Just came back from a 30+ day tour in South East Asia which included Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
Tucan Travel offered best value for the money and initial bookings/communications with outstanding (esp since I'm in the San Francisco area and they are based in UK).
The itinerary was perfect with right amount of activities and free time to do optional excursions/shopping etc.
Hotels were generally good. Out of 16 hotels we stayed at all were clean, comfortable and safe. We only had issue with one hotel in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia and sent detailed letter to Tucan Travel and they responded quickly (not with just an email but a written letter that included details about hotel which I did not incl in my letter which demonstrates they actually researched my letter - and confirmed a regional manager will be conducting an onsite inspection). Food was generally good and customary for the region but service was always good.
Our tour guide Laura M. was outstanding. She was young and from the UK, which originally gave us concerns about the authenticity of our itinerary/experience, but just after 1 day she proved us wrong! She truly demonstrated her compassion and knowledge of Vietnam and Cambodia like no other could. She respected the culture and people while always making sure all guests were happy and safe. Everywhere we traveled, locals would shout out her name, which proves this point.
Transportation was very exciting as we rode motorized and pedal "tuk-tuk", mini buses, public buses, wooden motor boats, bicycles etc and Laura always made sure we were safe and comfortable (no passengers left behind). In fact during our travels in Cambodia, two girls from Canada were on our bus not from out tour, and were lost trying to get back to Vietnam but had problems with their Visa due to miscommunications. Laura heard another driver send them off the bus and she convinced them they were given wrong info and asked them to stay on bus. She not only gave them the correct info, but made several phone calls and emails that night to here local contacts who took care of everything for them the next morning.
We had drinks with the two girls that night and they had nothing but amazing things to say about Laura and how she went out of the way to help them and how they would be totally lost and out of their hard earned money for remainder of trip if they could not get there.
Tucan Travel's website seems they focus more on Central America Tours, but I can vouch for them that their South East Asia tours are well thought out and offer the best value. For Americans concerned about booking with a Travel Agent in the UK, do not worry as both their sales and customer service teams are just as outstanding as their tour guides.
See my review on Tucan's and TripAdvisor for specifics on itinerary as my review here is primarily about Tucan Travel Agency. read more