Emails we received from guests 

Lisa and I thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Turkey. We want to thank you for everything we had no issues while in Turkey. The people working at the hotels, tour guides and bus drivers all went above and beyond to help us out. The day trips ran like clock work it was very pleasing to be apart of.

We do really want you to be aware of 2 of the workers. The female office worker at Cananarkle who is the most organised worker and her English is great. She explained everything to us on how the day was going to unfold. Sorry but I forgot her name but we wanted your company to be aware of her work and the young man who escorted us on the ferry.  Wow these two workers really need to be rewarded for their work with tired confused travellers.

Thanks
Tracy Nickerson
Lisa McDonald

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Hi Chevy,
  Great to hear from you!! Our minds are still stuck in Greece- we had such an awesome experience, some many wonderful memories to reflect on!!!!!!
  We are happy to share how fantastic our journey in Greece was this year. Thanks to you & the incredibly warm & professional team from VIP Athens Tours (Petros & Taso).  
 Give us a few days to compose our thoughts (and emotions), we’ll be happy to share our joy!!

Warm Regards,
Lori & Jennifer
Sent from my iPhone

Chevy,

I apologize for the late response. First and foremost, from the bottom of Vincent and my heart, thank you! We had an amazing amazing experience in Greece and can not thank you enough. We are already dreaming of our next trip.

Thank you for everything!

Mariah Keenan

Thank you again for hosting Pam and Diane.  They had a good trip; below are their comments:
An amazing trip to Portugal. Many times we felt like we were living in a movie. And that was terrific.
Our favorite location was Lisbon, with the best food, the best activities and the best guide Jorge Silva.
Alas, would love to have done the Geopark walk. Most probably a scheduling error on our part.
In the Douro Valley, our hotel Casa De Casal De Loivos was awesome. On our free day, the owner suggested that we take
a walk (6km) through the vineyard and olive trees down to the Douro River. It was tremendous fun.
Boat ride on the Douro River was Ok, but left much to be desired. Bit of an issue with the last restaurant. Our itinerary indicated that the meal was
included. However, the restaurant said no it wasn’t. Ordinarily this would not have been an issue for us, however, we had ordered
a very small meal (shared it between the two of us) and were hit with a way over priced bill. Not good value for money. This venue would not be on our top list.

But….The Sandeman winery tour was the best wine tour of them all.

Thank you very much for arranging this trip for us. I very much appreciate all the arrangements provided by you, for a comfortable stay and transportation for us. All the tour guides who accompanied us were excellent. Thank you once again for making this trip very comfortable, and enjoyable for us.

Rekha Radhakrishnan

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Dear Chevy , We loved the tour..tomb of Philip II worth the trip in itself. Athena, our guide, excellent…would love her e-mail to tell her. Restaurant first day great, second poor, same with driver. Daios hotel excellent as was their breakfast & restaurant.  Thanks for your help Emmy & Bob

Sent from Emmy Carras

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Hi Chevy,

Hope you are well and thriving. Please accept my apology for responding to your last email so late, I honestly just saw it. I’m really bad about checking email (obviously!). Ondrea and I were referring back to the itinerary while finally beginning to compile our slideshow. Anyway, we are eternally grateful to you for the most memorable, beautiful, carefree vacation of our lives. We actually get emotional when we reflect on it. We also want to return to revisit and to see even more treasures. It was so nice to know you were always there for us when we encountered snags. You kept us safe, supported and stress-free. The itinerary you planned right down to every detail with fabulous drivers and guides, lovely hotels, beautiful sites, delicious food, your generous surprise, were all beyond our wildest expectations. You and your affiliates are tremendously knowledgeable, passionate and professional. We not only learned a great deal, but saw incredible scenery, experienced history and made beautiful friends. We long to return, and we will.

Thank you, Chevy, for your incredible expertise and endless effort! You are amazing!
We’ll talk again, soon.

With sincere appreciation,

Robin Kinnard Snell and daughter, Ondrea Wroblewski

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Hi Chevy!

Hope alm is well with you in Oregon. Thank you for a fantastic experience in Athens. Petros is wonderful!!! So gracious & accommodating. We loved his company & our dinner with him.

Many, many thanks!!!
Shery

Hi Chevy!!!

Thank you so much for the  holiday gifts!!! That was so kind & thoughtful of you!!!

They arrived today just in time for us to take them to our New Year’s celebration.

We so enjoyed working with you & your wonderful colleagues & greatly appreciated the kindness & professionalism that all of you showed. We can’t thank you enough & can’t wait to book our next Greek adventure!

Wishing you & your colleagues a wonderful New Year!

All the best,
Shery

Sheryl Hack
Sheryl N. Hack Heritage Consulting
4 Rockville Road
Broad Brook, CT 06016
sherylnhack@gmail.com

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Hi Chevy,

Thank you for organizing our trip. We had an amazing time!
Other than the occasional hiccup with the hotels the rest of the trip went well.
Here are the list of expenses that I think still need to be pai.
Entry to Blue Caves 54 €
Entry to Kravice Waterfall 50 €
Hotel Room Tax 54 €
One nights dinner – please let me know if your want a receipt from a restaurant from our trip.

Thanks again and hopefully have the chance to book with you again in the future
Sue Burge

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Dear Chevy,

Sorry for my delay in following up with you after our Greece trip.  Everything went very well.  All of the connections worked well, the hotels were very nice, and we were very happy with the drivers and guides you had arranged, although I believe we particularly liked the guides Demitra and Penny.   All in all, it was an excellent experience for my whole family.  

