Dear Miyuki,

I hope you’ve had a lovely Christmas and New Year!

I returned from my Japan trip last month, and I wanted to say a massive thank you for the generous prizes from JTB and your help with organising the trip! I got to experience so many new and exciting things on the trip. It was my mum’s and my first time to Kyoto, and we absolutely loved our stay there. The 7-day JR rail pass was especially useful and made arranging our transportation so much easier!

Back in Tokyo, the location of the Shiba Hotel could not be more convenient. My mum and I were very happy to find that there was even a complimentary buffet breakfast included for our stay!

It was also fabulous to see Mt Fuji for the first time on the Hakone tour. We were very fortunate to have good weather and even got to go up to the fourth station, where there was snow. Our guide was knowledgeable and organised and it was a very rewarding day.

Thank you again for the prizes and helping me with the organisation of this trip!

Kind regards,

Vicky

February 2019

Hi Hayley

Thanks so much for your promo service which is outstanding
I’m heading in today to collect ?

Regards

Lesley

January 2019

Hi Olivia :)

Trip was amazing!  Was thinking about sending you some feedback :)

We walked our feet off in all our stops. And managed the train system really well. 

Highlight of the trip (other than the skiing!) was accidentally walking into the once a year only presentation of the new Geisha (Maiko) in Kyoto. Paparazzo everywhere. Was full on! Amazing once in lifetime experience. Hyatt was great!

We all loved Tokyo!  Especially the vintage clothing districts!  We think Melbourne is good… but Tokyo is amazing for vintage/second hand gear!

Miyajima was gorgeous! Very relaxing. Futons a bit hard ? but manageable. Resort understated but lovely and the location,  WOW!!  It’s on the edge of an amazing forest and hike area. We climbed the mountain, did the cable car back etc. all this literally at our doorstep. The winding market streets amazing too. We all wore kimonos to dinner one night which was fun. Amazing young woman served us at dinner each night. Really worth letting them know how lovely she was, so I might send them note. We all did the Japanese breakfast thing here which was culturally interesting. We also did the back pack thing and sent our bags ahead onto the alps. Great suggestion :)

Skiing was unbelievable! The accom was really good. However Damain and I upgraded from the booker 4 star wing to the 5, which was bigger and nicer. Left the boys as booked ? Worth noting that the resort has 3-4 different levels of accom. Also worth noting that the resort is a bit kooky! No bar opens before 7pm. Real issue for all staying. People couldn’t believe they couldn’t get a G & T or decent wine before 7. Only whisky and beer and cask

wine available in funny little corner areas before 7.  Food really expensive and average. But still was a very glamorous stay and so few people. Slopes and resort really quiet. We had it almost to ourselves at times. And the snow!!!  Such a bonus. Not sure how long this will last as the snow is def attracting the aussies. Some were saying that it’s better than Switzerland! We had a really lovely stay! Staff odd but nice. Not very sophisticated. Still worth recommending as a destination, just be good to warn future aussies about the food/cost and bar issue. We did go into town on shuttle one night for an average pizza but fun nonetheless. We did notice aussies going into town to get supplies a bit. Alcohol and water and snacks etc. Great cafe/bakery though for quite good coffee surprisingly and pastries and sandwiches at lunch time. The powder on the slope makes up for all the kookiness and other issue though haha 

Thanks for all your help and we will remember the trip forever!!

Tiff 

January 2019

Hi Miyuki

Back safely from our superb holiday in Japan. Everything went perfectly and according to plan and we loved every minute. Thank you for your help and excellent service.

If i were to be extremely fussy, which i’m not, there were two minor details that maybe you can use as feedback. 

1. The Sunrise tour from Tokyo to Mt Fuji/Hakone was scheduled to have dropped us off at our accommodation at the end of the tour. However, we were left to catch a public bus when the bus stopped at the lakeside destination and we had to find our accommodation in complete darkness in the middle of nowhere with 4 suitcases!
2. Our Tokyo Hotel was excellent as we had renovated room for first 3 days at start of our holiday. However, we were booked into very substandard room on our return to the same hotel before flying home. The room was smelly and had very dirty carpets and clearly had not seen a renovator for years!

