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Overall Satisfaction
Excellent
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A whirlwind tour which gave us so many fascinating insights into Japan.
Liam did a brilliant job of leading the group with humour and kindness. He clearly has an excellent knowledge of Japan which he shared with us, both in his formally-led trips and in response to our endless questions. His interest in cookery was an added bonus for us.
Maddy provided helpful information when requested.
The accommodation was fine, with excellent location making up for any possible concerns about cramped rooms in one or two hotels.
Very impressed by the way in which the Japanese rail system operates. With numbered carriages set against designated areas of the platform there was no panic in boarding at all so we could relax and enjoy the trip.
We thoroughly enjoyed the set meals but I would suggest that the first meal is set around a table where all tour members can mingle. Also a little more variety in the range of set meals would enhance the experience ever further.
Our only reservation about the tour is that in the last few days meal times were very late which caused my husband to have hypos. This could have been avoided by adjusting the day very slightly to ensure lunch was in good time - and could have been done with impacting on any other of the group at all. The misunderstanding was in his thinking that snacks alone would be effective: what is required is a meal which allows one to take insulin at the same time at a regular period from the last meal. I strongly recommend that, in compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act to make reasonable adjustments to your service, you do two things: a) disability information course or brochure for all staff; and b) that travel consultant red flags people with disabilities so that not just the illness but the possible implications/symptoms of and mitigating actions for that illness are spelled out for tour leaders. I don't see this as a tour leader responsibility actually, but one for Inside Japan as a whole company issue as many older people travel and a number of them will have some kind of health issue. In fact this is a growing market if you can do this well.
We particularly enjoyed being in Asakusa - the last day in Shinjuka was amazing but it would help if your information pointed up that the department stores there are upmarket ie more expensive generally than the charming Ekimise department store in Asakusa. I also wonder if cancelling one stop - tho' it would be hard to choose which one, would make for a slightly more relaxied trip.
Japan is a more accessible country than it appears and I would feel much more confident, now that we have experienced a led tour group, to do a self-guided trip to explore some of the areas we didn't have time for on Spring Elegance.
Welcome back Marie. Thanks for your comments. We spoke on the phone after you returned, to discuss your concerns regarding meal times and diet/medical requirements. We take these issues very seriously, and do actively ask our customers to share this information with us before they travel, and this is then passed on to the tour leader, so they are prepared in advance. We will certainly check up on this system to make sure that this is working as it should be.
Good point about the chopsticks - we will look into that!
Thanks again for travelling with us on our Spring Elegance tour. Happy travels in the future! Harry, for Maddy.
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Overall Satisfaction
Excellent
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Everything went very smoothly. The information pack was comprehensive. No problems with the vouchers.
Nathaniel was extremely helpful and took time to answer all our questions.
Regular hotels were all good, except Citadines in Shinjuku charged to make up the cot for our daughter, which was surprising. Traditional accommodation was excellent, especially the Zenkoji Tokugyobou in Nagano. The Minshuku Sousoke in Takayama was a bit disappointing. It had a bit of a youth hostel feel about it and did not seem as authentic as the others.
Transport was excellent. Shinkansen were superb. We made a trip to Iga-ryu Ninja Museum. The museum was well worth the visit but the transport was very slow. We had to take four trains with very poor connections. Each way took 2.5 hours.
Guides in Tokyo, Takayama and Kyoto. All good and very helpful. They gave a personal insight we would not have had otherwise (and helped us buy baseball tickets from the vending machine in Kyoto. Very important!).
We enjoyed the food and atmosphere at Kapou Yoshiba in Tokyo and recommend it. No sumo demonstration, however, although it had a sumo ring. The day trip we made to Yudanaka to visit the snow monkeys was fantastic and we can highly recommend that, as was the Iga-ryu Ninja museum (apart from the transport as mentioned above). The staff at the Kyoto Machiya were very helpful and spoke excellent English. We can recommend this accommodation and also enjoyed the Ryokan Jukeiso in Miyajima. Morning prayers at Zenkoji were very interesting and worth attending. Hida beef in Takayama was superb and must be sampled. We also enjoyed the Okonomiyaki. We were lucky to be there at cherry blossom time. The best blossoms we saw were in Kanazawa in Kenrokuen but Matsumoto and Tokyo were also good.
