Shona Zhang

Grand Hotel, many restaurants and upscale shopping are attached. It is a great location, close to Osaka Castle and the river, and a nice walk along the river and neighbourhood. Fantastic breakfast buffet, Western and Japanese, the best breakfast buffet we had during the trip.

The rooms are big, clean, and comfortable. The breakfast has lots of variety.

Well located in Tokyo, many eating places around, breakfast good, rooms small but very user friendly with space-saving design, clean and adequate; 7-11 store situated downstairs for snacks etc.

The guide was good. His English is fair; it can be better, but it is better than some. He was attentive. The main agent, Shona, responded to our request to use taxis, so the day went much more smoothly.

The whole day exceeded my expectations. Others had biased me to think Osaka was uninteresting. The guide was very good. She had a good command of English and gave us information on interesting facts. She was attentive, problem-solving, and knowledgeable. The main agent, Shona, responded to our request to use taxis, so the day went a lot more smoothly.

I liked the Buddhist temple, but the rest of Nara was not as exciting as it was portrayed. The guide was well-meaning; she studied the destination ahead of time and did her best to give us information, but her English was not good, so I found it difficult to understand. She was unfamiliar with the public transportation system and made some mistakes. It would have been far better if we had taken taxis that day. We asked her to call the office for permission, but the office did not respond.

The guide's English can be better. He needs to have a better knowledge of the public transport system and the structure and layout of the Aryashima bamboo grove. We needed to walk around the loop of the bamboo grove twice as the guide did not know the train station's information. The guide is well-meaning, though. He was unfamiliar with the Kyoto public transit, he took us to the wrong station etc.

Our guide was terrific. He is passionate about his work and talks almost nonstop about the history and background of Japan. He is friendly and personable, has a wealth of knowledge, and has a good command of English. He was attentive to our needs. He is the best guide I have ever met.

The driver was excellent, and it was a smooth ride. The driver was helpful. The guide was personable and had a good command of English. The guide and driver accommodated our suggestion. The weather was foggy and rainy in the morning, so we adjusted our destinations on schedule and could see Mount Fuji in the afternoon when the sun came out.

Blossoms do not fully bloom with cold snaps. Not anyone's fault. The guide was enthusiastic for the first half of the tour, but then he lost steam and was off to do the tasks on his agenda. I have to take my time walking and cannot do stairs well. The guide knew this; he was accommodating the first half of the tour, yet for the last hour or two, he did not take time to look for elevators and escalators; he would walk fast and way ahead of us. We had to try to catch up. That evening, I could not get up to walk as my right leg hurt too much; fortunately, it recovered after the night's rest. One good positive attribute of the guide: his English was good, he did make a good effort the first half of the day and guided well.

Very nice hotel of 5-star quality. The room is spacious with chairs, coffee table and desk. The beds are comfortable. The buffet breakfast is excellent with high quality and variety of both western and Japanese food. The hotel lobby is linked to high end shops - fun to browse. Its location is right across from the river with a bridge to the Osaka Castle. Very pleasant walk.

Nice location. Comfortable bed and conveniently located. 7/11 store in basement and availability of free laundry are nice amenities. Buffet breakfast is very good. Room is a little cramped. Enough chairs to sit but almost no space to move around.

Miyajima Island is beautiful. It has interesting touristy sights, eats and scenery, but not crowded. I was able to enjoy the sights and scenes without much anxiety. Hiroshima is a sobering experience. The Memorial and the Museum were all well done. I am glad I finally get to visit the site of such an important event in human history. The day was not rushed. Very enjoyable.

Even though it was a rainy day, I enjoyed the castle visit, the exhibit was nicely done. The city museum was also fun to visit, especially indoors on a rainy day. The Umeda Building has amazing architecture. Very enjoyable. The guide was not experienced, since she was very new, but she conducted herself well. Her English was also the best among the guides we had. The Shinsaibashi was very crowded, as expected. It was probably not the best option to put at the end of a long rainy day. We had good kobe beef dinner there though. We used taxi service for the day. Much better than negotiating subways. We were also just in town, so not very tiring.

It was a long ride from Kyoto. We started late due to meeting location mixup. The guide was not given our hotel. BY the time we get to Nara, it was well past noon. Even the deer were full and not interested in our food. Nara is a nice city with long history thus the temples were all interesting. The guide tried hard and did her homework, but a more knowledgable guide might be able to give us more information. We were short of time and did not make it up the hill to see the city of Nara. IT was a long day as we were also heading to Osaka the same evening.

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove is amazing. The boat ride was also very enjoyable. The scenery was captivating, just wish for more cherry blossoms. The Sagano Railway was supposed to be a highlight, but the guide did not know our booking was for a certain time and location. We ended up in the wrong station, and walked through the bamboo grove twice to the right station.. Also with advanced booking and assigned seating, the tour company should be aware of the direction of the train and booked us on the scenic side (water side). We were not able to enjoy the scenic water front, a bit disappointed.

The touring of the various sites were good, very crowded in most places because of the high cherry blossom season. Beautiful sites, streets with interesting shops. Kyoto never disappoints.

Mt Fugi boat ride on Lake Kawaguchiko was beautiful with perfect weather. Oshino Hakkai Village was very scenic with the small ponds. Great grilled fish.

Public transportation to the city sights quite hectic. We did not follow our exact original itinerary. Our customized itinerary allowed us a visit to the Fish Market, which is interesting with great seafood. The visit to the bottom of the Tokyo Tower was a waste of time and effort, especially since we were not scheduled to go up.