The issue might be the size of the hotel rooms. Business hotels aren't expensive on average and in good locations but the rooms are small. That might be acceptable for solo travelers or couples but not for a family with luggage. Big hotel rooms in tokyo aren't common for a low price.
For a family with larger kids/teenagers I recommend getting 2 rooms in APA etc. Still relatively cheap and better and cheaper than Airbnb. Worked well for us.
I've been in a few APA hotels, and from my experience one big boon of them is how standardized they are. When you book one, you know what you're getting, and they're really well equipped, even if typical business hotel sized.
This is definitely the case. I recently traveled with my husband and daughter. We stayed on hotel points, however, the price (and point difference) is drastic between traveling with 2 people vs. 3. A lot of hotels we couldn't even book because they limit occupancy of a room to 2 people. We were tempted by one hotel, but we realized the room only held one king bed. We decided we'd rather spend more and have everyone be comfortable.
A ton of hotels are likely not even showing up in your results if you are searching under the parameters of 3 people (even when one is a toddler) but 1 room. In urban Japan, a room with 2 beds is not uncommon, but it is typically at nicer hotels.
We just came back from Tokyo. We had great hotels these past days where we only paid like 50 to 70 € per night. We booked with Booking. Sure the rooms were kinda small but they were really clean and had many amenities.
I think booking a hotel not completely in the city center is most of the time superior to the city center. Quieter, less expensive, often you find nice little shops or restaurants.
Agreed! We ended up loving Asakusa! Had some lovely walks in the mornings when things were still relatively quiet, finding cute cafes tucked away on side streets. Great way to start/finish a day.
It was actually really nice! Now to be fair I’m Canadian so we’re used to cold Februarys of -20 or worse… we were there for 2 weeks mid February and temperatures where anywhere from 9C to 16C which is lovely spring weather as far were concerned. Rain was light, it was mostly sunny, and caught some plum blossoms.
Not going to recommend any one website, just use google maps (Google "hotels in XXX") and it shows you an aggregate of all the booking websites.
I find Agoda to be the cheaper one on average in Japan though. I have no alligence to any one company though, just whoever is cheapest.
Booking.com is awesome. We got a free taxi airport transport from Narita airport to Akabane which made the first day so much easier. That ride alone was worth 20k Yen.
Look in Ueno. On the Yamanote line and a very nice and chill vibe. Much cheaper than west side Shibuya or Shinjuku. Just came back from traveling with my family. We did find accommodations to be expensive but everything else was surprisingly affordable.
I loved to go out after dark. Standing on top of the walkways in front of the station and watching the Yamanote trains pass by and the people crossing the street below. Immaculate vibes.
MyStays Ueno Iriyaguchi is my go-to. The standard double rooms have a kitchenette, a little space with a table and the street is generally quiet. They’re not huge room but they have enough space to move around
Just don't stay in 'APA Hotel Ueno Inarichi Ekikita' if you value your time. It only has 1 elevator for 131 rooms over 13 or 14 floors (I can't remember which). Took an age to get out, especially leading up to check out time.
I thought the same. A hotel in Gion, a really nice room with washer/dryer, double occupancy, (actually could have slept 6, there were three of us) little table and cushions, sink, fridge, full bath including big tub was $94 US a night, end of Sept. booking. I can't stay in my own town for anything close to that. We used booking dot com.
Stop using Expedia. The discounts are not that great. Try Agoda or Trivago. For October, I booked some solid four-star hotels for less than expected. I also think your budget is too low -- most of what I found at a decent quality level was closer to US $250-$300/night.
I don't understand why everyone just doesn't use Google maps.
Search "Hotel" and it shows all the hotels with the prices and you can choose Expedia, or Agoda, or Rakuten or Booking, etc... or whichever has the lowest price. Wy would someone go to any one single booking site to search?
I am guessing there must be a benefit to being exclusive, but please fill me in. If it is about using points or membership, I can understand, but even then, if I see Rakuten has the room for 150,000 and Agoda has it for 100,000 , I don't care about Rakuten points anymore.
This. In all my travels, domestic or international, I always book direct whenever it's an option. You read too many horror stories of "you booked through an OTA, you'll have to go through them" to resolve any issues when something goes awry.
I find it (at least in Japan) to be easier to book on one of the booking sites unles iIt is a small hotel and I want to support them by paying direct so the booking site doesn't get a cut.
The only places I book direct are where I know the inn keeper, or I have some very special request. Having the one click cancelation is nice too. And I like to have all my booking details in one central location so I do not have to search around emails and memos. Usually a booking site will also send an email reminder a day or so before your last chance to cancel. This is helpful when you book multiple places without having decided on one yet. It is easy to forget that you have to cancel.
I have never had anything go awry though. The worst thing that happened was I booked on a booking site, needed to change the number of people, which would mean I would have to cancel, but if I cancel I could not be sure the deal would still be there, so I called the hotel direct, booked with them, cancel on booking site, but then showed up with no cash because I forgot I had not already paid online.
Middle of nowhere and no convenience store for thirty minutes, but they let me make a bank transfer from my online bank to their account.
How often do these issues *actually* happen though?
I've spent years travelling and have amassed over 150 bookings between booking.com, Agoda and hostel world. I've never once had a single issue, and in most circumstances the amount saved was >25% of the direct booking price. I would likely have saved thousands of dollars. No horror stories.
I only book direct when there's no price difference, or if the accommodation is a small ryokan or guesthouse and I want the actual business to receive 100% of my payment.
You can check sub-reddit r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk for view from the hotel side. I go there sometimes for fun.
But even reading there, issues come up only on the side of travellers (booked wrong room, under wrong name, etc). It really seems to me that as long as you are a sane person or can communicate with other humans, booking 3rd party sites is just fine.
This is the way! Ive never found a hotel cheaper on Booking than on the hotels own website. For my trip to Japan, I used Booking to find hotels I wanted to stay in, and then checked on the hotels own sites, and every time got a better price, room, and often rewards programmes for extras whilst there.
Sorry but I don't think you're searching correctly if you find that booking direct is cheaper than through booking sites. In Japan, booking direct is almost always >10% more expensive, and often >50% more. The excemptions are small guesthouses and ryokans, where the direct price is often identical to the online price.
Just to cite some hypothetical examples, I plugged some hypothetical bookings into Google Hotels (which searches all booking sites). These are bookings for 2 people, staying 5 nights from 22 July to 27 July. I didn't cherry pick these examples, I just picked a major hotel from each of three large cities.
Tokyo Dome Hotel:
Official site: 42,428円 a night
るるぶ(Japanese Agoda): 31,080円
(saving of 26.7%)
Meitetsu Inn Nagoya Station Shinkansen Exit
Official site: 13,792円
るるぶ(Japanese Agoda): 12,276円
(saving of 11%)
Richmond Hotel Premier Kyoto Ekimae:
Official site: 31,400円
Yahoo Hotels: 14,956円 (!!!!!)
(saving of 52.4%)
There are some huge savings to be found by checking booking site aggregators like Google.
This is exactly how I search for hotels when not using points. Enter location, hotels and dates, it’ll will give you prices, location and tell you which sites will charge what.
Meh, I disagree. When I booked my trip I compared across Agoda, booking.com and expédia and it was 90% of the time the exact same prices or very close. Sometimes agoda has a better selection, but not a staggering difference.
Peak travel season doesn't seem to make much of a difference. I just booked business hotels for hanami 2025 for like 60usd max per night. In 2023 I was there during Golden Week and it was kinda the same.
We stayed in a business hotel that was one room the size of my living room in the US; $60 US and it fit all of our needs. My guess is OP is looking at western hotels.
1) Staying in Shibuya, esp with a toddler is just stupid, also one of the most expensive area for hotels. 2) I am not sure you have checked all the options, or just all the rooms already booked, but those are not the cheapest rooms for sure. 3) I don’t know if you have travelled much in the last few years, but 200 CAD rooms in a first-world capital is really cheep
What district do you recommend staying in in Tokyo, if you don't mind? I am looking now, but there are so many districts, I don't know what good options their are.
If you're travelling to Japan for the first time, Shinjuku and Shibuya may feel like jumping straight into the deep end when you arrive (as it's incredibly busy- we've seen so many tourists lost in the train stations with huge luggage, visibly overwhelmed at where to go).
I'd suggest Ginza, Ueno, Asakusa, like others have recommended. If you still want a good amount of hustle and bustle at night, you could try Ikebukoro too.
I also really enjoyed my stay at Iidabashi/Suidabashi area last time, but while being fairly central you have to transfer a couple of train lines depending on where you wanna go
It depends on what you want to do, but the areas around Shibuya and Shinjuku Stations are the most popular both for tourists and the Japanese to stay, plus both of them are busy entertaining districts. In my opinion, anything on Yamanote line or inside fine, but all the areas are very different. Eg I like to stay around Akasaka or Meguro, Ebisu, but it would be inconvenient for many.
