Testimonials

"Service was great"

We used Lotus last summer for our China trip, and for an add-on visit to my daughter's hometown of Nanchang. The rates were extremely reasonable, the service was great and it was all taken care of before we arrived.

- Jean M.

"Your good work made our experience so comfortable"

All the accommodations were excellent. Tickets were in place for train, reservation ready at each hotel. Your good work made our experience so comfortable. Thank you for all the help you have been to our family. We loved being in China. Everyone was most gracious and friendly.

- Mr. Guy Futral

"...the best service we've had"

I owe Lotus Tours (I'm not affiliated with, and don't work for them) a huge thank you and so I am posting to tell you how they came through for us. We're leaving Sunday for China to bring home our daughter, a waiting child in Wuhan. We considered the Ladybug specials, but in the end decided to fly United so we could go direct from Chicago. No problem there so far. I made our in-China reservations on China Southern using a travel website. Over the weekend, the travel website emailed us that our reservation was canceled, no clear reason why! China Southern said it was too late to order tickets, so we'd have to wait and buy them in China. That scared me, so I emailed Lotus Tours. 3 emails, one fax and less than 24 hours later, we have our China Southern tickets in hand! I thought they might not even work with me since we didn't use the ladybug special for international flight, but they were helpful, fast and efficient. So far in our adoption process, this is the best service we've had. Thanks, Lotus Tours!

- Sandee

"I would also highly recommend them"

I also used Lotus Travel (left 3/19 and came home 4/4/03). I dealt with Annie and changed my flight a couple of times. I didn't use any of their specials as I wanted a more direct flight out of NY. Annie was fabulous to work with and all of my travel (both to China and between provinces) went very smoothly!!!! She also booked my hotels in Kunming and Guangzhou and everything was as I requested. I would also highly recommend them!!!!!

- Michele

"Fabulous!"

What makes a professional Travel Agent "FABULOUS"? I tend to set very high expectations for people (myself included) and Lea at Lotus ranked "FABULOUS!" She amazed me.

On Thursday, I told Lea that I was waiting for Consulate appointment confirmation, but that I might be leaving that next Monday (in 3 days!) to try to see Beijing prior to meeting my group in Shanghai. Lea immediately put holds on all the flights for me and did as much work as possible in advance.

On Friday at 11:20 am, confirmed Consulate appts. meant we were indeed leaving on Monday and needed to book everything within an hour and a half to get the tickets overnighted to me. And Lea did it. The international flights the Suite at the White Swan the In-China Flights, the Beijing Hotel, the LAX Hotel, the lap ticket in our daughter's Chinese name for the return trip, everything. Done. Not only did Lea book everything exactly as I had requested, but she was faxing me hotel confirmations Sunday afternoon from her office!

Lea also arranged for the local Beijing travel agent to deliver in-China tickets to my hotel in Beijing. Now, you have to really trust someone to take off into China, headed for Beijing, with no idea how to get from Beijing to Shanghai and no tickets in hand for that flight. However, upon arrival at the hotel in Beijing, with no prompting from a jet-lagged me, our tickets were handed over (and they reconfirmed the flight for us too!). Perfect!

In addition, Lea faxed Chinese translations for our hotels for us to give to the taxi drivers at the airport, which we gratefully put to use. She obtained "add-on" fares from Guangzhou to Beijing for us very inexpensively. Domestic ATL to LAX round-trip tickets (that would have cost us coach class $2000 each that close to travel time), Lea got for $350 with a changeable leave date, if necessary.

Everything was done efficiently, as promised, with professional experience, and intelligently. I was impressed. I would guess that other travel agents might have considered the whole task overwhelming, but Lea pulled it all off without a hitch. Not one single mistake. She is AMAZING!

By 2 pm on Friday, I had a printed itinerary in hand and by the time I left for the airport on Monday, final details were wrapped up. I give Lea the highest level of recommendation possible. Thanks to her hard work, I got to experience Beijing, and that was a FABULOUS city! In fact, I felt sorry for those in our travel group who didn't have time to see it. Hire professionals! Enjoy the journey!

