Kimkim Trip Reviews for Japan

Thank you Shona and kimkim! Shona planned our trip exactly as we'd hoped, and we enjoyed the tea ceremony, city sight suggestions, and easy train plans. However, we didn't have some of the final details until the day before our trip, which initially caused us a bit of worry. Additionally, the Mt. Fuji day felt like we could have used our time better, as we spent most of the day driving and didn't really see anything. In Japan, the tour guides are very hit or miss - we had one that completely overwhelmed us and were left exhausted by them, and had one that was AMAZING and went completely out of their way for us.

Hotel Reviews

The Royal Park Iconic Tokyo Shiodome

Tokyo

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hakone Kowakien TEN-YU

Hakone

This hotel had the best hotel dinner!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Granvia Kyoto

Kyoto

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Keihan Namba Grande

osaka

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

You do not interact with the staff at this hotel. Instead of talking to you, they point you to screens.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Drive to Hakone with Mt. Fuji Tour

Hakone

We spent too much of the day driving up and down hills, and maybe were out of the car for 1.5 hours total. Unfortunately we did not see Mt. Fuji either.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guide completely overwhelmed us (they didn't even let us check into our hotel ourselves, and insisted they do it, then gave us all the wrong information about the hotel). The driver seemed to be in a bad mood all day.

Transport

Kimono Tea Ceremony at Kyoto Maikoya

Kyoto

Very touristy but still enjoyed the tea ceremony and found it meditative. Definitely recommend this!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Nara Tour From Kyoto with Naramachi District

Kyoto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide was AMAZING!!!!! He took amazing photos of us and went out of his way to help us do things like shop for vintages camera lens and stop at a friend's coffee shop.

Transport

Himeji Castle & Arima Onsen & Mt. Rokko Day Tour from Osaka

Osaka

We decided to skip the onsen (as we already used one at our onsen hotel) and Mt. Rokko but still had an amazing time with our guide.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide was AMAZING!!!!! He took amazing photos of us and went out of his way to help us do things like shop for vintages camera lens and stop at a friend's coffee shop.

Transport

I had the pleasure to work with two different agents. Fei on the planning, and Angel on the implementation.
We were a group of 21 focused on meditation and tracking the Nakasendo trail.
Angel took care of every detail, forecasting any difficulty we could encounter.
She designed every dinner and hotel experience.

I do this around the world every year in different destinations and this has been by far, the most memorable, impecable and amazing experience.

They surpassed our expectations.

Congratulations for your hard work, it delivers exceptional results.

Thank you for a year long of planning this trip together.

We will return next year with a new group.

My complete admiration.

Had a wonderful time in Japan. Can't thank Elenor enough for a very thoughtful plan and for the extra support while on the trip.
Both our guides in Tokyo (Yumi) and Kyoto (Yuki) were delightful and very knowledgeable. Nara was a highlight as we loved the temples and the deer.

First off, Sandy is amazing. From the first day of planning to the end of the trip, she's always there with us. She answered all our (4 of us) questions. And is always one step ahead of our trip. She had always informed us 1 day ahead as who is our driver or who is our local guide, and what to do next. When we contacted her for a little hiccup, she and her team immediately jumped on it to resolve the situation. (BTW, the hiccup was from the other place booking, not Kimkim).

Jennifer, Fiona, Mike, Jade, and Micky are flexible and knowing their locals well. Drivers are on time. We like Hotel at Kyoto and Osaka best. La Valse at Busan has a very nice view, but the room is not too functional due to a not useful countertop. So it's just ok. All hotels are very clean btw.

All in all, I'm glad I found Kimkim and more so when having Sandy as our specialist. We'll look for Kimkim for our next trip, and hopefully we got Sandy again. And for sure, I'll share our experience about kimkim with our friends.

Thanks for wonderful memory.

Hotel Reviews

Lavalse Hotel

The view is amazing. But the room has the countertop (like kitchen countertop) which take up a lot of room. I would trade the view for the more functional room.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Great view.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

clean but not comfy due to the countertop takes up a big chunk of real estate.

Cross Hotel Osaka

Osaka

Best hotel chain for my trip. Both lobby and room are nice and roomy. I would love to stay here next time.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cross Hotel Kyoto

Kyoto

Best hotel chain for my trip. Both lobby and room are nice and roomy. I would love to stay here next time.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Daiwa Roynet Hotel Ginza PREMIER

Tokyo

Location is good but the lobby is so tiny. Room is clean but ok. I'm ok to stay here next time.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

NINE TREE PREMIER HOTEL MYEONGDONG II

Seoul

Good lobby, room is ok but one annoying thing is about the motion detection light. I would like to have an option to use it or now. At night if you have to go to the bath room, this light will be wake you up or your partner up.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

I had to leave at 7:00am at the same time, the buffet would just got open. The staff ordered our breakfast packed for us the night before. And actually they were ready before 7:00am. This is great.

Cleanliness & Comfort

annoying night motion detection light

Activity Review

Osaka Local Foodie Tour in Dotonbori and Shinsekai

Osaka

I was really looking forward to experiencing the local food in Osaka, but honestly, it didn’t live up to my expectations. Maybe it’s because I’ve had amazing street food in places like Thailand and Vietnam, which are hard to beat.

Angel was really helpful on several last-minute requests. The Kyoto guide was very knowledgeable. Marlene’s tour in Tokyo not so great, big language barrier and not a lot of interaction. Fuji Mt. Guides were terrific. Upgraded hotel room this week also terrific. Overall, I felt we got great value for money spent on this tour.