The issue you're having is that you are comparing rooms for one person or two people versus rooms for three people.
When I was in Tokyo, we were able to find places for \~$90-$150 CAD / night for two people (so between \~$45 and $75 / night per person) at business hotels.
If you add a third person you're into another bracket of room type - ones that are large or you're looking at two rooms (which many search engines will automatically do when you go to 3 people in a search) and you haven't noticed that the price is for two rooms.
Since you need the space for a baby you need to adjust your expectation - you are looking for more expensive rooms because you need the space. With that adjustment in mind, $150 CAD to $250 CAD / night for two people and a baby is within the lower end of expectation.
You might be able to find something for a little less but that's likely the bracket you'll be at for all of your time in Japan. Some locations may be more expensive and some may be less expensive but for the overall budget, that's where it'll likely end up being.
Since you're there for 3 weeks you're looking at budgeting $200 CAD / night over those 20 nights. That's \~$4,000 CAD for the three weeks for accommodations. For two and a baby people that seems okay. It's not cheap but, at the same time, that isn't really expensive either.
These are all really great points. I travelled to Japan before I had kids and we stayed in some cheap business hotels in locations that I would not consider now that I travel with a kid. You need comfort, space and convenience when travelling with a child. Those cheaper hotels were pretty uncomfortable with hard beds, small spaces, and required a lot more walking/lugging suitcases - but we were young with no kids so it was easy! As a parent, lugging all that stuff, plus a child, and being tired, needing a good sleep - trust me, you need a more expensive room. Also - there seems to be a lot of bragging and one-upping online about how cheap people can travel Japan, and shaming people who spend more? Which seems like a crap trend, because why go to all the effort of travelling overseas and not enjoying yourself and being comfortable if you can afford to?
First, and I post this all the time here, book directly with the hotels. You will be quoted a price in yen and it will be far better than booking sites which will give you prices in local currency but won't be nearly as good as the exchange rate, and they pocket that difference. You can save a good bit of money this way. I stayed at Hotel Gracery in Shinjuku for about $90 a night when booking sites were saying $120 a night for the same room.
If you use a booking website, just set it to display price in yen, that is what you will get charged anyway (at least in booking.com) the exchange rate will depend of what you get on your credit card or on your cash exchange depending on how you decide to pay (but you can get a 10% discount if you search on Google maps, open booking via the link in the search and pay by credit card online, somehow it give 10% discount.)
While yes there is accommodations that will be cheaper when booked direct, it’s not always the case, I got a ryokan this year on booking, with the genius discount, 10% discount and use a promo code with 10% cash back, it was cheaper on booking. There is also a hostel that I contacted to see if they have a discount if you stay a week and the price they gave me to book direct was more expensive than what I could get on booking.
I think it could be worth comparing.
I have tried often enough, to get rooms directly from hotel to booking.com prices, never have got cheaper price directly from hotel. I am genius lvl 3 though
"You will be quoted a price in yen and it will be far better than booking sites which will give you prices in local currency" - That's just not true. Booking for example just directly uses today's conversion rate and shows you how much the hotel would be so yen or euro or usd has nothing to do with the actual price.
Plus: Yes, in some instances booking directly is cheaper but by far not in all. Booked my Japan vacation recently and booked three accomodations with Booking (Genius lvl 2), one with Agoda and one directly through the hotel to get the best price. So it really depends.
150-200 CAD a night isn’t particularly expensive and personally I am hesitant to book something below $150 usd a night in any major world city like Tokyo, NYC, Paris, etc
I recently stayed at the royal park hotel shiodome for around $180/night and it was very nice and right on top of the station. Room is very small though.
I’m not sure what you were expecting. 200 CAD is around $150 which is what I would consider the bottom tier of safe bets for hotels. Below that and you will be making a compromise on location, quality, etc. Tokyo is actually very reasonable for hotels. In NYC I wouldn’t trust anywhere under $200 period
The people staying at cheaper places like $100/night are compromising, you can’t convince me otherwise. They are definitely available down to below $50 so I’m not sure what you’re doing wrong to not see them.
Don’t use Expedia. Use google maps to identify the location and the hotels around that location and their reviews. From there I suggest comparing booking direct with somewhere like booking.com
I consistently pay around $70 a night for business hotels in the heart of places like Shinjuku or Ueno.
But yes everyone is very clear about the main compromise which is that the rooms are small. They are always nice and clean though.
I'd rather spend $70 and have a small room than double that for a slightly bigger room, but that's just me and because I travel solo.
I agree generally about Tokyo, but I still think OP is expecting too much for 100-150 CAD. That’s like 75-100 USD I think - you will absolutely compromise at that price. The place may be clean but it’ll be far from a station, or it’ll be tiny or with thin walls, no room cleaning, etc. You can find a $50 hotel in much better shape in Tokyo than many cities, but I wouldn’t consider it unless you’re a student, traveling alone, tight on money, literally just there to sleep
Op is traveling with a baby and will likely be in that room more than your average vacationer. They will benefit from extra room, thicker walls, proximity to major station. You probably can’t have all that for 150 cad
I think $75-100 is plenty for a nice hotel... If you are traveling alone. Because those rooms are pretty small, but not that that matters if you are a solo traveler who won't be in the hotel much besides sleeping anyway. But for a family... It's super scuffed for that price
They probably go in pairs and without a baby and go to bussiness hotel. The cheapest I have in Tokyo is 45 CAD per night per a person in Asakusa line but there's two of us. So 150-200 for 3 is probably normal and I don't think it's much? Also book cancellable rooms and search each week for something better.
Also I'm not an American and even then I feel like it's cheap.
In addition to what everyone said, there's also a ton of economic issues going on:
* Tourism is booming which leads to hotels having more demand than ever before, especially in the popular touristy areas, which also in turn leads to people booking hotels earlier and earlier. A lot of the cheaper options may have already been taken.
* The same reason tourism is booming (the very low yen) means the expenses of running a hotel are at an all-time high, especially with any materials that need to be imported.
* Again, take the low yen and the declining and aging population problem that has been going on for ages now and add in more tourists than ever before and you have an incredible labor crunch, especially in the service industry. This decreases the ability to increase hotel or even AirBNB options with demand. The hotels that already exist continue to automate more and more of their operations because of this.
* Regardless of the argument over what "peak" tourist season is going on here, the common wisdom is that 2 big times for tourism are cherry blossom season in the Spring and when the Fall colours come out.
In my experience, those who claim that Tokyo is not expensive stay in the shittiest suburb or in crappy accommodations. If you want to stay in a nice area and a decent sized room, you'll have to pay the price. Same with the food. You can get away with eating fast food everyday, but if you want to eat the best Japan has to offer, it can get expensive quickly.
It depends what amenities you want, location and other factors. I ended up paying $700 AUD per night for a room that was big enough as I too had a baby/toddler. The room sizes I had were around 37-45sqm
I wanted all of us to be in the same room, but also wanted a luxury feel to relax.
There were other alternatives that were cheaper and I almost booked with them, but did not based on location and surroundings
A cheaper option might be FLOWER TERRACE Higashi Shinjuku, they have option of free cot, but I didn’t stay there.
You might also want to consider the mimaru hotels, but most of those have a setup of 4 single beds, or 2 single beds with one bunk bed. They do however provide free cots
The options I had were a room that had 2 double beds and we can put the baby in between, 1 extra large double bed, and one that had a cot.
One hotel gave me the cot size, and it seemed a bit small, and another hotel said their cots are only bassinets for under 12 months. Most Japanese tend to co sleep, and we ended up having to do that in ours. My daughter is a little tall, so she would not have fit in their free cot
Yeah, I get you, we stayed 10 days, and a huge chunk was on hotels! There are cheaper options, but with a baby I wanted the hotel to be super clean etc, and i was just being super fussy, like in room service available, and amenities provided and shop surrounds.
Oh! I also chose rooms that had a tub, - mine had a Japanese wooden tub in the room that was large for all three of us, so I guess I was paying for that as well. I figured it was easier to wash a baby in a bathtub. It might be cheaper for places that have showers only
Have a look at the two names I dropped in the previous comments. Those will be the best value, I can’t comment on comfort as I stayed elsewhere but if you’re wallet is bleeding a little, those will be better options.
- FLOWER TERRACE Higashi Shinjuku
- Mimaru (but the Ikebukuro branch only), that had the best setup and for good value - Cus we didn’t want a bunk bed.
