June Wilson Group (7^th Hong Kong Sevens Trip)

Hello Roy. Been back home from Hong Kong for just over a week and we are already looking at next year. As you know we have always extended our time away and been to many exciting places after the 7’s but this year we wonted to take advantage of visiting the many outlying islands of Hong Kong. All your recommendations were spot on and enjoyed by all in our group and you were quite correct, we didn’t need our hands held by using a local guide and that saved us money.

Again, every part of trip went like clockwork and already looking forward to meeting up with you next year. Take good care June Wilson.

Colin Phillips
Hi Roy, Hope your well, over your trip an‎d had a nice Easter? Just wanted to drop you a quick line to say thank you for your hospitality and organisation for another great trip to HK!

Thank you for everything and be in touch for the next trip at some point!!! Definitely want to do HK in 2019, taking my daughter and Nig's son. Not sure on next years dates yet as we are going to the masters beginning of April so may clash with HK?? May also do Vegas sevens  in 2019?? Keep in touch and thank you once again Roy. Regards Col

Nicola Flynn
Hi Roy, Finally had a minute to sit down after returning from our fantastic holiday. Wanted to send to a wee thank you. The holiday was fabulous, you had organised everything so that we could just go with the flow and enjoy the whole experience.  The 7's were amazing and did not disappoint.  By the Friday we had been adopted by the Fijians!  

As for Thailand, I cannot thank you enough for recommending the Vijitt resort. We didn't leave it the whole time we were there.  The food was amazing, the pool was spectacular and the massages were to die for. I will definitely be recommending it to friends and family. Will definitely try to return there one day. Might even take our son next time (maybe) haha. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Once again, thank you. Take care Nicola Flynn

Peter Ebsworth
Good afternoon Roy and Drin, 

Firstly, please may I thank you both for arranging a memorable trip for Liz and myself! Hong Kong was great, the Sevens were an experience - having never really enjoyed playing Sevens, these were a pleasure to watch!  The whole festival was an experience and the time seemed to fly past. The hotel was fine and we also enjoyed the days after the Sevens doing a bit of exploring.

The hotel transfer back to the airport went well and we were successfully met at the airport in Beijing by our guide, Leo.  We did feel that the hotel was a bit "tired", but the room was well appointed and the breakfasts a good basis for the trips. Leo was very focused on making sure that we covered all our itinerary, but the days were fairly demanding, especially combined with the mass of other tourists all visiting the same sights. Leo had no personal knowledge of the area around our hotel, but was able to give us information we asked for (eg supermarkets and restaurants) from the internet.  In view of our subsequent experience in Xi'an, since we were a party of two, it may have been helpful if we were given choices from the itinerary that may have suited our circumstances (age and fitness) a little better.

The overnight sleeper from Beijing to Xi'an was an experience to recall when chatting with our friends.  Once again it may have been a good option to describe what we were to expect and what upgrades were possible (at what price).  That having been said I'm glad we did it!

We arrived at a very rainy Xi'an and met with our guide, Alice, outside the station.  Alice organised everything very well and we were soon booked into our hotel.  In view of our needs we agreed to settle ourselves down that morning and met with Alice shortly after noon.  The pace in Xi'an was less frenetic than in Beijing and we had a very pleasant couple of days with a lot of information given about the places we visited, before being met by another guide, Leo, who made sure that we were booked onto our flights at Xi'an Airport.

I must congratulate you on the selection of drivers, both in Beijing and Xi'an, they were excellent!

It may be of help to consider getting the guides to leave an envelope with the Assessment Questionnaire on the night prior to departure, so that they can be completed in private - the experience that I had was that filling them in on the move did not give me the time to properly consider what was put down. I trust that all the above may be of help to you both for the future (which is why I have done it)!

A final word - both Liz and I are really glad that we took this opportunity to visit the places that we did and experience what we did. I would like to give you both a heartfelt "thank you" for making this possible!