Thanks again – Trent  
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Chevy,
I just wanted to reach out and thank you for an awesome vacation for myself, my family, and friends! We had a great time and thought everything was well organized and ran very smoothly. I would definitely recommend to others who may be exploring tour options.
Thanks again ,

Wanda Blizzard
Sent from my iPhone

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THANKS CHEVY,
But this proposed trip is too sophisticated for the group.
They would want something simple – no plane flights.
Boarding the ship in South Florida, they would want to stay on the ship for the 7 days.
No additional hotel stays.

It could be a New Orleans tour or evening but only while the ship is in port.
They would want to party every evening on the ship.
I suggested New Orleans because it would be something different – we are all from the Caribbean
And some would be bringing their family, so being onboard the ship for nightfall is more cost effective.

So, you will have to go back to the drawing board!

As for my trip to Turkey and Egypt, you are my official travel agent for my vacations.
You get a 5 star rating.EmojiEmojiEmojiEmojiEmoji

Every trip, every tour, every outing went as scheduled.
The drivers and tour guides were always punctual – we never had to wait.
Not once – even when the flight from London was delayed by 5 hours, they were there waiting for us at 1:30am at the airport.
Great hotel and the cruise ship on the Nile was first class.
Finally the Guides – all of them, well knowledged, good English and most hospitable.
You could not beat that personal tour guide concierge service.
But the top award must go out to our guide Saber who accompanied us in Aswan and Luxor.
Thank you for an enjoyable 12 days.

Dr. Robin Roberts FRCSC
Consultant Urologist
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On Sat, Oct 19, 2024 at 7:03 AM Suzy B. <suzbevo@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Chevy

The tour went perfectly. We had excellent guides each day. The hotel didn’t have our booking but they managed to sort it out with our guide’s help. It was a lovely hotel with beautiful views.
My only feedback would be to let your clients know the tour group they will be travelling with once you have sorted it out to avoid the confusion we had with pick up etc.

Otherwise 5 stars

Regards
Suellen

Chevy

We thank you for the arrangements.  All went smoothly – logistics were all perfect.  

The guides were good, and very well prepared/informed, pleasant and easy to talk to.  I might add that the guide in Ephesus was particularly good.  We had a full course in Roman life!   The full day guide in Istambul was very good, but there was so much to absorb- we couldn’t help but feel a bit rushed.  He did a great job in organizing that very busy day.  

We enjoyed our ‘off ‘ days, seeing the Galata area, taskin square, Superman’s mosque, and the Chora church.  

Your local rep (yalcin) was also there when we had a question – very responsive on what’s app.  We appreciated that very much.  

We had an amazing trip. Thanks for all.  

Neil McFarlane

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Hey Chevy … sorry that took so long, 2 weeks working in Alaska then nearly straight here to Guyana and learning a new vessel and crew I’ve been swamped.  Anyway I just posted a Google Review for you with some photos and praise for your organization and support.  I also included praise for our Moroccan Driver Mohammed and am going to forward him a copy of the review.
Once again, Great Job!  I hope your travels are going well.  We will have that Cappuccino or latte one day!  We live close enough to each other there is no reason no too.  
Take care and thanks again for the excellent vacation planning!

Rob and Jasenia Haid

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Thanks for a great trip!
I am back in the US, and every part of the trip went without a hitch.
I appreciate it and look forward to working with your group again in the future.

James (Adam) Rindfleisch
———–

Hi Chevy!

I must write to say the we had the most fabulous time visiting Turkey with your tour group! We were so taken care of by every single person.  Yalcin was kind and informative and easy going. He was patient with our pace and our kids and we really enjoyed our time with him!

Metin was patient, thoughtful, and went the extra mile for us!  When we needed extra stops at the pharmacy, the hospital, etc, he helped us with a cheerful disposition and kindness.  He had to drive extra for us from Capadoccia to Istanbul, then to the airport twice!  He didn’t really even  get sleep for over 24 hours, and was still so kind. He cleaned the van meticulously and always provided water and a warm welcome and kind goodbye.  He even had a few surprises of oranges, bananas and balloons for the kids.

Chetum was our best tour guide ever! She was so good with the kids, silly, fun, funny, great personality, and kind even when we were asking extra of her. We absolutely loved every minute with her and appreciated her knowledge and cheerful disposition. She was always willing to help and answer any questions we had.

Thank you for your attention to every detail of our trip. The tour options were fantastic. Our transportation was top notch.  The food was yummy and our hotels were excellent. The only hotel we didn’t love was the villa in Kas.  Hotel Barbarossa. Only because it was a bit dirty, though, the location was spectacular.

So thank you again!

We were wondering about the refund for the canceled hot air balloon ride and flight and a possible partial refund for the subpar ATV tour. The tour was not great because of the high winds and subpar trail.

Thank you!!

Angie
—
Angie Whitaker

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Hi Chevy,

I would like to thank you for all that was done to arrange our vacation to Greece. The entire trip was fantastic. All the transfers were arranged so seamlessly and the hotel choices were spectacular. Thank you again for making our vacation so well-planned, stress-free, and memorable.

Regards,
Anupama

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Hi Chevy!

Thank you for the quick response and understanding.

The trip has been incredible!! Each tour guide gave us such a personal
experience and taught us so much about the area. Carolyn and I have been
extremely impressed by everything and everyone.

This was a small hiccup in the trip but it all worked out fine in the end
and I appreciate you working with it.

Thank you again for the trip of a lifetime. We will absolutely be
recommending you and your company to any friends and family interested in
making a similar trip.

Brittany Mairs

——————————————-

Hi Chevy!

I wrote a review on Tripadvisor but do have some comments not to be shared on Tripadvisor.

Firstly, given how much I saw and traveled within Turkey, you and your team were amazing organizing everything!

Having contact with Yalçin was great because as a single traveler, it made me feel safe, plus when plans didn’t always
work out, Yalçin was able to resolved them or provide answers.