The trip was very well organised and Nathaniel was very helpful. Everything ran smoothly.
Rosalind, Thank you for your comments. I am glad you and your family had a great trip! The Iga Ninja Museum is well worth a visit and I am glad you made it. But you are right, the transportation to get there is a little tricky. Hopefully, as more people visit they will improve the trains to get there. Nathaniel
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1 out of 1 have found this review helpful
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Overall Satisfaction
Excellent
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Service from you was excellent, but we were unhappy with some aspects concerning Andrew, the tour leader.
A personable young man, but organisational skills slightly lacking. Failed to take into consideration the variety of ages of the people on the tour. Often walking off into the distance leaving us to rush to keep up. Also, on our final day, when we has to consider our journey to the airport, as we had an early flight, he gave differing travel information, even telling us that we could not use are JR passes to get to the airport. A number of our group had the same experience & we wasted at least 1.30 going between railway station & tourist information to obtain correct travel advice & reserve our seats on the airport express.. I would point out that this information could have been included in our info pack, as the guidance was a bit sketchy.
Mark kept us informed at all times, when we had concerns he was easy to deal with, like talking to a friend. On one occasion, he was in available but I spoke to Jocelyn who was equally good, answering my questions on the phone & even emailing us with further information.
As we have been to Japan before we knew what to expect
JR passes & Pasmo card excellent value for money.
Breakfasts were what we expected. Japanese breakfast takes bit of getting used to. Bit disappointed with some of the evening meals as although we would have liked to have dined as a group, some of the choices of our tour leader were a bit strange & his belief that e wished to eat the same thing at 6.30 every evening disconcerting. Also when out with him, he insisted on ordering for us all without any explanation of what he was ordering, or asking for any preferences.
I think we have covered most of this in previous answers.
Felt as we have been to Japan twice now, it's transport system is not as overwhelming as we thought & the tours cover a large distance & too many one night stops, which can be tiring. An example being our last night in Yokohama, which in view of the time we arrived,could have been missed out & we could have gone straight back to central Tokyo.
Welcome home Katharine. Many thanks for your honest feedback. Glad Mark in our office looked after you very well, but sorry to hear that there were some elements in Japan that were not so satisfactory. Our tour leaders are a vital part of our operation, so we will take your comments onboard, and ensure that future customers get the very best service from us. Harry, for Mark.
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1 out of 1 have found this review helpful
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Overall Satisfaction
Good
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Nathan was extremely helpful at everystage of booking. My only disappointment here and it was hsared with the other Australian based couple was that for some reason we didn't receive very helpful Tokyo maps that others had in the group. Liam was helpful and knowledgable.
All information was well presented so tht we knew what to expect in coming days.
Great friendly emails keeping me up to date and wuickly repsonding to all queries.
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Thanks for your comments Marta. Our Spring Elegance tour is one of our most popular. Glad you enjoyed it! Sorry for not providing a Tokyo map; these should indeed go out to everyone on the tour. We will make sure no others go missing in future. Harry, for Nate.
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Overall Satisfaction
Excellent
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Professional and informed
Andrew was fun and personable and responded to questions and requests.
Nathaniel was informative, responsive and prompt and his communication was friendly, professional and inspired confidence.
Ryokan experience unique and enjoyable but perhaps too many nights of the tour spent on the floor.
Fine.
I am quite experimental with food but Japanese breakfasts are not to my taste so would have preferred more western options at breakfast time.
Many of us found the instructions for travelling from Narita Airport by train to Daimon unclear. Once there, details re which exit to take and how to proceed to hotel were good. The names of the trains and lines seemed contradictory. It sounds like you need to take the blue line but in fact it is the orange. It would be better to nominate platforms and train name. It also appears in info pac that there are four stations to pass through. However, they seem to be just main stations provided as a guide. That caused lots of us anxiety, wondering if we were on the wrong train, especially as Daimon does not appear on the indicator in carriage for quite some time. I enjoyed the food mostly and appreciated having local specialties pointed out. It was also useful to have menus "translated" for us. However, it was sometimes too restrictive to have dishes ordered for us without choice or consultation. I appreciate that this is to do with group dynamics but sometimes a smaller less expensive meal with individually chosen dishes would have been preferred. That's why quite a few people did not join group restaurant visits but did their own thing. Not everyone, for example, would choose an "all you can eat" meal (banquet ) over a smaller meal , cheaper and individually chosen. See my comments re breakfasts. Yokahama was really just a rest stop and place to say our farewells. Nice town but didn't seem to rate highly on tourist map. Would recommend dropping it from itinerary and returning to Tokyo or adding the day to one of the other shorter stays on the trip. Possibly reduce number of destinations in the two weeks or slightly extend the trip to cover same destinations at a more leisurely pace.
