Angel Tang

Tokyo: hotel Cerulean was amazing! Excellent service and spacious room. One of the best hotels we have ever stayed in. Our guide Yumi was not great. It was a rainy day so she finished the tour at 2pm but did not give much suggestions on what else to see. The Yanaka historical walking tour was very nice.

Kyoto: Our hotel was convenient because we did lots of buses. The room was spacious, but nothing like the Cerulean in Tokyo. Our guide Masaaki Tanaka fooled us because we saw him at first and he is an older gentleman but he was quicker and more fast paced than us. He was excellent, very knowledgeable and very interesting. Took us to eat in a beautiful noodle house and it was raining as well so instead of going to Kiyomiu-dera Temple we went to the indoor museum where there is 1000 buddas. Very fascinating.! Had another full day with him in Nara and temple there and he was excellent.
Our other guide was Yuki, she was soft spoken and very good as well. Had a long great day with her in the Bamboo forest.

Osaka: The Westin Osaka was very nice and had good service as well. There is alot of construction going on around it there so it was a bit of a walk to the main city and train station that had all the restaurants and stores. Would have prefer to stay closer to that area. Met with Yuki again and she took us on a city tour of Osaka. The museum was very interesting, probably would have skipped the Osaka Castle, was alot of walking. The food tour at night was alot of fun and the guide was funny and very quick. She took lots of pictures, would love to see them. Hiroshima guide, was very knowlegeable and spoke great english. Gave us a full tour and great place for lunch. Forgot her name, but Im sure you must have it.

Hakone: AMAZING!!!!! The hotel was first class, the buffets were fabulous, the springs were so relaxing and the scenery was spectacular. Our guide to see Mt. Fuji was May - excellent and a great photographer too! He was witty and bought us alot of local treats so we could enjoy them. Extremely knowleagable of the area and took us to an open air museum, including Picassos, that was not on the itinerary. This Hakone open air museum, should be on the list. Our driver, Joan was professional, on time and a sweetheart! This was the perfect ending to a hectic tour of Japan. Thanks to Angel and KimKim for all the assistance and patience with us!
Arnie and Carmen

We loved our trip to Japan! It was very well organized and everything went very smoothly. Angel responded right away and was very quick to make adjustments if we needed.

The tour guide Taku was amazing, very friendly and informative and funny. We had a great time touring Kyoto with him. The only thing was it was very busy hitting 4 destinations in one day. We would have preferred to have more time to explore and only do 3 destinations.

The tour in Hiroshima was also good but we noticed that we could have taken a 30 min ferry directly from our hotel to the island, but instead we were scheduled for 1.5 hrs of public transportation (streetcar/bus). We ended up buying the ferry ticket ourselves but it didnt make sense why that wasnt offered initially.

The accommodations were all lovely. Great food options and comfortable. It would have been nice if the last hotel let us pay a day rate to keep the room for the day since our driver was picking us up at 6pm and even with late check out we couldn't stay past 12, so when we were tired of exploring Tokyo we had no where to rest while we waited for the driver.

The only excursion I wouldn't recommend was the tea ceremony. It wasn't great, we would have preferred to do the Geisha show in Kyoto that runs in April. It looked much better but there were no tickets available when we looked while we were there.

Hotel Reviews

Mitsui Garden Hotel Nihonbashi Premier / Tokyo

tokyo

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Vischio Kyoto by GRANVIA

Kyoto

Authenticity & Character

They had a cute little robot walking around the reception that made everyone smile.

Location

Right near the train station making it easy to hop around everywhere, but also central enough to walk places if you want.

Staff

Very friendly and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Grand Prince Hotel Hiroshima

Hiroshima

Beautiful view and easy access to the Ferry which comes right to the dock, but not a great location for seeing anything in Hiroshima or getting to restaurants or shops.

Authenticity & Character

The reception was nice but the rooms were dated.

Location

Scenic but not very accessible to restaurants or shops.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very stuffy, we always felt like we wanted to open a window but none of the windows open. Was a little better after we got the AC running.

Activity Reviews

Kimono Tea Ceremony at Kyoto Maikoya

Kyoto

The staff were nice and the Kimonos were beautiful. We did enjoy the tea ceremony but the location wasnt great. The "garden" was a teeny little walkway around the building where you could take pictures. It felt very cramped with no room to walk around.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Kyoto City Tour with Fushimi Inari-Taisha

Kyoto

Our guide was wonderful, he had binders with pictures to help him explain the history and he constantly kept us engaged even while waiting for transportation. It was a very busy day trying to hit 4 destinations. We would have preferred to only do 3 and have a little more time to walk around and explore.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

