How have your experiences been with AirBnB?
I found an affordable one that I like. I reserved it with the ability to get a 100% refund close to the date I’m traveling (if that happens). The host replied and then a co-host I didn’t see on the original listing replied. The cohost is a super host and the main host is new to AirBnB but has two reviews from guests that seem legit and have been on the site for a while.
I guess what’s weird is that the co-host seems to have properties that used to have listings but now are either different or they no longer have them… not sure. But some reviews mention a Ghibli-themed stay that I don’t see there.
Considering that the place I’m staying is booked for 2 weeks in Shibuya, I’m kind of concerned with miniskirt laws? They have a hotel and businesses license listed but I have no way of verifying. Not sure if laws have changed slightly since most articles about it are from 2018. I’d like to think that AirBnB does some basic screening but I honestly can’t be sure.
I’m traveling solo and would hate for something to happen. I’ve considered staying in hostels but I’m kind of on the fence about my desire to be around strangers for my every hour of my time abroad. I have ADHD and will have to change my meds just to go on this trip; I’d like to have a place to return to that isn’t overstimulating but with some actual floor space and that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. I have unfortunately had some reservations rejected because this is my first time using AirBnB.
Any advice? Is this normal? Has anyone experienced something like this?
edit: I promise I’ve searched this sub plenty in the last few days about AirBnB but much of what I’ve found about minpaku is old and this question is specific.
edit 2: thank you everyone! Your feedback has been incredibly helpful and reassuring. I will stick with this and see how it goes later this year if it even goes at all!
Edit 3: I’m mulling this over further but this feedback had been super helpful and I hope it helps others in the future as well!
40 comments
To my understanding, all the weird things with minpaku law have been resolved by now. The person could have removed listings recently due to covid, or been renting it out externally because usage of airbnb isn’t as high for domestic travellers, but in general you should be good. Just ask the host about the law if you’re still worried
1. I stayed in an Airbnb in Japan about 2 years ago, and it was a great experience. It was just the upstairs of someone’s house, but it was very easy to find/get in, and was just overall and good experience. I was worried about the possibility of the laws being a problem then, and really can’t speak to where they are at now, but for me, it wasn’t a problem. Obviously, ymmv on both counts, Airbnb’s vary SOOO much from place to place.
2. I am an Airbnb host in the US! I absolutely cannot guarantee there isn’t something fishy going on with the host vs co-host, but can give one possibility (that I think personally seems likely). I currently host in a couple of places that I own, but also host for a couple of properties that someone else owns, and had hired me to host for them. For simplicities sake, they just aren’t listed on the Airbnb page at all. Since they do not live on site, and do not have contact with the guests, it just seems like it would add a layer of confusion. HOWEVER, if someone lives at/near the Airbnb, or thinks they may be a point of contact for the guests, they would want their name/picture associated with the listing, so you recognize them when you show up! But they may have hired someone (in this case, potentially the “superhost” co-host), to manage bookings, send check-in info, etc, who has more experience doing those things (hence, more reviews for the co-host than the host).
I’m not sure if that makes sense, I honestly think the setup is super confusing, but it allows me to do a lot of my work from home, or at least minimal contact, and so I really can’t complain right now, haha. Let me know if you have questions about that, I might be able to clarify what I mean.
Basically, it seems like there could be a totally reasonable explanation for the weirdness, but go with your gut.
I’ve been a host in Japan and then saw the AirBNB boom over the last few years.
Keep in mind that most people here do Airbnb not as hosts that welcome you into their house, but as a side gig to make money. There are a lot of people who just manage a bunch of different properties or people outsource the communication with clients in English to. Additionally since March with travel shutting down, a massive number of them have gone out of business so to speak so I think we’ll see a shrinking of available Airbnb‘s in Japan in general.
Stayed mostly in Airbnb’s for my trips to Japan, may it be in Tokyo or Osaka. Experience been generally consistently good. Yeah, there are some that get delisted as perhaps they got long tenure rentals, which they might prefer. They usually ask for a copy of your passport, and you can also ask the host if he’s registered.
If you’re solo, you can perhaps request to remove or have them keep some of the items so there would be more space as usually beds are just laid on the floor.
Hope this helps.
If you are super concerned about lawbreaking and rule abiding, I’d just book with a hotel. That way you know what you’re getting yourself into and there’s no questions floating around.
I’ve stayed at a handful of wallet-friendly AirBnB’s (especially in “city centre”) where the host has privately messaged me saying to say I’m a friend of the apartment owner, just visiting, etc. A lot of apartment buildings have posters in English in the elevator/mailroom that say they ban AirBnB rentals.. yet there I was, lol.
