The greatest feature of Charming Holidays is that they offer guided tour with few people. Their…read moretour guide is not only a "body-guide", but also a driver, a translator and a photographer. They arranged two people, a tour guides and a driver, to service three of us in Bangkok, which is quite costly. In terms of itinerary, the programs was full of activities except for the first day and the last day. To be fare to both the business and consumers, I published a video at https://youtu.be/bdRW8UTL-oE

I've been on a few Charming Holiday tours at this point, and will say those experiences were closer…read moreto a 3. Yet, I still try going with them occasionally because at least they stick close to the destinations on the itinerary, and the cost of the tour is still hard to beat relative to quality (base cost for 7 days to Zhangjiajie this year was $800 per person, hotel+most meals included). However, this year, it seems they've started to really improve the quality of the tours to China - so much so that I felt compelled to write a review to balance out the rating a bit more... but I can't speak to any other destinations, and perhaps I was lucky with my tour guide / experience. Great tour guides do make a huge difference, and mine was awesome overall. I went with Charming to Zhangjiajie this past month, and among all other tour companies I could've chosen, I picked Charming from reading their packed itinerary and decent 4-star hotel accommodations (these are considered "5-star" by China's standards). Also important to note that starting this year, Charming no longer has shopping tours in China! No more wasting time at shops. Tour guide: She was nice, professional and experienced (note she only spoke Chinese, which is fine considering the tour comments noted this is only a Chinese-speaking tour). She even waited with us on the last day to personally send off each one of us from the hotel when the tour ended, to ensure our transportation to the airport didn't run into issues. Most tour guides at this point would've gone home from my experience, so this was a surprise for us. Also unlike past experiences with Charming tour guides, the tour guide never asked for tips either, but seeing as how great she was, we voluntarily tipped her at the end. Hotel: Met 4-star standards (mostly stayed in large chains like Pullman and Ramada). There was one night where we stayed in a very old inn in Fenghuang Old Town (like the towels badly needed bleaching) but the tour guide did warn us that because we had to lower our standards as the village was still developing. The good thing was that the location was great for walking around at night to explore. Acceptable given the area. Itinerary: Jam packed in a good way! Expect to leave at 8am everyday to beat the crowds. Maybe it's also because we went to Zhangjiajie, where there's no shortage of things to see, but the tour guide made sure we made the most of our time there, so she did also recommend optional things to do. At no point did she ever force anyone to go to these places, which did require additional entrance or show fees. We went to 2 of the 3 suggested things to do, and gave us free time back if we didn't go to one of the places. Shopping: It's a non-shopping tour, so no stops for shops! Optional, but the tour guide did also recommend things like snacks and tea leaves to purchase during our bus ride. I imagine they get some extra commission this way since tours no longer have shopping stops, but you never feel obligated to buy anything, and I was free to pass on things. The tour guide did take anyone who was interested in purchasing silver jewelry or mugs (which is popular in Zhangjiajie apparently) to a store she's partially invested in / opened with relatives (and she disclosed so), and offered discounts. But also optional, and we only went after the tour was done / we dropped off everyone else at the hotel at night, so no pressure for anyone who didn't want to go. Food: This was probably the only point where I thought we could've went to better places. Maybe I'm asking for a lot given the price of the tour already includes hotel, but I think there's room for improvement. I'll give it to the tour guide for at least checking in after every meal to make sure we were full, and if anything needed to be changed. Whenever we asked for more vegetables, she also immediately asked the kitchen to cook more for us. They did make an effort to include chicken / beef / duck in most meals, and typically fish and soup can be expected as well. Hunan is tougher for those who don't eat spicy, and they were accommodating with lowering or removing spiciness. In general about China: The country is making improvements to tourism quality across the board. There's still a lot that needs to be done, but major cities are now easy to navigate when traveling alone, with metro connections being more common. Joining a tour will still make your life much easier when it comes to the countryside/national parks though. Also public toilets are still 90% squatting ones, but the rest areas are a lot cleaner / a little more modern than what I've seen in the past 10 years. I'm seriously considering finding another China tour to go with them on next year, and recommend giving Charming Holidays a shot for their improvements.

An amazing experience with family and new friends along the way. I honestly wasn't sure about…read moretraveling with my 2 year old daughter on this tour, but Stunning Tours and especially our tour guide Hans made it a trip of a lifetime in just 10 short days. First off I want to thank our tour guide, Hans, without him providing fun jokes and facts, I don't think the experience would have been the same. I highly recommend Stunning Tours continue to keep Hans as one of their top guides. He cared for my daughter, helping to hold the umbrella on our rainy trip. Hans was the glue that held the group together. Hans made an effort to ensure we had a good time, and took extra care to address everyone's needs were met. He also had the bus driver stop by several places not listed on the agenda to maximize the experience...Hans called this extra service an "Upgrade". Second, in all honesty I'm an introvert so the fact that spending time with strangers on an 8 day bus ride through different cities did not excite me. Boy was I totally wrong, I met incredible people throughout the world. I felt we became a family at the end, which made it all the harder to say good-bye. Thank you Hans, Everyone on the trip and Stunning Tours for an experience my parents, and family will never forget.

