Itinerary (16 nights, 17 days).
* Tokyo (6 nights)
* Kanazawa (4 nights)
* Kyoto (5 nights)
* Tokyo (1 night)
**Flight**
Flew into Narita on ANA. In retrospect, should have just paid a bit more per ticket to fly into Haneda. Narita is super far from the city. Pre-booked a car from booking for pickup, very nice vehicle + accommodating driver but ride was long (\~1.5hr) and on the expensive side at $120+ but overall was worth it vs. scrambling around with a ton of baggage on public transit.
**Hotel 1 -** [**Tokyo Bay Shiomi Prince Hotel**](https://www.princehotels.com/shiomi/) **(9/10)**
Paid \~180/night inclusive of breakfast. 4 star hotel. Saw this hotel a lot on social media, built in 2020 (along with many other hotels for Olympic demand that never happened). Environment reminded me a lot of modern European boutique hotel. Very new and super quiet. International staff. International guests as well, many westerners and several tour groups coming in from Korea and Taiwan.
Booked the corner room at 383 sq ft, it was quite large and had a peakaboo view of the Tokyo Skytree. Super satisfied with how modern the room was, comfortable beds, trendy decor, and tons of USB outlets for charging. Toilitries were solid, Bigelow brand but large sized not small ones you can take home.
Breakfast was impressive, lots of choices from traditional Japanese soup rice to western salads and eggs/bacon. From prior reviews, I saw that a lot of westerners thought it was “too Asian” and Asians thought it was “too Western”. IMO, it’s probably a good blend of both but skews Asian, just doesn’t have the crazy number of sides dishes + tofu that some places in Kyoto offer. One big difference for those coming from Europe (less so the US) for this breakfast (and most others in Japan) is the relative lack of cheese, cold cuts, and types of bread (especially multigrain/wheat) that dominate the breakfast buffets in Europe. I didn’t see any cheese offered on this buffet. I would highly recommend trying the Japanese options for breakfast as they are delicious, though I saw more than a few people shun those and stick to bread/eggs/bacon/salad. The salad here was especially fresh though and the tomatoes were delicious.
Originally I had planned to book 3 nights in Shibuya then transfer to Disneyland area for another 3 nights, but then decided to just book this one for 6 nights so we didn’t have to move. In retrospect, it turned out to be a good choice. I chose this hotel partly because of the location, a couple of stops from Tokyo Station and a couple of stops from Disney by train. It’s literally right next to the train station, you can be on the platform in <5 minutes. It’s a little bit of a trip to get to Shinjuku/Shibuya area (40-60 min with transfers), but was manageable for just one trip over there.
On location, it’s on a quiet artificial island that’s mostly residential. There’s chain restaurants (Nakau, Sukiya, Rotating Sushi) and some local places in the area + all the major convenience store chains (including a family mart attached to the hotel) + a decent sized grocery store, but pretty much nothing in the way of shopping. I would have loved more options for food, but honestly the choices available were still decent and most didn’t have the long queues you would see in busier areas. If you’re going to spend most of your time on Eastern side of Tokyo (Ginza, Tsujiki, etc.) + Disney it’s a great location.
BONUS – they have an incredible public bath. Super high ceilings and \~3-4x larger tub area than would be typical at most other hotels. Went there everyday. Soaking in hot + cold tubs with a sauna is a wonderful end to a busy day.
**Hotel 2 -** [**The Hotel Sanraku Kanazawa**](https://sanraku.kenhotels.com/kanazawa/en/) **(10/10)**
Paid \~$140/night inclusive of breakfast. Built in 2022. Environment was “upscale Japanese” for lack of a better term with a lot of interesting local art / decor. Service was exceptional, you can tell this is a 5 star hotel as they bring your luggage to your room and are more accommodating. Staff was much less international and seemed to be mostly/all Japanese. Same with guests, far fewer westerners but a good # of non-Japanese eastern guests.
Booked a regular room at \~322 sq ft which overlooked the super serene garden in the middle, great view. Room environment was also upscale Japanese, but still very modern in terms of USB outlets and such. Great tea selection and also gave ice cold barley tea everyday. High-end toiletries in small containers from a french brand. Slightly less functional design with the room being angled, but wasn’t too bad.
Exceptional breakfast buffet that ranks among the best I’ve ever had. Main difference here vs. most other places is that they have chefs on staff handcrafting and small batch making food vs. mass producing. This includes a wonderful tempura station and sushi station. Also gives you some wonderful appetizers to whet the palette. Fresh waffle, pancakes, and baked goods were also a hit. Fruit selection was lacking (just some oranges and canned mangos), but that’s typical in Japan and also a function of it being winter. Wonderful experience.
Location was super central, 2 minutes from the market, 5 minutes to the Castle, 12 to the garden, 15 to the Chaya district, so you can walk pretty much anywhere. Slightly further to the train station at 20 minutes, but lots of options to get you to and from there.
Would have been an 11 if there was a public bath. This was an incredible value at the price I paid — honestly would have been worth 2x+ the price. The price is going up quite rapidly on this hotel though as I think it’s been “discovered”.