AirBnB doesn’t do a great job verifying if the apartment is “airbnb compliant” because ultimately it’s up to the building management.. which you won’t know until you get there. However if you’ve booked a hostel/hotel/official b&b room through AirBnB, it is much more likely you’re in the clear and they are just using AirBnb’s site to attract bookings.
The worst case scenario: you book an apt in an old building that bans airbnb but it’s too late for you to rebook so you just stay there and stick out like a sore thumb because you’re a tall (?) gaijin that all the old obaasans complain about and then kicked out.. but you’re probably good :~)
I’ve taken 2 different trips and stayed at 6 Japan AirBnB’s altogether in Japan from Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. It’s been about 2 years so again my input isn’t any newer than 2018, but I had no issues and found them easy to use and awesome experiences. In general I look for a superhost, room with several positive reviews, entire place to myself, and all 6 I’ve stayed at have used lockboxes to pick up a key which is perfect as there’s zero coordination necessary with the host. All hosts have also asked me for pictures of my passport and basic info on me as they have to register guests – this is legitimate, I was confused the first time as well.
Overall with the pandemic I would think delisting are more common. Japan has been closed to travel for some time which puts stress on a lot of the tourism industries, and probably especially for people who make a living off them like some AirBnB hosts. But the hosts are there to answer questions so ask them. If you’re worried about delistings, ask them. If you don’t want to be straightforward, skirt the subject a bit like – hey I noticed some of the other reviews mention X or Y place and it sounds awesome, do you still have that or will it be listed again, I’d love to take a look at it.
My last experience was a few years ago (had to cancel my 2021 trip using AirBnB) But all other than 2 were just show up at the apartment, let yourself in with the code and clean up when you leave. The other two, one was a hotel in Kyoto and other was a guys house who met us there to let us in and make sure it was all good before we stayed.
Overall all were good experiences. The trip I just canceled I had asked to reschedule and his answer was he wasnt sure if he would be doing AirBnB next year for me to reschedule, but he got me a full refund for the cancelation.
I used a airbnb in setagaya and it was amazing. Super spacious and clean and was never weirded out or felt like I was doing something shady. Idk if this helps but there ya go.
Sounds normal. I wouldn’t be worried.
I have a few friends that did or still are doing AirBnB here. Right now, only my friends who run several standalone properties on the luxury end of things in destination areas have their listings up. They’re actually preferring COVID times for the business. Only domestic visitors, booking longer stays, less cancellations. Even with a two day buffer between guests to clean and ventilate, they’re making more money and having less work to do.
It’s pretty normal for hosts to take properties offline with the back and forth of emergency orders going on, and their ability to feel safe about cleaning, ventilation, etc. There could be a good chance that the people that run the break down and set up of those missing units aren’t able to do that work right now, or they’re not being occupied enough to justify listing them. A few friends have found longer term, remote working people to occupy some units for an undetermined amount of time… so yeah, normal for listings to be taken down, considering the times we’re in.
I had a very great experience with airbnb in japan per covid. Both places I stayed at were very clean and they supplied a decent amount of toiletries. The first place was in Tokyo Ueno area, it was small but was very comfy stay and quiet area. The host was very quick to any questions as well making it very reassuring if anything did go wrong.
There is different thing to know about airbnb in Japan.
First, when the minpaku law took effect, a lot of listing got wiped of airbnb without notice and it caused problems to many travelers. Now that this situation is solved and the law is in place, you know that if you want to rent a minpaku trough airbnb, they have to get an authorization from their city (or something similar) to be legal. However, I do not know is there is a way to validate the numbers.
Second thing to consider, is that they have rules on number of days they can rend in a year, so some people will remove the property from what is available to manage this limitation, so it is quite possible that a place is not always available. And well, with covid and everything, it’s not overly surprising if some listing are not there, for sure there is people who would avoid having strangers in their house. And well, not is not exactly the best time to book anything as we do not know when Japan will open again, so that can also be a reason to refuse bookinbg.
Third, airbnb does not only list minpaku (that is renting or private home), some are just youth hostels, ryokan, minshuku or other type of accommodation that are subject to slightly different laws.
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Personally did airbnb once (renting a room in a private house where to owner live) and if I had choice, I would pick hostel instead, but this is really my personal choice (and it was also pre-covid). One thing you can check to compare price is private room in hostel, at least it can give more options.
It’s normal, many properties get removed because of the law and Covid situation means many people had to close their properties too. It’s also normal for hosts to work together – they are usually part of a company that have a license to operate Airbnb.
