Odynovo Tours Co., Ltd

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

Authenticity & Character

Location

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

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

We had a wonderful time in Japan, would credit its success as a result of careful planning (mostly started with my wife and my later addition) and working with Olivia during the planning process, booking, and even during the trip for the most up-to-date and timely intervention/support. I'd emphasize this timely and supporting communication with Olivia as the most satisfying experience.

As for accommodations, those in Tokyo and Kyoto met, even exceeded my expectation in terms of location, facility and amenities. I suspect at time of booking, there was some shortages of hotels in Osaka, the selected hotel was not at par with the previous two. Thus the contrast exacerbated the differences, as we expected the same caliber as before. However, the Osaka location, not sure if being a smaller city, is walking distance to all attractions in this wonderful cultural city, e.g. Kuromon market, Dontobori street. By chance we met an Aussie couple during the Foodie Tour, that we learned about the Free Osaka Walking Tour, which we took on our free time on the last day of our trip. It can be hit and miss, but Masaaki as the Guide who used to live in Florida for 25 years really impressed us with his communication skills, that we learned and appreciated Osaka culture and history, but I digress ;)!

There are many fond memories and great impressions we had from this trip. I now recover from jet lag of this trip, so it many not be a complete review at this time. That said, I was very impressed with the food we had, possibly thanks to the Foodie Tour we had in Tokyo and Osaka, and on our own in Kobe, having an experience with Kobe Sukiyaki beef. But I am most impressed especially with the buffet breakfast at Mitsui Garden Premier and Vischio hotel. In addition to the standard "meaty" (American) breakfast -which even includes roast chicken and pork, the complete traditional Japanese breakfast was served, from Miso and variant (Corn) soup with all delicate ingredients, to a full sushi palette with eels, topped up with deserts like individually made Yatsuhashi and whole wheat Gallete (pancake). Matt even found out something new about Shirasu, a tiny, translucent, silvery-white baby fish in his Japanese breakfast, what a find and an experience! A big breakfast was much needed for our daily walk, typically 15-20K steps, or 10 miles, more than enough for a daily cardio exercise, so we made full use of it! Fudou Houtou - Yamanashi, a veg flat udon noodles is honorably mentioned when our Guide brought us to a restaurant going to Hakone, was an interesting and unique experience. The whole bowl made of cast iron, was individually cooked for each person, as I could see the process from the door of the kitchen. It is noteworthy that the provided Guide recommended good restaurants for lunch during our daily tour, which is very important to make efficient use of time. More can be written on food, but it is sufficient for this purpose.

There are more than just food, but it will take time for me to systematically recall to review, and this would need going back to all the photos and videos I took, so that would be my own report, perhaps for future trips back. Perhaps I should focus on what could be improved, or lessons on my own part. First would be to review and priority the attractions to visit, as we all have limited time and budget. Now that I've been to one, a different list of attractions can be revised to complement what I have visited. Given the number of temples (Bhudist and Shintos), perhaps we could reduce one or two, and add a Geisha experience in Gion, Kyoto in lieu. Given only a day or less in Hakone, we could have booked 2 nights for a better experience, especially to allow more time to enjoy the outdoor onsen. In addition, some flexibility in events booking in Tokyo could have been reserved as an option, in order to prepare for weather changes. E.g. when we first landed in Tokyo, the next day was to enjoy Ueno Park especially during Sakura Blossom time. However, the weather was not cooperated, it was lightly rained and cold, we managed to enjoy and capture precious moment anyway. However, as I checked the weather forecast at the time, found that the next day (after Ueno Park) was scheduled for TeamLabs Planets, that it was going to be sunny! I thought about a possible swap, but all arrangements were done, possibly not easy to change, so I went with the plan! Another note is about the Tour Guide, as they are fine doing their job, however I kind of wish some minor improvements can be considered. I suppose for a small walking group, the need for individual electronic listening devices (earbuds) could be used, as we all could listen to the Guide, and we were usually immersed in a sea of people walking to an attraction. Such use of earbuds can help. In addition, and this may depend on the Guide him/herself, whether they can add some story telling, some interesting and unique info on where we are going can be added. But this is like an enhancement, not strictly necessary.

That said, I really appreciate the change offered by the Tour on the first day to Kyoto, as Olivia added a private driver! In hindsight, as we had to wander Kyoto a couple hours before checking in at 3PM, we may not be able to go to the Tea Ceremony scheduled at 5PM by local public transit. ( We used this time to check out the nearby UEON chained shopping mall ). So the Driver came in very helpful to make it to the Tea Ceremony timely.

Another point of local transit, we were happy with the additional transfer when needed, but the local going from point A to point B in a new city using public transit would assume the travelers to be well-versed with Google Map, and an understanding of the local transit (subway, train, bus), which can be a challenge for certain activity, such as the meeting place for the Tokyo/Shinjuku and Osaka Foodie Tour. This would require some knowledge of using the subway and especially exiting at the right exit. I could have managed on my own, however not an easy task for me. Thankfully, travelling with my adult sons, using Google map, translate, and perhaps when walking with the Tour Guide on a previous day in Tokyo, they learn quickly how to navigate the local transit, which was a good experience to learn, still a challenge for first timers in general.

As mentioned, there are lots to recall and review. And no trip, regardless of planning would be perfect, weather cooperation always an potential issue . Thankfully, we are more than compensated watching Sakura blossom season throughout the trip, in Tokyo and surprising in Osaka after all. Overall, myself had a wonderful time in Japan, and really appreciate working with Olivia to timely work out some minor issues, making the trip a very pleasurable memory!

We enjoyed our trip to Japan very much and Eleanor provided excellent service. Eleanor provided good feedback and was flexible in making arrangements. Japan is beuatiful and it may be the most orderly and polite society we have ever encountered. We caugyt the cherry blossoms in several cities and the food was extraordinary.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel New Otani Tokyo The Main

Tokyo

The New Otani was a lovely hotel with all the amenities. The breakfast was good but it would have been nice if the food changed periodically during the stay.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Well located but needed to walk 30-40 minutes to most place or take subway which was 10 min walk.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Nazuna Kyoto Tsubaki St.

Kyoto

Great place and loved the accomodations and breakfast was excellent.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Swissotel Nankai Osaka

Osaka

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

was noisy and there continued to be construction above room at all hours even though we complained.

Activity Reviews

Full Day Mt. Fuji with Lake Kawaguchi & Oishi Park

Tokyo

We drove out to see Mount Fuji and take a boat cruise but because of the overcast weather, we couldn't see fuji and wasn't worthwhile going on lake so a bit of an underwhelming day particularily since we had a long drive each way.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Osaka Local Foodie Tour in Dotonbori and Shinsekai

Osaka

Was fun but probably would have benn better at beginning of tour as had already tried many of foods we tasted.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tea Ceremony in Kyoto FLOWER TEAHOUSE

Kyoto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Fushimi Inari Hidden Hiking Tour

Kyoto

One of our highlights. Amazing hike.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Tokyo City Tour with Culture & Life

Tokyo

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, Sagano Scenic Railway & Tenryuji Temple

Kyoto

This was amazing. Great pictures and wonderful day

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Transfer from Kyoto to Osaka via Nara

Japan

Nara was great and trip was fun.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport