Angel Tang

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.

Akieee in Hiroshima gave us an incredible tour of Hiroshima and Miyajima island!
We also loved our Kimono tea ceremony in Kyoto and our guide Taka Sakai !
And our experience in Kanazawa had so much lovely history, a beautiful place Hiroko was so knowledgeable!
And Nara outside of Osaka had amazing views and out kids loved interacting with the deer there! We couldn’t have done it without Taka Sakai!
Thank you to angel at KimKim for organizing a trip of a lifetime

Thank you,

Taka Sakai ‎

Activity Reviews

Kanazawa Full Day Walking Tour

Kanazawa

So much to learn, amazing place, less tourists than some of the other bigger cities! Worth the visit!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half Day Samurai Ninja Museum and Kimono Tea Ceremony at Kyoto Maikoya

Kyoto

Such a unique experience! Even our 10 year old boys enjoyed dressing up for this experience!

Quality of Experience

Our tea ceremony instructor!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

One Day Miyajima Island and Hiroshima Tour

Japan

Miyajima island is a can’t miss beautiful place!

Quality of Experience

Transport

We loved taking the ferry over!

Osaka-Nara Day Trip

Osaka

We had an amazing guide, beautiful temple and shrines! And so many deer! A great unique experience

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Full Day Mt. Fuji with Lake Kawaguchi with Oishi Park

Tokyo

Mount Fujibis a must see!

Quality of Experience

Lo

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hi - overall our experience with Kimkim and Angel was good. Im writing this more as feedback from kimkim as a service and less as a review of our trip, but there are definitely some learnings others could take from our experience.

We are experienced travelers, but when we looked into Japan it was overwhelming without some local knowledge to narrow down where to stay and how to book tours. Trains were overwhelming and without your support we would not have made this trip.

Hindsight being 20/20 I would have done more research on accommodations up front, but was trusting the service too much. Trusting things for Tokyo and Kyoto (to some extent), but Hakuba was a total miss and i'd advise you against booking that property.

I feel like communication during the trip was OK - there was one time when we were trying to figure out a transit and a more immediate response was needed. I received phone calls from China (which i would never answer) and whatsapp messages (which I dont use). You should align on preferred communication during the trip (text messaging for me) ahead of time to avoid this confusion.

As we went through our trip it became clear that the knowledge and experience around Hakuba valley was very limited as there were some major gaps in the plan that we had to address in real time without guidance. Our accommodations in Tokyo were great, Kyoto was nice as well, but Hakuba was no where near what the other two were like. It was more like a youth hostile than a family hotel. Logistics in Hakuba were also very challenging and if we didnt figure out we needed to pre-book a bus to get out of Hakuba we could have had to spend $1000 USD on a car service (Kimkim's recommendation was to order one from Tokyo which was 5 hours away). Taxi's were not an option from Hakuba and it was impossible to travel around without a car. We received zero guidance about this and would have changed both where we stayed and how we moved around with some more local experience. I believe this all comes down to a lack of local experience and knowledge about the Hakuba valley and i would have much rather there have been transparency about this which would have caused us to plan more closely there then to rely upon the service or pull in support who had local knowledge.

Our tours in Tokyo and Kyoto were all great, we really enjoyed the guides we had on all tours and felt they did a great job. The food tour was a highlight for us.

I do feel like you could do a better job of advising on the differences between a ryokan style hotel and a regular hotel. Our Ryokan included japanese breakfast every day which we only went to once due to it being so foreign for our kids. I appreciated doing it once, but it is unfortunate we paid for it 3x. I also think I didnt fully appreciate the style difference in this type of hotel and you could likely do a little more expectation setting when people are evaluating these options.

I know there are a lot of reviews about price transparency concerns with Kimkim and I do agree this is a challenge with your platform that would likely prevent me from using it again (not an absolute statement but a feeling as of now). Seeing what the cost difference is locally vs expectations in the US I cant help but feel like we were overcharged and with no detailed breakdown how do you overcome this feeling? It could be unjustified but I have no way of knowing.

So overall this was a good experience, especially when you are traveling somewhere you have never been. If Hakuba went more smoothly our review would likely be even better.

Hotel Reviews

Asakusa View Hotel Annex Rokku

We loved this hotel and location. The breakfast was great as well as the hospitality suite at night.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Asakusa was a really cool area.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hakuba Sun Valley Hotel Annex

Hakuba

This hotel is more like a youth hostel vs a family hotel. It was OK overall and the location was great if you wanted ski out, but with the Hakuba valley this comes with some major consequences about not being able to easily get to restaurants or town. I would stay here again with a car and if expectations were more clearly set.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

the owner of the hotel was very nice and helped us get to places on 2 separate instances.

Cleanliness & Comfort

the rooms were clean and while extremely basic, they were functional

Gion Ryokan Karaku

kyoto

This was a traditional japanese style hotel - as an american it was a fun experience but definitely know what you are getting into with this style hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Comfort is more about the style of this hotel vs the actual hotel.