I would also suggest checking business hotels as an alternative. I use business hotels a lot when I travel around Japan. They are small but clean, cheap, and near train stations for excellent access. Check out chains like Toyoko Inn, APA, Sotetsu Fresca, Dormy Inn.
I stayed at probably 15-20 different Airbnb’s throughout Japan from 2017-2019 with no issues at all. It sounds like you’ve done your research and looked at all the reviews/hosts. That’s what we did as well. Some of our bookings had a host, but then a different “co host” would be the one messaging us too. I thought it was a little weird but we had no problems with the rooms or communication. If you are worried and want a little piece of mind you could research a backup plan, just in case something goes wrong. Worst case, you could always find a last minute capsule hotel and sleep there for a night or two til you find a place that is more to your preferences. Have fun on your trip!!
I stayed at an Airbnb in Tokyo 4 years ago and did have a bad experience in that the Airbnb was not allowed in the building. So in the elevator and common areas there were signs saying Airbnb’s were not allowed. We stayed since we had no way of correcting this. The place was actually lovely just outside of shinjuku and we never experienced any people and ultimately had a fine stay. But it was very stressful and at the time Airbnb’s customer service was basically non existent. So now when in Japan I stay at apa hotels just to not have to deal with any weirdness. But I’m sure a ton has changed in the past 4 years.
This is just my personal experience back in 2018-2019 during new years in Tokyo. I booked our place very early in the year before the new law for airbnbs happened and while some of the places for our trip cancelled because of it they all did so early on and I was able to find hostels or other Airbnbs for us to stay instead. But our place in Tokyo cancelled in late November with no reason why leaving us to scramble to find a place in Tokyo over Newyears. I’ve made a rule now that if I’m going to use Airbnb I make sure to have a place booked through a more strict site with free cancellation as a back up.
Overall my experiences w AirBnB have been good. I did try in Japan but I choose to book at a hotel. The house had a weird setup. I would have been upstairs in a separated space but not completely private. If IIRC the host has someone else hosting and that host would pop in. I didnt do it and cancelled the booking. I never have luck trying to find a cheaper option. Always ends up a “you get what you pay for deal”. It would have been my first international AirBnB and I may have just been skiddish and started overthinking things. I ended up at the Intercontinental Tokyo Bay, amazing experience. Have fun on your trip. It was a truly magical experience.
My experiences with AirBnB in japan have all been excellent. Though, they were mostly from the year before the minpaku laws went into effect.
I stayed in one apartment in Osaka that was so inexpensive that we thought we might wake up without kidneys. Located within the city, 3 small but separate bedrooms, and cost less than $10 per person per night for a group of three. The place ended up being great, and on our way out, the owner even offered to drive us up to the train station.
Amazing deals like that are almost certainly gone post-minpaku, but all four of the AirBNBs I’ve stayed in have been comfortable, secure, and clean. I cannot say the same for hostels. I stayed in a $30/night single person room in Asakusa Smile during a rainy november, and the place was so damp I thought I might turn into a frog. Astounding price for the location in Tokyo, but I’d just as soon have paid double for a dry room.
I’m pretty late to this, but my experiences have ranged from good, to very bad, to the point of feeling unsafe. (Kyoto experiences were good. Tokyo was very bad.) Luckily I was traveling with a group of friends in that instance so we managed, but it was not a pleasant experience and AirBnB offered (at least at the time) no real help or options. It was a situation where we were only made aware upon arrival that we were not meant to be there, and we had to tell everyone we were staying with a friend. The place was disgusting and doors didn’t lock and windows were broken. Meanwhile the pictures and reviews all had seemed fine at booking.
I mostly travel solo now and as a young woman I simply don’t want to risk it. I’d much rather stay in an affordable hotel where I feel safer because there are people around and security. The things that I enjoy about an AirBnB such as the ability to do laundry, or cook a meal, are all things that can also easily be found at many hotels for a fair price. A room with a mini-fridge, microwave, and kettle, for example. And a laundry in the building, or even sometimes a washing machine in the room itself.
It seems you’ve already made up your mind, but I thought I’d toss this out there in case it’s helpful to anybody else. I have had good experiences too with AirBnB, but it’s not something I would ever want to risk again when traveling solo. With a group, and the ability to work together to find a solution to a bad situation, sure. But solo travel, the risk simply isn’t worth the reward, especially when solo the cost for any place decent if usually at or above the cost of a business hotel. I think AirBnB shines best for group travel.