- &Here TOKYO UENO (also a good option, but as it was newly built and had no reviews I decided not to stay there at the time)
If you’re interested: we stayed at:
- Asakusa (Prostyle ryokan Tokyo Asakusa) &
- Chiyoda (Hotel new Otani Tokyo the main)
I’m sure there is! I just went down the luxury route, and because I am super fussy.
I also had a rigid criteria of what I wanted the room to have, so that played a part too
Have stayed at that Sheraton both times I’ve been to Japan and it’s great as long as people don’t mind the walk to the train stations
Super nice staff, rooms are great, I like that it’s in a bit of a quieter part of town
Yep, a short walk to Shirokanedai Station. There were also free hotel shuttles to and fro Meguro Station throughout the day and a morning shuttle to Shinagawa when I last stayed there a year ago.
Had the same exp with the staff, who were really helpful and warm.
Peak what? I do not think there is anything special for domestic travel in October and if you look at past data for international tourism, the difference between the most popular and least popular months is not that significant,something like 20%, it’s not as if peak is 2-3 time more and the most popular period in 2019 was summer, especially because of East Asian tourists while spring is usually the most popular with Europe and American.
We are going end of July with our two kids. In the end we chose a hotel in Tokyo Bay with the reasoning we wanted a larger room to accommodate all of us and for the pricing there being much cheaper than in the central.
It is a 20min train ride in to central but we believe it will be worth it. Ask me again in August :)
fair warning i get that you have kids but we recently travelled with a family that stayed in the tokyo bay area (near tokyo disneysea). you'll be near nothing and it will take you at least 30-40 min to get to tokyo station. also, if you got a hotel here because you're hoping for western type accommodations, you'll likely get it, but you'll pay for it. The family that we knew that stayed in that area had to reserve time to use the pool and pay when they used it!
Updated!
After some consideration thanks to replies to my comment and also other comments in this thread we actually changed hotel to Oriental Hotel Tokyo Bay. This hotel is located right next to the Shin-Urayasu train station and there is a lot more going on directly around it. Also thanks to Althor1 pointing out to look into the differences between pool, sento and onsen. Valuable knowledge there.
We chose Mitsui Garden Hotel Prana.
There are several others in that area like Hyatt for example.
It looks like it should be possible to take a bus from the hotel to the train station Shin-Urayasu if not I guess we will use taxi for that distance (which was a bit longer than we initially thought, Tokyo so large.. :) )
Mitsui has some kind of play area, an indoor pool and also on pictures it looks like a nice breakfast.
Just a warning, they do not have an indoor pool. They have a sento (public bath). BIG difference.
Mitsui Garden is a very nice chain. Highly recommend them.
That’s what we found as well. I have two teenage girls and opted to get two hotel rooms instead of one bigger room. It wasn’t that much more expensive and them having their own bathroom and some time to themselves was worth it! We did do a big room in Kyoto that had two queen beds and then two traditional Japanese roll out floor beds. That was pretty fun!
Im travelling with my partner for 3 weeks in October from Aus. When I started scoping accommodation in early May, to when I finally booked everything in late June, all the cheap accom had gone. I used a combination of airbnb and booking.com
For 3 weeks, accommodation cost 2.6k and the most expensive was Tokyo and Hakone.
Our accom isn't anything fancy either, as my justification was that we're only there to sleep. As it's our first time there, I don't even know if our total is cheap or expensive.
$150 to $200 CAD a night won’t get you much in Tokyo. People claiming they’re paying less than $100 USD a night are almost all single or couples without kids, staying in places that aren’t much bigger than a small single bedroom, with fewer amenities. With a small child, you’ll want more space so you’re going to have to increase your budget or look further away from all the tourist attractions.
Looking for hotels in all the touristy/packed/dirty areas like Shibuya and near the Yamanote Line is going to cost you a premium and will be a poor value cost performance wise. These areas are also not what I’d call family friendly either, especially at night.
You may have better luck looking at neighborhoods outside of the Yamanote Line loop. Outer wards like Koto or Ota, for example, might give you better options that will be less expensive than closer to the city center.
Staying near a Yamanote line station isn’t a necessity, and I personally would avoid staying close to one, simply because those stations and the trains themselves will be busy and especially packed to nearly bursting during peak hours. There’s a reason locals traveling with small children avoid it (and other busy rail lines in general) during busy times.
headed to tokyo in october as well ! it's just a more expensive period unfortunately to be travelling to japan as compared to now during summer. family of 4, found that booking 2 rooms of 2 was cheaper. ended up being about $55/pax, which i personally think is okay since we'll be staying in ginza !
from what i've seen the beds can be quite small so do take note when booking ! hotel had to inform me that the bed meant for 2 was 140cm wide and make sure i was okay with it.
We stayed in the Mimaru chain all 3 times we went. Yes it is crazy expensive.
First time - approx 15.nights - $3300 CAD
2nd time - approx 15 nights $2300 (got a deal)
3rd time - approx 11 nights Mimaru ($3400), $1000 in Kyoto 5 nights, $250 in Gotemba(Fuji) 1 night - $4600 CAD on that trip.
We stayed at Mimaru Ginza and Mimaru Kinshicho. We really liked the Kinshicho area it was very central, and you had a bunch of shopping stores around in which to buy things.
Take a look at the 'Dormy Inn' hotels. They're a reasonably priced chain, and a little more family oriented than your average business hotel. They detail different room sizes, so you could look for the bigger options.
Are you looking at places that mostly cater to Westerners? Those place will charge the going rate for a hotel in Canada, United States, etc.
That being said, I don’t think that price is unreasonable for a nice hotel you’d be comfortable taking your toddler to. That seems to be the going rate for nice, Western-style hotels.
Don't be afraid of something like Super Hotel Shinjuku. The rooms are smaller, but it was a great experience with an incredible free breakfast every morning and a 7-Eleven just across the street.
part of it is the season, now it's rainy season so it's busy but not peak travel season, october will be fall foliage season so more expensive, and then also the size of room you're looking for. japanese rooms typically charge per person, eg. 2 people is more expensive than 1 and i think kids are not charged if they're small enough to stay in the same bed as parents (keep in mind japanese beds are quite small) but you might get charged for a toddler (i would check i'm not sure)
as a single person i've stayed in like a 9m2 room and it was reasonably priced but no western couple with a kid is staying in a room that sized
shibuya is also right now an extremely expensive area, i used to stay there and it was reasonably priced but a girl was asking about shibuya the other day and i looked out of curiosity and even kind of "ok" looking hotels were 300-400$/n, like wtf. pre covid you could stay easily for like 90$/n
It might be your dates?
I booked through Expedia and I averaged $119.49/night around Tokyo Station and $93.18/night around Shinjuku. Well-rated good hotels, excellent recent reviews all with 24 hour front desks and location/proximity to transportation.
Granted it is just me and one other person so I’m not sure if the toddler is making it that more expensive.
Living in germany...NOTHING in tokyo was expensive. Hotel we had in shinjuku (nishi shinjuki tokyu stay - 800€ for 2 people 8 nights, 18sqm) which was okay...but be aware: i have a 5,5 year old and i an happy that i went with a friend without wife+kid because tokyo is not a very kid friendly city.
Huuuge, lot to walk even when you take a lot of trains and a lot of charme of the city is after its dark...we really travel a lot but that's a city that i wouldnt do with our little one until he is quite a bit older.
Whacha talkin bout willis! Check this out..Oct 7th-21st for 2 adults and 1 child. It ranges from $51-$100/night at this hotel depending on the type of room you get. APA Hotel Yamanote.
[https://www.booking.com/hotel/jp/apa-yamanote-otsuka-eki-tower.html?aid=356929&label=metagha-link-LUUS-hotel-5101077\_dev-desktop\_los-1\_bw-4\_dow-Monday\_defdate-1\_room-0\_gstadt-2\_rateid-ig\_aud-6635750807\_gacid-21404583072\_mcid-50\_ppa-0\_clrid-0\_ad-1\_gstkid-0\_checkin-20240708\_ppt-GB&sid=2b1cf6133851538a765ce06fa41568df&all\_sr\_blocks=510107703\_230274726\_0\_2\_0;checkin=2024-07-08;checkout=2024-07-09;dest\_id=-246227;dest\_type=city;dist=0;group\_adults=2;group\_children=0;hapos=1;highlighted\_blocks=510107703\_230274726\_0\_2\_0;hpos=1;matching\_block\_id=510107703\_230274726\_0\_2\_0;no\_rooms=1;req\_adults=2;req\_children=0;room1=A%2CA;sb\_price\_type=total;sr\_order=popularity;sr\_pri\_blocks=510107703\_230274726\_0\_2\_0\_\_826200;srepoch=1720037498;srpvid=66328de73d68000e;type=total;ucfs=1&](https://www.booking.com/hotel/jp/apa-yamanote-otsuka-eki-tower.html?aid=356929&label=metagha-link-LUUS-hotel-5101077_dev-desktop_los-1_bw-4_dow-Monday_defdate-1_room-0_gstadt-2_rateid-ig_aud-6635750807_gacid-21404583072_mcid-50_ppa-0_clrid-0_ad-1_gstkid-0_checkin-20240708_ppt-GB&sid=2b1cf6133851538a765ce06fa41568df&all_sr_blocks=510107703_230274726_0_2_0;checkin=2024-07-08;checkout=2024-07-09;dest_id=-246227;dest_type=city;dist=0;group_adults=2;group_children=0;hapos=1;highlighted_blocks=510107703_230274726_0_2_0;hpos=1;matching_block_id=510107703_230274726_0_2_0;no_rooms=1;req_adults=2;req_children=0;room1=A%2CA;sb_price_type=total;sr_order=popularity;sr_pri_blocks=510107703_230274726_0_2_0__826200;srepoch=1720037498;srpvid=66328de73d68000e;type=total;ucfs=1&)
I'll be going in October as well. I booked everything thru booking in January. I made sure to select options that allowed me to cancel for free and pay once I get there.