Hotel Review

Mitsui Garden Hotel Jingugaien Tokyo Premier

Tokyo

Activity Reviews

Half Day Imperial Palace East Gardens and Senso-ji Tour

Tokyo

Tea Ceremony at Kyoto Maikoya

Kyoto

Sightseeing in Arashiyama - Boat Ride and Bamboo Grove

Kyoto

Hiking the Mt. Fuji SubashiriTrail (Jul-Aug)-Day 1

Japan

Hiking the Mt. Fuji SubashiriTrail (Jul-Aug)-Day 2

Japan

We had a 10 days most amazing tour of Japan thanks to our wonderful tour organizer Sandy who had put together a package covering just about every important site seeing spots and more , the tour guides were all anxious to teach us many important points, the accommodations were all very well chosen in best locations with reasonable prices, and considering we were stuck with a worst typhoon, she was able to change around on the spot

Everything about the trip was amazing! All our guides were so helpful! They went out of their way to help us with all our questions. We had a flawless 9 adventure!

Sandy was super diligent and thorough in planning our trip. She was very communicative and fully understood our requirements. All the events in the itinerary were top notch and appropriate for what we wanted. Both leading up to finalizing the program, and during the trip, she was on top of the itinerary and we never felt the need to reach out to her first - she would always proactively do so! KimKim and Sandy were the best - we'd highly recommend!

Hotel Reviews

Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel

Tokyo

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

THE HOTEL HIGASHIYAMA by Kyoto Tokyu Hotel

Kyoto

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Westin Osaka

Osaka

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Sumo Morning Practice

Tokyo

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Osaka Foodie Walking Tour at dark

Osaka

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Yoshi was great!

Transport

Full Day Mt. Fuji with Lake Kawaguchiko Cruise and Arakurayama Sengen Park Tour

Tokyo

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Geisha (Maiko) Tea Ceremony & Show in Kyoto Gion Kiyomizu

Kyoto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

An Insight into Local Religion: Fushimi Inari-Taisha, Nijo Castle and Kinkaku-ji

Japan

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Yuki was the best!

Transport

Full Day Tour of Arashiyama Bamboo Grove & Sagano Scenic Railway

Kyoto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Yuki was the best!

Transport

Full Day Osaka City Tour

Osaka

Quality of Experience

Highlight of our trip!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Yuki was the best!

Transport

Full Day Tokyo City Tour

Tokyo

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Yumi was the best!

Transport

I just finished my 10-day tour in Japan, with my 18yo daughter. Out itinerary, offered by KimKim, covered Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. We had a wonderful experience overall. Shona, our agent, did an amazing job planning our trip and promptly following up on my questions and inquiries. All the tours and transportations were arranged properly and went smoothly.
There was one confusion at the very beginning, when we mistakenly got a ride from the Narita airport with random driver, instead of designated driver, yet KimKim acknowledged some miscommunication on part of designated driver and fully reimbursed us for the ride. Other than that, we had a wonderful experience - the entire itinerary was offered in a way to get an enriching experiences via day-long tours (like Mt Fuji/Hakone), Kyoto sigh-seeing with private tour guide (Jun was very engaging and knowledgeable), visiting popular tourist attractions, like TeamLabs Borderless, but also allowed some easy relaxing days to explore on our own.
Japan is an amazing country, and KimKim travel can help you get the most of it. Shona also provided me upfront with some good information about customs rules and regulations, traditions and practices of Japan, and other details.
I highly recommend KimKim, and Shona Zhong in particular, for planning a trip to Japan; I assume that planning travel to other destination will as smooth and enjoyable.

Hotel Reviews

Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza gochome

Tokyo

Nice location at the heart of Ginza; friendly stuff. Rooms are small yet clean. Public baths with hot water is a plus. Minute walk from Higashi Ginza station and 7/11, which is very convenient.

Authenticity & Character

The hotel fits very well in overall landscape of Ginza - a modern understatement.

Location

Nice location at the heart of Ginza

Staff

All staff in Japanese hotels are nice and friendly. Mitsui Gardens is no exception

Cleanliness & Comfort

Good overall but pillows comfort could be a bit better. This applies to all the hotels we stayed.

Kyoto Tokyu Hotel

kyoto

Nice hotel overall but location is a bit off the center, unlike the hotel in Tokyo.

Authenticity & Character

Nothing special, but fine overall.

Location

No convenience stores around the area.

Staff

Japanese people hospitality and friendliness is unmatched, including hotel stuff!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Pillow comfort is a bit compromised (just as in all other hotels we stayed); otherwise very good

Cross Hotel Osaka

Osaka

Perfect location in the heart of Osaka, few minutes walk to iconic Dotonbori, close to everything.

Authenticity & Character

Perfectly fit the environment - airy and modern.

Location

Perfect location in the heart of Osaka, few minutes walk to iconic Dotonbori, close to everything.

Staff

Cross Hotel personnel is attentive, friendly, and helpful - like all in Japan!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Same story with pillows; other than that nice and clean, and comfortable!

Activity Reviews

1-Day Mt. Fuji & Hakone Tour [Return by train] With Lunch, From Shinjuku

Tokyo

Very nice trip; unfortunately the foggy weather did not allow to see Mt Fuji in all of its beauty. Cable car ride to the top was a huge relief - a breath of fresh cool air comparing to hot and humid weather down there. I would not say that TK (guide) storytelling style was extremely fascinating but still he provided with adequate information and overall he kept the the tour at just right pace. I must admit I did not like much the canteen-style lunch experience, and food quality was just okay. The performance of traditional Japanese drummers did brighten up the things though.

Quality of Experience

Sheer beauty of the nature, escape from hustle and bustle of Tokyo

Food

I must admit I am not a big fan of Japanese food, so my opinion here is highly subjective. I felt the soup was a bit too greasy, and the rest tasted quite bland.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

TK is knowledgeable but his narrative style is a bit dry.

