Review

We had provided considerable input into what we wanted to see, and Samurai\'s guides did their best to incorporate as many of the sights as possible given the constraints of time and our desired pace. In addition, several great suggestions were made and some inserted into the schedule, which made our experience that much better.

Samurai found the Koko Hotel Asakusa Kappa Bashi in Tokyo and Hotel Mastay Jingumichi in Kyoto for us, and they both met our special needs and general requirements quite well. That said, both had some minor disappointments, which is why we rated them fours.

Food was excluded from our itineraries, by mutual agreement. Nonetheless, the impromptu lunches we had with several guides were all enjoyable, and the orientation to our hotel neighborhoods was very helpful to us in sourcing food with relative ease.

We were escorted by several guides during our sightseeing. They were all very organized, extremely courteous, and both helpful and caring about us as people and not just as tourists. The personal touch we hoped for was delivered in spades. Almost all were also sufficiently knowledgeable to enhance our experience of the many places, sights and performances we visited. None fell short of expectations enough that we\'d not recommend using them in the future. In summary, we wouldn\'t visit Japan again without asking for the same caliber of guide we had this time around.

We were doing fully customized sightseeing, so didn\'t have a Tour Handbook per se, but the general background information that Samurai offers was very helpful.

Every logistical detail was anticipated and addressed extremely well. We felt very confident that we would be travelling between cities, as well as navigating the cities and towns we were touring in, with all the help we\'d need . Ditto for the accommodations. The contact information provided for Samurai guides and office staff provided even more reassurance, and indeed came in very useful when needed.

We loved travelling by public transportation - the Shinkansen, local trains, subways, buses and even trams were all enjoyable.