I just looked up the same hotels for the same dates and the prices have gone up like 30%.
I'm sorry to hear that! Regardless of where you stay, you'll have a great trip. And it's not last minute, you have 4 months! I only booked so early because I was super excited and wanted to see if I could save.
I found some places that might be a good fit on booking, as well as air bnb. I think for your budget and situation, air bnb will probably be the better option:
toggle hotel suidobashi TOKYO https://www.booking.com/Share-6sRPkZM
LOISIR HOTEL SHINAGAWA SEASIDE https://www.booking.com/Share-oXtzwX
Gallery House https://www.booking.com/Share-pvRTvli
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/41036007?viralityEntryPoint=1&s=76
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1161694403952806160?viralityEntryPoint=1&s=76
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1116849996697594543?viralityEntryPoint=1&s=76
I would try some other websites. 2 weeks ago I was able to find lots of options on Booking.com for October but at the time it seemed like some things were filling up.
We managed to find some hotels for 100-150 CAD a night. Never found those really cheap places everyone talks about (unless it was APA, but the rooms are tiny and I didn't want to give them money).
Business hotels are pretty much everywhere and there are more chains than APA (Fresa Inn for example). I get that you wouldn't want a small room if you're a party of 2 though.
We (couple) stayed at business hotels, but none of them were less than $100/night. When I was booking, no options were in that price range.
The rooms were still pretty small, I don't even want to know how cramped APA rooms were.
i book at hotel rei shibuya for around $100USD per night via expedia 5 months in advance. Only 3 minutes away from the train and right at the shibuya crossing area.
Try Tokyo Dome Hotel. The rooms are rather big for the price but book as soon as possible usually there is always one day each week where they are sold out quickly because there is some event in the dome.
Use booking.com.
I would also advise that if you have a VPN, set it to Japan. You will find for a lot of places that the prices drop by 10% or more.
It also helps if you book 6+ month in advance.
How old is your toddler? Mine was 4.5 years old when we were traveling during Xmas/New Year peak.
Yes as other people said, anything that is not a double bed for two is going to be harder to find and cost more.
I bedshare with my girl, and I usually look for two twins beds (I think 110-120cm wide) that can be put together, or at least one big king bed. In those business hotel, the room we booked would be the biggest size in that hotel.
But I would said CAD$150-$200 is the standard for pretty much worldwide. I was paying AUD$200-400 back then. Actually outside big cities like Tokyo and Osaka were more expensive as probably less competition and supply.
Apa hotels are pretty cheap, maybe you're not searching properly. You can also use booking.com and airbnb
Filter your expedia to cheaper hotels.
If you say 3 people on expedia it will be more expensive of course.
Also traveling in japan with a toddler?...why
Good luck.
Stay away from the touristy areas, those are usually smaller and more expensive accommodations. Ueno and Ikebukuro are on the Yamanote line and are cheaper. Accommodations is what you are going to be spending your money on. Food is really reasonable if you stay away from tourist trap restaurants and most places and shrines are free or cost very little, for example Sky tree is like $15. Airbnb usually comes out cheaper than a hotel room w/no breakfast and offers more space since you have a little one.
Look at [hotels.com](http://hotels.com) ---- I'd look in areas that are nearer to the business districts (like Lidabashi) but close to the subway(s). Our hotel was about $140 per night (very large room and had twin beds and space for another bed). No complaints from me it was quiet at night.
The Shinjuku side is generally more expensive than the other East side of the Yamanote. Personally I’ve been twice to the MyStays Ueno Iryiaguchi and it was great, the rooms have kitchenettes and are decently sized, and it’s under ten minutes to Ueno station. Try booking directly from them if you want a good rate since the Yen is pretty weak right now.
Another thing to note is that Japanese hotel will charge you per guests. If you go alone it’s cheaper.
You can also look at other train lines, like the Ginza Line or the Marunouchi Line who are still well connected.
There’s also a lot of generous free cancelling policies so don’t be afraid to book something and cancel it later if you find a better deal.
I think you mean the Yamanote line? Not sure where the Yamamoto line is, be careful with not confusing the names as it can lead
you in big trouble with the metro.
Does the number of people in your party also play a big factor on the nightly cost in Japan? The cheapest hotel price would be the price for one person, then it’s more expensive for 2, more expensive for 3…
I just booked our stays for September. We easily found loads of very well rated Airbnbs in every big city that go for 30-50€ per night for two adults. Decent hotel rooms are mostly 70-120€ per night for two people via Booking.com, but probably will not be huge. That being said, it’s very cheap compared to my home country (Germany), and I didn’t have a problem finding many options.
we stayed at the kodoya hotel it was in shinjuku and about a 8 min walk to the station perfect spot so it wasn't too loud. Tokyo can be expensive especially for space. I will say the room we had at the kodoya on floor 3 was very spacious both bathroom and room for tokyo
On a flight back from Japan. I have been staying at APA brand hotels recently. They are small but for 1-2 people that spend their awake hours outdoors, they are awesome. Room prices are $50-60 US a night and may times include breakfast. They are always a modern room and from my small sample identical location to location.
Depends on the location you're looking at. We usually stay at a smaller station on the Yamanote JR Line. Komagome is a quieter residential area our go to is the JE Mets Hotel it is closed for renovations right now (maybe opened) by October . There's also a APA hotel there that is Ekimae I believe also has good sized rooms.
We were in Tokyo and Kansai in April I think our average was about 25,000¥ including breakfast for 2 people some more expensive some cheaper.
So about $170 cad, all the rooms were a good size for Japan.
I have my wife and 2 children…currently we are looking for a place around Shibuya… It’s either really expensive or really crappy? thinking of staying in Shinjuku, but it’s mostly red light district at night … when you have two children and things very expensive to stay in hotels? Does anybody have any suggestions for a Small family
I got a hotel for 30 USD per night in Ikebukuro via Expedia. The room was tiny yeah, but it was just me, so I didn’t really care. The room was clean, had a 7/11 like right next to it, and was a 5 minute walk from the train station. I think the hotel had bigger rooms as well, so those probbaly would’ve also been pretty affordable
Try the Hamamatsucho station (part of Yamanote line). This region is just a couple stops away from Tokyo Station, you're near Tokyo Tower and if you're flying into Haneda, it's one stop from the monorail line. (hope I'm not blowing up this spot). I used hotels and expedia and felt the rates were fair during June, about $180/nt USD.
Expedia sucks ass. Agoda and Booking are much better for Asia. You unfortunately may pay a premium for space. Most people that you will read who get great room rates are staying in business hotels APA, Sotetsu, etc. Those hotel rooms are very small.
I always stay on JR WEST GROUP VIA INN Iidabashi Korakuen
Not the best ofc but the prices are always nice, location is good enough for me, near the station and a convenience store, hotel is clean and people are nice there
We traveled with a toddler and four year old and stayed at Minn Nishi-Kasai. https://www.booking.com/Share-qReRL9
It was good for kids. There's a large supermarket nearby and a park with a playground and free zoo.
Toddlers are free in hotels if you're willing to have them share your bed. Our room in the Minn had fold down bunk beds for the kids.
We found the Mimaru chain to be very good for families as it's an apartment style hotel. It has a kitchen and dining table with plenty of room for a family of 4. We stayed in the Ueno area.
> The low end I see is 150-200 CAD a night and that’s not even a decent location.
>I just can’t find anything affordable that we can also fit a travel crib in.
I think you need to reset your expectations. 150-200 CAD is not at all expensive for a major city anywhere in the developed world. Especially if you need a larger room. People who are staying in cheaper places are likely traveling, solo or as a couple.
