Two adults + two teens who spent 2 weeks in Tokyo, Hakone, Kanazawa, Kyoto, and Osaka (June, 2026)
Japan
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May 31 - Jun 13, 2026
We were a group of two adults and two teens going to Japan (2 weeks) for the first time. I started working with Angel about 6 months prior to taking the trip. She was very helpful in suggesting cities to visit and activities to participate in. After she made suggestions I would research them and then we would make tweaks to the itinerary. She was also very responsive to my messages (before and during the trip) and was willing to do some research when she didn't know the answers. I really like the website and app we used to communicate and document the itinerary.
Hotels: I didn't want to spend a lot of money on hotels and communicated this to Angel. The ones she selected were excellent. They were all clean, had good customer service at the front desk, close to public transportation and had fantastic breakfasts (with the exception of Park Hotel Kyoto, which was just fair).
Tour guides: We had three different tour guides. Both Yumi (Tokyo) and Tetsuya (Kanazawa) were good/average, although we did struggle to understand them sometimes with the language barrier (especially when it was very noisy due to crowds, subway station, etc.). However, Sanae (Kyoto) was excellent! I do appreciate that all the guides would check in on What's App the day before to confirm meeting time and location.
Drivers: We had three drivers; airport pickup, airport dropoff, and a day of driving from Tokyo to the Mt. Fuji area. They all showed up on time and drove safely. However, I feel our driver (Garry) in Mt. Fuji could have been better at communicating how much time we had at each stop. Apparently we spent too long at one of the shrines, and then were very rushed when we went to the Hakone Ropeway. This was disappointing.
Group activities: The ones Angel selected typically met or exceeded our expectations. This included Tokyo Skytree, Tokyo night foodie tour in Shinjuku, and the kimono tea ceremony at Kyoto Maikoya. However, I would not recommend the boat ride on Lake Kawaguchi, as it was kind of boring with views that were just ok.
- The ones I selected included:
- (Tokyo) Disneysea - NOT recommended
- (Tokyo) Teamlab Planets - very good
- (Tokyo) Asakusa Sumo Club - good
- (Mt. Fuji) Hakone Ropeway - very good
- (Kyoto) Arashiyama Monkey Park - very good
- (Osaka) Haruka 300 - very good
What could have been better:
- Prior to the trip starting, I asked Angel about options for laundry service (having the clothes cleaned and returned to us, as I didn't want to lose vacation time in order to do self-service laundry) in Kanazawa. She told me our hotel could do this, but that it wasn't offered on the weekend. However, she knew we were only there on the weekend. Ideally, she would contacted the hotel to find out what vendors they partner with for these circumstances. I never heard otherwise, so I don't know if she made any other attempts to work on this.
- There were several days in our itinerary where we were "on our own," but still had a planned agenda created by Angel (with feedback from me). Unfortunately, on some of those days there were too many areas/activities packed in, and it would have been impossible to see them all (despite getting an early start/late return each day, being good at navigating public transportation, and being able to walk 20k+ steps/day). For example, one day in Tokyo we were supposed to explore the Yakanaka District, then go to Joypolis, Ginza and Omotesando, and then Harajuku and Shibuya before a scheduled food tour at 6 pm. We had to skip the first four places which was super disappointing. I wish Angel had been more clear with me about what could be accomplished in a day.
- I would have liked more price transparency. Specifically, a breakdown of what each item on the itinerary cost.
Hotel Reviews
Great breakfast, close to public transportation
A little bit run down, but still very nice and recommended. Food was excellent! The onsen area was big and had an indoor and outdoor area.
Great breakfast, close to public transportation
Breakfast was ok, close to public transportation
Great breakfast, close to public transportation
Activity Reviews
Thank you for your detailed and thoughtful feedback. I’m truly glad that overall you enjoyed the hotels, most activities, and especially Sanae’s guiding. I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience during your trip. Regarding the self-guided days, you're right—I suggested many options to give you flexibility, but I should have been clearer about realistic pacing and travel time. I also regret not proactively contacting the Kanazawa hotel about weekend laundry alternatives. On... Read more