Hi,
Can anyone point me to a good reliable website where I can search for hotels in Tokyo and Kyoto? I normally use asiarooms but the price of the hotels listed were higher than I was expecting.
I%26#39;m looking for something in the region of 7000 - 8,200 Yen (拢50 - 拢60) or better still, lower, per night for a twin room for the second week of May.
With the state of the economy, is this a realistic price bracket?
If anyone can recommened a hotel that would be great.
Help in finding hotels in Tokyo and KyotoIf you do a search for budget hotels in this forum, you%26#39;ll find previous posts on the subject.
Help in finding hotels in Tokyo and KyotoLad -
Please be realistic. Can you point me to a decent twin room in London for 50 to 60 quid per night? The Japanese yen is currently strong, so %26#39;bargains%26#39; are few and far between.
Try japanhotel.net, try TA reviews as suggested, or try googling business hotels japan (chains like Toyoko Inn or Comfort Hotels - but I think you%26#39;ll find many are 10 or 20 percent more than 8,200 yen. Please check what%26#39;s included - most business hotels include a reasonably decent breakfast.
Enjoy your trip
The Welcome Inn Group and Japanese Inn Group carry several inexpensive options. Many of these are small business hotels, but they also carry info about some interesting little inns. These are not the luxurious inns we hear about as visitors. They are mostly large, older houses with guest rooms. Sometimes breakfast is included, and sometimes it%26#39;s extra and you order it ahead of time.
In Kyoto, two examples are the Matsubaya and the Murikamiya.
Here is a good place to start looking:
www.seejapan.co.uk/accommodation/budget.html
This site has some really expensive luxurious places, but also less expensive places:
japaneseguesthouses.com/about/鈥tyles.htm
Also try Rakuten travel agency, they are a reliable agency.
japaneseguesthouses.com/about/鈥tyles.htm
And I have used the Japanican site with success, too.
http://japanican.com/index.aspx
Once you find a place, be sure to check the tripadvisor hotel sites for previous reviews!
These little apartments are also an excellent bargain:
http://www.duo-inn.com/eg/index.htm
Thanks for the links. I%26#39;ll have a look and see if there%26#39;s anything around. 60yoAussie, you%26#39;re right that the Yen is currently strong and that there aren%26#39;t many bargains around. I thought I ask in case someone knew, that%26#39;s all. For example, a bed and breakfast - doesn%26#39;t have to be a swish hotel. I%26#39;ve been told of rooms in the 拢50-拢60 price range in Tokyo that I have been unable to find but due to the current economic climate maybe they aren%26#39;t around anymore!!
It%26#39;s not absolutely impossible to find a twin in your price range in Tokyo, but it%26#39;s pretty hard. Note that ';twin'; always means two beds. You will have a much easier time finding a room for two people that costs 8,200 yen or less if you are willing to settle for a ';semidouble,'; which basically means a single room that the hotel allows two people to sleep in, as opposed to a ';double,'; which is typically a little larger and intended for two people to begin with. Some semidoubles are actually not too bad, but it%26#39;s not always easy to know ahead of time how tiny the room is and how narrow the bed is. Doubles are more expensive than semidoubles, and typically a little cheaper than twins.
If you are willing to spend just slightly more per day (9,000 to 10,000 yen) then it will open up more possibilities (twins and doubles with free breakfast at cheap but reliable business hotels, and occasionally semidoubles without breakfast at considerably nicer hotels), and you have a better range of locations.
If you are going to be in Tokyo for a full week, you might look into a weekly ';mansion'; (apartment), such as Weekly Mansion Tokyo. They often give you a substantial price break for a weeklong stay, whereas cheap business hotels generally don%26#39;t. Remember, though, that they are not hotels. They may charge you for cleaning and utilities, and you may be restricted as to check-in time (don%26#39;t expect a desk clerk, although some of them have one).
Note that many hotels do not accept bookings more than two or three months in advance, so if you start searching now for May, results may come up as ';no rooms available.'; This does NOT mean all the hotels are full. The second half of May is a fairly good time to find cheap hotels in Tokyo. (Kyoto is much harder, although May is not high season there, either.)
It takes discipline to stick to a travel budget, of course, but in my experience spending just a little bit more money per night on a room is a very good return on investment. The farther you go below 10,000 yen (per room, double occupancy), the more likely you will have noisy conditions, uncomfortable beds, inconvenient locations, and a host of annoyances. Kind of a pity, when you%26#39;ve spent that much money on airfare.
Thanks for your reassurance, Bearkun. With the helpful links that 60yoAussie and japantravelteacher gave me I%26#39;ve found some places that look very promising :-)
Lad,
I actually know a B%26amp;B that is 3000-4000yen per person in Tokyo.
It is a Japanese style house in the Sumo area in Tokyo. It does not have an English website, but the lady in charge does speak English. They also own a sushi restaurant near by. If you are interested, I can give you more detailed info. That is where i recommend all my friends stay at when they visit Tokyo. It is nothing fancy, but ppl who have stayed there really enjoyed the experience.
Your best and most consistent bet is Toyoko Inn. You know what you are getting (small rooms that have somewhat thin walls, but they are spotlessly clean, free internet with your own laptop in room or free terminals in the lobby, free if limited breakfast). This chain is pretty much consistent everywhere and generally charges 8,000 to 9,000 Yen for a twin or double room.
http://www.toyoko-inn.com/eng/
One problem with Toyoko Inn is they want you out of the room between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. for multiple-night stays. For some people, this is not a problem at all, but personally I sometimes like to go back to my hotel room to rest and freshen up in the middle of the day, or to leave off shopping bags. I will stay at a Toyoko Inn when it%26#39;s only for one night but when I am staying several nights in a place like Tokyo or Kyoto, I look for other options.
I%26#39;ve heard varying accounts of how flexible Toyoko Inn is with their daytime lockout policy. According to their web site, you can inform the front desk in advance if you want to make special arrangements, but it%26#39;s not real easy to do this if you don%26#39;t speak Japanese.
Another problem with the Toyoko Inn chain is that you can%26#39;t book over 3 months in advance if you%26#39;re a non-member which is pretty frustrating when you%26#39;re ready to book and you%26#39;re seeing the number of rooms available dropping as the days go by! However, they seem to be a good bet (at least for me) as Sammyfloyd, suggested!
kurihime, I%26#39;ve mailed you :-)