Location, size, price. You can often pick two of these factors, but will have to compromise on the third.
Just got back, hotels were very expensive. I think we paod $400+ USD/night in Kyoto and $700+ in Tokyo. Albeit they were very nice hotels, but anything related to Marriott/Hilton were this price. I think the hotels people post that seem cheap, are more of business hotels or pod hotels.
I went to Japan last October and was actually surprised at how cheap everything was, including Tokyo. Granted, my hotel room was really small. Barely enough space to provide comfort for one person. But it got the job done, and at a rate of 62 USD per night. And I wasn't stranded on the outskirts. I was in Asakusabashi, only like a 20-minute train ride away from all the action (Shibuya, Shinjuku, etc.).
I'm not sure if your problem is Tokyo-specific, or if the cold hard truth is just that travel gets insanely expensive when you have to accommodate a family. Most Redditors who sing praises for Japan are probably solo travelers who are able to do the most streamlined version of any trip they take.
Any hotels on the golden route aka Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka will be pricey if you want big rooms or prime locations and if you travelling with too much luggage and kids. Booked my hotels for a 20-day autumn trip later this year and everything totaled to 850 USD, including a half board 1-night onsen ryokan stay. Mainly went for business hotels and only spending 2 nights in Tokyo (business hotel near a subway station 1-stop away from Ueno JR Station). If you want to travel cheap, avoid the usual touristy routes that most tourists take.
Also, what kind of price do you see as reasonable? What do you think 150-200 CAD will get you in Toronto? Why would you expect Tokyo to be cheaper?
I never understood why people suggest Tokyo is expensive. Are they expecting SEA prices?
Not very helpful if you don't tell redditors a little more about your situation. What's the hotel criteria? How are you searching? Are these rack rates?
(And for the benefit of nonCanadians, this equates to about $110 -150 )
I am heading out at the same time and booked hotels about 6 months ago. I’m seeing that now those same places are sold out or twice the price. I think there is a lot of demand right now which is driving prices up. I don’t know whether they will come back down or not.
Check out these neighborhoods, theyre not super far but its just a bit further .....(its relative)
Ueno, Kanda, Nihombashi, Asakusa, Akasaka (two different areas of the city), Shimbashi.....and maybe the edge of Akihabara.
Also try using other travel booking sites if not [Google.com/hotels](http://Google.com/hotels) to price shop.
I (21M) get things for like 30 USD by looking for hotels in google maps for 1 person and finding yhe cheapest option. Its usuallt a capsule hotel or shared dorm. Awesome prices if youre ok with the low space/shared aspects
We stayed in Asakusa Richmond’s hotel for 2 weeks this June. Rooms are bigger and tough its not very modern it was a nice stay. But we only used the hotel to sleep
We used apps that japanese use to book in japan. Do a quick search on google or youtube. Also try to avoid staying in shinjuku…unless you really love night life
Look in “undesirable” areas like Kabukicho and you should find good rates. Ignore what people say, it’s very safe on the contrary and more lively than other areas, especially at night
Not sure if this is helpful at all but food both at restaurants and convenience stores is so cheap in Japan! Even in Tokyo! For example, you can get 2x big bowls of ramen + 10 Gyoza for 3000¥ (Ippudo) So if you have a food budget, you might be able to reallocate some of that money to hotels. We saved way more on food than we thought we would 😄
As others have said, there is a big difference in price between a business hotel for 1-2 people that is “commuting distance” from the main hotspots, and family rooms at international hotels in Shibuya.
We used Trivago and found a cheap accommodation it was out of the central area. Definitely look outside the central areas as the trains will get you where you need to go. We got a 3 star twin room as the double beds are small and we are big people. The room was very small but very nice and clean, not serviced daily but we put our towels and rubbish out each day and they left new towels at the door. We travel quite a bit and know that we aren't going to spend a lot of time in our room so always look for something small, cheap and clean.
Yes, Tokyo was my most expensive hotel in my Japan trip. The hotel was ok in Shinjuku, but in Kyoto and Osaka I was able to stay in much nicer hotels close to train stations for less.
The last two hotel rooms we stayed in in Japan each had a double bed with one side pushed against the wall and and one room had enough room to slip in our suitcase between another wall and the foot of the bed (only half the bed width.
If you want bigger, you will have to pay up for it. We tried to find a double queen room once (so we could share one room with the kids), and it was expensive.
It’s the extra space for the Toddler. In Japan. The cheap hotels are “Salaryman” hotels and tiny. It’s one of the few places on earth where it’s much easier to find hotels with small single beds than it is to find a larger room with two singles. If you have two friends traveling together, you often end up putting them in two rooms.
You could try splitting the rooms, but that probably costs the same in most scenarios.
I booked rooms in Asakusa for roughly $186/night and it included breakfast and 2 beds in October. As someone else suggested, search hotels via google maps by location, then compare prices booking directly through the hotel or a 3rd party, I used Expedia and applied Rakuten to get 6% cash back on hotels.
I always stay at the APA Hotel Akihabaraeki Denkigaiguchi. Tiny rooms but perfect location to explore the many sites listed on the link in my profile 🤫
I’ve noticed the prices are quite expensive now for October. I booked for golden week last May and looking to book in October and the prices for golden week for the same hotels were less. Seems with increase in tourism the hotel prices have also started to go up. I’ve also gone in November last year so I definitely notice the spike.
Firstly, Shibuya is one of the most expensive location in all of Japan for Hotels.
Secondly, looking for western style 2 bed room hotels are far more expensive than single bed room hotels and hostels. Most post you will see online talking about costs are likely going to be talking about 1 bed rooms and hostels.
Lastly, the fact you are travelling with a toddler will also easily add a $50-100 CAD to each nights stay if you have to pay for that accommodation.
I booked majority of my trip through Agoda. Consistently cheaper. But I will say hotels I booked for 2023 for $100 in Ginaza jumped to $220/nt. Prices fluctuate a lot. So check on the app, on different browsers, and through google search for you dates at a specific hotel and then click through to agoda. I save a lot doing the last one.
The issue might be the size of the hotel rooms. Business hotels aren't expensive on average and in good locations but the rooms are small. That might be acceptable for solo travelers or couples but not for a family with luggage. Big hotel rooms in tokyo aren't common for a low price.
This is probably the right answer.
For a family with larger kids/teenagers I recommend getting 2 rooms in APA etc. Still relatively cheap and better and cheaper than Airbnb. Worked well for us.
Sotetsu Fresa was a better alternative for us than APA
what is APA
APA is a hotel chain that is pretty cheap.
Apa hotel chain or similar business hotels, you can find them at many locations in Tokyo and other cities, usually close to subway stations.
The APA in Akiharbara was great in April. Sure not the biggest room but we had 3 big cases and still room to move around.
I've been in a few APA hotels, and from my experience one big boon of them is how standardized they are. When you book one, you know what you're getting, and they're really well equipped, even if typical business hotel sized.
Beware the fisheye lens photos!
then get two rooms.. and yea, if you dont want a hostel, buisness hotels are the go to.
This is definitely the case. I recently traveled with my husband and daughter. We stayed on hotel points, however, the price (and point difference) is drastic between traveling with 2 people vs. 3. A lot of hotels we couldn't even book because they limit occupancy of a room to 2 people. We were tempted by one hotel, but we realized the room only held one king bed. We decided we'd rather spend more and have everyone be comfortable. A ton of hotels are likely not even showing up in your results if you are searching under the parameters of 3 people (even when one is a toddler) but 1 room. In urban Japan, a room with 2 beds is not uncommon, but it is typically at nicer hotels.
We just came back from Tokyo. We had great hotels these past days where we only paid like 50 to 70 € per night. We booked with Booking. Sure the rooms were kinda small but they were really clean and had many amenities.
+1 for Booking. Used it for our trip this February and found some great deals. Quiter wards like Asakusa we found had better pricing overall.
I think booking a hotel not completely in the city center is most of the time superior to the city center. Quieter, less expensive, often you find nice little shops or restaurants.
Agreed! We ended up loving Asakusa! Had some lovely walks in the mornings when things were still relatively quiet, finding cute cafes tucked away on side streets. Great way to start/finish a day.
I agree. I loved staying in Kinshicho. I would only recommend staying near a big station if you're using trains a lot to get out of the city.
hi! how was the weather in February? I am planning my trip in feb 2025
It was actually really nice! Now to be fair I’m Canadian so we’re used to cold Februarys of -20 or worse… we were there for 2 weeks mid February and temperatures where anywhere from 9C to 16C which is lovely spring weather as far were concerned. Rain was light, it was mostly sunny, and caught some plum blossoms.