Activity Reviews

Kyoto Night Foodie Tour

Kyoto

we loved this tour, a highlight of our trip and we wished we did one in Tokyo as well.

Quality of Experience

Food

great experience at all stops.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

was a walking tour

Tokyo Highlights Day Tour - East & West

Tokyo

Great guide and tour, made getting around Tokyo easy and gave us a good layout of the city.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Mt. Fuji with Lake Kawaguchi & Oishi Park

Tokyo

We had a good experience, but we didnt realize Mt Fuji was as far away as it was and that we were taking a bus there for 2.5 hours each way. We got really lucky that the weather was good but it would have been a bust if it was cloudy. We loved the temple we saw and Mt fuji was amazing but it is a lot of car time for what you do.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Bamboo Grove and Monkey Park Tour with a Boat Ride

Kyoto

This was a really fun day, lots of walking but we had a great time across the board and really appreciated how much we learned from our guide.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Thanks to Angel, my family had the most wonderful trip to Japan. It was a 10 day whirlwind tour from the US to Tokyo to Okinawa to Osaka to Kyoto to Hiroshima and back to Tokyo and a final return to the US. Angel arranged every step (hotels, tours, trains & drivers), listening to my concerns and fixing every detail. She offered tours for our consideration. When we were on the trip, she was very responsive & helpful which we truly appreciated as we had not been to Japan before. I highly recommend her for your travel plans!

This was a trip of a lifetime, allowing us to see the most we could in the time we had. Angel did a great job of getting everything in that we wanted to see and setting up the travel between all of the locations. Yumi was a great guide in Tokyo and adjusted our itinerary on the fly to make sure we saw all of the relevant attractions. Chizuko (Chi) was great for the 3 days we spent with her. She was very informative and had specific things she showed us as we went along. All of the hotels where excellent, and Angel piked well for us. We had an issue with a missed train connection, due to a blockage on the track, and Ms. Heidi was quick to help and even offered to pay the difference if we got charged for a change to the next train, which we did not. This is the 3rd time we have used KimKim and will absolutely use them again!

Activity Reviews

Katana Sword Making in Kyoto

Kyoto

You get to learn about the history of swords as well as how they made. You end up with your own take home knife, that you helped craft, which really brings this home.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half Day Samurai Ninja Museum and Kimono Tea Ceremony at Kyoto Maikoya

Kyoto

The Samurai Museum will seem very touristy, BUT we found ourselves referencing the information we learned the rest of the trip. You really do learn about the Samurai and the history of them in Japan. The Tea Ceremony really got you the experience of seeing it in person and the opportunity to dress for it. Strongly suggest this tour, if this is your first trip to Japan.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tokyo Highlights Day Tour - East & West

Tokyo

Our guide did a great job of showing us all of the important things to see in Tokyo. Yumi was quick to adjust our itinerary to ensure we saw some of the historical aspects of Tokyo, which where close to our hotel.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half Day Fushimi Inari Taisha and Kinkakuji Temple

Kyoto

This was quit the experience, and would strongly recommend this and getting to see the culture aspects of Kyoto.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Excellent! We shopped around for our recent vacation to Japan and got multiple quotes from various companies. They weren’t the cheapest or the most expensive and I was actually a bit reluctant since the price was very reasonable. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the service and the accommodations they selected as well as the excursions selected. Angel was excellent, she listened and expertly tailored our trip to our needs. Her knowledge gave us ample time to transfer to our next destination and with very little effort. She was reasonably available when needed or had any questions. There was also an emergency contact to the company is anything should come up. We are definitely using them again for our next vacation. Kim Kim made our vacation amazing and stressless, as a vacation should be. Thank you KimKim and Angel for a wonderful trip.

The only cons are that the prices are not transparent nor is a breakdown given. The price was very reasonable so it didn’t matter so much. At times if you have an urgent question it may take a while to get back. They got back to us on every occasion though and answered any question we had. As first time travelers to Japan we were a bit confused with the surroundings but with a little time and effort we were able to figure it out on our own so most of the questions were just panic being in a foreign environment.

We wanted to visit Japan, but not as part of a large group. We chose Kimkim to help us plan our trip and provide support if we needed it. The whole experience from planning, through to the trip itself, was excellent. We chose our own schedule based on the existing Kimkim packages. Our contact, Angel, arranged travel and hotels for us and advised on how sensible our chosen schedule was, suggesting changes where necessary. The hotels chosen were all lovely and the travel arrangements ran very smoothly.
Angel was always very responsive and quick to answer our questions and offer help during our trip. Nothing was too much trouble. Our four guides Kumi, Yumi, Junko and Yoshi were all great – informative, friendly and really good company.
We had hopes of what the holiday would be like before we went and it was every bit as good as we dreamt it would be. Thank you, Angel, for a memorable trip and for all your help!

We had the unfortunate experience of having our tour canceled the day we were leaving for our trip. In the end, in "forced" us to discover on our own. We ended up loving our time in Yamaguchi (less touristy, less populated)

All train tickets were as promised.

We oved our hotel in Yamaguchi.