**Hotel 3 -** [**Hotel Emion Kyoto**](https://www.hotel-emion.jp/kyoto/english/) **(8/10)**
Paid \~$100/night inclusive of breakfast. 3.5 star hotel. Built in 2020. Environment was “modern Japanese” for lack of a better term. Very clean lines and functional, but wasn’t traditional in any sense. Mostly Japanese staff and guests. Seemed to have a lot of families here.
Booked a regular room at \~344 sq ft which was quite big. Super modern and functional room. Somehow got a top floor room with a stunning view of Kyoto and the train depot. One of the tallest buildings around so you can see everything. Inside was clean and modern with lots of functional space (maybe too much in the front?). It wasn’t quite as “nice” as the other two hotels though, but fair given the price I paid.
Decent breakfast buffet with a lot of Kyoto-specific options (vegetable dishes, tofu, mochi, etc.). This will feel a lot more “eastern/asian” vs the other ones. I’ve had better buffets in Kyoto so this didn’t stand out to me, everything was good but not great. Environment was a lot more industrial as well vs. the other two you felt like you were eating at a fancy restaurant.
The location was somewhat of a disappointment. It’s one stop from Kyoto Station, but the train only comes every 20 minutes. You can also take the bus. Then you still have to navigate Kyoto Station once you get there to transit to other places. There’s a few restaurants in the building + around and the wholesale market, but not too much. Had to walk a bit to find more food and shopping. Granted, the restaurants in the building are pretty good (especially the BBQ place). It’s right next to the train museum though, which is super fun/interesting and I highly recommend going as a non-temple activity. Staying within walking distance of Kyoto Station would have been much more convenient (which I had done the previous times – there’s plenty of hotels around there), one stop away = 30 minutes of unnecessary transit time.
BONUS – Does have a nice public bath, but it’s more typical in size (not too big). Went every day still.
**General Hotel Tips**
* Book early for the best prices, can always choose free cancellation option if things change
* Use Booking/Expedia/Trip to bypass the sometimes hard to figure out direct hotel websites. Can check multiple sites to find the best deal. Cancellation is a breeze as well with these platforms.
* Book breakfast with the room. It’s usually a lot cheaper than buying on-site. Would highly recommend the breakfast buffet if it’s an option (buffet is usually the only option TBH), especially on the first few nights where you’re likely to be jet-lagged and super hungry in the morning.
* Many hotels have laundry machines…but a few notes here:
* You don’t need detergent, the machines come with it weirdly enough. I mistakenly bought some.
* The machines are small and take a long time. Think 3 hours for a small load. Some machines are combo washer/dryers. The interfaces are somewhat complicated to figure out, but manageable.
* There are usually never enough machines for the # of people. Think 1 per 100 rooms. So it’s often a crazy scramble to get one, some people line up outside to wait for one to open up.
* Don’t leave your stuff in the machines – set a timer and get it right when it’s done. Otherwise you are causing headache for other people.
* Don’t book US hotel chains such as Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott. Yes, it is tempting for the familiarity and the rewards points but honestly you are paying a 25%+ premium for a similar product and the options become a lot more limited. Local options can also have more character.
* Book big rooms. This is a more of personal choice (and also better for families), but I specifically choose 300+ square feet rooms to be able to enjoy the space. If you’re just one person, this is unnecessary and maybe it’s better to optimize for a much smaller space. Please keep in mind though that the typical Japanese room is ultra small, especially in Tokyo area and will be quite a shock to most Americans (somewhat less so to Europeans).
* <200 square feet = coffin, no room for luggage
* 200 – 300 square feet = cramped, but livable
* 300 square feet = comfortable
* Book new hotels (2018+ builds). Again, more of a personal choice but I prefer the ambience and general sense of being in a new place. There’s tons of older hotels in Japan and many of them are showing their age (however, even the old hotels are usually spotlessly clean).
**Food Commentary**
Eating out is super cheap compared to the US. That’s a result of:
* Weak yen making exchange rate to the dollar 140:1 (and as high as 152 a month ago) vs 100:1 a few years back. Everything is discounted for most visitors from most countries where currency hasn’t weakened.
* Limited inflation vs. high inflation in other parts of the world
* Much more supply of restaurants per capita, increased competition.
* No tipping culture (applicable to the US mainly)
As a result, eating out in Japan vs. US is from my estimation is around 1/3 of the cost even accounting for portion size and depending on type of food or situation between 1/4 and 1/2. Eating a bowl of decent ramen in US costs $20-25 (inclusive of tax + tip) whereas it’s $5-10 in Japan.
Some notes:
* Portions are typically smaller (think 20-30%)
* Quality is significantly higher across the board, even the fast food / family restaurants are much better than the average Japanese restaurant in the US
* Fish is cheap, meat less so, fruits and vegetables pricey and a lot less common
* Carbs on carbs is a typical combination. You eat ramen and rice…together.
* Spicy food isn’t much of a thing
* Non-Japanese ethnic cuisine is typically heavily modified to the Japanese palette, especially Chinese and Italian foods. This is not a BAD thing per-se, it’s just “different” and more of an expectation setting. You can of course find authentic ethnic cuisine in the larger cities if you look for it.
* Ekiben (train station bentos) always look better than they actually taste.