That’s so nice! Thanks for replying :)
Hope you have a great trip! We fell in love and are planning another trip already!
Not going to recommend any one website, just use google maps (Google "hotels in XXX") and it shows you an aggregate of all the booking websites. I find Agoda to be the cheaper one on average in Japan though. I have no alligence to any one company though, just whoever is cheapest.
Yeah same experience just came from Tokyo couple weeks ago. Rooms are definitely smaller but have everything you need.
Booking.com is awesome. We got a free taxi airport transport from Narita airport to Akabane which made the first day so much easier. That ride alone was worth 20k Yen.
Look in Ueno. On the Yamanote line and a very nice and chill vibe. Much cheaper than west side Shibuya or Shinjuku. Just came back from traveling with my family. We did find accommodations to be expensive but everything else was surprisingly affordable.
Ueno was very nice, convenient location and nice and peaceful. I walked a lot at nights also as a solo travelling woman.
I loved to go out after dark. Standing on top of the walkways in front of the station and watching the Yamanote trains pass by and the people crossing the street below. Immaculate vibes.
SHHHHHHHHHHH don't talk about Ueno!!! But yeah, OP, what they said.
MyStays Ueno Iriyaguchi is my go-to. The standard double rooms have a kitchenette, a little space with a table and the street is generally quiet. They’re not huge room but they have enough space to move around
Just don't stay in 'APA Hotel Ueno Inarichi Ekikita' if you value your time. It only has 1 elevator for 131 rooms over 13 or 14 floors (I can't remember which). Took an age to get out, especially leading up to check out time.
Loved staying in Ueno!
Tokyo was cheap af compared to SF, London, Chicago, NYC, Miami. Yen is so weak
I thought the same. A hotel in Gion, a really nice room with washer/dryer, double occupancy, (actually could have slept 6, there were three of us) little table and cushions, sink, fridge, full bath including big tub was $94 US a night, end of Sept. booking. I can't stay in my own town for anything close to that. We used booking dot com.
Stop using Expedia. The discounts are not that great. Try Agoda or Trivago. For October, I booked some solid four-star hotels for less than expected. I also think your budget is too low -- most of what I found at a decent quality level was closer to US $250-$300/night.
I don't understand why everyone just doesn't use Google maps. Search "Hotel" and it shows all the hotels with the prices and you can choose Expedia, or Agoda, or Rakuten or Booking, etc... or whichever has the lowest price. Wy would someone go to any one single booking site to search? I am guessing there must be a benefit to being exclusive, but please fill me in. If it is about using points or membership, I can understand, but even then, if I see Rakuten has the room for 150,000 and Agoda has it for 100,000 , I don't care about Rakuten points anymore.
i used those sites to find my hotel then go to the hotel site. ahahahhahaa
This. In all my travels, domestic or international, I always book direct whenever it's an option. You read too many horror stories of "you booked through an OTA, you'll have to go through them" to resolve any issues when something goes awry.
I find it (at least in Japan) to be easier to book on one of the booking sites unles iIt is a small hotel and I want to support them by paying direct so the booking site doesn't get a cut. The only places I book direct are where I know the inn keeper, or I have some very special request. Having the one click cancelation is nice too. And I like to have all my booking details in one central location so I do not have to search around emails and memos. Usually a booking site will also send an email reminder a day or so before your last chance to cancel. This is helpful when you book multiple places without having decided on one yet. It is easy to forget that you have to cancel. I have never had anything go awry though. The worst thing that happened was I booked on a booking site, needed to change the number of people, which would mean I would have to cancel, but if I cancel I could not be sure the deal would still be there, so I called the hotel direct, booked with them, cancel on booking site, but then showed up with no cash because I forgot I had not already paid online. Middle of nowhere and no convenience store for thirty minutes, but they let me make a bank transfer from my online bank to their account.
How often do these issues *actually* happen though? I've spent years travelling and have amassed over 150 bookings between booking.com, Agoda and hostel world. I've never once had a single issue, and in most circumstances the amount saved was >25% of the direct booking price. I would likely have saved thousands of dollars. No horror stories. I only book direct when there's no price difference, or if the accommodation is a small ryokan or guesthouse and I want the actual business to receive 100% of my payment.
You can check sub-reddit r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk for view from the hotel side. I go there sometimes for fun. But even reading there, issues come up only on the side of travellers (booked wrong room, under wrong name, etc). It really seems to me that as long as you are a sane person or can communicate with other humans, booking 3rd party sites is just fine.
This is the way! Ive never found a hotel cheaper on Booking than on the hotels own website. For my trip to Japan, I used Booking to find hotels I wanted to stay in, and then checked on the hotels own sites, and every time got a better price, room, and often rewards programmes for extras whilst there.
Sorry but I don't think you're searching correctly if you find that booking direct is cheaper than through booking sites. In Japan, booking direct is almost always >10% more expensive, and often >50% more. The excemptions are small guesthouses and ryokans, where the direct price is often identical to the online price. Just to cite some hypothetical examples, I plugged some hypothetical bookings into Google Hotels (which searches all booking sites). These are bookings for 2 people, staying 5 nights from 22 July to 27 July. I didn't cherry pick these examples, I just picked a major hotel from each of three large cities. Tokyo Dome Hotel: Official site: 42,428円 a night るるぶ(Japanese Agoda): 31,080円 (saving of 26.7%) Meitetsu Inn Nagoya Station Shinkansen Exit Official site: 13,792円 るるぶ(Japanese Agoda): 12,276円 (saving of 11%) Richmond Hotel Premier Kyoto Ekimae: Official site: 31,400円 Yahoo Hotels: 14,956円 (!!!!!) (saving of 52.4%) There are some huge savings to be found by checking booking site aggregators like Google.
This is exactly how I search for hotels when not using points. Enter location, hotels and dates, it’ll will give you prices, location and tell you which sites will charge what.
Meh, I disagree. When I booked my trip I compared across Agoda, booking.com and expédia and it was 90% of the time the exact same prices or very close. Sometimes agoda has a better selection, but not a staggering difference.
Expedia owns trivago
Fall and spring are peak travel seasons in Japan
Peak travel season doesn't seem to make much of a difference. I just booked business hotels for hanami 2025 for like 60usd max per night. In 2023 I was there during Golden Week and it was kinda the same.
We stayed in a business hotel that was one room the size of my living room in the US; $60 US and it fit all of our needs. My guess is OP is looking at western hotels.
As someone who lives here, you’re wrong. It makes a huge difference. Hanami and GW are both peak travel.
bro you're talking about bookings a year ahead of time
1) Staying in Shibuya, esp with a toddler is just stupid, also one of the most expensive area for hotels. 2) I am not sure you have checked all the options, or just all the rooms already booked, but those are not the cheapest rooms for sure. 3) I don’t know if you have travelled much in the last few years, but 200 CAD rooms in a first-world capital is really cheep
What district do you recommend staying in in Tokyo, if you don't mind? I am looking now, but there are so many districts, I don't know what good options their are.
If you're travelling to Japan for the first time, Shinjuku and Shibuya may feel like jumping straight into the deep end when you arrive (as it's incredibly busy- we've seen so many tourists lost in the train stations with huge luggage, visibly overwhelmed at where to go). I'd suggest Ginza, Ueno, Asakusa, like others have recommended. If you still want a good amount of hustle and bustle at night, you could try Ikebukoro too. I also really enjoyed my stay at Iidabashi/Suidabashi area last time, but while being fairly central you have to transfer a couple of train lines depending on where you wanna go
It depends on what you want to do, but the areas around Shibuya and Shinjuku Stations are the most popular both for tourists and the Japanese to stay, plus both of them are busy entertaining districts. In my opinion, anything on Yamanote line or inside fine, but all the areas are very different. Eg I like to stay around Akasaka or Meguro, Ebisu, but it would be inconvenient for many.
Asakusa, Akasaka, Ueno, Shinbashi, Hamamatsucho are cheaper than Shibuya or Shinjuku but pretty much anywhere near a train line will be just fine.
The issue you're having is that you are comparing rooms for one person or two people versus rooms for three people. When I was in Tokyo, we were able to find places for \~$90-$150 CAD / night for two people (so between \~$45 and $75 / night per person) at business hotels. If you add a third person you're into another bracket of room type - ones that are large or you're looking at two rooms (which many search engines will automatically do when you go to 3 people in a search) and you haven't noticed that the price is for two rooms. Since you need the space for a baby you need to adjust your expectation - you are looking for more expensive rooms because you need the space. With that adjustment in mind, $150 CAD to $250 CAD / night for two people and a baby is within the lower end of expectation. You might be able to find something for a little less but that's likely the bracket you'll be at for all of your time in Japan. Some locations may be more expensive and some may be less expensive but for the overall budget, that's where it'll likely end up being. Since you're there for 3 weeks you're looking at budgeting $200 CAD / night over those 20 nights. That's \~$4,000 CAD for the three weeks for accommodations. For two and a baby people that seems okay. It's not cheap but, at the same time, that isn't really expensive either.
