Good morning Olivia,
We all wanted to pass on our thanks for the brilliant job you did in planning our holiday in Japan. Everything went really well. But we would have liked to have had more time there!! We all want to go back to different spots to look in more depth.
We decided to use our Rail passes for everything,as we enjoyed the trains so much.Especially the wide view Hida trains which we decided we preferred over the bullet train. Much more space,and great for the views,which of course were stunning through the Alps.
Loved both the ryokan style hotels of course. But we were also very impressed with our budget hotels. In particular, the Shinjuku Washington Hotel scored top points for location-local shops, eateries; proximity to tourist info at Tokyo local government building; the station close by; drop off from the airport bus at the hotel door-great after a long flight; convenience store and cafes in the building; its own laundromat; quietness; and wonderfully helpful staff who even came up and opened the window with a special tool for me as I found the heating stifling [same in all hotels but had opening windows, thank goodness] everywhere indoors.
Also you arranging 2 rooms for most of the trip was a great idea giving us that extra space.
Only disappointment was APA Hotel Kyoto Ekimae. A bit shabby, window over a stairwell, poor room layout as compared with the others we stayed in, but worst was very disinterested and unhelpful staff- we almost missed our Nara tour because they failed to give us clear directions as to where we had to go and how to get to pickup point for the tour!!
We have already recommended you and JTB to many people.
Again many thanks,
Susan, Adrian and Zoe.