Based on my personality,  and perhaps this is something other clients may like, I would like to have the contact details of the
person in the area that was going to guide me or be responsible for me. Often the contact details were sent a day in advance,
but I would actually prefer 2 days in advance so that I could reach out and confirm timing for a pickup etc.

My thanks to you for putting Mount Nemrut on the agenda. You were the only ones willing to take me there and even though
there was snow, it was an amazing experience though I’m not sure my guide was very happy with the cold and snow.

Trabzon was the area with less organization and communication. It took the agency in Trabzon almost an hour to pick me up
at the airport and when they did contact me (after Yalçin called them), they said they were leaving ‘now; then they texted to
say there was an accident and 10 more minutes. Those 10 minutes were more like 30 minutes. The tourist agencies should
proviide their clients with better timing estimates or try to be there close to the tiime the plane lands.

The day of the Trabzon tour to Sumela and other areas, the agency dropped me off at the central plaza at the end of the tour and did not take me
to the hotel. In addition, the guide wasn’t aware that all entrance fees and lunch was included. Once she knew, she did
pay for entrance fees and lunch. But it’s another example of poor communication or poor understanding.

The transfer between Pamukkale to Cappadocia was very long and I understand that. The driver was late (30 min) with no
communication with me or Yalçin. The driver was not aware of the lunch in Konya being included, which created some confusion for all of
us. My recommendation is on those days to not include the lunch  and have the client pay for their own lunch,  but the driver needs to show the client a
good restaurant.

It was an wonderful trip Chevy and my thanks to you and your team. I do want to visit Turkey in the future, hopefully with my partner!

Wishing you happiness, good health and success!

Carin

Carin Mairs

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Hi Chevy

I am so sry for this late reply. We had an absolutely wonderful time in Turkey, the itinerary was great and was even able to recover simcard through Yalcin help.

Regards

Christina  S.

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Dear Chevy,

Thank you very much for your email–we had a wonderful time on our tour.

Our driver, Sinan, and our guide, Burak, were very helpful and professional. We were very happy with how efficient our Troy and Gallipoli tours were, especially as it was hot and we had a small child. Çanakkale was also a nice town to visit with lots to do, and it was good to have some time to spend there.

We would be happy to write a review on Tripadvisor or any website that you wish.

Thank you again.

David

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> Dear Chevy,
>
> Our teaching fellowship trip to Rome and Greece was WONDERFUL!!!!!!
>
> Many thanks to you for setting up such an great tour of Greece for us. The
> accommodations were very, very nice, with
>
> convenient locations that made getting around very easy.  All transports
> went very smoothly, with drivers arriving as
>
> scheduled. Everyone we dealt with was so helpful and friendly.  The private
> tours were EXCELLENT~ we learned so much
>
> and it made quite a difference in our experience. I especially loved the
> private tour of the Acropolis. Our tour guide took
>
> us up first thing in the morning, when very few people were there.  It was
> unforgettable, and I truly felt touched.  Same in
>
> Delphi… an amazing place.  Ending the trip on Santorini was perfect. It
> must be one of the most beautiful places in the world!
>
> The Villa Illias is so beautiful, the owners are so nice and accommodating.
> The private tour of the island  was  fascinating and so
>
> appreciated.  We loved the tour of the volcano, and so enjoyed the swim in
> the Aegean Sea into the hot springs! What fun! We felt very
>
> fortunate for this opportunity the whole time we were there.
>
>
> I have fallen in love with Greece~  the people,  the land and sea, the
> history,  the food …. all wonderful!
>
> I would like to return to Athens and the islands, and especially stay at
> Villa Illias again… I have already told my husband that we are going!
>
>  So I will start saving my pennies, and I will be in touch with you
> again!!!!
>
> THANK YOU again for arranging this tour. I would not hesitate to recommend
> your company to anyone who is traveling to Greece.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Diana Garcia
>
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Hi Chevy!

We had an amazing time on our trip and we all loved it.  I would not hesitate to use and/or recommend Encounter Tours in the future.  I will give you a short run down of the hits and misses.

When we first arrived in London there was no one there to pick us up.  I had the impression that there had been someone there, but they may have left prematurely.  Our flight was a little late, but having experience picking family up from the airport, I know that apps are a great tool for tracking flight schedules.  It could have been a case where it took us a while to get through immigration, but I would think that this would be standard as well.  This issue, however, was recovered quickly with the arrival of Mr. Kushan, he was great!

The Blakemore Hyde Park was a very nice hotel.  The staff there was all very friendly and helpful.

Mark Stevenson and Linda, the tour guides that we had on 2 separate days in England, were exceptional.  

I wasn’t sure if our tours would be private or not, but they were just incredible.

We had some issues with Easy Jet that we flew to Scotland on.  You had provided us with information beforehand.  There was some luggage weight restrictions, the weights were listed in kilograms and I mistakenly assumed that this would be equivalent to the regulations that United Airlines had, which is the airline that we flew to London on.  The girl at Easy Jet told us that we were only allowed to take 3 of our 6 checked bags.  At first I mistakenly thought that she was telling us that we were going to have to abandon 3 of our checked suitcases, but as it turned out she was telling us that our tickets only covered 3 bags and therefore we were going to have to pay extra for the other three that ended up being around £65.00 each.  It was unexpected, but acceptable in comparison to the thought of having to ditch three of our six bags.  She then said that some of our bags were heavier than others and she then required some of us to take things out of our bags and put them in someone else’s bag in our group, which was rather awkward to accomplish in a crowded airport when everyone was in a hurry.

I would recommend possibly adding some additional time for getting people to the airport.  Part of this was due to the fact that Mr. Kushan, who also picked us of from the Blakemore to take us to the airport , had unexpectedly run into some traffic issues and had to end up taking a much longer route.  We made our flight luckily, but just barely.

The Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow Scotland was exceptional.  This was by far the nicest hotel out of the three.  It was old and very, very, big.  The hallways were so large you could have probably driven a car down them.  The rooms and bathrooms were absolutely huge and very nice.

Ian Scott and Sean our tour guides in Scotland were both very, very good.  There was only one issue with each.  The day we went with Ian Scott, my son Avery was feeling a bit under the weather and ended up not going on the tour.  This ended up being a good thing, for although the first part of the day was a walking tour.  The second half of the day was in Ian’s vehicle and it would not have been large enough for all six of us.   It all worked out, but would have been a problem if  we had all six.

The only issue we had with Sean was that he had offered to take a group photo of us at several different locations.  He said it would be easier if he just used his own camera and then he would send the photos to us.  At one point, several in our group took down Sean’s email address and he made sure that they had it correctly.  However, later several people in our group have tried to contact him so that he could send us the photos that he took, but he never responded.  He had mentioned that he was going to have a surgery coming up in the next day or two, so at first we didn’t think much about it.  Weeks went by and as far as I know he has never responded to anyone.  He was a wonderful tour guide, I just thought it odd that he would take all those photos and then never send any of them to us.

As you know, we had an issue when we were to be picked up early in the morning for our flight from Glasgow to Dublin.  However, you answered my call in record time, especially since it would have had to of been in the middle of the night where you were.  I hated to call at that hour, but I was beginning to panic a little. Especially since we had cut it pretty close when we were trying to catch our flight from London to Glasgow.  As mentioned, in London, the same driver that picked us up from the airport, had also picked us up to take us back to the airport.  I am unsure how typical that is, but the gentleman that picked us up from the airport in Glasgow and drove us to the Grand Central was great.  He helped us get our bags into the hotel and I was going to give him a gratuity, but he rushed off before I was able to.  I had later wondered if he had felt slighted that I did not provide him with a gratuity, especially since he had helped us with our bags and such, but he disappeared so quickly.  Anyway, this has just been speculation on my part.  In any event we were able to find two gentlemen with taxies outside of the Grand Central that were more than happy to come to our rescue.  You had said that you were going to reimburse me for this and that occurred within record time.

We flew on Aer Lingus from Glasgow to Dublin and this was a far superior airline in comparison to Easy Jet.

In Dublin we met Mia and she was really great.  We had a great time with her.  She also had a great vehicle that was plenty big  and comfortable.  On the day of our last tour, which was to be to Northern Ireland, we were on our way when Mia was receiving some signals from her vehicle that there was a mechanical issue.  She stopped at a place to assess the situation.  She got back with us and explained that she was having mechanical issues and had been trying to contact other tour guides that she knew to see if they could come and fill in for her, but she was unable to arrange this on such short notice.  She additionally offered to drive us up there, but that we would have to arrange to get a train to bring us back.  We talked about it and decided that we didn’t want her to take us the rest of the way in case her mechanical issues would become more severe.  She had mentioned that there was some issue where if she turned her engine off that after that she would only be able to travel at 20 km per hour.  We also did not want to get there and risk not being able to find a train or something to bring us back.  So, we just opted for Mia to bring us back to our hotel.

I forgot to mention that the Holiday Inn Express Dublin was a very nice hotel, but had the burden of being the hotel to follow the Grand Central.  

We were a little disappointed not be able to go to Northern Ireland, but we certainly did not hold that against Mia, as it was just something unexpected that was out of her hands.  We had been able to find other activities to do that day so it was not a total loss.  Mia had even mentioned trying to reschedule for our last day, but unfortunately we were required to get tested for COVID-19 as a prerequisite for returning to the U.S.  We had scheduled testing appointments at a nearby pharmacy, but they spread out our testing appointment times so that doing this pretty much monopolized the entire day, as far as expecting to do anything as a group.  Mia said that she would refund us the money since we missed the Northern Ireland tour, and she did do that.

Each of these things that I have mentioned are all minor compared to the big picture, which was fantastic.  Once again, Thank you very much for your strong effort in putting this all together.  It was awesome and I am glad that we went with Encounter Tours and would recommend Encounter Tours to anyone.

Thank you so much,

Greg

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Michael COOPER
Sat, May 21, 1:44 PM (3 days ago)
to Chevy

We are so impressed with how smooth things went, I was anxious since we have not used your agency before. We have always done our own arrangements with many many hours of research and anxiety. With Encounter Travel everything went seamless. You truly were available 24/7, even with a 9 hour time change we always had an answer right away to any question. We certainly will use this company again and have already recommended you to 2 friends.
All the hotels were centrally located and the tours were well organized and informative. We were always picked up and dropped of from tours, ferry’s or airports like were celebrities’!  We loved Petro, in Athens (he also speaks very highly of you as well)
Thanks again, we felt well cared for and knew if something should arise we could count on you to help us along.
Jackie and Mike Cooper

________________

Hi Chevy,
Thanks for your patience receiving this email – it has taken me a bit longer than I expected to shake off the ‘return trip blues’ and adjust to the time change.

First, let me say that Istanbul is a magnificent city – we all loved it.  We were especially grateful for the seamless transportation that was part of our package.  We struggled with that aspect in Florence and Rome, and were so happy to have door to door service that was so very comfortable.  

Yalcin was great.  As you can see from the picture attached, we were having a wonderful time.  We were very happy he mentioned the option to cut the Cruise a little short and explore a bit of the Asia side instead – I guess I didn’t realize the full cruise was quite that long, so cutting it down was a good idea on his part.  