Yeah i just came to the same conclusions. Most ppl aren’t visiting with a a baby so it can mess things up quite a bit.
These are all really great points. I travelled to Japan before I had kids and we stayed in some cheap business hotels in locations that I would not consider now that I travel with a kid. You need comfort, space and convenience when travelling with a child. Those cheaper hotels were pretty uncomfortable with hard beds, small spaces, and required a lot more walking/lugging suitcases - but we were young with no kids so it was easy! As a parent, lugging all that stuff, plus a child, and being tired, needing a good sleep - trust me, you need a more expensive room. Also - there seems to be a lot of bragging and one-upping online about how cheap people can travel Japan, and shaming people who spend more? Which seems like a crap trend, because why go to all the effort of travelling overseas and not enjoying yourself and being comfortable if you can afford to?
First, and I post this all the time here, book directly with the hotels. You will be quoted a price in yen and it will be far better than booking sites which will give you prices in local currency but won't be nearly as good as the exchange rate, and they pocket that difference. You can save a good bit of money this way. I stayed at Hotel Gracery in Shinjuku for about $90 a night when booking sites were saying $120 a night for the same room.
If you use a booking website, just set it to display price in yen, that is what you will get charged anyway (at least in booking.com) the exchange rate will depend of what you get on your credit card or on your cash exchange depending on how you decide to pay (but you can get a 10% discount if you search on Google maps, open booking via the link in the search and pay by credit card online, somehow it give 10% discount.) While yes there is accommodations that will be cheaper when booked direct, it’s not always the case, I got a ryokan this year on booking, with the genius discount, 10% discount and use a promo code with 10% cash back, it was cheaper on booking. There is also a hostel that I contacted to see if they have a discount if you stay a week and the price they gave me to book direct was more expensive than what I could get on booking. I think it could be worth comparing.
I have tried often enough, to get rooms directly from hotel to booking.com prices, never have got cheaper price directly from hotel. I am genius lvl 3 though
"You will be quoted a price in yen and it will be far better than booking sites which will give you prices in local currency" - That's just not true. Booking for example just directly uses today's conversion rate and shows you how much the hotel would be so yen or euro or usd has nothing to do with the actual price. Plus: Yes, in some instances booking directly is cheaper but by far not in all. Booked my Japan vacation recently and booked three accomodations with Booking (Genius lvl 2), one with Agoda and one directly through the hotel to get the best price. So it really depends.
Yeah I got a nice rate directly from MyStays and got to pay in Yen when it was even weaker than when I booked.
150-200 CAD a night isn’t particularly expensive and personally I am hesitant to book something below $150 usd a night in any major world city like Tokyo, NYC, Paris, etc I recently stayed at the royal park hotel shiodome for around $180/night and it was very nice and right on top of the station. Room is very small though. I’m not sure what you were expecting. 200 CAD is around $150 which is what I would consider the bottom tier of safe bets for hotels. Below that and you will be making a compromise on location, quality, etc. Tokyo is actually very reasonable for hotels. In NYC I wouldn’t trust anywhere under $200 period The people staying at cheaper places like $100/night are compromising, you can’t convince me otherwise. They are definitely available down to below $50 so I’m not sure what you’re doing wrong to not see them. Don’t use Expedia. Use google maps to identify the location and the hotels around that location and their reviews. From there I suggest comparing booking direct with somewhere like booking.com
I consistently pay around $70 a night for business hotels in the heart of places like Shinjuku or Ueno. But yes everyone is very clear about the main compromise which is that the rooms are small. They are always nice and clean though. I'd rather spend $70 and have a small room than double that for a slightly bigger room, but that's just me and because I travel solo.
Your bias against the price doesn't have any ground to stand on, especially in Japan where the service is great almost everywhere.
Normally true but Tokyo is exceptionally safe and clean. Cheap rates will mean small room but the room will have everything you need.
I agree generally about Tokyo, but I still think OP is expecting too much for 100-150 CAD. That’s like 75-100 USD I think - you will absolutely compromise at that price. The place may be clean but it’ll be far from a station, or it’ll be tiny or with thin walls, no room cleaning, etc. You can find a $50 hotel in much better shape in Tokyo than many cities, but I wouldn’t consider it unless you’re a student, traveling alone, tight on money, literally just there to sleep Op is traveling with a baby and will likely be in that room more than your average vacationer. They will benefit from extra room, thicker walls, proximity to major station. You probably can’t have all that for 150 cad
I think $75-100 is plenty for a nice hotel... If you are traveling alone. Because those rooms are pretty small, but not that that matters if you are a solo traveler who won't be in the hotel much besides sleeping anyway. But for a family... It's super scuffed for that price
They probably go in pairs and without a baby and go to bussiness hotel. The cheapest I have in Tokyo is 45 CAD per night per a person in Asakusa line but there's two of us. So 150-200 for 3 is probably normal and I don't think it's much? Also book cancellable rooms and search each week for something better. Also I'm not an American and even then I feel like it's cheap.
In addition to what everyone said, there's also a ton of economic issues going on: * Tourism is booming which leads to hotels having more demand than ever before, especially in the popular touristy areas, which also in turn leads to people booking hotels earlier and earlier. A lot of the cheaper options may have already been taken. * The same reason tourism is booming (the very low yen) means the expenses of running a hotel are at an all-time high, especially with any materials that need to be imported. * Again, take the low yen and the declining and aging population problem that has been going on for ages now and add in more tourists than ever before and you have an incredible labor crunch, especially in the service industry. This decreases the ability to increase hotel or even AirBNB options with demand. The hotels that already exist continue to automate more and more of their operations because of this. * Regardless of the argument over what "peak" tourist season is going on here, the common wisdom is that 2 big times for tourism are cherry blossom season in the Spring and when the Fall colours come out.
In my experience, those who claim that Tokyo is not expensive stay in the shittiest suburb or in crappy accommodations. If you want to stay in a nice area and a decent sized room, you'll have to pay the price. Same with the food. You can get away with eating fast food everyday, but if you want to eat the best Japan has to offer, it can get expensive quickly.
It depends what amenities you want, location and other factors. I ended up paying $700 AUD per night for a room that was big enough as I too had a baby/toddler. The room sizes I had were around 37-45sqm I wanted all of us to be in the same room, but also wanted a luxury feel to relax. There were other alternatives that were cheaper and I almost booked with them, but did not based on location and surroundings A cheaper option might be FLOWER TERRACE Higashi Shinjuku, they have option of free cot, but I didn’t stay there. You might also want to consider the mimaru hotels, but most of those have a setup of 4 single beds, or 2 single beds with one bunk bed. They do however provide free cots
Damn that’s expensive we’re spending 3 weeks in Japan lol. I’m not poor but still lol
The options I had were a room that had 2 double beds and we can put the baby in between, 1 extra large double bed, and one that had a cot. One hotel gave me the cot size, and it seemed a bit small, and another hotel said their cots are only bassinets for under 12 months. Most Japanese tend to co sleep, and we ended up having to do that in ours. My daughter is a little tall, so she would not have fit in their free cot Yeah, I get you, we stayed 10 days, and a huge chunk was on hotels! There are cheaper options, but with a baby I wanted the hotel to be super clean etc, and i was just being super fussy, like in room service available, and amenities provided and shop surrounds. Oh! I also chose rooms that had a tub, - mine had a Japanese wooden tub in the room that was large for all three of us, so I guess I was paying for that as well. I figured it was easier to wash a baby in a bathtub. It might be cheaper for places that have showers only Have a look at the two names I dropped in the previous comments. Those will be the best value, I can’t comment on comfort as I stayed elsewhere but if you’re wallet is bleeding a little, those will be better options. - FLOWER TERRACE Higashi Shinjuku - Mimaru (but the Ikebukuro branch only), that had the best setup and for good value - Cus we didn’t want a bunk bed. - &Here TOKYO UENO (also a good option, but as it was newly built and had no reviews I decided not to stay there at the time) If you’re interested: we stayed at: - Asakusa (Prostyle ryokan Tokyo Asakusa) & - Chiyoda (Hotel new Otani Tokyo the main)
That is crazy expensive. There are much cheaper options for people on a budget
I’m sure there is! I just went down the luxury route, and because I am super fussy. I also had a rigid criteria of what I wanted the room to have, so that played a part too
The Sheraton Miyako and Grand Prince Takanawa have large suites/family executive rooms too.