Transport

Bus ride was good, safe, and seamless

Kimono Tea Ceremony at Kyoto Maikoya

Kyoto

Unforgettable and unusual peek at Japanese tradition through real participation!

Quality of Experience

Recreation of things that I heard about before and considered exotic and fascinating.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The staffers and master of ceremony made this experience truly remarkable.

Transport

Not applicable - self transfer (we took a taxi).

An Insight into Local Religion: Fushimi Inari-Taisha, Nijo Castle and Kinkaku-ji

Japan

Very interesting tour; Jun is knowledgeable and engaging; it is a big advantage to have a private guide so we learned many things through easy and laid-back conversations. The visited shrines and temples are amazing. However, heat was excruciating, and hopping between buses, trains, and walks contributed to our exhaustion and took away from otherwise wonderful experience.

Quality of Experience

All visited temples and shrines were fascinating; the guide explained many things and gave us some insight into the Japanese history!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Jun was friendly, engaging, and easy going - we learned a lot from him!

Transport

I'd prefer private driver vs hopping between public transports and relatively long walks, especially during summer months.

Excellent experience with Kimkim. A pretty complicated trip, with lots of destinations, transfers, trains and planes and everything was seamless. Communication during the trip through WhatsApp was instantaneous.

Our travel specialist, Leny, was outstanding. She was able to suggest or modify activities on the fly, to suit the weather or teenage preferences. Her personalized recommendations on restaurants and shopping areas (Amerika-sura) were highlights of our trip. I will seek her out for any future trips to SE Asia.

We planned our trip to Japan together with Angel, who has been very flexible along the way. Whenever we wanted to make changes she was able to do so without complaints. Overall contact with Angel has been amazing. It feels like we have been friends for ages.
We selected our own hotels and Angel fitted these hotels into our plan.
We managed to grab some tickets for the Sumo tournament in Nagoya by ourselves and so at the very last moment we could make arrangements to skip a day in Hakone and change it to a day in Nagoya. There are so many things to mention, but the bottom line is that we have had the trip of our lives, and we fell
in love with Japan. Since there is just so much and at the same time so little you can do in 2 weeks, we figured that we might need to go back some day in the future.

Hotel Reviews

The Bali Bubble

Sanur – Bali

If you are looking for a nice place to stay in Sanur: look no further. The appartment is nice and clean and offers a lot of space. There are two huge bedrooms, both with a nice bathroom that has two showers (semi-inside and outside) The living room and Kitchen are well equiped and if you want they can serve breakfast in the appartement. Just outside out appartement there’s the swimming pool. The swimming pool is located in the inner space of the property, it is clean and big enough for all the guests. Towels for the pool are in the rooms. Staff is super friendly and they offer a bring-away service to a location in Sanur. Super flexible.

Authenticity & Character

Very authentic and super friendly

Location

This is a more quiet area in Sanur, which makes it very comfortable.

Staff

Amazing staff!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean and comfortable

Sotetsu Grand Fresa Takadanobaba

We had a 3 person room with 3 large beds. The beds are very comfortable. There was room for our 3 suitcases, but little space for walking. Bathroom and toilet are fine. There is a waterboiler in the room and the accessoires are available in the public hallway near the elevators. Very nice breakfast buffet. Good hotel!

Authenticity & Character

Just very friendly and neat

Location

It’s positioned opposite the train/subway station, which makes it very easy to reach highlights of Tokyo.

Staff

Very friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean

Yumoto Station Hotel MIRAHAKONE

Hakone

This hotel is more like an appartement home. It does not have an elevator, so you have to Carry your luggage up the stairs. The room is equiped with 4 bunk beds and a small couch. The room is small, so navigating with 3 big suitcases was a bit of a challenge, but the facilities are great and clean. It had it all. The Nespresso machine is perfect. Upon arrival we found the entry code in an envelope on the front door. It is very nearby the railway station. The restaurant downstairs serves very nice pizza’s!

Authenticity & Character

Authentic, original, creative and clean.

Location

Very close to the main Street and railway station

Staff

Even though we did not meet the staff, the communication was fine and the service with the entrance code worked.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Nice and clean

Nikko Style Nagoya

Wauw! This hotel is truely perfect. It is situated on a 15 minute walking distance from the Shinkansen railway station. It is on walking distance from the Centre. Personel is super friendly and the room for 3 adults is very well designed. The beds are equal and very comfortable. The room has a seperate toilet and a really cool setup for the bathroom. Breakfast was very good.

Authenticity & Character

Very nice ambient and super well designed

Location

Close to nearly everything

Staff

Super friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean and comfortable

Hotel Keihan Kyoto Ekiminami

kyoto

Very close to the central big railway station, which makes it easy to get around. Very nice interior and friendly staff. The beds are comfortable and equal, so no bedcouch or stretcher. Breakfast was okay, just simple and not very specific.

Authenticity & Character

It’s a good, clean and fine hotel

Location

Very close to the railway station

Staff

Friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Nice and clean

THE KNOT HIROSHIMA

Hiroshima

The hotel building itself is amazing. The reception desk is on the top floor with amazing views on the city. Staff is a bit rude and service is poor. Breakfast is served in the restaurant downstairs and offers not much to choose from. But the food is okay. The rooms are nice, with quite some space for 3 big adults. The hotel is very close to the memorial centre, so location is great. You’ll need to grab a Streetcar in order to reach the hotel; taxi’s are too small for 3 adults and 3 big suitcases.

