Myaen Verzosa

The overall trip was great. The first three days in Tokyo were relatively unplanned, but Myaen offered wonderful suggestions for visiting sights. We enjoyed having the unscheduled time. Leo, our tour guide in Kyoto, was knowledgeable and friendly. Visiting Nara was one of the highlights of our tour. The bowing deer were adorable and the Toda-ji Temple was my favorite temple. I also thought the Golden Pavillion in Arashiyama and the Bamboo Forest were trip highlights. The Iwatayama Monkey Park was not my favorite experience, the trek up is rigorous for minimal interaction and is very crowded. Our favorite guide was Ako, who took us to Miyajima Island. She was a thoughtful, knowledgeable guide, even bringing tea and snacks up to the top of the mountain for us to enjoy the beautiful view.

We requested a minimum of four-star hotels, and they were, for the most part, very nice. The hotel in Hakone, Hakone Airu, is traditional and a beautiful facility. The food was amazing! In a traditional hotel room, we slept on mats and didn't have raised seating, which might be physically uncomfortable. The ensuite onsen was delightful. I wish we had more time in the town because it was truly charming.

My least favorite hotel was the Hotel Vishio, only because the hotel had no restaurant or bar. The shared baths were very nice, and the room was large and comfortable, but since we were out all day on tours, we could have used some on-site dining. It is conveniently located across from a shopping center with a large Don Quixote (worth checking out).

I highly recommend the JR pass. Taking the trains was incredibly easy, affordable, and comfortable. Be sure to have your passports to make seat reservations through the kiosk.

Having your passport for shopping is also necessary because many stores will not charge tax if you have your passport.

Our trip to Japan. Kim Kim and Myaen

We had heard a lot about this unique country, Japan, for various reasons while we visited so many, many countries across the globe, we could travel to Japan only in October 2023. KimKim as travel agent was suggested as ideal by our son Ashwin, he and his wife , Priyanka Roy, frequently use the services of this agency and had always found them to deliver very well. So we went on to the website and filled in our details and requirements. We were give Myaen as coordinator for our ten day trip. From then on Myaen was super active. She suggested an itinerary and addressed every concern we had. If the budget was going beyond our expectations, she edited some of the items, every which way Myaen made every effort to tailor our trip to our needs. For Hakone she felt we would do well to have a guide with us for a day. Akira, an English speaking guide was a God send, but for her, we would never have enjoyed and seen Hakone the way we did. Every hotel that Myaen booked for us, each little activity , be it the tea ceremony or the calligraphy session was most enjoyable and gave us great insight into the culture of the country. Also the day to day itinerary Myaen had suggested, we followed it almost to the end and we were never disappointed. She was also on the phone to convey immediate messages and extremely prompt to respond to our very many queries no matter what time of the day. A most memorable trip in all, many thanks to KimKim and Myaen.
Our only disappointments, again not to do with KimKim or Myaen …..the inability to communicate with most people, including the hotel staff , as they barely spoke or understood English, and the absolute lack of vegetarian food. Hotels had been informed, but they could at best only provide a few variants in bread and sometimes, salad.

Jaya and Narayana Ramanathan

Hotel Reviews

karaksa hotel TOKYO STATION

front desk was helpful, could speak english, which is more than front desk staff in the other hotels. despite prior intimation that we were vegetarians, they made little effort to provide any veg food except bread.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hakonenomori Okada

Hakone

front desk least helpful. no drinking water in the room was shown a vending machine and asked to buy. coulnt even arrange for a taxi the previous evening. however, they did make an effort to provide us vegetarian food for dinner.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

SAKURA TERRACE THE GALLERY

Kyoto

communication was imposible with the front desk. refused to make any changes in their dishes to give us veg.food.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel GrandBach Tokyo Ginza

Tokyo

as always no communication was possible.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Activity Review

Explore Hakone

Japan

I think we made the most of the 11 days we had in Japan. Instead of going to Shibuya, we went to the Skytree and instead of going to Nikko, we went to Koriyama to visit family. The subways and trains are very convenient and efficient, there was no need for us to get a taxi or ride service.
Without KimKim, we would not have gotten the guided tour of Nara and our guide Emi was amazing. In addition to her knowledge of Nare, we asked her a lot of questions about Japan in general.
We also would not have booked the traditional tea ceremony without KimKim and that was another great experience. The hosts were very informative and allowed us to stay a little longer to ask additional questions. The kimonos made for a very nice family photo.
The running routes suggested by Myaen were very useful although I did like the path going north along the Kamo river better than the path going south. We also visited the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium to swim per her guidance. I would warn people to bring a towel. The gyms that I go to in the states provide locker room towels but the Tokyo gym does not.
Myaen was frequently checking in with us to make sure we were getting along well and was quick to answer our questions.

This was our second time using kimkim travel (last year they organized our road trip to Ireland)... and thank you kimkim and Myaen - another "home run!" We just returned from a phenomenal 2-week self-guided trip to Japan, which included several days in Tokyo, Kanazawa, Kyoto, Naoshima Island, and Hakone. Myaen was superb as our Japan specialist, helping us think thru what made sense for 2-weeks, as well as recommending the right neighborhoods and hotels to stay in. Our focus for this trip was Japanese contemporary art, and we were not disappointed... so many wonderful museums, exhibits, and places to see. We were also delighted that our contact with our trip planner, Myaen, did not stop once the trip was planned and paid for. Myaen contacted us regularly before the trip, reminded us about appropriate local travel passes to purchase, how to use the visiting Japan website (which makes entry into Japan easier and faster), etc. And Myaen reached out almost daily to make sure the trip was going well, and that any questions we had were promptly answered. We plan on using kimkim again for our next adventure, and wholeheartedly recommend them to others. Kimkim listens, and helps you plan the trip you want - not the most expensive package they can sell. And if you are planning to visit Japan - ask for Myaen.

Activity Reviews

Explore Asakusa

Tokyo

We stayed in Ginza, and as we started our trip in Tokyo, we were pretty jet-lagged and tired - and came close to not leaving Ginza. Boy are we glad we decided to make the short subway trip to Asakusa. Ginza is beautiful and modern, and not far away in Asakusa, you can get a feel for old Tokyo. Temples, shrines, and real neighborhoods. We even had dinner Sunday night outdoors on a small street where we were the only tourists.

Quality of Experience

Traditional Kyoto

Kyoto

We loved being in Kyoto. Within a few blocks of our hotel were temples, shrines, as well as many restaurants and shops. And it was very easy to get to the Bamboo forest and the Fushimi Inari Shrine. We spent three nights in Kyoto and could easily have enjoyed several more.

Quality of Experience

The Hakone Open-Air Museum

Hakone

We had heard this was a great museum... it was fantastic. The setting and the sculptures together added to the experience - it really needs to be seen.

Quality of Experience

Onsen, Ryokan, and Mt. Fuji Experience in Hakone

Hakone

We wanted a traditional onsen experience and we got one. Our hotel was very traditional, and had several beautiful communal baths right on the property... Our days typically started with using the baths before breakfast, and again after dinner. While it was unfortunately too cloudy to see Mt. Fuji, the Hakone area was beautiful and relaxing. A great 3-day end to our 2-week trip.

Quality of Experience

Tokyo Departure

Japan

We had a private car from Hakone to Haneda - very pleasant and stress-free way to end our trip. It was a snap to check-in and check our bags, and to get thru passport control.

Quality of Experience

We had a fantastic vacation! Our favorite activity was the Ramen Cooking Class in Kyoto. Thank you!