We also very much appreciated the lunch he arranged on Thursday.  It was nice to enjoy these wonderful dishes that we likely would not have known to order ourselves.  The Sevic Restaurant was also lovely, and the food was wonderful.  That may sound like a small thing, but we did not have recommendations (other than Tripadvisor) in Italy, so it was a little hit or miss during our stay there.

Our tour of the Blue Mosque, Hagia-Sophia and Topkapi was fantastic.  Yalcin did give us about a 30 minute history lesson and background before we went into the palace, which really brought it alive for me.   It made it so much more meaningful, and we all appreciated that.  

If I could provide constructive criticism, it would be that Yalcin frequently did not address the three of us together.  Typically we were walking two behind and one beside him as he pointed out and discussed various things, but it was completely lost on the two walking behind.  I also felt like he did not give much background or commentary at the Underground Cistern and the cruise.  

Overall, we had a wonderful experience and I would not hesitate to contact you for assistance the next time I plan a trip to Europe.
Thanks Chevy!
Jean

———————-

Chevy ;

We hope all is well with you and your family.

Shery and I just landed in New York. Thank you for helping us with everything.

Petros was terrific as was Agatha.

Thanks again, we will send you any and all of our friends who was to come to Greece.

Efaristo,

Shery and Joe

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Hi Chevy!

Thank you for the quick response and understanding.

The trip has been incredible!! Each tour guide gave us such a personal
experience and taught us so much about the area. Carolyn and I have been
extremely impressed by everything and everyone.

This was a small hiccup in the trip but it all worked out fine in the end
and I appreciate you working with it.

Thank you again for the trip of a lifetime. We will absolutely be
recommending you and your company to any friends and family interested in
making a similar trip.

Brittany Mairs

—————————————

Hi Chevy!

Thank you for the quick response and understanding.

The trip has been incredible!! Each tour guide gave us such a personal
experience and taught us so much about the area. Carolyn and I have been
extremely impressed by everything and everyone.

This was a small hiccup in the trip but it all worked out fine in the end
and I appreciate you working with it.

Thank you again for the trip of a lifetime. We will absolutely be
recommending you and your company to any friends and family interested in
making a similar trip.

Brittany Mairs

——————————-

Chevy,
I want to thank you so much for setting up our trip to Cappadocia  for us. Everything was wonderful, the place was spectacular and the people were amazing. We can’t thank you enough!
Unfortunately we weren’t able to get our balloon ride in. I’m hoping we can get that refunded.
Other than that everything was so wonderful!
Thanks,
Judy

Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone

_________________

Katherine Chiu

6:03 AM (9 hours ago)

to Chevy

Hi Chevy,

I firstly wanted to say thank you so much for organising such a wonderful tour of Turkiye for us. We had a fabulous time. We loved all the sites and things we did.

The vans for land transport were very comfortable, having wifi on board was a very nice and unexpected bonsu (my daughter was thrilled).

The guides were all very good, knowledgeable and pleasant.

I appreciated that some things were changed due to the extreme heat and we were grateful to go to Ephasus at the end of the day.

The hotels were comfortable and with excellent locations. Having a pool on the coastal places was much appreciated.

The Cave hotel was a little walk outside of town of Urgup. This was not a big issue for us as we are fit and mobile, but for some travellers this might be inconvenient. however, the cave hotel owners were utterly lovely and delightful.

One driver drove fast, but the second time he drove us he was much better and less fast. thank you.

We greatly appreciated the driver/guides managing to find my father-in-law’s hat that he left at a restaurant. That was very kind (the hat has some sentimental value to him as it was a gift).

The only issue (not a big issue for us, but could be for some travellers) was the leather shops. This was not something that we had realised was on the tours and not something of particular interest to us (though I understand it’s an important industry for Turkiye). We did two leather shops (one would have been enough). We felt rather bored the second time as there is little to no need for leather/fur coats in Hong Kong where we live.

I suggest informing clients before and making sure they are OK with this. Some people would not be happy to support a leather / fur industry adn I think tourists should be offered an alternative activity if they do not want to visit such a shop.

Thank you again to you and your team. A big thank you to Yalcin for communicating regularly with my husband, Andrew.

I wish you continued success and I will recommend your services to others.

Kind regards

Katherine

—

Katherine Chiu

Twitter: @KathChiu

“Happiness is the existence of meaningful struggle” Sandy Skoglund

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My daughter and son-in-law are on their way home and she gave you a raving review.
It is such a worry to travel these days half way around the world not knowing anyone or where you are going you made their adventure even more memorable cause it was so easy.
Thank you again I will recommend to everyone

Kathy

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Hello Chevy,

How are you?

As you know, we completed our tour on Sunday, May 19th and returned home to Canada safely. It took us the last three days to recover fully from the jet lag. Hence the delay in writing to you.

Overall, we were very satisfied with the tour and the associated hotel, tour guide, and drivers arranged by you and your contacts in Rome, Napoli, Florence and Venice. Thank you so much for such arrangements.

I will provide more specific feedback comments for you to become more aware of the effectiveness of your arrangements, contacts and  hotel accommodations.

By the way, do you organize similar tours in countries other than European countries? This is so that we can reach out to you for our future planned vacations.

Thank you again.

Kannan Tennankore
Sent from my iPhone
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We had a great time on our trip!
Thank you for all your help!!
Kelly Steward

Went on the Best of Italy and Greece tour in May of 2024

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Hi Chevy –

Sorry this has taken a bit to get to you. The weeks have been extra busy since we have been back but included the joyous arrival of our new granddaughter just a few days after we returned home! A lovely welcome back after an amazing trip.

I’ll put a few general thoughts down and then a few specific suggestions for you and I know Brad wants to send some thoughts as well.