Authenticity & Character

Super nice architecture, with a fine rooftop bar

Location

Very close to the epicentre and memorial park

Staff

Friendliness and service. Make sure to please your guests and be clear about the breakfast times (when last order). If you’re sales to call for a taxi, do not hesitate to arrange it without complaints and make sure to ask for luggage wishes (bus would be preferred when suitcases are big)

Cleanliness & Comfort

Nice and clean

Dormy Inn Premium Nagasakiekimae Natural Hot Spring

Nagasaki

Fine hotel, close to the railway station. Maybe a bit outdated but the beds are nice and comfortable. There is little room for stalling big suitcases but it is fine. The breakfast is truely amazing with fresh fruits and a lot of different types of good.

Authenticity & Character

Okay

Location

Nearby the station and Shopping Centre

Staff

Very friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Nice and clean

Hotel The Lutheran

Osaka

The hotel is situated nearby the subway station and just a heartbeat away from the Osaka Castle. It has friendly staff. Rooms are equipped with 3 equal beds. Service is good. Breakfast is very good with a lot of diversity and fresh fruits.

Authenticity & Character

Just nice

Location

Close to highlights

Staff

Friendly and helpfull

Cleanliness & Comfort

Nice and clean

Swissotel Al Murooj Dubai

Dubai

The hotelbuilding, it’s location, the staff, the breafast: all very nice! Upon arrival at 2 in the morning, our room was not ready. This was a bit confusing. The staff acted properly but it took a lot of time. At 3 in the morning we could finally go to bed. They do not offer 3 person rooms, so they added a stretcher, which was not so very comfortable as a normal bed. The rooms are small, a bit too small for 3 beds. So please make sure to ask for a big room if you decide to make it a triple.

Authenticity & Character

The hotel is nice, but not very special

Location

Just around the corner of the Dubai Mall and the Burj Kallifa

Staff

The general staff is nice and friendsly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cleanliness is perfect, comfort is not as expected

Activity Reviews

Full Day Tokyo City Tour

Tokyo

We had a marvelous day with Yumi! She is an amazing guide with a lot of nice stories and enthousiasm! We had so much fun!

Quality of Experience

It’s very nice to have someone like Yumi guide you around a big unknown city. The knowledge and the stories are very much appreciated.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Yumi (you & me) is very enthousiastic and friendly. We had a great day!

Transport

Transportation in Japan is very well organized and air conditioned

Drive to Hakone by Private Car

Japan

Mr. Bae is a very kind, gentle driver and guide. His English is not very rich but his efforts and kindness are great! He gave us a wonderfull guided trip from Tokyo to Hakone, passing Mt. Fuji, Lake Kawaguchi and several highlights and amazing views on Mt. Fuji and a visit to Oshino Hakkai village.

Quality of Experience

Beautiful places!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Driver was very sweet and kind. Mr. Bae knew his way around. Unfortunately he did not speak English very well but we managed to communicate nevertheless.

Transport

Nice roomy car

Half Day Classic Dubai City tour

Dubai

The tour would probably be very interesting but since we had to be at the airport 3 hours prior to departure, we skipped this tour.

Kimono Tea Ceremony at Kyoto Maikoya

Kyoto

This was a self-guided item. We found our way easily through the city towards the location of the tea ceremony. The entourage is memorable. The kimono’s looked amazing and these garments add a special emotion to the ceremony. The ceremony itself is done by someone who speak English very well. The tea tastes fresh but is different from your regular green tea. The gardens look stunning! Do not miss this if you want to take pictures of yourself and your family in typical Japanse outfits!

Quality of Experience

Very Nice way to get to know a bit of the traditional and cultural habits.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The woman who guided is through the tea ceremony was very nice, with a good english narrative.

Transport

Self guided with public transportation and a little help from Google maps

Sightseeing in Arashiyama - Boat Ride and Bamboo Grove

Kyoto

Mr. Masato is a very well educated and knowledgable gentleman who took us to and through the highlights of Kyoto Arashima (boat trip), Togetsukyo bridge and Bamboo grove and Tenyuji Temple gardens. His English is good and his humour is nice. He’s a great guide.

Quality of Experience

Very fun and interesting trip! The boatride was cool, a bit splashy, but very enjoyable. The bamboo grove is just stunning and even though it was so hot outside it was worth the walk.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Mr. Masato is just really amazing

Transport

Public transportation works perfect in Japan!

Full Day Miyajima Island and Memorial Park Tour

Hiroshima

Hiroshima memorial park and Miyajima Island guided by Remi was impressive and unforgettable. We loved the way Remi told us amazing stories about the Hiroshima history and all it’s facets of the A-bomb. At Miyajima Island we walked around leisurely and had a great time! Remi told us about the fireworks at the docks later in the evening and advised us to go and see the event. So we did at our own pace, it was absolutely beautiful! Quite a lot of people attended the show. Nice!

Quality of Experience

Remi is a wonderful sweet and knowledgeable guide. She’s also very flexible. Nice company!

Transport

Public transportation and a ferry to the island, just really nice ways to get around.

Full Day Nagasaki Peace Park and Glover Garden Tour

Nagasaki

Nagasaki peace park and museum and Meganebashi bridge was guided by sweet guide Yoshi. Yoshi is very knowledgeable and speaks with experience about the past. She’s very interesting, as is Nagasaki. Ask her to take you to a typical Nagasaki restaurant and she takes you to a Chinese restaurant. The Chinese cuisine is well adopted in Nagasaki and the dishes are huge, yet very tasteful. We loved it! We skipped the Glover Park because of the heat. We headed to the 9th floor in the new city hall for a nice view over the city of Nagasaki. The rooftop hall shows a short film about the city and it’s history with the A-bomb.

