John D.

I would like to write to you on behalf of myself and my wife Diana to express our heartfelt thanks at respect for our Conde Nast Specialist Susan Tanzman.

We embarked on our 2 week long trip to Hawaii only based on an article I had read in the January edition of Conde Nast where Susan described her ideal Hawaiian vacation.
I read the article while in transit at Istanbul International airport on the 6th of January this year on a business trip.

I travel extensively and enjoy personalized luxury travel which unfortunately does not exist in Romania where I am presently living (I am a Canadian expat).
We enjoy staying at the best hotels and resorts, but do not like "canned" vacations even though we are talking about 5 star properties...
Susan's article showed a very personal flair that appealed to us, so much so that upon my return to Bucharest, while having a coffee at a local bistro, I cold called her and asked if she could make an itinerary for me and my wife to travel in May.

True to her word, not only did she help us by planning an itinerary via email and telephone conversations, she personalized it to the point of having our dinners/transfers/activities/excursions, basically everything included.
This was a bit of a surprise for us as she did not know us at all before and the fact that we were doing everything remotely from half way around the world...
This was made even better when she was able to secure for us, business class air tickets at a very substantial savings from what we were able to find here locally (over 30-40% cheaper)

We cannot begin to tell you how fantastic all the accommodations were especially the St.Regis in Princeville. We were treated like royalty from the moment we stepped into the hotel. Our room was upgraded, we were invited to an intimate reception where we met the hotel manager who proceeded to talk with us for over 45 minutes, during which time he also introduced us to his executive chef and other staff.
Even though the weather was not great, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and received excellent service and attention from all the staff involved,from Brittani the food service manager to the guys who would park our vehicle every day, exceptional personal care and attention that was genuine and not just canned lip service... truly a 5 star experience.

All other accommodations both at the Mauna Kea in Hawaii and the Kahala in Oahu were also very nice.

To put our accolades in perspective, we travel regularly to Asia as I own a company now based in Hong Kong and regularly stay at Shangri La hotels, We are also regularly in Paris, Frankfurt, Zurich etc...enjoy dining in Michelin Star rated restaurants and other fine establishments receiving services that are generally hard to come by in the United States... Hence our genuine surprise and joy to find that Susan had ensured that we received the type of services, accommodations, meal arrangements and extras that "we" were used to ...personalized world class travel.

Susan also insisted that we have a personal private tour in Hawaii from Hilo, we were not so sure at first, but after having one of the nicest local tour guides (Emma) take us and drive us around, she made us feel like family, not customers...that is priceless.

Another thing Susan insisted on a lot was a particular dolphin swimming excursion in Oahu "wild side"...let me tell you, nothing during our experiences all over the world was as enjoyable as this excursion, for the few hours we were there we were transplanted to never never land, we swam with dolphins, many of them, mothers with babies, young and old, then, if that was not enough the captain took us into the open ocean to a large pod of dolphins who we played with for over 30 minutes...an absolute dream...and a moving experience.

We strongly believe that Ms.Tanzman is a very valuable asset for your brand and we would strongly recommend both your magazine and her agency to everyone as this is what we think identifies both Conde Nast and Martin's Travel and Tours properly; truly a cut above the rest.