Overall, the trip was just incredible. We fell in love with Portugal and its people and the country was just more beautiful than we could have imagined. The different attractions and events were just wonderful and we really felt they were customized to our interests and what we had shared with you before the trip with our hopes and expectations. The different drivers and guides were all exceptional and the plans for those arrangements went very well. We especially appreciated Jorge and the great care and hospitality he showed us over the three days with him. He was fantastic and we really enjoyed our time with him even though I struggled to remember all of the details of the amazing history he tried to teach us at each stop along the way. 🙂

Sarah, our guide in Porto was exceptional and I wish we had had more time with her. Her knowledge of history and culture was humbling and made our walking tour an amazing experience.

We very much enjoyed the different restaurants, wineries, and port houses that were part of our package. My one piece of feedback with this is that it would have been nice to know what they were ahead of time so we could have been a bit more prepared for the visits with a bit of research to know what to expect. Brad may feel differently as he liked that there were “surprises” each day, but I tend to be a planner and I think sometimes the uncertainty of not knowing exactly what we were doing each day was challenging for me.  

Here are a few specific pieces of feedback/suggestions:

– Travel – the flights were all good and we appreciated the layovers to give my back a break from the sitting. As I suspected, the longer flights were pretty hard on my back but all went well with the arrangements you made for us including the portion of the trip in the UK.  

– Accommodations – The staff at the Visionnaire were wonderful but I do wish we could have had a room earlier. I did have to take them up on their offer to lay on a couch in a lobby area due to the stress on my back from the long flight (I was not in any condition to do much walking around Lisbon that day). All the accommodations were great though and provided great service and comfortable places to stay. The hotel in Villa Real was a wonderful treat with the pool and perfect for a much needed “rest” day from all the touring.  

 – Schedule – a more detailed itinerary would have been helpful and I had asked for an updated and corrected version a few days before departure and never received one. I also had purchased my own tickets to Livraria Lello because I didn’t know it was included in the Porto walking tour on our itinerary. I realize there needs to be some flexibility but for someone like me who plans events and is more administratively bent, I would have appreciated more detail so there was not duplication and we knew exactly which portions of the trip we needed to plan out and what popular sites would be included that we didn’t need to try to visit on our own time.

– Food options – While the restaurants selected for us for our lunch stops were amazing and we have no complaints, it would have been helpful to know the range of prices and types of food for better planning for our dinners. We had made some dinner reservations at restaurants that were nicer in scale based on recommendations we had read and received. Knowing the schedule for the lunch spots that would part of our “tour” days would have helped us plan better to not have two heavier, higher price meals in the same day. We had flexibility in our budget to accommodate this but a suggestion for future itineraries for clients might include some extra information in this area to help in planning and budgeting.  

I know Brad will send his thoughts along as well, but we really did have just an incredible time and created memories we will cherish. Thank you again for all your help and patience with us in planning this trip. I hope we can get together face to face soon to share more about our experiences.

With many thanks,

Kim

Kim Greenwood

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Hi Chevy,

We had the most amazing and memorable time, and will definitely   recommend and use you/ Encounter tours again. I’m already thinking about our next vacation!  In Athens, the father and son drivers were funny, friendly, and went above and beyond to be accommodating. They took us to see the changing of the guards which was interesting. If they always do that, I would add it to the itinerary. Actually, all of your drivers were PROMPT, and very visible (front and center)so finding them was easy and stress free!!In Santorini, the hotel was beautiful but very challenging and a work out to navigate (far incline walk, and many, many steep steps – DO not put older customers or out of shape people there). The Santorini volcano boat tour was a highlight of for us!  In Rome, I was delighted that our driver took us to the Trevi fountain and Spanish steps which were not listed on your itinerary so i assumed that we had to do those places on our own. Add those two places to the itinerary you provide! The Rome apartment was “fine” but our least favorite hotel. The location seemed odd and we had to take out our own trash to a dumpster. However, we ate our favorite restaurant that was a 1 minute walk that was recommended by the desk. In Venice, the hotel was perfection and so charming. The Venice tour guide was wonderful and the private water taxi was so relaxing. Please let me know if you want more details I would be happy to help your company. I am hard to please and I give our trip an A rating. Besides Athens (with a few others), it was a private trip for my family! Thank you!!!!!!

Kim Kirby

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Morning Chevy,

We had an amazing time throughout and your wonderful help and service.
Where can we leave you a review?

Kind regards
Lawrence Simpson
London, UK
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Hey Chevy,

I just wanted to thank you for making this trip memorable for my clients.. they seemed to have an amazing trip & loved some of your employees.

Thank you again!

Leanne 

From: Tracy Nickerson [mailto:tracy.nickerson62@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, 22 November 2019 3:48 PM
To: Leanne <leanne@ditravel.com.au>
Subject: Re: Travel Documents

Hi Leanne

 Matt and I are back in New Jersey and desperately missing Turkey.  I want to thank you for all  your hard work putting this trip together for us.  You were very patient with my (numerous) inquisitions and requests, and for that I am truly thankful.  Also, I would like to express my gratitude in your efforts to pair us with fabulous tour guides.  As I already have expressed to you, Yalcin was a perfect guide in Istanbul. 

In Cappadocia, we loved exploring the countryside with Sukrun.  She was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the area; we couldn’t have chosen a better guide ourselves.  Our only regret during this part of the trip is that the balloon company you booked for us took flight much later in the morning than the other companies.  As a result, we missed the sunrise photos we had been so looking forward to capturing. 

Lastly, Bayram was a wonderful guide during our Ephesus tour.  He also took us to the best lunch we had on the trip.  Perhaps it was the amazing food and Izmir surroundings, but we ended up purchasing a fabulous Turkish rug from the family who ran the restaurant!

