Travel Review: Japan Family Vacation, Hokkaido, Sapporo, Niseko, Snowboarding

Review by traveler

Karen L.

2.21.2020

General Info

Traveler Review

Which Country (Countries) did you visit on this trip?

Japan

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

This travel company was easy to communicate with and created a good itinerary for our Hokkaido family trip. Having booked late in the season, accommodations were scarce but the agency did their best to find hotels to stay at and scheduled fun activities. When we were on the trip we encountered several hiccups. Some were easy fixes and some added extra stress to the trip. Our stay in Sapporo was a bit difficult because we stayed at a hotel that was about an hour away from the city center. There was only 1 pub nearby that they recommended for us to eat at. Having 2 small children with us and being foodies, we did not feel we go to experience all that Sapporo had to offer. Having traveled with Zicasso twice before, I was disappointed in my overall experience on this trip.

What were the most enjoyable or memorable parts of your trip?

Our family really enjoyed visiting Niseko for snow play and snowboarding, as this had been on our bucket list for some time. The snow condition was not the best as we were told but we all managed to have fun. Additionally, hiring a private driver was the best decision we made. The driver was very nice, and he accompanied us throughout our entire Hokkaido trip. This allowed my family and I to be very comfortable traveling through the cold.

If you could take your trip again, what would you do differently?

If we could take the trip again, we would allow for more time for planning and book earlier so that we could chose the places we wanted to stay at versus having no choice. Our biggest disappointment was not being able to visit the Whiskey Distillery that was on the itinerary. This activity was the reason I chose to travel with Asia Sublime instead of the other travel agency and unfortunately, it was canceled last minute due to poor planning. We would also like more time to eat more sushi and ramen :)

Travel Company Comments:

Hi Karen,
Thank you for your reply and I appreciate the positive feedback. As you mentioned, this was a last minute booking for a trip taking place over the holiday season. Our company did our best to secure all your reservations and provide you with as much pre-trip information as possible. Some of the hiccups you mentioned were due to the back and forth with your total passenger count that wasn't resolved until 1 week prior to departure. This obviously changes the dynamic of your rooming and event scheduling, so we apologize that we couldn't work fast enough to satisfy your request. Some of the complaints also came from our company's assumption that you were aware of the cultural differences Japan has when it comes to seating arrangements for flights and bedding for hotels. Since two of your passengers were from Japan and you mentioned having traveled to the country before, we made the mistake in assuming you knew about the idiosyncrasies of Japan's transportation and accommodations, such as booking shared seating for your children. Regardless, we were able to change your requests based on your expectations and even comped many of the services as well as provided a gift as way of an apology for you upon your arrival in Japan. The one service we weren't able to make up for was the Distillery tour. We again apologize that it wasn't open during the holiday season and are dismayed that this one missed experience would lead you to hold our company in such low regard. We hope to have the opportunity to work with you for a future tour that gives us enough time to avoid the poor planning you felt you were given

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