Different Snow Reviews 100

Just back from an amazing trip, we stayed in 1 night Tokyo, 5 nights and skiing in Nozawa Onsen, 1 night in Kanazawa and 2 nights Kyoto. DifferentSnow were absolutely faultless in their recommendations and organization. From when we arrived at Heathrow to arrive back at Tokyo airport they had booked flights, interconnecting flights from Kyoto to Tokyo on the final day, hotels, ski hire, lift passes, how to use bus transfers, booked bullet trains and taxis to transport us around Japan. Was thinking half way through the trip something must go wrong but it didn't, will use DifferentSnow again and have already recommended them to others. Somehow they somehow made sure we had 3ft of snow on days 2 nd 3 of skiing so we could try the famed powder! :)

Nick organised an amazing trip to Japan, which delivered everything we hoped it would. We first spoke with him not knowing much bar the principle of wanting to ski deep powder there, and having discussed what were after, Nick pulled together a detailed itinerary that was excellently organised and rolled out seamlessly once we arrived.

All the logistics around the skiing, getting to Japan and back and everything imbetween were taken care of, hotels, to ski guides, ski passes, taxis etc were arranged.

I would definitely recommend Different Snow to anyone wanting to ski in Japan.

Nick at Different Snow planed and organized the most fabulous honeymoon!! The trip was absolutely beyond our wildest expectations and everything Nick touched (from the compressive recommendations, to the on the ground transfers/planning) was perfectly seamless. We cannot recommended Different Snow enough and cannot wait to use their services again!

We highly recommend Nick and different snow! He planned the trip of a lifetime for our honeymoon. Everything was planned and waiting for us for the whole trip, the guide were spot on and up to date.

Different snow organised us a trip of a lifetime, the only thing that lets us down was BA who delayed us by 2 days and lost our luggage on the way out and the way back but that’s certainly not Nicks fault!
Communication was first rate and Nick was very quick to respond to any questions or to help us reorganise things due to the delay.
Excellent trip and I would highly recommend going with Different Snow!

One of our best holidays ever. Nick Coates advice and arrangements were faultless. Every car on time. Every room as expected. Every recommendation a winner. Exceptional hotels and ski guides.

Nick at Different Snow took care of all of the details of our family trip to Japan. We be booked with Nick prior to the borders being fully opened. Nick guided us through the entire process, changes to border status, and provided spot on advise in terms of where to go and what to do, and all details where executed to perfection. Of course the skiing in Niseko was superb, but the time spent in Tokyo and Kyoto was an integral part of the trip. Not only would I fully recommend Nick to anyone looking to travel to Japan, but i would not hesitate to use Nick for my next visit!

We travelled to Nozawa Onsen for 8 days skiing and then finished our trip with a couple of days in Tokyo. Nick was great at talking through his experiences and why the particular travel arrangements, hotel and choice of resort should work for us. Indeed they did and we had a great trip with no hiccups. Nick made sorting the trip out pretty stress free.

We travelled with Different Snow on a 2 week trip in mid-Feb combining snowboarding and sightseeing. From our initial thoughts and desires, Nick quickly put together a suggested itinerary and then worked with us to refine all accommodation, travel, excursions and snowboard rental within our budget. His expert advice was invaluable and was the key to the successful holiday we greatly enjoyed in this wonderful country. Every single travel item worked perfectly and the varied type of accommodation was exactly what we had been seeking to fully experience the true Japan (while also maximising the snowboarding). A good example was his knowledge of the best rental shop to use close to the accommodation while being out of the main resort as we had requested. Nick’s comprehensive travel guides were always at hand and covered everything we needed to know along the way, especially invaluable for the rail travel. Pricing was keen and the overall package price compared favourably with the big operators when allowing for the bespoke nature of our trip. I would wholeheartedly recommend Nick and Different Snow for any tailor-made trip to Japan.

We went on a ski trip to Niseko followed by a couple of nights in Tokyo.Nick provided a detailed itinerary giving us easy to follow instructions at every point of the holiday. He also gave us vital information and tips on all aspects of our trip and Japanese culture so that we could get the best out of our trip. Nick is friendly and knowledgable. Very highly recommended.

Different Snow worked with us to put together a great programme of skiing and sightseeing over a 3 week period. The integrated programme was full of good ideas and tips and the detailed planning and itinerary notes made the whole logistics very easy. Hotel selection was great with good locations and the opportunity to sample Japanese culture was an added bonus.

They were great at booking our brief, and very quick email responses with loads of info. Clearly they know their stuff and answered all our questions in great personalised detail.

Few minor issues whilst over there with a delay in getting local rail tickets and transfer vouchers, which was sorted by the local operator but was a touch stressful trying to ring them to sort on a Sunday.

Have recommended them to family and friends

Nick Coates, the owner of Different Snow, organized our group of 12 ski trip, which included visiting Toyoko. Nick is an exceptionally professional and affable travel consultant. He is unrivaled in his attention to detail, knowledge, and responsiveness to queries.
Nick also masterly arranged and coordinated our air and ground transportation.
I can not recommend Nick more highly.

Very engaging during booking process, interesting local guides.
However, huge mark-up on the prices and no follow-up during/after the trip.
Left us feeling booking an expensive online trip, not a value added travel expert experience.

Nick arranged an amazing honeymoon for us last year - his knowledge of Japan was outstanding and every aspect of the trip (flights, accommodation, transfers etc) ran flawlessly in country. We had a great time skiing and in Tokyo, and are going again through Different Snow next year!

Good knowledge of the area and snow, a well-planned trip which we really enjoyed.

We had a family holiday (three generations) to Niseko, with some time in Tokyo. A brilliant holiday. Different Snow were so knowledgeable about Japan and skiing, so helpful and friendly, and full of good suggestions - even down to restaurants and non-skiing activities. We are looking forward to our next trip with them!

We went to Japan as a family of 5 in December 2018. Nick worked with us to plan an awesome trip.

He took our needs into consideration and met them head on.

Every detail was taken care of: rail passes, itinerary, reservations at hotels and ryokans, transfers to airports, etc.

We love to travel and I love planning trips. Japan was just a little bit out of my comfort zone. I appreciated Nick’s expertise and was willing to pay for it! It was worth every penny in my mind. We appreciated the “guides” and all the suggestions.

Working with Nick and Different Snow was a wonderful experience. I would highly recommend.

Highly recommend. We had no idea what to expect in Japan (or how we would get around), we couldn't have done it without the expertise and guide documents from different snow, it allowed us to make the most of 2 days in Toyko and see all the sights we wanted to. Everything on the holiday ran very smoothly and we felt like we could call at any time if we had any questions.

Two separate holidays to Japan with these guys and they will be the first people we check with for our next Japanese adventure.

Highly recommended