks after money; but I guess that is part of the experience and we were glad that Virendra had warned us beforehand.

Mandawa: We enjoyed Mandawa and the Dundlod fort because it was a very different experience. However certain tourists that do not have much time may not like this route. There is not a whole lot to see; and you would only appreciate it if you like a local and peaceful environment to wind down ( however it is impossible to sleep in the fort after 5:30 am because the morning prayer sand with Bollywood tunes!). Like I say it was a different experience and we enjoyed it but not everyone might and they may see it as a waste of time.

Bikaner: We absolutely loved the hotel(BAsant Vihar). The rooms have a personal touch and the service is ery good. They had some problems with hot water, but later it was fixed. The manager/owner is very attentive and you can feel the difference this makes.

Jaisalmer: We loved this place; it is very beautiful. The camel ride was fun and the hotel had good food and entertainment. The rooms are basic but good; the service is also.(though I think we owe some of this to Virendra; since he constantly made sure the staff was doing as we asked!) Staying outside the fort is a good idea since you would want to see it from far.

Jodhpur: This was probably the best hotel we stayed in during the whole tour. The rooms are real nice and there is a good pool, a good breakfast and spa. We especially enjoyed the place since we were able to have a home cooked fantastic family meal; cooked specially for us, again thanks to Virendra. And we were able to see and shop at the local market which we loved!

Udaipur: The hotel was very nice and the city is absolutely magical. Again, the shopping is good too. We wanted to have dinner at the Lake Palace and Virendra arranged it even though it was; we think, not very easy. This may be an optional dinner added to the tour for tourists that are interested, since it is a very nice experience if you are not staying there. This way, the reservations can be arranged beforehand.

Anyway; this is where our tour ended. The plane to Goa was with no problems; actually we were impressed with Jet Airways, they are really good.

Some tips we think may help you: You may either provide or ask tourists to carry mosquito tablets and the repellent. Most hotels provide it but some of them only have coil which may not be very pleasant.

We have bought and read the book "A Princess Remembers, the memoirs of the Maharani of Jaipur" on the recommendation form Virendra. It is a wonderful book to understand Rajasthan and the history of all the places you see. We wished we had read it before hand. It may be a nice touch for Compass India to recommend it to tourists before hand. And maybe help them get one in Delhi. It would certainly be a different gesture..

I hope all our feedback is of good use to you. If you need any more info please contact me. Actually my parents are interested in a similar trip now, so I may be contacting you for it too.

Once again, thank you for all the services and good luck to you and to your company.

Best Regards,
Sedef


----- Original Message -----
From: "Rees-Oliviere, Lee" <Lee.Rees-Oliviere@uk.tesco.com
To: "varsha1-compasstours" <varsha1@compasstours.com
Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2006 9:57 PM

Subject: Many thanks
Dear Varsha,

I just wanted to drop you an email to say how impressed I was with the
highly professional and organised way Compass tours conducted our
holiday. Everyone we met and who helped us was outstanding, including
the very charming driver we had for the three days from Jaipur to Deli.

The Hotels were also excellent with the 'lake Palace' and 'The Park'
being the best.

All in all we had a wonderful time, and memories that will stay with us
a lifetime.

Many thanks,

Lee Rees-Oliviere.


----- Original Message -----
From: Eqbal Kassam
To: durjay@compasstours.com
Cc: Varsha Mukherjee
Sent: Saturday, November 04, 2006 11:38 AM

Subject: Thanks for the call last Tuesday

Durjay

Thanks for the call last Tuesday. We appreciate it. It was nice of you to have inquired.

Varsha did an excellent job. Overall we were satisfied and the tour met our expectations. It was hassle free.

Hopefully, we will be able to make another deal next year on a trip similar to my sister Arzina (first 10-12 days). Arzina seems to be having a good time.

Best Regards

Eqbal Kassam

----- Original Message -----
From: barbara segal
To: varsha
Cc: dawn brown
Sent: Monday, November 13, 2006 9:19 AM

Subject: Thank You
Dear Varsha
Just wanted to say Thank You for a fantastic holiday. Mrs Brown and I enjoyed every moment ...all the hotels were superb and everything was very smooth...no glitches anywhere. You did a great job of planning and organising everything.
Also a big Thanks to our driver Vinod who is a delightful young man. His driving was careful and he is efficient and always on time. Really a pleasure to have with us.
I know Mrs Brown is thinking to return again in the spring and I have also recommended you to another friend of mine...Mrs Geraldine Boss, who is interested to make the same trip as we did. I am sure she will be in touch very soon.-
Once again, many many thanks and we will certainly continue to use our company next time we visit India.
Very Best Regards

Barbara

----- Original Message -----
From: Susan Edge
To: varsha1-compasstours
Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 10:35 AM

Subject: India Fascinating Tour
Hi Varsha - it's taken us a few days to recover from our long journey home ( 48 hours) but now it is time to write and thank you for all the work you did to make our month in India run so smoothly. Jim and I had a wonderful time - and not for moments were we unhappy with any of the decisions you had made for us.
We found our accommodations very good - some really excellent, and worthy of mention for that is Jas Vilas in Agra - a lovely place to stay. Everywhere else was as we had hoped, and we enjoyed the heritage places too.
It was great to be greeted by a Compass representative wherever we went, and to know that we could call on them if necessary. The guides were all very intelligent young men (no women?) and increased our knowledge of each area, and it's history.
Our drivers were excellent. Mahesh, Lahar in Rajasthan, and Denisen in Kerala were all very courteous, punctual, and looked after us well. Best of all they were all safe drivers, and in all that chaotic traffic for all those miles of driving, I never saw one of them take an unnecessary risk and we felt safe with them. Please pass on our gratitude to each of them. And many thanks to you and your team too. We have had an experience to remember for the rest of our lives, and you and Compass Tours made it as easy for us as it could possibly be. Thanks again Varsha, for your efforts on our behalf - it truly was a fascinating tour, and we will strongly recommend you to anyone coming your way.
Kind regards,

Susan and James Edge.

Susan Edge - Naive Art
Ph 09 432 0394
Mob 021 104 8359
Web www.susanedge.co.nz