Quality of Experience

Yoshi Made our day so special! She’s a really nice guide and she knows her way around, being born in Nagasaki.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Yoshi was indeed very helpful and understanding. Due to the heat we skipped the Glover park and so she took us to a Donki to do some Japanese candy shopping.

Transport

Public transportation just works really good

Full Day Mt. Fuji with Lake Kawaguchiko Cruise and Oshino Hakkai

Tokyo

We skipped the lake Kawaguchiko Cruise but instead we took the ropeway up the hill for stunning views over lake Kawaguchiko and Mount Fuji. Oshino village is nice and pittoresque, with the natural ponds and the traditional house it looks amazing, but it was very hot and there wasn’t much shade, so we did not stay long.

Quality of Experience

We got some magical views on Mount Fuji

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Mr. Bae was very kind

Transport

Mr. Bae knew his way around in a nice car

Osaka-Nara Day Trip

Osaka

Nara trip from Osaka. And look who’s our guide: Mr. Masato! Yay! Very nice to see him again. Nara is huge yet amazing. The deer, the amount of temples and shrines, the overwhelming nature. We loved it! Despite the heat, we just had a wonderful day! Mr. Masato appointed a small Japanese restaurant to us, which was conveniently tug away in the basement of a building. We would not have found it if it wasn’t for Mr. Masato. The food is amazing there!

Quality of Experience

Truely a location you should visit when in Osaka

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guide Mr. Masato stole our hearts

Transport

Public transportation is perfect to get around.

Osaka Cooking Class

Osaka

This is such a nice activity! We are food lovers and part of this trip is to get to know more about the Japanese kitchen. This cooking class took us along the journey of creating dashi, sushi and sashimi. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed our ‘own’ dashi, sushi and sashimi. It was a small group, us three and a woman from Hongkong. The location was a bit hard to find, but while we we wandering around to look for the entrance, one of the cooks came to pick us up.

Full Day Lembongan Snorkling Experence(join in)

Sanur, Bali

If you like the sun and the sea and everything in between, this is a day you should experience! The boat to the island, the mangroves, the trip to the devils tear and the dream beach, snorkling and swimming, it all adds up to a wonderful memory of a wonderful day! Our guide Gidde was great! He knew his way around and he spoke very good English. He told us so many interesting things! He’s a very smart and funny guy. We had a great time. You don’t need to bring your own gear for snorkling , they have it for you and they have a brand new mouth piece and hose for everyone. Our guides had a GoPro to make under water pictures. They dropped all the pictures in a onedrive so we could download them. Very nice. The homebase is very relaxed and they have cold drinks. It’s just a piece of paradise on earth.

Quality of Experience

It’s just a piece of paradise on earth! Don’t miss it!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Gidde our guide was truely amazing! Very nice and interesting stories. And a really nice guy.

Transport

The boat was fast and safe. The trip by car on the island was interesting and it gave us a chance to see a bit of the island along the way

Afternoon Dubai Desert Safari (Join in Coach)

Dubai

Imagine 42 degrees Celsius and no shade in the red sand desert of Dubai… imagine a 4x4 bashing a sand dune, splashing sand… at sunset; making the sand even more red… This is an amazing and great adventure and the driver is nailing it! Wauw! Sometimes it feels like riding the waves of the ocean, and the speed, very nice. At the desert gate we could ride a camel, saw a falcon show and we drove a quad through the sand! Suddenly outside temperatures did not matter anymore. Pretend to be like the nomads. Smoke the waterline, enjoy the dance of the bellydancer and the traditional dancers. All that in combination of a BBQ under a starry sky. One word: MIRACULOUS

Quality of Experience

Exciting experience!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Amazing driver and nice guide

Transport

Very cool ride in the 4x4

Abu Dhabi City tour from Dubai

Dubai

When in Dubai, visit Abu Dhabi! Absolutely stunning city with so much to offer! Many great architects have established works here, Jean Nouvel’s Louvre, Zaha Hadids bridge and museum, and so some others. But if you have one day, do the Abu Dhabi city tour. You’ll get to see and visit some great highlights and the main event is the visit to the Grand Mosque Sjeik Zayed. This amazing building, made of marble, natural gemstones, 24 karat gold, Murano glass, Swarovski Crystals and flowery mosaics is just stunning! This mosque was openend in 2007, it houses the mausoleum of Sjiek Zayed, who is the founder of the UAE and the first president. The mosque covers 22.000 square meters of ground, and 7000 people can pray inside the main hall and another 33.000 people can pray on the central square. There are 1000 columns and 82 domes. The main hall counts 3 huge chandeliers made of Swarovski Crystals. The biggest has a diameter of 10 meters and is 30m high. Wauw! Take your time to see everything. It’s just amazing.

Quality of Experience

Very interesting tour, that shows the highlights of Abu Dhabi

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide Yahia is amazing! He is very knowledgeable and knows all the inns and outs about the history of the UAE. He has written a book (in Spanish) about it - Luna Catorze. Need to read!

Transport

Perfect transport along the day.

Arrival in Dubai

Dubai

We arrived at the airport at 1.30 am in the morning. Upon arrival our guide, Ali, for the next days was waiting for us with a sign with our names on it. His english is very good. He guided us to the taxi and helped us check inn to the hotel. It was 2am when we arrived at the hotel, but they switched rooms and so the room was not ready for us. If there is one thing you’d like to do in the middle of the night after a long flight (9hrs) it is going to bed and get some sleep. In the end - and with help of Ali- it turned out right, but the room was not ready until 3am. Ali was very nice and helped us the next morning with our talk with the hotel manager. Arrival in Dubai turned out to be succesfull after all.

