Essence of Japan Tour Improvements
We just returned from a May departure. Here are some of the improvements we noted based on earlier guest comments on this forum.
- Previous travelers did not like the Hotel Nikko in Kanazawa. This hotel has been replaced by the Hyatt Centric which was very nice.
- The lunch menu at Nobu appears to have been changed as we had a very good bento box lunch there
- The dreaded bento box lunch on the train has been replaced by an allowance to buy whatever you like at the train station to bring on board with you.
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Comments
There were issues with Hotel Nikko. The rooms were spartan compared to the other hotels on the trip. The bathroom was also smaller and there were fewer amenities in the room. The hallways were long. Great view though! I also heard that Hotel Nikko did not really like Tauck becuase of having to open the breakfast buffet 30 minutes earlier than their scheduled start time at 6:30 a.m. in order to accomodate Tauck's tight schedule. Some other tourists managed to sneak in. Hotel Nikko were very strict about Tauck having certain number of tables per night for the included dinner at each specific restaurant. We got a choice of Chinese, Japanese(the most authentic meal on the whole trip), Italian and one other choice.
I thought the meal at Nobu was good. Others did not like it!
I did this tour in April 2023 and was one who did not like the Nikki Kanazawa. Also, the meal at Nobu was so “dumbed down” with tasteless stuff. The two pieces of sushi were fabulous. The rest was like grocery store food, and the bento box on the train was simply disgusting and inedible. Glad to hear some positive changes have been made for future travelers!
I was on a March 2024 Essence of Japan trip and our whole group hated the Gero Onsen hotel. I hope they change it out for future trips.
I will offer a different opinion on Gero Onsen. We are on this tour now and left there yesterday. My husband and I really enjoyed the experience and I know that others in our group also liked it. I did not poll the group, but did not hear of anyone that hated it. Those that didn’t love it seemed to appreciate the experience.
I used the beautiful outdoor bath twice and the private one in our room once.
I also liked the experience of the traditional Kaiseki meal. I tried everything and liked most of the dishes that were served.
The Onsen was a wonderful opportunity to stretch my comfort zone and have an authentic Japanese experience. And the staff at the Onsen were helpful and kind.
We have loved our onsen experiences, they are authentic Japan
We also enjoyed Gero Onsen, but we were looking forward to the traditional experience, and we're adventurous eaters. We didn't have much free time so having the private mineral bath in the room was great. We enjoyed the dinner and breakfast experiences. The Kaiseki dinner is more traditional, and some of the food was a bit out there for the more conservative diners in our group, but we loved trying everything. We had a (somewhat) American style breakfast, compared to what the Japanese guests were served, with scrambled eggs and sausage instead of grilled fish and rice. The mattresses on the floor were comfortable, and the rooms were large. Some guests said their room had an odd smell. What we noticed was the dried grass smell of the new tatami mats on the floor. I wish we'd had more time to use the outdoor baths and explore the hotel more.
My wife and I recently completed our Essence of Japan tour. It was outstanding. We had a great TD and 2 excellent guides. The tour offered up a full range of Japanese experiences. One of the highlights was the Gero Onsen that we really enjoyed with the added flexibility of being able to have a mineral bath inside your room/indoors or outdoor options.
I just returned from an October Essence of Japan tour and experiencing the Gero Onsen was truly transformative. After soaking in the onsen, I drifted into a deep, restful sleep on my futon. Awakening to the fragrant bamboo tatami floor and the soothing sound of rain through the shoji screen doors felt nothing short of magical. Definitely a very special Japanese experience!
When we went to Japan a year ago, we did not go with Tauck because we did not find the itinerary very good, and we’ve been to Japan before, instead, we went with another company for three weeks and had a fantastic truely Japanese experience. We stayed in about six different onsen hotels and ate nothing but fantastic Japanese food. We used local trains, buses, ferries and the bullet train. There were fifteen of us on the tour, all well traveled and open to every experience like the naked public bathing and the amazing food….and by the way, there is way more to Japanese food than sushi. Our favorite parts were the hike into the forest to see the snow monkeys and staying in a temple with the monks on Mount Koya, meditating with them and experiencing the fire ceremony. Tauck dumbs down their Japan tour because so many people would complain. That’s just my opinion. Sometimes you have to look further than Tauck.
Clearly, out of the three Tauck trips I have taken the BEST. Nicole the TD was amazing! The Ponant Adriatric cruise was a close second. A Week in Portugal led me to the other company.
There are deinfinitely pros and cons for this trip and the Pros outweigh the Cons.
I like the word"dumb down".