Review

Vivien Chan

Winter Wonderland

Itinerary

No complaints. You could squeeze in extra sight seeing spots but depends on age of travellers in the group i.e. younger will have more energy to see more, can walk quickly to nearby areas. Guides were helpful and offered. I guess in final itineraries, they could be listed as options. e.g. those with energy may choose to explore nearby "insert sightseeing options". Some guides were good to squeeze in extra sightseeing areas not listed on original itinerary e.g. Tokyo time to observation deck at World Trade Center. Nagano escorted to Zenkoji temple. Koya-san night time memorial/cemetary walk.

Lodging

I enjoy ryokans/tatami mats, have no issues sleeping on the floor. Found accommodation fine, better than expected. Some in the group grumbled so if no one brings it up, I guess is to make sure lodging alternates between ryokan & hotel so people who don't appreciate tatami/floor can look forward to a bed at the next location. I did not feel that ryokans overpowered, good mix of both. Depends on how fussy your customers are.

Food

Great, I ate too much! I think it would be good to include seafood or something more Japanese for those not adventurous to go try on their own. To promote Japanese food and it's not just shabu-shabu/grill/fry-up. Okonomiyaki would be a great eye-opener or a place that does a range of dishes for dinner or a demonstration how to eat at this restaurant/dish. Stick to one shabu-shabu & deep fry (Kyoto were great) and Sapporo grill. The shabu-shabu at Kushiro could be replaced with something else so the novelty of it is new for Kyoto.

Guides

Guides were great, helpful, patient, accommodating & informative. Hokkaido, Koya-san & Kyoto guides rated highly.

Pre-Tour Handbook

Good & informative. Just some minor human error things that happen but Samurai Tour staff handled things very professionally. Though you don't want to leave it to traveller to query or spot an error if they're likely to just go based on documents you give them. I just happened to be reading/researching all the details to spot it. My case was the starting hotel was Narita Excel Tokyu but the hotel listed was for a previous hotel ST used e.g. Narita Tobu. But you wouldn't want a customer starting off at a wrong location if they are not able to use the greeting service etc.

Tour Organization

Tour Transportation

Would you go on another tour operating by Samurai Tours: Yes!

Would you recommend Samurai Tours to friends or family: Yes!