- Teresa Hill

"Cadillac of travel agencies"

For our first adoption in November 2000, we used your travel agency (through our adoption agency) and we were extremely pleased and satisfied with our Lotus travel services. For our second adoption, we changed adoption agencies to CCAI. Now CCAI is a most excellent adoption agency, but they used a different travel agency for their adoption trips and never did we appreciate LOTUS TRAVEL as much as AFTER having an experience with a different agency. Our experience with this second travel agency has been terrible after the top notch service we received from Lotus. Without notifying us until it was too late to make changes, this agency booked us United Airlines - horrible economy seats on an already FULL plane so we could not upgrade to better seats (we had requested business or first class in writing weeks prior to our booking) -- terrible, uncomfortable flights, inconvenient flight times, many plane changes, and so on. Also the agency was very hard to reach with odd hours to call, at least from the east coast, and when I did call, I usually got an answering machine even when the agency was open, staff that were not very polite or helpful or easy to understand, and so on. For us, it felt like going from a limo to a cheap economy car, the difference was so striking. I just wanted to let you know that I feel your agency is the best. So much so that when someone asked me about travel agencies for China adoption, as their adoption agency did not help much with travel arrangements, I immediately suggested she contact Lotus travel and talk to your agency about the travel arrangements for her adoption in China. She was delighted with my advice and said she will be contacting you.

CCAI is clearly the Cadillac of adoption agencies, and Lotus travel is clearly the Cadillac of travel agencies. We were disappointed not to able to use your agency for our second trip. I think we have completed our family, 2 adoptions from China, but if we ever change our mind, you can be sure that we will use Lotus travel apart from our adoption agency in the future. Also, eventually we want to take our 2 beautiful girls back for a tour trip to China. We will be calling you when that time comes.

Thank you for everything.

- Julie Thomas Bumbulis

"I will definitely recommend Lotus Travel to others"

I really enjoyed the trip to China. It was great fun. I enjoyed spending time with our guides in each city. They were always nice to us and took us to the best places to eat. I really think the kids who were adopted from China should go back to visit, so they could see what kind of life they might have in the orphanages if they never immigrated to America and of course to see China. I will definitely recommend Lotus Travel to others because Ms. Lea and her staff provided us with great service, interesting tours and kept us safe the entire trip.

- Ana Caroline Huiwen Joros  age 12

"Thank You doesn't express how grateful we are"

We would like to thank Lotus Travel for arranging the most incredible China trip for us! Our family enjoyed the beauty of China and her people for almost three weeks. Every region we visited was unique; and we had a new adventure to experience each day. We really appreciated Lotus' attention to detail. Everything was planned so well and all we had to do was enjoy ourselves! The tour guides were very knowledgeable and friendly; they really went the extra miles and added their personal touches at each stop along our way. Somehow "Thank You" doesn't express how grateful we are for the wonderful heritage tour you had planned for us. This was truly a trip of a lifetime!

- Jim, Tish and Ana Joros

"We are especially thankful to Lotus"

We just returned from a customized trip to China via Lotus Travel! We were in a group of 24 people (8 families, each with a Chinese child adopted from Kunming). We visited Beijing, Xian, Kunming, Lijiang and Shanghai. The highlight of the trip was the visit to Kunming, which included the orphanage. We had adopted our daughter in 1994 when she was four months old. We were CCAI's group #3 and we spent 13 days and 12 nights in Kunming at the Green Lake Hotel. We were amazed how much the city has changed and grown in 12 years and were fortunate to have Lotus travel pave the way for our orphanage visit since visitations are no longer common practices and contain many barriers.

The orphanage director and two of her staff greeted us at the door. She first checked off our children’s names from their name list and then we were brought through the door and photographed one family at a time. Once we were all inside, the director led us on an extensive tour of the building and the grounds. We were told that the orphanage currently serves 600 kids and that 400 of them are special needs children. She also explained that many orphans are now part of the foster care program and we met about 20 kids. We were allowed to take pictures and video as long as there were no orphans in the room. The orphanage was bigger than we had remembered and had been somewhat remodeled. We were eventually taken through the room where our daughter once lived in!

At the end of the tour, we watched a video about the foster care program and had some snacks and tea at the conference room. The deputy director from the BOL/CCAA and a few other adoption officials also joined us at the time. They each gave short speeches and allowed us to speak individually. We commended on the beautiful and well-maintained orphanage and we also thanked them for the good caring they have provided. We also met a doctor and some of the nannies who worked at the orphanage when our kids were there. We asked whether they remember taking care of the children. In each case, two or three of them recognized the child and seemed genuinely happy to be reunited with them again; at the same time, the kids felt great to be remembered by the nannies.

Before we left, we gave the orphanage lots of new baby clothes, shoes (we had learned beforehand that they needed these things) and cash donation from all families, which we were immediately provided with a receipt. Some of us had put together photo albums of our kids and gave to the orphanage director as gifts; she was delightful when receiving them. We stayed at the orphanage for about three hours and really felt that it was an honor and privilege to be so warmly welcomed.

Later that day we went to the Green Lake Park for a walk and recalled that we’ve done that many times during the adoption process. Lotus Travel organized a banquet dinner and we invited about 12 orphanage staff included the director, the nannies and the officials from Beijing to join us at the Green Lake Hotel. Prior to their arrival, I asked someone which table was the most honored position for our guests to be seated; we wanted to do this right! The banquet was held in a private room and the food was delicious. The orphanage director, nannies and officials each went from table to table to make short speeches. Fortunately, we had an interpreter present to translate word by word. They said that they were so happy that the children are healthy and joyful. We also repeated our thanks for their wonderful care of the children at the beautiful orphanage and allowing us to visit. We told them we are honored to have them join us for the banquet. The orphanage director even brought little gifts for each child. I really felt as though we were not only ambassadors representing adoptive families, but also the representatives of the United States. I hoped we’ve met and exceeded any expectations they might have had. The entire day was perfect and couldn't have gone better! We are especially thankful to Lotus for this special day because I knew it would not have taken place without their hard work!

- Patricia Lyman, Westminster, CO

"Lotus Travel-- the best choice among travel agencies"

We took a heritage tour with Lotus Travel this summer (2006) with our two daughters who were adopted from the People’s Republic of China. While initially coordinating flights and planning our preferrable itinerary presented some challenges, Lotus offered suggestions for places and events beyond those listed on the schedule. We felt that they were very accommodating in helping us to formulate a more customized journey suited to our needs. Our trip was wonderful! All our guides were exceptional and their English exemplary; they and their drivers looked after us. They were knowledgeable, informative, humorous, nurturing and they interacted with adults as easily as with children. We saw extraordinary places and museums, learned local customs and history, fell in love with the people and cities, and the highlight of our journey was certainly exceptional: great explorations at the towns and social welfare homes of our daughters. Our meetings were both poignant and gracious. We will never forget this profound experience which brought both laughter and tears. It is our wish to return to China in the not-too-distant future and we would not hesitate to call on Lotus Travel again to help with our arrangements. We have began to share our experiences with friends and acquaintances and rated Lotus Travel the best choice among travel agencies.

- Robert and Nancy MacLachlan

"Sincere thanks to Louie at Lotus Travel"

On behalf of my husband Ray, myself and my daughter Sarah Tao, I would like to send Louie at Lotus Travel our sincere thanks for arranging our orphanage visit at Changde Social Welfare Institute (SWI) in China's Hunan Province. Our tour guide for the day was Nadine who was most helpful. She assisted us in purchasing appropriate gifts for various people at the orphanage. The assistance was most welcome as she knew where to shop, what brands were good and what prices we should pay so we didn't get taken and pay more than we should. While at the orphanage, she was very good at translating for us and without her, we would have definitely been at loose ends. We thoroughly appreciate your help in organizing this very special part of our trip to China. We felt that visiting Sarah's orphanage has enabled us to come 'full circle' in her life.

- Barbara Lewis from Canada

"We love Guilin and the Ming Garden Apartment Suites is just fabulous"

Thank you for arranging our travels to China. Our favorite part was Guilin! The Children's Art Palace was fun for our entire family; we used traditional Chinese ink brushes to create panda paintings. The children at the social welfare institute touched our hearts and we will treasure the time we have spent with them forever. Our five nights at Guilin Ming Garden were great as well! It is certainly our favorite place in China. The apartment is remodeled, extremely clean and has a great view; having internet access is a nice touch and there is plenty of room for our entire family. After a long day of fun, it was relaxing to come home to delicious home cooked meals prepared by our nanny Mrs Huang. She made us feel right at home with her traditional Cantonese home cooked dinners: her normal dinner consist of soup, two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes; very much like the meals our Cantonese parents made for us when we were younger and the meals had brought back fond memories. Bing, our tour guide is exceptional. He was like our genie, every request was delivered! The Li river cruise was very scenic and Bing also brought us to tour his former primary school. With both the visits to the orphanage and Bing's primary school, we got a glimpse of what a child's life is like in Guilin. It was truly an unforgettable experience.

- Helen Lee

"Joyce and Yan at Lotus Travel had saved us a fortune!"