One Day Miyajima Island and Hiroshima Tour

Japan

Had we known a little more about the area, we would have spent less time at Bomb Dome and more time on the island. The museum at the Dome is very informative but it was very busy and hot/stuffy walking around making it hard to see things. The island was beautiful and once we made it there later in the afternoon, we wished we had gotten to spend more time there.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our trip was an overall enjoyable experience. Angel was very attntive druing the trip and making sure we got to where we needed. We appreciate the attention which made the trip more relaxing. We also liked the vast majority of the hotels that we were in with a single notable exception. Our lodging on the second night in Tanahara was extremely difficult to check in with their totally inadequate remote check-in process. if we did not encounter a Japanese lady staying at the same place that night who spent close to half an hour on the phone with the vendor to get us into our room, I have no idea what would have happened. The dinner they supplied unfortunately was woefully inadequate and some of the described facilities, such as a sauna was simply not available.
We enjoyed the guides that waere booked, they were knowledgible, very pleasant and accomodating.
The trekking we did was great, the information provided by Angel was very useful. There was suficient flexibility that we were able to do our own thing when desired.
There were a few notable glitches that I believe could have been avoided. There was a mix up on the time of our cooking class in Kyoto. The substitute Angel was able to comeup with was not quite a cooking class, but it was an enjoyable evening nonetheless. We thought Angle should have known that the Alpine route would not be open when we were there before we started our trip and we could have made some changes in our itinerary during the final planning stages. We were unable to get on the boat cruise on the Kumano Kodo following the intructions provided by Angel. Several of the travellers we met had made bookings weeks ago and we thought perhaps that could have been done for us. It was not a huge problem but it meant we had to do some last minute plan changes.
We understand that no trip planning is ever perfect and we are used to making last minute adjustments during our travels. However, similiar trips planned along the same manner did go a little smoother than this one.
Finally, we are generally satisfied and would consider using your services again.

Angie was very responsive to any emails and questions. Our accommodations were all excellent. Our favorite was BYAKU in Narai …. That was the highlight for sure. Our guides in Kyoto and Hiroshima were excellent as well. We could have done without our stay in IMABARI as the hiking was terrible. All along city roads !! Overall an excellent trip … we will recommend Angie to friends.

Hotel Reviews

BYAKU Narai

Narai

This was the most beautiful and amazing stay with excellent food. The highlight.

Authenticity & Character

Location

The hiking over the Torre pass was beautiful and it was great to end up in Narai

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Shimanami PRIMEHOTEL IMABARI

Imabari

The town was very disappointing ..

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Mitsui Garden Hotel Nihonbashi Premier / Tokyo

tokyo

Good location but a long way from Narita

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Fukinomori

The ryocan experience was great.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Kiso Mikawaya

Kiso-Fukushima

It was a bit tired and the food was not great.

Authenticity & Character

Location

15 min walk from the station

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Matsumoto Hotel Kagetsu

Great location

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Vischio Kyoto by GRANVIA

Kyoto

Great location. Can walk from the train station.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Grand Prince Hotel Hiroshima

Hiroshima

The ferry goes directly to the island from the hotel . Wish we knew this beforehand. We took took the ferry back.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Dogo Onsen Dogo Funaya

Also great location and service. Lovely garden

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Kimono Tea Ceremony at Kyoto Maikoya

Kyoto

Disappointing as the garden was very small and uninteresting. A Geisha concert would have been much better.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Kyoto City Tour with Fushimi Inari-Taisha

Kyoto

Katu was an amazing guide…. Very worth while

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

One Day Miyajima Island and Hiroshima Tour

Japan

Our guide was lovely BUT the transportation to the island was lengthy and boring when we could have taken a ferry instead. We would have preferred a night on the island. As there was a beautiful hike to the top which we only learned when we got there.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

kimkim took care of us from (before) the beginning until (after) the end. Angel was very responsive to our requests and knowledgeable about almost every facet of our itinerary. She provided regular updates during the planning stage and then made sure we were ready to travel. Once we were in Japan, everyone we interacted with (private guides, group activities, drivers, etc) was timely, polite, and exceedingly patient as we asked questions, made adjustments, and explored. In particular, we made multiple adjustments to our itinerary while in Japan and Angel was available to help us make sure everything went smoothly. It was my birthday and kimkim even treated me and my son with some surprises!

Hotel Review

Ryokan Aura Tachibana

Hakone

My favorite accommodation of the trip was definitely the Ryokan Aura Tachibana in Hakone. The experience and the vibe of staying there were just wonderful. It was traditional yet had enough modern amenities to keep our stay comfortable, especially for my child. There wasn't any friction, and the authenticity made our stay feel special without compromising on comfort.

Activity Reviews

Osaka Local Foodie Tour in Dotonbori and Shinsekai

Japan

Friendly and knowledgeable guide. Found out we had dietary restrictions after booking and made sure that these (incredibly tasty) local spots could accommodate in some way.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Fushimi Inari Taisha and Kinkakuji Temple

Kyoto

Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable and absolutely delightful. She knew the exact right balance of sight seeing/historical insights and keeping it interesting for my 10 year old son. We were able to nimbly manage some very crowded spots.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Family Fun Time in Tokyo: TeamLab Planets and Miraikan Museum

Tokyo

TeamLab Planets in Tokyo was one of the highlights of our trip. It was an activity I specifically requested to be added to our itinerary, and I'm so glad we did it. The immersive art experience was not only fascinating but also incredibly engaging for my child. We truly enjoyed the visit, and it stood out among the many activities we did in Tokyo.