Trip Planning Megathread – Hotels, Hostels and Accommodations in Japan.

18 comments

1. If you’re on a tight budget and don’t mind small hotel rooms, APA can’t be beat. I’ve paid less than £1000 for 3 weeks in Shinjuku before.

2. If you’re into hiking, many of the [popular] trails in Japan have manned.. huts, they’re called, but more like large cabins (of varying sizes/services depending on location) that you can stay at. They typically cost around 10000 JPY per night and have food and bottled, but do not have running water for toilets or showers (there is water for basic hygiene like brushing your teeth and washing your hands). Keep in mind that many of these are serviced by helicopter or some other insane form of transportation. If you want to make use of one of these, it’s typically requested that you make a reservation, which is generally as simple as sending them an email telling them your plan (it’s also required for you to fill out a trip itinerary if you go hiking in the event you’re lost). In case your plans change due to injury or any other reason, please be sure to notify them in some way, which could be asking staff at other stations to contact them. The most important thing is that nobody thinks you’re stranded or dead when you’re not.

   Sometimes, it can be difficult to find something because of different search terms, etc. For example, my friend opened a guest house in the town I lived in previously and I couldn’t find it looking for hostel + town or just looking up the city in expedia, etc., but it did pop up immediately when I searched lodging + town. Try different search terms if you’re having difficulty finding something.

   Oh! The airports have shower rooms you can stop in for 10 or 20 bucks. Sounds expensive to just take a shower but it could be very handy. For example, I’ve taken to leaving Japan directly after a music festival during which I’m up all night, dancing, sweating. I get to Tokyo, maybe meet up with a friend, have lunch, go directly to the airport, and can clean myself off before I get on the plane. Don’t underestimate the power of a good shower!

3. Shiga Kogen: Shirakabaso Shiga Kogen. Full service Ryokan with private onsen

   Myoko Kogen: Myoko Guest Lodge. Lovely boutique hotel with bar and restaurant

   Niseko: Ramat Niseko. Pension with breakfast

   Shirakawago: Pension Green Lake. Really beautiful pe sion in the woods with full board.

   All via booking.com

4. The 9 hour chain of capsule hotels are good! When I was in Japan in 2019, I used 2 of them and they were excellent.

5. Tokyo Nest Hotel was great when I visited in 2019.

6. As a former hotel front desk agent, I would recommend against hotels.com and anything owned by Expedia – they are super duper shady (I had one guest ask for something that had to go through Expedia, and they called Expedia right in front of me so I heard the entire convo, and then when Expedia called me about it, they straight up lied to me about what the guest just said. Another time I told Expedia the guest could extend for the same price on the phone with the guest right in front of me, and Expedia tried to tell them it would be a higher price. Basically they lie to get your money, and getting it back is like trying to pull out your teeth with cooking tongs).

   Booking.com is good on both ends, they are essentially a high-powered travel agent if you choose to pay at the hotel. They get something like 20% of the booking cost, where Expedia got closer to 60%, plus it is easier to cancel things when you haven’t prepaid them.

7. Sorry if this has been asked already, but I’ve heard/seen a lot of people mention that Japanese hotels charge per person as opposed to by the room. So if I were looking to book through a site like Booking, would that already be reflected in the price, say, for two people?

8. Best deals I had in Japan were always brand new hotels which didn’t quite reach enough guests so far. Hours of scouting Booking.com for finding the best deals. Downside: I couldn’t sleep there on my next trips as the rate for a night sometimes skyrocketed.

   I do know about one hidden gem: Inase Otsu Machiya (in Otsu). Usual rate was around €60 per night and the Ryokan itself and the quality of service was unreal for this price (edit: its a bed and breakfast).

9. Hiya, I was wondering if any one could recommend a hotel or chain in Kyoto that has washing machines services? Me and my husband are hoping to go in 2023 and for 2 weeks, Kyoto will be in the middle of this trip. thank you if you can help.

10. Question about ryokans – do people normally stay 1 night ? Just basing on YouTube videos it seems a lot of vloggers stay only 1 night to enjoy the kaiseki and onsen experience.

11. Just leaving 2 recommendations for accomodations….

    On both visits to Japan (and what we’d also be doing for the next trip in future), we tend to care less about our accommodations (within reason) given we barely see the inside of it anyways outside of sleeping **but** we agree that we’d take 1 or 2 nights out to stay someplace more memorable and/or luxurious that might be more expensive.

    On trip one, that was to the [Hilton Odaiba](https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/tyotohi-hilton-tokyo-odaiba/). We stayed in the King Suite that had a balcony with a hot tub overlooking the skyline/rainbow bridge. At night it was perfect (and during the day you could watch all the massive cargo ships coming and going). Not the best view in this particular photo (will try to find better ones on my portable HD if anybody cares enough), but you can get the idea from this photo of the type of view [here](https://imgur.com/a/6Mbn6xb). The location was brilliant (in the sense of if you’re looking to stay in Odaiba – not necessarily the best for basecamp in Tokyo as a whole), the staff was lovely (though the staff pretty much everywhere has been lovely in my experience), and the view at night was definitely memorable. We cracked open some sparkling sake and enjoyed the views in the hot tub at night. It was very special. We were only meant to stay one night but because we were out and about so much that we didn’t really get to enjoy it, we ended up extending to a second night just to make more of the balcony in the evening and to give us a proper lay in before having to get up and out. Would really recommend it.