We booked Japan 9 days delux (4* hotels) 9 months ago as part of our 40 days "asian bucket list…read moretour". Very evasive information prior to the trip and 30 days before they canceled. All international flights and arrangements then already in place and not possible to make alternative trip arrangements. They "offered" to join the same trip but with 3* hotels and we had to accept. The trip was not 9 days but had one day for arriving and one for departing as well as two "free" days. Active tour then 5 days and consequently long days on the bus. Bus was nice but hotel very basil with the smallest and least comfortable rooms we have experienced. At several occations you wrre let off several blocks from the hotel to carry your suitcases through traffic. Brekfasts with very limited continental options and overcrowed small facilities. Our hotel in "Tokyo" located about 40 km outside the city center. Guide was very good and personal and helpt saving most of the back office shortcomings. Not a trip or agency I would reccomend to snyone. Most likely the first and last visit to Japan.

Called the office and spoke with David regarding applying for a VISA to China; David was…read moreknowledgeable and very helpful over the phone and will definitely visit the office next week and have David handled it. Thank you, David.

We did a presentation and told we would get a free cruise and two night hotel stay.. Well vouchers…read morerequired you to enter your bank account info in to activate vouchers and of course there were fees to activate... No thank you

Called this morning to book a trip to China. I spoke with Ray and was very informative on what i…read moreneeded to travel even though i did not book something yet, he took the time to explain travel in China. It is very hard to find good travel agents, i will definitely book my next trip with his agency Elite 5

I was at LAX with my 3 young kids, about to start our 2 week trip to Vietnam and realized I made a…read morehuge mistake with our visa (hot tip - every person with a passport has to have their own visas, including kids). I frantically called and spoke to Ray, who was so calm and honest and helpful - he definitely went above and beyond for a stranger. Later that evening, when I was more composed from the stress of rescheduling our entire trip, he patiently walked me through his services and passed along helpful advice. Ray definitely made this otherwise worrysome experience so much less awful and his kindness gives me optimism for the world, will definitely connect when I need travel services

This tour operator operates as CTOURUS in the US. This tour operator does not deliver what they…read moresaid they would on our recent tour to East China and Yellow Mountain. Don't bother with them. There are plenty of other tour operators to choose from.

Shocked to find out this AAA doesn't have an attached travel agency was inquiring for a friend but…read moreif you are a member and have young kids as your passengers they do have some fun stuff for them and even discount presale tickets to knotts scary farm... the staff are mellow the environment is calm and staff is patient helpful and kind and offer excellent customer service as well as comparable prices. Buy this company is missing out big time by not offering travel options!!!!

Avoid Nicole if you would like satisfactory service. I've never had a aaa front desk just try to…read moreturn me away immediately. Otherwise, if you return and she is not there service is great!

Nexus Holiday in the San Gabriel Valley. I gave $900 for a deposit for their tour in China. This…read moreoccurred all before the pandemic started. I called them and they said to wait since they believe that the virus will slow down. My travel plans never went through. I called and emailed multiple times without an answer. They just have voicemail. Emailed were not responded to. Terrible customer service and still waiting for my refund! Never trust this company!!

DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!! They are all about getting the sale and do not care about the customer!!…read more Filed a complaint to the BBB. And, received the same response, cut and paste. Hope the word gets out that with Nexus Holidays, if it sounds too good to be true, you better believe it. I understand that with Covid-19 everyone was challenged. We acted early!! And, as noted by a previous reviewer. They were right on!! Wait! Wait!! Here is my complaint to BBB: We purchased a trip to China on Dec. 4th,2019. Paid a $600.00 deposit. On January 3rd,2020, we contacted Edward at Nexus Holidays on concerns about the Corona Virus and my age. At that time Edward told us everything will be going on as planned. Every time we called and/or emailed Nexus Holidays, we were told to wait. It seemed as though we were given the run-a-round. All they wanted was our money. They said are deposit was non-refundable. Concern, is they kept telling us to wait, and misrepresented what they would be willing to do. We brought up the issue very early in the process. Also, the virus was know to exist in China before we even booked. There was no futher action on the tour that would have cost them any monies. No airline tickets, no visas, or other bookings. Just high pressure to purchase trip at that time or lose the specials being offered. The same price is still being offered today on their web site. The final communication was the email below: From NEXUS HOLIDAYS: Hello ***, Thank you for your email, and hope you stay health and stay well. California's stay at home order extends through May 15, also China is still a Level 4 travel alert country. Therefore, May's departure China Tour has to cancel due to this outbreak of COVID 19. For this kind of force majeure, as a travel agency there is not too much we can do to fully cover the loss of cancelling a package. We do recommend travelers to keep their credit for future use, because airline/hotel/tour suppliers are also keeping the credit from us. If travelers are willing to request a refund, there will be a $300/person cancellation penalty. The penalty off-sets the amount deposited. We want a refund. The company, NEXUS, was not upfront with what was going on. After Edward, we were passed on to his boss? (*****), who gave us the same run-aound. We know that we may never see our monies again, but clients need to be warned about they tactics to sell tours that they can not deliver. Check their web-site!!! Still Selling! Product_Or_Service: Nexus Holidays Tours Account_Number: ***********