Kind Regards, Liz & Peter Ebsworth

The Martin Inwood Group
"Roy, a big thank you on behalf of the Northampton Old Scouts RUFC for organising our tour to the Hong Kong 7’s in 2017, everyone who went on the trip thoroughly enjoyed their experience. The whole trip was well organised and staying in the Dorsett Hotel in the middle of it all made life very easy to get to the rugby and the different drinking areas nearby. I have been to quite a few places over the years but the atmosphere in the Hong Kong Stadium was right up there with the best, great fun but far too many drinks!! We are already talking about next year…. Bring it on.  Be in touch very soon". Regards Martin

Andy MacHugh
"Hi Roy, Sorry we never met but unfortunately one of our group lost their phone so when we did come through Customs a little later than the others on our plane you chaps had already left the airport! However, I know Hong Kong pretty well and especially McDonnell Road and Kennedy Road so we got to the Hotel pretty easily. I was surprised it had no public bar but at least it was in the right location that I wanted which was near Lan Kwai Fong. Our time was great and finished all too quickly.

I have attached a few pictures of myself, Charlie and John from our group of 3 and some ex-players we met in my mates box on the Sunday at the stadium.  We will return and we will be in touch. Many thanks", Andy

Margaret & Richard Cecil.
“Thank you for helping us to have an amazing adventure; it was such an excellent holiday. From start to finish, the whole experience was awesome, even though it was tinged with the sadness about Dad.

We walked down the street you suggested in Xian, what an eye opener. Also tell your wife we rode a bike on the city wall. Thank you once again; we may be planning South Africa for the next rugby in a couple of years time”. Regards Margaret and Rich  

Nigel & Kathryn Redman 
"Afternoon Roy. This was our first Hong Kong 7's and we decided to use Atlas based on previous years feedback and we are glad we did as we had an absolutely excellent time !! The service provided by Roy leading up to the event and then during our stay was outstanding and really contributed to an excellent holiday and introduction to live 7's !! The hotel was very clean, good choice at breakfast and excellently located for a walk to the stadium as well as other tourist attractions in the city.  All in all an excellent experience with Roy and Atlas !! Thanks guys !!" Nige & Kathryn Redman

Steve Dunne
"Hi Roy, Picked up your voice message and apologies for not emailing before but after getting back on Monday this has been a crazy week !!!

Firstly a great big thank you from Jules Greg and I for everything you did for us in Hong Kong. Apart from getting England to perform better then everything was perfect. With regards to the China trip everything went exceptionally well. Our rep Peter was absolutely fantastic and the tour agenda couldn’t have been better or more complete. We were completely knackered at the end of the day! The trip and sites were amazing and a trip neither of us will ever forget….why can’t British rail run its trains like they do?

The trip was faultless and will remain in our memories for ever. THANK YOU". Kind regards, Steve

Simon Fraser Group
Hi Roy, Firstly we did all arrive back safely in Scotland, thanks.

We all had a great time in HK and Macau, everything was just as we expected. There were a couple of snags that you should know about,

1)BA were playing silly buggers and wouldn’t put our cases straight thru, quoting that as the flights were a group booking,

it was not possible to do at such short notice, possibly someone couldn’t be arsed, was our impression. Anyhow, he said that the tour / group operator needed to do that.

2) Our room in Harbour Grand was great, but there was a smell in it of smoking, however on night 3 we both woke up in the middle of the night, to a very strong smell of smoke,

I think there was something wrong with the Air Cond, and it was giving off a smoky smell, anyhow it was resolved, at 3am after a wee bit of a discussion, we were moved up a floor to a clean room,

(I think it may well be a recurring problem with the A/C in that room)

But on to the real pluses on the trip.

Ruby was a great contact on the trip.

Both guides were superb, Mr Martin in HK and Mr Jo in Macau.

The tours were both excellent, and well worth recommending to ours in the future. The rugby was great, despite Scotland’s abysmal performance on the first 2 days.

The Macau tower tour/ meal was very good, no one tried the sky walk, but the meal was very very good, and views tremendous.

All our transfers etc. went well, both of the long flights took off after time, but both made up time.

We took your advice and didn’t book the helicopter ride, just as well the weather was never good enough to make it worthwhile.

We also used the MTR to great effect, it was good way for getting about quickly and cheaply.

(Although we did do the Star Ferry to Kowloon at night, with the spectacular views). So all in all, we got sound advice from you and Atlas Group Travel. Thanks for that.I will look to doing another Rugby 7s trip to either Vancouver, Las Vegas, or the HK and Singapore trip sometime in the future. Would you be doing a package to the next Rugby World Cup in Japan?  That’s a real attraction.
Simon Fraser