Hotels on Japan tours

kathy16

How are the hotels on this tour? We went on Africa tour , and were very happy with hotel selections.
We are on the 9/11/16 Japan tour, and I assumed the hotels would be just as wonderful, but I went on trip advisor website, and I am not happy with the reviews of some of the hotels. especially the Kyoto Hotel Okura, where we will be staying FOUR nights- Smoky rooms, and more like 3 star hotel quality. Not what I want when I book a Tauck trip.

Golly Gee

After reading some of the hotel reviews, I can understand your comments. But, I just returned from the Japan trip and I can personally attest to the fine quality of the Kyoto Hotel Okura. From the butler button, to the bathroom that everyone raved about, to the location, I cannot say enough good words about it.
There was a comment about the Hotel Associa Takayama Resort being too far from the town, but there is a shuttle bus that runs all day and is very convenient.
I have to say that the Kagaya Hotel is quite interesting. It is quite eclectic and a mash up of old Japan and Las Vegas.
The remaining hotels are very nice and just what you expect from Tauck.
Have a wonderful trip.

voyager17

My husband and I just returned from what sounds like the Essence of Japan tour that followed Golly Gee's. I have a somewhat different perspective on the hotels. We loved the Osaka St. Regis. Best bathroom of the tour. The Okura was okay, but I would have preferred the Westin Miyako. Even though it is not as centrally located, it is near a subway entrance, many attractions and has a pool--a real plus in the hot, humid weather we experienced. And Golly Gee must have had a far different room than we did. Our bathroom was positively dinky. I'm glad next year's tour is skipping the Kagaya Hotel. I was incredibly disappointed because I was expecting a traditional ryokan, not this parody of one. I didn't mind the Takayama Resort's being far from town. The view of the town from the hotel's onsen will always be one of my best memories of the trip. The Hyatt in Hakone was lovely; I really wish we could have stayed there longer. And the Mandarin Oriental was terrific. We saw Mt. Fuji from our window.

British

There must be a huge number of factors to bare in mind when Tauck select hotels , not just the ones we generally think about. Location, uniqueness, famous, can they accommodate the tour week after week during the season of Tauck tours. Can the staff accommodate Tauck when they ask for special things such as, we want you to open up the dining room very early for us so we can have our group have an early breakfast so we can be on the road early, will Tauck get exceptional service every time they come in with a group who can be very demanding, do they provide meals of a high standard if there are no restaurants around the location, and so on and so on. We have stayed in a huge range of hotels with Tauck, from the most very basic National Park hotels to world class incredible hotels with exceptional exceptional service. We have stayed in a famous hotel with Tauck where the bathroom was so small that only one person at a time could get in there, but at least we can say we stayed in that famous hotel. We have stayed in another that had two bathrooms, we have stayed in one with a floor to ceiling window right next to the toilet and looked out to the ocean, we have stayed in a bathroom where the shower wall was a window and people could potentially walk by and see you stark naked, actually in several different countries. We have had rooms that have been huge whilst others in our group have had pockey little ones, and vice versa.
If Tauck get consistent negative responses about certain hotels, they will change them if they can, but that may not be a possibility because they truly have secured the best available in the location. Occasionally, Tauck will get a better deal from a rival hotel chain with better amenities such as the switch to Sofitel in New Zealand, then they will find that that comes with a disadvantage of it being noisier because it is gorgeous but is also in a more central location than the original hotel on the tour in the past, so much to balance out.
Customers should rightly give feedback like here, be sure to contact Tauck with your concerns, they will take notice if you are not the only ones who are dissatisfied. I just love Japan and have stayed in a real ryokan and done the naked community bathing.