    ​

    Second trip our “treat yoself” location was [Hakone Airu](http://www.hakone-airu.com/en/) (in Hakone, obvs). To warn, it’s not a far walk from the train station (with absolutely beautiful scenary – as you’d expect), but be prepared for a proper uphill walk (without much pavement/walkways). There’s a bus that goes around that way, we just thought we’d make the relatively brief walk and figured it out the hard way (with all our stuff lol). This was actually very reasonably priced for what you got (which included either breakfast and/or dinner depending on booking – we had both and it was definitely a positive experience even for somebody like myself who doesn’t eat seafood). We got one of the rooms with the private onsen and [the view from it](https://imgur.com/a/lG59MoX) was super relaxing (especially when it rained, surprisingly). Again, the staff bent over backwards without even being asked to make us feel comfortable and welcomed. I would easily stay there again.

12. In what scenario would airbnbs be better than regular hotels or ryokans? any positive points? I feel like airbnbs are the most expensive….

13. Just wanting to chime in based on my experience traveling to Japan semi-regularly before the pandemic, that if you’re planning a trip to Japan then you absolutely should not overlook business hotels.

    Business hotels are a concept that don’t really exist in western countries. They’re designed to specifically cater to business travelers but don’t let the name dissuade you, they’re perfect for (and welcoming to) tourists as well.

    **What is a business hotel?**

    1. Cheap, like $60-100 CAD per night depending on the location.

    2. The rooms are very small, like to the point where you will struggle to find enough floor space to open a full-size suitcase. But, and this is key, the beds themselves are still large. It’s just floor space that is lacking.

    3. In extremely convenient locations, usually close to subway stations in major cities. In Tokyo, if you stay in a business hotel near any subway station on the Yurakucho (green) line then you are no more than 20 minutes away from any major hub in Tokyo. You don’t need to stay in Shinjuku unless you’re going to be there past midnight when the subways stop running. Business hotels near smaller stations (I like Kanda and Yurakucho personally) are key.

    4. Not much in terms of amenities. Many will have paid breakfast options (but don’t bother, just hit up the nearest convenience store instead) and a select few will have onsen on-site, but for the most part you’re just paying for a room and that’s it.

    5. There is some variance in terms of age and cleanliness, as with any other category of hotel, but the major business hotel chains tend to be very clean and modern.

    6. Have a front desk staff who can (though perhaps with a bit of a language barrier) help you if you have questions, need directions, need help making a phone call in Japanese, etc. This is something that Airbnbs do not have.

    **How to book business hotels?**

    Search on sites like hotels.com and booking.com and Google Maps. If the rates are the same on all the websites, then book through hotels.com since they have a loyalty program that gives you a free night after every 10 paid nights. Pay close attention to the cancellation policy, it’s pretty standard for there to be many options with free cancellation, which is invaluable especially in these uncertain times.

    In terms of what to look for, there are several major business hotel brands such as APA, Dormy, Toyoko, etc. Basically just set a price filter to only show things on the lower end of the price and look for the cheap places close to subway stations. I personally love APA because they’re rock-solid consistent, clean and modern, and in great locations. Apparently some people boycott them because the CEO has some bad political takes (not gonna discuss this because frankly I don’t even know what it’s all about) but at the end of the day it’s a great product and I believe the business itself treats its employees and customers well.

    **Final thoughts**

    Business hotels are a no-brainer if you’re looking for somewhere to stay for under $100 per night in Tokyo, Osaka, or any major city. You’re getting a barebones hotel experience but it’s still a hotel experience which is a big step up from an Airbnb. Most people don’t spend much time in their hotel rooms in Japan since it’s such a fascinating country to go out and explore, so it makes perfect sense to cut out the luxuries and amenities from a more expensive hotel that you won’t be making much use of anyways.

14. Solid info

15. I am planning a trip as a solo traveler for the first time and I am still so confused on where to begin, lol. How far do I need to book in advance for hotels? Can it be a same-day affair?

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17. I’m planning to visit Tokyo-Osaka as soon as the border opening. I have a question for the accomodation. I always travel with a single backpack since I don’t shop and I don’t want to carry nor wait for the luggage on the airport. I also always brought full cash that I left it there while I took few for the pocket so I won’t accidentally spend too much in a day. So I always go out with like 30k yen and my cellphone alone, and sometimes portable bag to carry the trash. I never had any issue at all since I always stay in a hotel with my friend and its Japan but this time I would go all alone. Is it still safe to leave my passport and lots of cash in my backpack? Probably yes if it’s a hotel, but what about hostel? Credit card is a big no for me since I can’t control myself once I swipe it so cash is the only option for me.

    And I’m looking forward to make new friends at least once so I won’t feel lonely, but I’m not used to talk with a strangers and I heard Japanese doesn’t really talk with strangers in a hostel?

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