The holiday was in the main really good and had some major highlights including:
Visiting the elephant sanctuary
The eco day out to the former mines
Singapore Gardens by the bay etc
James Bond island
Hell fire pass and train ride
Plus all the hotels were good and Cougan, our Malaysian guide was really good even though he continually tried to make us over eat!
Only complaint was the Mossy Forest visit that was in our opinion highly dangerous and could have easily ruined someone’s holiday.
Not so good was the flight to Phuket that was not met by our Thailand guide, Bennie. This was clearly a Wendy Woo mess up and I believe she was a late appointment to the role. One of our group had paid for roaming so rang your office and somehow things were sorted. It was a bit chaotic because the hotel arranged for us to visit Temple that for tired folk was a bit much!
In Singapore and Malaysia, the entire group were together in one vehicle but in Thailand, we were separated and in 2 minibuses. This was a weakness and meant our guide was disadvantaged and the group were not getting one set of messages.
One day of the Thailand tour included an unreasonably early start to catch a long train journey. We all as a group agreed to travel in the minibuses instead after breakfast It was hard going and probably the least memorable day of the tour. It was interesting to be so close to the Myanmar border as this was the road route. Why did we have to sign a form to cancel our train tickets? We would suggest a rethink of this part of the tour.
Finally, we paid a lot extra for premium economy on Cathy Pacific and it probably wasn’t really worth it. Also, we would have preferred direct flights to Singapore and back from Bangkok. Going via Hong Kong was really tedious and use of the Cathy Pacific lounge would have significantly improved the boredom especially as the flight back was delayed!
We had a great time but it could have been better hence we hope these comments will be helpful - after all we were the guinea pigs for this tour and with a bit of refinement, repeats will be excellent.

Wendy Wu Japan Undercover - October 2024


This was my 5th holiday booked with Wendy Wu over the past 14 years and found some aspects of the Japanese holiday disappointing.

The size of the Japan Undercover tour group was 27 travellers in total which was far too large for a very busy tourist place like Japan. Plus with some within the group finding it difficult to visit some of the planned places of interest listed in the Wendy Wu Japan itinerary, because a large proportion of the group were limited in physical ability or stamina in so many ways.

This had several repercussions when visiting sites of interest listed in the itinerary like the spectacular Kiyomizu Temple, which was cancelled at the last minute and the group was given the option of going shopping with the Tour Guide or going on their own to find places of interest for the next few hours until rejoining the group again. As a keen amateur photographer of over 55 years I was absolutely furious as this was meant to be one of my highlights to capture behind the lens. I did not pay all this money to be offered a shopping trip as some means to compensate! I was not alone in feeling this disappointment . I do not think on this occasion that the Tour Guide made the right decision.

The slow moving group of 27, generally had less time in visiting sites of interest listed in the itinerary and on one occasion with limited time when visiting the snow monkeys, a large proportion of the group walked to the entrance gates at an average walking pace and paid for their own admission fee’s instead of waiting for the Tour Guide bringing the slower members of the group to the entrance gates. This give me and others valuable time to take photos.

Visiting Mount Fuji was also very disappointing with only 30 minutes visiting time allocated from getting out of the coach and returning back to our seats. It was a cloudy day ( not in anyone’s control) and waiting for a break in the clouds to see the peak was near impossible with the time allocated, with only a very few of the group managing to see the summit. Again a major disappointment for me. I shared the same view with others on the Tour that Kiki had not planned our departure time adequately . We were told that morning that the evening meal at the hotel was booked early, “at 6 o’clock” which left little time to return to the hotel from Mount Fuji .The hotel evening meal was rushed with plates taken away before some had even finished their food. We had to leave the table before the next Wendy Wu Tour group was arriving at 7 o’clock. Why on earth was a meal at the hotel at such an early sitting even considered versus the opportunity to see Mount Fuji. The food and service weren’t even worth rushing back for. This was not acceptable and I was not alone with feeling so let down by Kiki’s poor planning.

Sometimes the itinerary felt like a tick box exercise without having adequate time given to enjoy the sites of interest. It was apparent that too much time was allocated for midday food (lunches) and shopping within tourist traps. As stated before why come all this way to Japan at such an expense to be offered such a poor rate itinerary on some days.

On a positive note it was wonderful having a Wendy Wu representative meeting me at Osaka airport with a friendly face and being very helpful by looking after me and my travel cases for an hour until the hotel coach came to collect me.
Also the professional friendly coach drivers with their clean and comfortable coaches was really welcomed .
Our Tour Guide Kiki was also very friendly, helpful and hard working with such a large group in a very busy environment. In my opinion it was unfair of Wendy Wu Tours to expect such a large group of diverse ability to be managed fairly and equally by Kiki. It was evident that although Kiki did her best to manage the dynamic of our group, she did on occasions struggle with the challenges presented to her, by this inequity of the group composition.