I also want to clear up some confusion that Yalcin may have communicated to you.  While we were in Cappadocia, we toyed with the idea of extending our trip to Bozburun by one additional day, thereby cutting out our stay in Sirince.  We are SO glad that we did not go through with this because we spent most of the day touring Ephesus and its surroundings, so we were exhausted and ready for a good night’s sleep in Sirince.  The Nisanyan was the perfect escape.  Lastly, there was some confusion with our return flight from Dalaman to Istanbul.  Luckily, the wonderful host at our hotel in Bozburun contacted Yalcin and straightened it out.

Overall, the trip was AMAZING, and we will be recommending your company to all of our friends and family.  Thank you again for everything, and please stay in touch!

Best,

Elizabeth Blakely

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Hi Chevy,

Just got word back from my clients, who went on the Santorini/Mykonos tour.  They had a wonderful time and said it was one of ther best vacations they have had.  They did mention the hotel on Santorini was a little small, but the view more than made up for it.  I will have no problem recommending your company to future clients and have told the other agents in our office to consider using your services.  Thank You,  yours

John Linschoten
Cruise & Vacation Consultant

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Marilyn and Ronnie Epstein
ibgaga@hotmail.com
Went to Istanbul and Athens in May had Chevy took us all over and treated us like family. It was such a enjoyable time. Got to see all the sights and he took us other places we would have not seen. He is so nice and his staff. One of the best trips we ever took. Can’t wait to plan another trip through him.

Marilyn and Ronnie Epstein
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        Many thanks from all the people !
        We had a very pleasant tour , with a good driver Levent  , and a very friendly guide Ozdal
        They have done the best for us , for our requests during the trip, so that we were very satisfied !!
       All the towns were worth to be visited …except Amasra,, I regret, but according to my me and my friends, we cannot understand why
       it is on Unesco Heritage…
      I should have better planned 1 night at Safranbolu and 3 nights at Trabzon, because the town, and  surroundings are very intersting , particularly
      tea farms , old wooden houses..
      Never mind, this part of Turkey wins to be better known, ottoman style, scenic landscapes,no stops for commercial purpose…

      Thank you for all Chevy
        Best regards

        Roselyne Taillebot

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We are back from our trip and had a fantastic time.  All of our flights, transfers, and bookings worked well, but there are a couple things I would like to make you aware of.

The first is the baggage fees on Aegean Airlines.  We had to pay 25-35 euro for each checked bag for every flight because they said we had discounted tickets.  I didn’t mind paying the extra 230 USD all together, but I would have liked to know about it before the trip. 

The second issue you probably didn’t know about, but the travel agency in Athens changed our hotel from the Athens Gate to a Best Western all the way in Piraeus.  I didn’t complain about it because we were only in Athens for about 30 hours, but I do not understand why we were placed so far away when there are hundreds of hotels in the city center.  Since we were not taking any ferries, there was no reason for it.  The hotel we were given was very nice, but it was very far (about 25 mins) walk from the nearest metro station, and we did not know if the area was safe to walk at night.

These are just some things I needed to bring to your attention to help future travelers.  The rest of the trip went exactly according to plan, and we were extremely satisfied with the tours, hotels, and services we had.  

Sarah Kroner

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Dear Chevy and staff,

Our trip was FANTASTIC. What a perfect first trip to Italy and Greece. All six hotels: in Rome, Florence, Venice, Athens, Mykonos and Santorini were excellent. Tour guides and transports were friendly, courteous and most helpful. Thank you and I would highly recommend Encounter Tours.

Lisa and Andy Schenke
Visited in May 2014
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Thanks for setting up an AMAZING vacation for me and my family. We could not have scripted it any better! Everything was very well coordinated and we were able to enjoy all of the sites at our pace.

The tour guides at each city were perfect as well… Sylvia, Sabrina, Evan, and Kristian are all extremely knowledgeable and fun to be with!

We will definitely recommend you to others that we know who are traveling to Europe.

Thanks again.
Andy Carey
Visited March 2014
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My wife and I recently visited Greece for 11 days. Encounter Tours made all arrangements for the two of us and it made our trip so much easier.

From the minute we exited the airport in Athens until we returned at the end of our trip, every taxi driver and tour van met us on time and delivered us to our next destination, exactly as planned. Chevy chose a wonderful variety of sites for us to visit both on the mainland and in the islands.

Tour guides were excellent and the accommodations were very good.

We also took a trip to Turkey with Encounter Tours a couple of years ago and it was fabulous. I would recommend Encounter Tours to anyone and look forward to more tours with them in the future.

Bill & Karen
Bend, OR

Visited 2013, OCT.
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Hi Chevy,
I’ll be giving your contact information to a friend of my sister-in-law that will be contacting you to schedule some European tours.
We were all very pleased with your support and appreciate all that you did for us.

Best Regards,
Rich
Visited 2013, September

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We were well accommodated and enjoyed our guides Yelcin and Sedat very much. The pace was a little fast, but I think that was because we wanted to see “everything” in just 11 days! We loved Cappadocia and our spectacular hot air balloon ride over it, Istanbul, Kas, Ephesus, everything. The people were lovely and the food was fantastic.

The three night cruise on a Turkish Gulet was a highlight; only manned by three young men, including the captain, a cook and a deck hand: we couldn’t believe how wonderful the food was and we got to sleep on deck if we wanted to! Swimming in the Mediterranean right off the boat was SO fun and we even saw a turtle!

The only place we went that I would recommend against on the entire tour was the Gar Music hall in Istanbul. It was touristy and hoaky and the food was terrible, especially considering how much good food Istanbul has to offer.

Tansy Rein
Visited September 2013
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Dear chevy
Thank u for the nice tour u organized for us. we had a lovely time,
and would definitely choose Encounter tours next time we visit Europe.