Otherwise all was of an excellent standard throughout our trip with no other hiccups and the JR ticket was very convenient and just about broke even with actual train costs we used.

Best wishes for a good holiday and great new year

David and Lea 

January 2019

Hi Clement

Our clients have returned from Japan and had a fantastic holiday so wanted to share their feedback of the travel arrangements booked through JTB. 

“Had the most wonderful time! it was better than i possibly hoped it could be.

Arrival was smooth and how you described – the metro was very easy to use we put 5000 yen on our pasmo and that keep us beeping in and out of stations happily (the kids ones chirp like a baby bird).

The JTB tours were fantastic and they way the looked after us and made sure we got from point to point was very special (sending people in taxi’s to pick us up and ride the train with us)

The cooking class was great! I’m glad you included the directions or we would still be looking for it also it would be good to know it was called cooking sun – photo included)”

Kind regards

Amy

December 2018

Hi Olivia

Thank you wonder woman….you consistently impress me with your efficiency. 

Regards

Alice

November 2018

Dear Miyuki,

Currently at the Shangrila which is magnificent to return to after the 3 day tour to Kanazawa. I want to thank you very much for your understated and humble organisation, and like the wonderful culture of Japan that we have experienced. The different guides and facilitation by Sunrise/JTB was first class- amazing how they are there always ahead of time to meet you. All guides were good, most well understandable- a credit to them. The last on the 3 day tour , Kazuka was magnificent. Also Michi of Kyoto who took us to Himijei castle, went our of her way to find out where the photo I wanted was taken. She found out it was taken from the zoo, and allowed me to sidetrack.

It was worth it. I had the opportunity to talk to a visiting kindergarten group at the exhibit of the Kangaroos- very timely.

Will talk after we settle down at home. In our situation, I think the half day tours are good, and certainly you need a break between each full day tour. We were exhausted to start the  3rd  day of the 3 day tour and then, we saw the gardens of Kanazawa castle, which were absolutely breathtaking.

The Shangrila was a blessed respite for Voulette, with Daimaru downstairs.

You knew what you were doing. Keio Plaza Hotel is a wonderful experience as is Shangrila. The Kyoto Hotel put us in a standard room at first which we rejected, then temporarily in a double room which was smokey, the next day in a Superior room (smokey although non- smoking, and finally in a nice light Superior room, which nobody had fortunately smoked in. Was a great stay thereon, and the people were wonderful;.

Following is an extract from what I have sent to some friends.

God bless you and your family always,

Emil

*************

On a following 3 day tour from Kyoto We traversed the country from East Coast to the Japanese Alps (Takayama, the steep thatched farmhouse village of Shirakawa-go (every name has a meaning- house constructed like hands in

prayer)- where they grew silk worms in the upper levels fed om mulberry leaves). The new 200K highway has 40 tunnels through the mountains. Then finally to  Kanazawa on the coast- crabs, seafood and the Kanazawa Castle and Gardens- the best yet and magnificent autumn tints). The Shinkansen (bullet train now only takes 3 hours from West to east coast to Tokyo Yet, except for the mountains, populated all the way..  All amazing – Japanese ingenuity and technology, respect, humility and politeness. An Sydney lady from our group of 12 on this three day tour, fell and fractured her hip, requiring surgery. The immediate professional handling in the town of

Takayama was first class.    Forgive the solo photo, but unjustifiably,

Voulette is a reluctant subject

Best wishes, Emil

November 2018

Hi Chris,

I would like to take this time to give some feedback on the amazing work of Carly Thomas. I am currently doing my first booking with her and I am blown away by her response, and attention to detail, no matter how large or small the booking she replies instantly and is always happy to help!

Have a great weekend!

Warm Regards,

Rachel

November 2018

Hello Mende

We trust this email finds you well.  Recently your organised our holiday to Japan under the above reference

Everything went smoothly and we had a wonderful time . We would particularly like to give you some feedback on our accommodation

We were booked in to the Woody Hotel & Restaurant  Yumekobo, Tsurui Village.