However, I would like to balance my feedback and share that Kiki’s spoken English on the odd occasion was a little confusing, but her knowledge of the sites we visited and information provided to us was very good.
At this point I would like to point out that Wendy Wu Tours had promised that for groups larger than 10 people , the group would automatically be provide with both an international guide ( Kiki) and a local guide. We were not provided with a local guide for this Tour and an explanation was not given. This was not acceptable and once again this Tour was not cheap.

For our last night, the river and dining cruise was well received by my group with everyone had a wonderful time.

In summary, overall the contents of the itinerary was good but had we been given more time at the dedicated sites would have made the trip more memorable.

The hotels chosen, with their locations were generally of a high standard.

The lunches provided were not of a good standard, however on most evenings the hotel meals provided were good.

I believe for me this is now the right time to say goodbye to Wendy Wu Tours and to find an alternative travel company that better suits my needs and expectations .

It is sad that this last tour has not lived up to my expectations as the last four tours were great when I visited China, Vietnam & Cambodia, Myanmar and India . These were memorable for all the right reasons.

With sincere feedback I close with these comments… I truly believe that if Wendy Wu plan to maintain their status in this highly competitive worldwide travel industry ,that you need to seriously consider the size and make up of the dynamic , ability and age of the groups . Putting profit before quality is not in my opinion the way forward,

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to read my feedback.

Good communications via e.mail and on the phone.

Booked on line - system was easy to follow - would recommend to friends and family

Excellent communication, very helpful

Excellent service from the booking team. They went above & beyond to accommodate our requests which were not available on line.

An excellent “full on” holiday with activities planned every day from dawn.to dusk.

The dedicated guide was knowledgable and always available as required.

This is the first time I have taken an escorted holiday and was a little nervous as to how this would turn out. As it turned out I had nothing to worry about.

Excellent guide who was very informative and helpful in all situations. The hotel were much superior to that I had expected - only one was not too good. Another hotel I want to comment on is the Japanese style accommodation even though it was a beautiful location. I found it difficult with the uneven surfaces and the very low bed - I have back problems and found it difficult getting down and terrified getting up during the night.

The content of the tour was great and allowed us to see the normal rural life as well as the religious part. The Burmese people are lovely and so friendly - I hope tourism picks up for them - they deserve it.

My only criticism is having to wait 12 hours (mid-day to mid-night) for a pickup to the airport at Yangon. It would have been better to have left at midnight the previous evening after dinner. I suggest you make it 16 days rather than 17.

I do not know where I shall go in 2019 but I shall certainly look at your brochure for ideas. I would happily recommend Myanmar although my friends tend to stay in Europe.


Merle Rewcastle

Service rating :

A very well organised tour. The guides were very good, and the accommodation was great too.

Product :

A very well organised tour. The guides were excellent and the hotels were great too.

Service rating :

Your representative Myo Thura was one of the main reasons our trip was so very enjoyable. He organised every little detail for us and was extremely Knowledgeable. The local people were extremely friendly and the sites we saw were amazing. I can say it will rank as one of the best holidays we have had.

Product :

The trip was packed every minute of the day. We would have benefitted from having another day in the schedule so we could have had a couple of hours a day to explore on our own or use the hotel facilities, I looked longingly at some of the hotel pools.

Service rating :

Comprehensive tour of Myanmar with excellent local guides. All inclusive and great value for money.

Product :

We got a great taster of Myanmar, saw some amazing sights and had a variety of experiences. The local guides were excellent and informative, especially in Bagan (Willian was the best guide ever whose sole purpose was to make the visit to Bagan the best possible experience) Lake Inle and Yangon. Whet my appetite for a return visit

So well planned and organised. An excellent combination of all there is to do and see in Myanmar. Delightful people and beautiful country. Our guide was exceptional, great fun but really well organised and extremely knowledgeable with superb English language skills. He certainly helped to make the holiday so successful

Service rating :

Very good overall with most hotels being top class, first hotel room could be a little better.
Guide very good and accommodating.
Well done Wendy Wu

Product :

Could be a little cheaper, Single supplement is very high and puts me off in choosing other destination with Wendy Wu, like a Japan.

Service rating :

Faultless. Myu our Myanmar guide was truly amazing. Nothing was too much trouble. He went far more than the extra mile. The drivers were all very safe the hotels were good and all had interesting features. The food was wonderful but really it all came down to myu and all his tremendous hard work ensuring each and everyone of us had an unforgettably wonderful time. I would highly recommend Wendy wu tours. Myanmar was an unforgettable experience. One black mark in Hong Kong we were made take heavy cases and hand luggage down an escalator when there was a lift available , that was down just to the local airport guide. Ever other aspect was truly five star

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It gave a terrific overview of Myanmar. They packed so much in. We were able to see many sides of the country. We were lucky on two counts. One was myu our guide who was absolutely fantastic and the second we were there at festival time

Service rating :

Excellent national guide. Good choice of hotels and restaurants. An itinerary that included all the main sites of interest.

Product :

Great value as all-inclusive. Reasonable group size with excellent guide.