This tour was a taste of what Japan is about. Any return trip would be to different Japanese destinations or for longer stays in favourite towns, travelling independently but arranged by Inside Japan.
Thanks for your comment Joy. Our Japan Unmasked is a very popular tour, so glad you enjoyed it on the whole. We will bear in mind your comments on meals, and will look at the transport instructions for getting you to the first hotel. Harry, for Nate.
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Overall Satisfaction
Excellent
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Everything from before and during our trip was first rate
Very professional and friendly. Cannot speak highly enough about him. Made everything so easy, would say to others contemplating a similar trip ' have no fear'
Didnt know what to expect in the minsuku b&bs but everything and everyone made it really special
Spot on, ran like clockwork. Always clean and with friendly staff willing to help two hapless foreigners. Puts us to shame
Excellent.
This will go down as one of our most memorable holidyays. The food was fabulous, people wonderful hosts and sights amazing. The only disappointment for us was Ise, which frankly in our opinion was a bit of a dump.( shrine excepted) 2 nights was too long. A general tip, slip on shoes a definite advantage when visiting Japan!
Only because we did so much and feel a return trip could not be as good as this one
Welcome home Pauline. Glad the trip went well. We will take on board your
comments about Ise as a destination. The shrines are truly special, but the town itself perhaps is not! It does have some nice surrounding coastline; I hope you got to see some of this during your stay. Happy future travels. Harry, for David.
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Overall Satisfaction
Excellent
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I thought your service and the arrangements you made were terrific. The fact that you phoned me when I was in Japan and three days into my tour was an extra touch. Thanks.
Same comment as above.
My only 'wish' would be that the staff at the first hotel spoke some English as you had said they would. The first hotel was in an excellent place and amused me at 7.30 in the morning when all the Japanese business in their suits were eating their breakfast... Very local culture.... One or two staff spoke English at the second hotel (not much, but one or two had enough...) The room itself was adequate - it had everything I needed and both of them were in EXCELLENT positions. It was a shame I didn't realise in what an excellent position the Kyoto hotel was in until my last day there when I walked a different way than usual.... my fault - not yours. You told me where it was in the literature!
The Hakone experience, with its own onsen, was a terrific place and even in the guide books. they spoke really good English there. A shame I chickened out of going in the outdoor onsen - it started to reain really heavily....
Unvelievably good. At first, I thought you hadn't given me enough time to explore Hakone with the two day pass. When I started doing the tour, I realised you had given me exactly the right amount of time. I am so pleased you put this tour in. I had contacted another travel company beforehand who would have charged me a lot more for a week in Japan and didn't include this! Hakone was full of Japanese tourists on holiday in their own country plus a few 'westerners' and it was so interesting to see how they were njoying the place too.
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My meal at the museum in Ueno Park was excellent. I had a similar one in Asakusa which was twice as expensive, only half as much and of far less quality.
I absolutely loved Japan. I have a Japanese exchange student living with me at the moment and she really enjoyed seeing my photographs, especially the one of the underground with all the men on their mobile phones... very Japan.
I thought you were excellent value. I tried to tot up the cost of the arrangements, hotels and tickets etc., and came to the conclusion that the cost was excellent value considering how much hassle had been removed from my doing it myself. I had to change the train ticket from Kyoto to Kinsai because I had to come home a day early and the train statioin changed the ticket without cost! So much experience for no hassle - except any of my own making....