Quality of Experience

Pick up itself was great! Check inn into the hotel a bit confusing at 2am in the morning.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Perfect drive to the hotel, accompanied with Ali who is a very enthousiastic guide

Transport

Perfect taxi bus with lots of space for the luggage.

From start to finish, our trip to Japan was nothing short of spectacular, thanks in large part to Sandy, our local specialist. This trip, which we planned for my sister and our kids, was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Sandy’s exceptional service played a pivotal role in making it unforgettable.
Sandy’s expertise and dedication were evident from the very beginning. She skillfully helped us navigate through the planning process, balancing our budget with our dream itinerary. Her knowledge of Japan was impressive, and her patience and understanding made the planning phase smooth and stress-free. Despite the 12-hour time difference, Sandy was always available. During the trip she would check in daily to confirm all logistics and ensure everything was on track. She even threw in a much appreciated upgrade with our last minute experience add-on!
Our 14-day journey took us to Tokyo, Kyoto, Hakone, and Osaka. Each stop was seamlessly organized, thanks to Sandy’s meticulous planning. The friendly and professional drivers and guides at each location were punctual and attentive, enhancing our experience at every turn. Our bullet train tickets to Kyoto from Hakone magically appeared at our hotel at check-in.
A standout moment of our trip was our day trip to Yokohoma with our guide, Alan Tan. Alan went above and beyond by securing reservations at a fantastic restaurant for the best table with panoramic views of Shibuya Crossing. His thoughtful touch included providing us with detailed train maps for days he wasn’t with us, ensuring we could navigate the city with ease. His dedication and personalized assistance were deeply appreciated.
Sandy’s efforts in securing hard-to-get advance tickets (Ramen Museum, CupNoodle Factory, TeamLabPlanets, Ghibli Museum, Osaka Aquarium) were a huge relief and allowed us to focus on enjoying our trip. Each day unfolded without a hitch, and we are incredibly grateful for the seamless experience she provided. The memories we created will be cherished forever, and we owe a great deal of our unforgettable experience to Sandy’s exceptional service.

We had several guides, all English speaking, and I cannot remember their names. However, they were all excellent. The young woman who was the guide on our food tour in Osaka was especially fun, energetic and very impressive!

Shona was great at all times! We loved Japan! Yumi and ayumi, our first 2 guides were amazing. Yuki was very nice and gentle. Jun was a little disappointing, he seemed always in a hurry (most of the times walking way ahead of us and not looking back to see if we were keeping up, even having 2 kids with us) and was not enthusiastic about the history or places we visited. We found that guides that have their own kids are much friendlier to our kids and make the tours so much better and more interesting and enjoyable.

We were extremely happy with the planning / booking stage. We had lots of demands for what we wanted to cover and, for the most part, we got what we wanted.
In particular, my wife injured here foot a week before travel which significantly reduced her mobility. We had feared that we might have to cancel but Kate came through with organising additional private vehicles and guides plus access to a wheelchair. Without this, I am not sure we could have done the trip. We truly appreciate the effort to make these accomodations at such short notice.
Just a few minor quibbles which, to some extent, I think we should or could have addressed had we been more on the ball. We had wanted an authentic Ryokan experience with a traditional onsen . I think, on reflection, doing this in Kyoto was not the best option. We should have looked at Hakone for this. To some extent, we should have realised this ourselves.
The other issue is with the local guides. For the most part they were all pretty inexperienced or new. They we all very helpful. We had Mori in Tokyo. He was supper supportive to my wife, ensuring we could access the sites on the itinerary and make our trip smooth. He, however, was not that knowledgeable about the places we visited.
In Kyoto we had Dione. Again she was helpful but her anxiety towards looking after my wife often meant that she would apply an abundance of caution to various places on our itinerary. She would often start out say something wasn't possible until we had Googled it ourselves and pointed out that accessibility was possible. She had only been in Japan 2 years herself and so had little or no knowledge of the places we visited. In fact, in most cases it was her first time to visit a place too. In Osaka we had Naoki - he was more experienced than our other guides and knew many of the places we were visiting. Again, he was really helpful. In general, I think a guide should be familiar with the places on the itinerary and provide context and insight on those places and on the country, people, history etc. In time I am sure that all our guides will gain this experience but I am not sure I would really call all of them guides (except Naoki) yet.
All that said, we enjoyed our trip to Japan very much and would certainly recommend Kate to anyone planning a trip to Japan.

We enjoyed each of the four cities that we visited (Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Hiroshima). Yumi, Yesgo (phonetic spelling), and Yoko were all excellent guides - knowledgeable, personable, and interesting. Sandy did an excellent job of laying out our itinerary, providing helpful information, and answering questions before and during our trip.

Hotel Reviews

The Royal Park Hotel Iconic Tokyo Shiodome

Tokyo

We did not stay in the Royal Park. We stayed at Via Inn Prime Akasaka and it was conveniently located and quite satisfactory.

Authenticity & Character

It is a modern hotel set up well for business people and tourists visiting Tokyo.

Location

Reasonable walk to many points of interest. Easy access to the subway.

Staff

The staff was courteous and very helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Due to an illness, we need a change of bed linens after the first night and they responded graciously.

Sakura Terrace -Adult Only

Close to the train station. Excellent restaurant and helpful staff.

Authenticity & Character

A modern hotel with comfortable room and excellent restaurant.

Location

Easy walk to the train station.

Staff

Courteous and professional.

Cleanliness & Comfort

A very nice hotel.

Hotel Forza Osaka Namba Dotonbori

Great location next to shopping arcade and subway. Small but comfortable room

Authenticity & Character

Modern hotel. Small but comfortable room, good breakfast.