My only experience with AirBnB in Japan was when my sister visited, and we got an apartment for 2 weeks, $400 total. It was close to Nishinari in Osaka, but I lived in Tennoji prior, so I wasn’t too alarmed. The apartment was amazing with a full kitchen, 2 king-size beds, speedy wifi. Super cheap for the quality of the apt.
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The only thing that was annoying was that the host said that we couldn’t check-in before 2 pm, and refused to give us the code to enter before then. We sat outside from 12-2pm drinking Strong Zeroes and nobody came out, so I assume we could have just checked in once we got there.
Moises Airbnb two years ago and it was fantastic. My host was super great.
Those laws are his problem, not yours.
i’ve used airbnb on both of my journeys to Tokyo thus far, 1 was before the law came into effect and 1 after, and the only real difference between the two check-in processes was my passport being required the second time to verify identity, etc. Both hosts were extremely accommodating, the first one even invited me to her place for breakfast!
I would caution the cancellation policies tho no matter how good they seem, as the trip i was supposed to take in the fall (which was cancelled for obvious reasons) has gotten me into a snag trying to get a full refund from the host.
All in all, i cannot recommend airbnb enough for a solo journey. you can get a great deal of privacy when you want it, on top of being able to store your belongings safely.
Just my two cents, if its any comfort, I spent a month airbnb-ing across most of the major cities in Japan roughly 13/14 mths ago without any problems at all.
That all being said, Ive also found hostels are generally decently priced and very safe (I use hostelworld to stalk the reviews).
On the off-chance you think you’re in the wrong, just dont be a loud obnoxious neighbour and the chance of someone confronting you directly is pretty slim.
Source: Previously lived in Japan
Fuck that shit, bookings.com was bomb.
I had a terrible airbnb experience in Tokyo. down to sheets that wasn’t changed from the last guest; flight came in early and i asked if I could leave my luggage so I saw the state it was in before and after the ‘professional cleaners’ finished tidying up. Ended up staying in a businessmans hotel(which are reasonably price) nearby instead.
In the future you can try looking for hostels with private rooms available. When in Tokyo I stayed in a hostel with a private room & bath, while my friends were able to stay in another floor in the same hostel that had dorm style beds. The price is comparable to a lower end AirBnb but you have the assurance of legitimacy and privacy.
I stayed in 6 Airbnbs over 3 weeks last year and had a great experience at all of them! Our rule was to stick with places that had multiple reviews. They were all pretty accommodating.
I stayed in three while in Japan and they were all excellent. The only thing is that one of them had a couple roaches. One actually flew at me. 🤮
As much as I love Airbnb, I do suggest to just stay in a cheap business hotel like Toyoko Inn, APA Hotel etc.. Reason being is that you are in a country where the great majority doesn’t speak english. You better spend that extra dollar for security, breakfast, cleanliness, and 24/7 emergency help (lobby). You never know when you might need help, but certainly the airbnb owners can do so little. Compared to hotels.
I was meaning to stay at an airbnb in meguro, tokyo and the host did not put any specific house number or directions to his place. It was just San-chome, meguro, Tokyo or something like that. I got super lost and tried to msg the host but to no avail. In the end I wandered around that area for a bit and took a train back and stayed at a friends. The host refused to give me the money back and it was honestly a bad airbnb experience. But apart from that my stay was beautiful.
The experience could be different from one owner to another. You would have to pay attention to the comments of those who used the premise.
I have been to three AirBnBs in the past, once in a trip to Kyoto for their Marathon a few years back, and twice during a trip in 2019 with my SO to Hokkaido and Tohoku.
The one at Kyoto is as much as our fellow commenters said, a moneymaking side gig for the owner. He owned a few places in the city, you have the whole flat, the key was at the mailbox, he didn’t live there.
On the 2019 trip, we stayed at one in Hakodate. The owner’s entire family lived there, and they renovated part of the house to be a mini dormitory of sorts. This one was half way between gig and true AirBnB, the host was friendly but keep his family separate from the AirBnB part.
The last one was in Hirosaki, where the family turned the entire second floor to be a one room AirBnB. This family was friendly, had little kids that was super cute and playful with my SO (she’s a primary school teacher). We had long talks in the night, they were courteous and helpful. The host drove us to the JR station when he learnt that we were having a early morning train and have few buses going to the station. This one is an absolute recommend as it is right across the street from Hirosaki Castle, has superb view of the Sakura-lined moat, and one of the staging area for floats of the Hirosaki Nebuta Festival is right outside this house.
Our experiences with AirBnB in Japan was for the most part fantastic.