All of your representatives were most helpful, except for mr giuseppe in
italy, whom i found to be not of a very cooperative or accommodating.
also plz express our thanks to mr Yalcin Dogru for helping us in
turkey and Greeece.

Dr Tazin Afrose Shah,
Bangladesh
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My wife and I spent 6 days with Encounter Tours travelling to some of the well-known tourist spots.

Although this was a somewhat difficult summer for tourism in Turkey, all the arrangements had been carefully made and were completely followed, always on time. Tour guides were excellent, and travel arrangements and accommodation were very good. Pre-travel correspondence was always answered promptly and helpfully by
Chevy Noratli, who was also responsible for the planning.
Gary & Asha
Visited August 2013
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We had a driver all to ourselves throughout Morocco which enabled us to spend whatever time we wanted at sites and change the itinerary as desired. It was great.

The driver was Berber and although his English wasn’t great we did fine with a combination of English and French. In Fes and Marrekech we had fluent English guides. I would especially recommend the Riad El Yacout in Fes which was beautiful and had a wonderfully accommodating staff.

The organization of our trip by Encounter Tours and the attention paid to our particular wishes by Chevy S. Noratli couldn’t have been better.

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To Encounter Tours

On behalf of my friends and I, I would like to express our sincere thanks for the excellent tour.

From the time of our arrival at Istanbul airport, during the entire tour and to the time we were dropped off at Istanbul airport  for our flight back to Toronto, your arrangement was meticulous and perfect.  

Our special thanks to Mr. Sardar at the Ferman Sultan Hotel who was a real pleasure to talk with and Mr. Mahmoud who looks after breakfast and also guest services. The location of this hotel was a good choice because it was close to everything downtown.

We have recommended your tour company to many of our friends who will contact you when they are ready to travel.

Keep up the good work. 

Best Regards,
Nizarali Ratansi
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Good Morning Sonya, I wanted to let you know that our trip to Turkey went smoothly and we were both very impressed with the travel company Encounter Tours.

Their organization was fantastic and both times we spoke to their representatives they were so helpful. Turkey was a very interesting and organized and safe country for tourist.

We hope that the situation in Egypt settles down and we can look at going there in 2014.

Regards Pamela Train
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Hi Chevy

Just to let you know that everything worked out perfectly with your organization.

Hotels, locations, guided tours, balloon, restaurants, transfers and free time ended up to a perfect combination.

The hotel in Cappadocia, Has Cave Hotel was very nice, very familiar and we were very well received.
Just a low point there, the internal heating was not enough for the room, and even though they supplied an additional portable warmer, we never managed to feel completely comfortable there because of the low room temperature. 

Thanks for setting things up so fast.
Best Regards and Happy New Year
Manuel Sequeira

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Just wanted to thank you for the trip. Everything went smoothly and we had a great time. The guides were all excellent, and the drivers meeting us from planes and buses were there as planned.

Best regards,

Lyn

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Hello Chevy S. Noratli,

Thank you very much for the excellent tour.

The boat, service, snacks and program were great!

I would like to express my special thanks to captain Ali who was very kind, participative and easy going.

We really enjoyed the picturesque bays and the Mediterranean sea!

I wish you good luck and prosperity!

With best regards,

Georgy Lebedev

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Just a quick note to thank you and your team for looking after us in. You made it into a wonderful holiday

that in general ran very smoothly. I really appreciated the care you gave us in Istanbul. We felt very welcomed into that small corner

near your shop front. I am sure that I speak also for Viv, Monica and Lakshmi.

Wishing you all every success for yourselves and those whom you love.

Peta

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Our trip was wonderful. The hotels you chose were outstanding and so centrally located. We especially enjoyed

Your representatives met us at every airport and that was very smooth. Your tour guides were very personable…

Sincerely,

Dorothy Foley
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Hi Chevy,

We enjoyed all the places very much. Alkep Eve cave hotel was quite wonderful

experience. We took lots of beautiful pictures and I’m in the process of making a beautiful online album.

Hotels were quite comfortable.

Thank you,

Varsha Bhatt

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I just want to thank you so much for all of your assistance this summer. It was a pleasure meeting you and talking to you. First, let me say there was no comparison between the Stone Hotel and the Speectre….the Stone was much nicer! You were right!

Thanks for everything.

Wendy

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Hi Ann

I just wanted to thank you for the wonderful tour you arranged for our group. We enjoyed it so very much much.

I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet you personally to thank you for making all these arrangements. We will always remember this wonderful tour and would gladly recommend your company to others.”

Anonymous

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Hi Chevy,

Just a short note to say thanks for a great trip you put together for us. We were also very greatful for the good hotels we stayed in and the family room set up was very convenient.

Besides the one of the transfers, everything else was well set out perfect and we had a really great time.

Regards,

Charl, Elize, Ivan & Charlize Cuyler

Hi Chevy,

Thanks for all your help with our bookings in Turkey! We had a fantastic time on our holiday! We particularly liked the Akol Hotel in Cannakale, and also Kismet Hotel and Oyster Residences.

We will definitely recommend you to any friends

Thanks again for all your help!

Regards,

Anna & Simon
New York NY
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I would like to thank you for your efforts in organising my holiday.

I appreciated very much the quick change of hotel at no extra expense.The organisation of my trips,pick ups etc worked fine,your staff where most helpfull, I will have no hesitation in recommending you to anyone at all.

Thank you again.

Regards.

John Dolan

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Dear Mr. Noratli & Staff at Encounter Tours

– – – – We have a fabulous trip!!!!!!!! Your partner made sure that all the details worked out and even the weather cooperated for us. Thanks a million!!!!!!!

Mrs. Hamilton / Long View Washington

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