This hotel was the perfect choice for us. It was a small friendly family hotel , comfortable , perfect location . The meals were home cooked , perfectly presented and absolutely delicious . We loved everything about this hotel

For Fukushima  the APA hotel was very nice but the rooms are simply not big enough for tourists with large suitcases.

regards

Ian & Linda

November 2018

Hi Clement

So sorry, I meant to send this to you yesterday.

They have returned from their Japan holiday and sent me a report below.

All really positive. They had a great time.

They are really nice people and have definitely passed their thanks onto you.

Trust me, they knew that I was relying heavily on your judgement.

I would also like to say thank you so much for helping me with this one and giving the clients a great holiday.

Needless to say, you are “my guy” for Japan!

Kind regards

Lisa.

November 2018

Dear Olivia

A wide-ranging (and exhausting) tour, significantly enhanced by the professionalism, patience and sensitivity of Maya. And such a good sense of humour!

With only 11 visitors, it was personal service. While we were slowing down towards the end, we managed to catch every tour bus, shinkasen and local train, and even a streetcar to get us to the atomic dome when the local train had a problem.   She encouraged us to immerse ourselves (sometimes literally, in a bath house) in Japanese culture and customs and many unfamiliar culinary treats.

What a treasure! Please pass our congratulations to home office.

NB: It was good that there were gaps in the program to allow us to pursue particular interests.

Regards

Maureen and Mike

Hi Yoshi

Would like to let you know Stella and I had a wonderful holiday experience in Japan thanks to your attention to detail with organising accommodation, rail passes and special events.

We both loved Japan and my granddaughter was not keen on returning home.

The Robot Show was amazing, also The Ghibli Museum.  Our accommodation was perfect with great location and easy access to trains, which I might add we finally conquered halfway into our stay.  Bullet train was amazing and the helicopter flight a great way to end our stay. Not sure which was better Disneyland or helicopter flight, both very much appreciated by Stella

Thank you again for contributing to a very wonderful holiday full of great memories.

Warm regards

Trish

Dear Suzuka,

I wanted to take a moment to write to you to thank you for all of your assistance with our recent holiday to Japan.

It was absolutely brilliant (Typhoon Trami not withstanding) and, with your invaluable assistance, was an incredible experience for myself, my mother and my son. 

So many highlights including brilliant hotels: the Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo, New Miyako Hotel and Ryokan Shoei were exceptional… locations, service, facilities and unique experiences and the tours were also brilliant. Of particular note was our guide to Mt Fuji/Hakone – Yoko – and our guide for the Kyoto half day tour – KC. I’m not sure if you are able to pass on our thanks and recommendations to the local operators for each of these tours and their guides? If so, our thanks.

Under your direction, the way that the ground operator arranged for representatives to meet us and connect us with the Shinkansen was so appreciated and they were each delightful representatives of their organisation and their local city. With your arrangements and recommendations, we had the perfect balance of assistance and independence that made the holiday unique, personal and really enjoyable.

Amongst so many highlights, a memorable one for us all was the brilliant and very funny Samari and Ninja Safari Tokyo Entertainment Bus. We have already been recommending this to our friends who are travelling to Tokyo. One minor suggestion though if I may, is for the instructions/map from the ground operator to find the start location to be more detailed – we had a stressful time trying to locate it (as did the other people on the tour, independent to us) and nearly missed it (even with plenty of time given to get there). 

Most importantly we love Japan and can’t wait to return… we’ll definitely be in touch with you to make our next booking.

Thank you again Suzuka.  

Kindest regards,

Nicole

October 2018

Hi Miyuki

Many thanks for all the documents – hopefully our insurer will accept our claim. The trip was great with the highlight being the time at the Yamanaka hot springs – I used the indoor & outdoor onsens which were fantastic with the river running nearby & the meals at the Kisshotel were fabulous. A great place to relax – next time we go to Japan I will definitely spend min 2 nights at this place.

Charles & I really appreciated all your planning & assistance with the trip – your expertise was invaluable

Kind regards

Pamela