Each place we stayed in in Kyoto and Tokyo were exactly as described and private, and felt very safe. The hosts were pretty well established, if I remember correctly.
The Osaka one we booked was not what we were expecting and we found a condom wrapper under the bed. We got ourselves another place to stay at a Red Roof Inn nearby (pretty easy in Osaka, thank goodness), and contacted AirBnB. AirBnB called us the next day and gave us a full refund after we sent some pictures of the room and what we took issue with.
Overall, I would say that Airbnbs in Japan are a super great value, and did right by us.
I’ve done an air bnb once in Osaka and I wouldn’t do it again. There wasn’t anything specifically wrong with the place however it was very small, very basic and just that little bit further away from the main sights.
Every time since I’ve paid more and stayed in a hotel.
I’ve stayed in quite a few Airbnb’s and often get told to pretend I’m pals with the host house-sitting for them. Never bumped into any neighbours as was usually out all the time.
I have found recently on more recent trips that hotels were getting to comparable prices for the cheapest places.
Did a trip last October. Two girls. We booked an Airbnb in every city except in the heart of Tokyo, where we booked a capsule hotel. We did stay in one small place about an hour outside Tokyo. As well as Osaka, Hiroshima, and Naoshima. Maybe it was a risk to depend on them but the prices were unbeatable and we did feel safe. Even when the area looked a little messy, we kept to our business. Only tip I can think of is chat with the owner as much as you can before hand. If you get a weird vibe, opted out!
My son and I did a trip to Japan for almost 2 weeks last Feb, just before COVID shut everything down. We did everything with AirBnB and we very satisfied with our choices. We stayed in Tokyo, Hakone (close to Mt Fuji), and Kyoto. Didn’t choose fancy because we were hardly ever in our room. There are LOTS of choices with huge price ranges.
Hope this helps
Having co-hosts in an Airbnb property is pretty normal. It just means the host (typically new to Airbnb) has seemed professional help of a seasoned Airbnb host (co-host) to help him with his property. Think of it as a restaurant owner hiring a manager, instead of managing the restaurant himself. Having a co-host is typically a good sign, that means the property will be managed more professionally and you may have lesser issues considering the host himself is new to it.
My husband and I did airbnb for all of our 3.5 week trip in Japan back in 2017. We stayed at two places in Tokyo, 1 place in Osaka, and 1 place in Kyoto. All the hosts were easy to reach and really nice. The places we stayed at were really clean. We rented studio apartments for all places. We have used Airbnb for every international travel since 2015 because I like having a real kitchen and my own space. Never had an issue with any of them. I don’t use a place unless they have about 10 reviews.
For my trips in Japan, I made sure I picked a place with a free pocket wifi so we didn’t have to pay for one in Japan. The pocket wifi saved our ass because it’s so hard to navigate Japan not knowing the language.
At all my five trips until now, I always went with AirBNB, never had any issues. Appartements were always clean, good communication and so on. I go back end of August and will take an AirBNB again. Can really recommend booking one.
I’ve stayed at I think 8 or 9 different AirBnBs in Japan, over 4 or 5 years. Only a handful of AirBnB stays outside Japan to compare it to, though (one in Spain, one in Croatia, four or so in Italy).
Maybe I’m just super lucky, but my experience with AirBnB has been perfectly nice and professional across the board. No real difference in quality, responsiveness, friendliness or anything like that. If I had to point out a difference of some kind, more of the Japanese AirBnBs never met me in person. Almost all of the European AirBnBs, I met the person I had been texting with in person to get my keys. In Japan I only met like about three of them, in all the other cases I either got a code to open the door or it was unlocked and the keys were inside. But in all cases the places were as advertised, the contact person was available for questions and stuff over WhatsApp, pricing and rules and everything were clear, never had any reason to complain. So if I had to extrapolate like one big general difference between Japanese and European AirBnBs from my quite limited experience, I’d say AirBnB hosts in Japan are more likely to never meet you in person, but that’s not going to interfere with your stay in any way. Other than that, same experience across the board. My stays were all in Kyoto or Tokyo, so no small town or out-of-the-way places, but same goes for the Italy / Spain / Croatia stays. All in relatively big cities or at least tourist hot-spots. YMMV if you go to the deep deep countryside or something.
EDIT: Maybe I should point out that before I ever stayed at an AirBnB in Japan, I had already lived in Japan for 5+ years and was pretty fluent in Japanese. I can’t attest to how much English the hosts would speak and/or how understandable stuff like garbage separation, air conditioning and laundry instructions etc. would be if you didn’t read Japanese.