Location

Close to shopping arcade and subway/local train station.

Staff

Friendly and professional.

Cleanliness & Comfort

the room and the breakfast area.

THE KNOT HIROSHIMA

Hiroshima

Very nice room close to the Peace Memorial Museum, the river, and bus and trolley stations. Easy walk to a shopping arcade.

Authenticity & Character

Modern, spacious room, comfortable bed, good restaurant and 14th floor bar.

Location

Close to the Peace Memorial Museum, the river, and bus and trolley stations. Easy walk to a shopping arcade and a small tempura restaurant that was quite good..

Staff

Friendly and professional.

Cleanliness & Comfort

See above.

Activity Reviews

Full Day Tokyo City Tour

Tokyo

Knowlegeable and friendly guide.

Quality of Experience

Educational and interesting.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Yumi was great.

Transport

Comfortable and convenient.

Gion Corner: Traditional Arts Performance

Kyoto

We really enjoyed this glimpse into Japanese entertainment and culture. The comedy was our favorite.

Quality of Experience

Only one hour but very enjoyable.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Not applicable. We went there on our own.

Transport

Subway and walk. GPS was helpful if not essential.

Full Day Tour of Arashiyama Bamboo Grove & Sagano Scenic Railway

Kyoto

Most of our time in Japan was spent in cities so this was a nice experience in the countryside.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Yasuko was an excellent guide in Kyoto and Osaka.

Osaka Local Foodie Tour in Dotonbori and Shinsekai

Osaka

Good food. We enjoyed the guide and the other family on our tour.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Fu-Chan was an excellent guide. Personable, enthusiastic, and an inspring personal story that she shared when we asked her about her life when she is not working as a guide.

Feed Deer At Nara Park

Japan

We had no idea there would be so many deer just walking among the people. This was fun!

Quality of Experience

The deer! And the temple was educational and interesting.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Great job.

Transport

Easy and convenient.

Full Day Miyajima Island and Memorial Park Tour

Hiroshima

Touring the Memorial Park was a profound experience. We learned so much from Yoko. Miyajima Island was also enjoyable.

Quality of Experience

Learning about this from a Japanese point of view was educational.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Yoko is a great guide for this city.

Transport

Moderate walking required. We also enjoyed the boat ride and the trolley.

Kimkim took the guesswork and anxiety out of my Japan trip with my 13-year-old son. Our tour guides Alisa and Lily tailored our experiences to our needs and offered us abundant kindness, patience, and hospitality. I have never taken a tour before, but this was an excellent and cost-effective way to take a one-on-one tour and see as much as we could see in a short amount of time. Both of the hotels were lovely and well-appointed.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Metropolitan Tokyo Ikebukuro

Tokyo

This is a lovely hotel with an EXCELLENT breakfast buffet, wonderful location and excellent service.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

THE HOTEL HIGASHIYAMA by Kyoto Tokyu Hotel

Kyoto

Fancy! This is a beautiful hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Fushimi Inari Shrine, Pure Water Temple, Gion District,Nonomiya Shrine, Bamboo Grove

Kyoto

Gorgeous locations and we even got some complementary matcha soft serve while we waited for our driver.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kyoto Full Day Highlights | Kinkakuji Temple, Nijo Castle, Nishiki Market

Kyoto

We learned so much! We got to see the monkeys, too.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full day Tokyo Tour by Private Vehicle and Guide, Sensoji Asakusa, Tokyo Skytree, Akihabara, Sumo Show and Experience (with Sumo Lunch)

Tokyo

Super fun!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Today you will take public transportation for touring instead of a private van, Meiji Jingu Shrine, Shibuya, Pokemon Center, Anime cafe, Harajuku

Tokyo

Lots of walking - cool sights.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

My trip to Japan was an opportunity for my son and me to share some quality time together before he starts his first year of college. It was very important to me that everything went smoothly. Initially, I tried to plan the trip myself, but planning the trip was overwhelming. That’s when I discovered KimKim and decided to let them handle the planning. It turned out to be the best decision I made.

KimKim organized an amazing trip for us. We visited six different cities in Japan (Tokyo, Fujikawaguchiko, Kyoto, Kanazawa, Takayama and Osaka), we had over six different tour guides that were so helpful and super knowledgeable, we had a bike tour in Osaka, we participated in a cooking class. Angel, our trip planner, was incredible—she reached out to us daily with our itinerary and had everything prearranged. Angel was truly AMAZING!

This trip was unforgettable.

Hotel Review

Cross Hotel Kyoto

Kyoto

This hotel was so cool, it was located close to everything.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Explore Imperial Palace, Senso-ji Temple and Tokyo Tower

Tokyo

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Full Day Sagano Bamboo Grove and Tenryuji Temple Tour

Kyoto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Osaka Highlights Bike Tour

Osaka

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The bike ride was so fun

Osaka-Nara day trip

Osaka

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Shirakawa-go Tour

Kanazawa

This was so authentic, and so beautiful.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Mt. Fuji with Lake Kawaguchi Cruise Tour

Fujikawaguchiko

Our tour guide Somo was knowlagble and so nice.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Geisha (Maiko) Tea Ceremony & Show in Kyoto Gion Kiyomizu

Kyoto

It was so interesting.