Dear Adele, thank you for your feedback. I'm delighted that you had a wonderful time in Japan on our great value
Price Cruncher itinerary. It is a real shame that there wasn't much English spoken at your first hotel in Tokyo but I'm glad you loved the locations of all the accommodation. Japanese transport is so efficient and they are very flexible about changing ticket reservations for you. Thanks again, Vivienne
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1 out of 1 have found this review helpful
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Overall Satisfaction
Excellent
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Your service was excellent and if not for you we would not have had the wonderful holiday that we did. What amazed us was the way you followed up on our well being as we arrived and during our stay. I have a dietary problem and you went out of your way to follow up with the hotels before I booked in, to help me, I have never received this service from tour operators on any of my travels. Well done!
Vivienne Boyeck was excellent, she went out of her way to help me on any questions I had, gave us good advice on places to visit, helped us try and stick to our budget, organised letters in Japanese to help me with my dietary requirements, contacted me during my stay in Japan to see that I we were doing ok. She deserves an A+ for her service
We were happy with our accommodation, particularly the Karasuma Kyoto Hotel
Very good, the JR rail was a great help, as was the Pasmo card which you provided. The shuttle service to and from Tokyo, was on time without us even having to confirm.
Mika, our guide in Tokyo was excellent, she went the extra mile in making our day enjoyable, her suggestion of a picnic lunch under the cherry blossoms at Oena park was thoroughly enjoyed. She helped in booking a tour for us, which would of been very difficult to organise without being able to speak the language and spent a little extra time with us doing so. In our one day with her, we managed to see everything we wanted too and much more.
As we disembarked the plane after 23 hours from South Africa, we were given the news that the cherry blossoms were in bloom, this was the good start to our holiday. Our special treat in Tokyo was the picnic under the Cherry blossom trees with our guide. We loved Kyoto, with the rich cultural heritage, enjoyed Nijo Castle, the Golden Pavillion, the visit to Katsura Villa gardens, also the visit to the district of Higashiyama and were lucky enough to 'catch' 4 Geisha girls rushing off to business in the Gion area. Thoroughly enjoyed the relaxing day in Arishiyama. To be honest my daughter did not enjoy the food and because of my dietary requirements, I was not able to eat the food, but always found something at the breakfast table and bought from the departmental stores.
As mentioned the service was excellent and went the extra mile to make sure all was in order once we were in Japan.
Welcome home, Michele! I'm so glad you enjoyed your trip in March and that everything went smoothly- especially that you got to see cherry blossoms in Tokyo and didn't have too many problems due to your dietary restrictions. The picnic in Ueno Park sounds like a fantastic suggestion by your guide for the day, Mika, and I will pass your kind words on to her. Arashiyama is definitely worth a visit to see the bamboo groves and relax. Thanks again, Vivienne
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1 out of 1 have found this review helpful
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Overall Satisfaction
Good
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It was overly satisfying. Japan is a wonderful place to visit and I sincerely thank you for your valuable services.
Excellent.
Beyond professional.
Thank you for your feedback Mohamed! It may have been fairly last-minute but glad we could put together your trip. Japan is indeed a wonderful country to explore so I hope we can help you if you decide to return. Jocelyn.
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Overall Satisfaction
Excellent
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Trip interpreted exactly what we wanted in mix of ryokan interspersed with western-style hotels Information booklets supplied were extremely helpful
ryokan in Hakone felt a bit processed but other two were wonderful with delightful Japanese hosts Hotel in Kyoto was superb and had particularly good view from room
Persuaded to upgrade to green Japan rail pass but unaware that reservations wouold still be necessary or accommodation would be in standard unreserved ccarriage Had we known this at the time would not have upgraded as had to make advance decisions and queue for reservations anyway!
Both in Tokyo and Kyoto excellent guides who took us to places we would not otherwise have visited
Only negative comment would be the sheer quantity of food provided at the ryokans particularly in Hakone which was almost overwhelming!
Excellent brochure, phone advice All transport from and to airport together with hotel bookings superb and guides excellent
Hi Lesley,
Many thanks for your feedback and sounds like you had a great time! Sorry to hear about the couple of small problems but seems like you still enjoyed yourselves. The guides are fantastic- we really think it helps make the most of your time to have a little guiding included. Hope we can send you to Japan again in the future!
-Karen, on behalf of David
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