I just wanted to put in a plug for Lotus Travel. When we were trying to make our travel arrangements we looked at many different options, including working with Lotus. I have to say that they have saved us a fortune! We called Delta because they are a code share with our China Airlines flight and their price was three times what we are paying through Lotus!! I knew when I contacted Joyce and she put us in touch with Yan Lin that it must be "meant to be" as I'm from "Penn Yan" and my name is "Lyn." Anyway, my husband has been very pleased with the service he is receiving from her and the awesome prices! Thanks, Joyce!

- Lyn

"Thanks for the fantastic trip to China, Lotus Travel!"

We had a fantastic trip to China. Everything went very smoothly. We were always met at airports or railroad stations by English speaking guides and drivers. The guides are very excellent. They spoke so well and knew everything. We really enjoyed spending time with them. I also found the apartment in Guilin to be very convenient. My daughter, Janey, who was born in China, really enjoyed the trip. The high point for all of us was our visit to the orphanage in Nanjing where Janey spent the first 7 months of her life. Our guide did a great job of translating for us there.

- Raymond Hodell

"Thank you for a wonderful trip and we will surely recommend Lotus to all our friends,"

We had a fabulous trip to China. All the guides were fantastic and reliable. They were always there when we arrived at any station or airport. It was amazing. We really had a chance to see so much of China. We had not really traveled much the first time, when we were meeting our baby! Janey had a very favorable impression of her homeland and the orphanage visit was perfect. Thank you again for a wonderful trip and we will surely recommend Lotus to all our friends.

- Beth Norman

"Thanks for arranging our super trip!"

We have returned from China after a super trip, all the arrangements went really smoothly and we had excellent Guides. The Welfare Institutes were very welcoming and helpful and pleased to see us, we met up with both sets of Foster parents and it was a very moving experience. Thanks for your help and for arranging such a fantastic trip. We hope to return to China in two years' time so we will be in touch again and we will also recommend your company to other UK families.

- Sara Bor

"Using Lotus Travel made it possible to enjoy the best of China's sights and activities."

My family had a FABULOUS time on our trip to Yunnan Province and Chengdu. Really, words cannot described how pleased we were with our guides, accommodations, meals, and itinerary. China is an incredible country to visit, and using Lotus Tours made it possible to enjoy the best of its sights and activities. We feel that the national guide (Vicky) and local guides (Nancy, Jack, and Kal-Song) became our friends and took excellent care of us. The hotels were fabulous - much better than we would stay in here in the USA. And the food was always different and delicious. Thank you Yan Lin for doing such a terrific job taking care of travelers. We would be pleased to serve as a reference.

-Mitch

"Because of Lotus Travel, my daughter had an exciting and positive view of China!"

I wanted to thank you for all of the work, thought and effort that went into the recent tour of China for my daughter and I The construction of the itinerary was great, the arrangements all worked flawlessly and your staff in each city were truly wonderful. They went out of their way to make our trip interesting, and to make sure the kids had a good time. We had an amazing time, and most importantly, the trip gave my daughter an exciting and positive view of China, helped her connect in lots of ways small and big and left both of us feeling that we want to return.

-Cheryl Schaffer

"Lotus is excellent and we would go with them again in a heart beat!"

We had a wonderful time and lots of great family memories. First we have told others that Lotus was excellent and we would go with them again in a heart beat. We've even talked about wanting to take the girls back the summer before their senior year in high school. It is hard to pick all the highlights, but we would all say that one of our favorite parts of the trip was going to Xian, seeing the Terracotta Warriors and bike riding on the city wall. That was alot of fun. Every place we went had its own uniqueness. The orphanage visits were very special. Hallee did see her "nanny" and was able to eat lunch with her. We are extremely grateful to Lotus Travel for connecting us with her. We brought a photo album for the nanny and got lots of pictures. The same orphanage director was there as was 5 yrs ago and we also were able to feed the babies. There were lots of tears on our part. We also met the two ladies who brought Hallee to the orphanage and we got their pictures. At Julee's orphanage we met up with the same guide we had 7 years ago. We also met one of Julee's teachers. The orphanage had a banner for her with "Welcome back Xianyi". They treated her royally and even presented her with a beautiful porcelain vase. We do want to thank you for helping us make this a very memorable trip for our family. It was such a pleasure to work with both Marie and Sunny at Lotus. While in China we had great accommodations, guides, food and tours. Any glitches were taken care of. We have highly recommended you to our friends. A BIG THANK YOU AGAIN!

-The Zinck Family