Quality of Experience

Full Day Kyoto City Tour with Fushimi Inari-Taisha

Kyoto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Osaka Cooking Class

Osaka

Quality of Experience

One Day Miyajima Island and Hiroshima Tour (Round Trip From Osaka)

Japan

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

So we went to China. Here are some notes.
Take in an acrobatics show. Good call on Nina's part.
Do a tea ceremony.
Be aware that the main meal of the day in China is lunch so it might be later in the day. Eat a decent breakfast.
I get the feeling that they're taking the tourism seriously. Clean and safe.
Cycled round the wall in Xi an. Mark was quite right to go early early, too hot otherwise. Terracotta warriors was an absolute bun fight.
Personally I didn't see the point in going around the harbour in Hong Kong to see a boat the had sunk ages ago. However my daughter loved it.
Chengdu for the panda's. Again take the guides advice and walk up because you miss part of the zoo otherwise.
Guilin for the rice fields. Lime mountains cruise very cool. Underground cave! Only saw one black snake walking down from the rice fields. The water show in Yangshou is not worth the money. Also Chinese people talk during a show, eat, join in etc. Part of learning the culture!
Trains were cool! These people are efficient, things are pretty much on time, so don't dither. Queues move so they're not a problem.
Daughter knew a bit of Mandarin which was super helpful. I don't think you could do a trip like this without guides to be honest. Local people were onto it though, they had Google translate loaded, as did I.
Just occurred to me now that we didn't go and see anything about porcelain.
Ladies take tissues with you. I got used to the hole in the floor type toilet. Glad my legs are still strong.
Kris in Shanghai did some great problem solving when we threw some extra activities at him, namely shopping! Barter hard people (not in stores with price tags).

Our trip to Japan included many items and logistics which were managed by Kate. Overall, my family, who were first time visitors to Japan, were excited and felt like they got to see the major sites in each city. For me, a return traveler to Japan, it felt like a series of generic tours to the major tourist attractions which could have been hired individually through other services (Viator, etc). Personally, I was hoping for more unique experiences but I did appreciate that fact that KimKim was a 'one stop shop' for the logistics (cars, tickets, etc).

In terms of tour guides, our first guide, Peter Wong (Yoon) in Tokyo, was not a proficient English speaker. It turned out that our driver (who was excellent!!!) was a better English speaker than Peter. Hence, we did not receive very much information about the tours and the sites we were visiting. We spent most of the time googling the background information at each location. Peter is Malaysian (not Japanese) so a number of local questions we asked had him googling as well. When we first started, Peter did not have the agenda we were sent from KimKim so we had a bit of a disconnect on expectations for each day. He finally took a screen shot of the pages I received to align the agendas between what he had and what we were expecting. For the most part, everything logistically went well but we had one or two instances were the tickets were not accepted or procured. In the end, it worked out.

During our time in Tokyo, I booked the fish market auction separate than KimKim since the auction was not able to be organized by KimKim in the schedule (according to Kate). This event was a highlight of the trip. We hired a guide for this morning through the hotel and had a amazing experience since she was very knowledgable about Japanese history/architecture/politics/etc. In addition, as we were interacting with others, we would ask her questions and she would ask the host and then report back to us the responses. Our KimKim hosts (Peter and Naoki) did not behave like this and would just google to respond or listen to the Japanese response and then not revert back to us. We learned more from this lady about Tokyo in 4 hours than we did from Peter for the 5 days we had him scheduled.

As a side note, the KimKim agenda indicated we would be touring from 9am to ~5-6 pm each day (8 hours). This schedule was only true for some of the days. I highly recommend to KimKim to inform tour participants on expectations start and stop times to allow for meals and meal times. Since dinners were not included in the tour agenda, I worked off-line to book a variety of dinners and/or spa appointments in each city only to be told that we would not be back to the hotel in time or that we might need to skip something to fit the dinner schedule. In addition, on many days, lunch was not until 2 pm or later which also would have been good to know since we were having breakfast at 7-8 am and dinner at ~7 pm. If I had known this up front, it would have saved a lot of re-planning between myself and the tour guides and we could have brought snacks on the tours.

In Kyoto and Osaka, we had Naoki as a tour guide. Naoki was more engaging than Peter at a personal level and he had a better command of the English language. Unfortunately, Naoki is also more of a 'host' than a 'guide' and his college major was hospitality. For some of the places we visited, Naoki indicated he had not been to them prior to taking us to the see them so he was learning about them just as we were. When we visited the Palace in Osaka, he did not pre-book tickets (in fact, he told me he could not) so we spent time standing in line in the rain while others went through the 'fast track' to the entrance. I finally looked on-line and realized I could have booked them while standing in line to save time. These are all items that I would have thought they would have checked prior to our arrival.

For both guides, there were points when there were Japanese explanations of things we were seeing or touring instructions (no photos, etc) from the hosts at the sites and neither guide translated the information to us. We spent a lot of time trying to understand what was going on and what was next.

When we arrived in Okinawa, our driver was not at the airport arrivals. I called the number for Kate to check on the driver and no one picked up. There were two other numbers on the itinerary so I called the second number and got a voice mail which was responded to about an hour later. Finally, the person at the third number picked up the phone and asked why I was calling her (indicating we were bothering her.....not in a helpful way). I explained what was going on and she said Kate needed to help me so she transferred me to Kate who was sitting at the desk next to her. This was very frustrating that it took 3 international calls to locate someone and that Kate was at her desk while I was calling other travel agents in her system who were not aware they were on my agenda as a help desk person.

In total contrast, Wendy, our host in Taipei, was outstanding. She was well prepared and well educated. She explained each day in detail and worked with us to understand what we were seeing and why it was important (context). She was also very good at engaging my son. If there were any suggestions or updates to the agenda, she had us sign professional 'change orders' which we appreciated. Wendy was the type of tour guide that we anticipated for the entire trip. In addition, Wendy took a number of photos of us which was very helpful as we toured each location. We cant say enough about how much we learned from Wendy and enjoyed her tour. We wished we had her for the entire time.