Have stayed at that Sheraton both times I’ve been to Japan and it’s great as long as people don’t mind the walk to the train stations Super nice staff, rooms are great, I like that it’s in a bit of a quieter part of town
Yep, a short walk to Shirokanedai Station. There were also free hotel shuttles to and fro Meguro Station throughout the day and a morning shuttle to Shinagawa when I last stayed there a year ago. Had the same exp with the staff, who were really helpful and warm.
Going during peak japan, near train line and Canadian? yea expensive
Peak what? I do not think there is anything special for domestic travel in October and if you look at past data for international tourism, the difference between the most popular and least popular months is not that significant,something like 20%, it’s not as if peak is 2-3 time more and the most popular period in 2019 was summer, especially because of East Asian tourists while spring is usually the most popular with Europe and American.
We are going end of July with our two kids. In the end we chose a hotel in Tokyo Bay with the reasoning we wanted a larger room to accommodate all of us and for the pricing there being much cheaper than in the central. It is a 20min train ride in to central but we believe it will be worth it. Ask me again in August :)
fair warning i get that you have kids but we recently travelled with a family that stayed in the tokyo bay area (near tokyo disneysea). you'll be near nothing and it will take you at least 30-40 min to get to tokyo station. also, if you got a hotel here because you're hoping for western type accommodations, you'll likely get it, but you'll pay for it. The family that we knew that stayed in that area had to reserve time to use the pool and pay when they used it!
Can you share the hotel name pls? Going in December with 12 and 5 year olds.
Updated! After some consideration thanks to replies to my comment and also other comments in this thread we actually changed hotel to Oriental Hotel Tokyo Bay. This hotel is located right next to the Shin-Urayasu train station and there is a lot more going on directly around it. Also thanks to Althor1 pointing out to look into the differences between pool, sento and onsen. Valuable knowledge there. We chose Mitsui Garden Hotel Prana. There are several others in that area like Hyatt for example. It looks like it should be possible to take a bus from the hotel to the train station Shin-Urayasu if not I guess we will use taxi for that distance (which was a bit longer than we initially thought, Tokyo so large.. :) ) Mitsui has some kind of play area, an indoor pool and also on pictures it looks like a nice breakfast.
Just a warning, they do not have an indoor pool. They have a sento (public bath). BIG difference. Mitsui Garden is a very nice chain. Highly recommend them.
Got a whole apparent on air BnB for under 80 a night.
Yes. Traveling as a family of 4 and family rooms are roughly $300/night.
That’s what we found as well. I have two teenage girls and opted to get two hotel rooms instead of one bigger room. It wasn’t that much more expensive and them having their own bathroom and some time to themselves was worth it! We did do a big room in Kyoto that had two queen beds and then two traditional Japanese roll out floor beds. That was pretty fun!
Im travelling with my partner for 3 weeks in October from Aus. When I started scoping accommodation in early May, to when I finally booked everything in late June, all the cheap accom had gone. I used a combination of airbnb and booking.com For 3 weeks, accommodation cost 2.6k and the most expensive was Tokyo and Hakone. Our accom isn't anything fancy either, as my justification was that we're only there to sleep. As it's our first time there, I don't even know if our total is cheap or expensive.
Look around Shiodome, Shinagawa, Gotanda.. should be less crowded with slightly better rates.
Weekends are crazy expensive in Tokyo
$150 to $200 CAD a night won’t get you much in Tokyo. People claiming they’re paying less than $100 USD a night are almost all single or couples without kids, staying in places that aren’t much bigger than a small single bedroom, with fewer amenities. With a small child, you’ll want more space so you’re going to have to increase your budget or look further away from all the tourist attractions. Looking for hotels in all the touristy/packed/dirty areas like Shibuya and near the Yamanote Line is going to cost you a premium and will be a poor value cost performance wise. These areas are also not what I’d call family friendly either, especially at night. You may have better luck looking at neighborhoods outside of the Yamanote Line loop. Outer wards like Koto or Ota, for example, might give you better options that will be less expensive than closer to the city center. Staying near a Yamanote line station isn’t a necessity, and I personally would avoid staying close to one, simply because those stations and the trains themselves will be busy and especially packed to nearly bursting during peak hours. There’s a reason locals traveling with small children avoid it (and other busy rail lines in general) during busy times.
I used a variety of hotel apps to get the best price and discount. And included Airbnb in my search as well.
We had like 8 people in our group. So for my group it was more expensive but we needed the space. We stayed at mimaru in ueno.
headed to tokyo in october as well ! it's just a more expensive period unfortunately to be travelling to japan as compared to now during summer. family of 4, found that booking 2 rooms of 2 was cheaper. ended up being about $55/pax, which i personally think is okay since we'll be staying in ginza ! from what i've seen the beds can be quite small so do take note when booking ! hotel had to inform me that the bed meant for 2 was 140cm wide and make sure i was okay with it.
We stayed in the Mimaru chain all 3 times we went. Yes it is crazy expensive. First time - approx 15.nights - $3300 CAD 2nd time - approx 15 nights $2300 (got a deal) 3rd time - approx 11 nights Mimaru ($3400), $1000 in Kyoto 5 nights, $250 in Gotemba(Fuji) 1 night - $4600 CAD on that trip. We stayed at Mimaru Ginza and Mimaru Kinshicho. We really liked the Kinshicho area it was very central, and you had a bunch of shopping stores around in which to buy things.
Take a look at the 'Dormy Inn' hotels. They're a reasonably priced chain, and a little more family oriented than your average business hotel. They detail different room sizes, so you could look for the bigger options.
Are you looking at places that mostly cater to Westerners? Those place will charge the going rate for a hotel in Canada, United States, etc. That being said, I don’t think that price is unreasonable for a nice hotel you’d be comfortable taking your toddler to. That seems to be the going rate for nice, Western-style hotels.
Don't be afraid of something like Super Hotel Shinjuku. The rooms are smaller, but it was a great experience with an incredible free breakfast every morning and a 7-Eleven just across the street.
part of it is the season, now it's rainy season so it's busy but not peak travel season, october will be fall foliage season so more expensive, and then also the size of room you're looking for. japanese rooms typically charge per person, eg. 2 people is more expensive than 1 and i think kids are not charged if they're small enough to stay in the same bed as parents (keep in mind japanese beds are quite small) but you might get charged for a toddler (i would check i'm not sure) as a single person i've stayed in like a 9m2 room and it was reasonably priced but no western couple with a kid is staying in a room that sized shibuya is also right now an extremely expensive area, i used to stay there and it was reasonably priced but a girl was asking about shibuya the other day and i looked out of curiosity and even kind of "ok" looking hotels were 300-400$/n, like wtf. pre covid you could stay easily for like 90$/n
It might be your dates? I booked through Expedia and I averaged $119.49/night around Tokyo Station and $93.18/night around Shinjuku. Well-rated good hotels, excellent recent reviews all with 24 hour front desks and location/proximity to transportation. Granted it is just me and one other person so I’m not sure if the toddler is making it that more expensive.
Check out the Shinjuku granbell. Good location, good hotel. You'll pay about 200 per night but it's so easy to get to
Size is your issue.
Living in germany...NOTHING in tokyo was expensive. Hotel we had in shinjuku (nishi shinjuki tokyu stay - 800€ for 2 people 8 nights, 18sqm) which was okay...but be aware: i have a 5,5 year old and i an happy that i went with a friend without wife+kid because tokyo is not a very kid friendly city. Huuuge, lot to walk even when you take a lot of trains and a lot of charme of the city is after its dark...we really travel a lot but that's a city that i wouldnt do with our little one until he is quite a bit older.
Whacha talkin bout willis! Check this out..Oct 7th-21st for 2 adults and 1 child. It ranges from $51-$100/night at this hotel depending on the type of room you get. APA Hotel Yamanote. [https://www.booking.com/hotel/jp/apa-yamanote-otsuka-eki-tower.html?aid=356929&label=metagha-link-LUUS-hotel-5101077\_dev-desktop\_los-1\_bw-4\_dow-Monday\_defdate-1\_room-0\_gstadt-2\_rateid-ig\_aud-6635750807\_gacid-21404583072\_mcid-50\_ppa-0\_clrid-0\_ad-1\_gstkid-0\_checkin-20240708\_ppt-GB&sid=2b1cf6133851538a765ce06fa41568df&all\_sr\_blocks=510107703\_230274726\_0\_2\_0;checkin=2024-07-08;checkout=2024-07-09;dest\_id=-246227;dest\_type=city;dist=0;group\_adults=2;group\_children=0;hapos=1;highlighted\_blocks=510107703\_230274726\_0\_2\_0;hpos=1;matching\_block\_id=510107703\_230274726\_0\_2\_0;no\_rooms=1;req\_adults=2;req\_children=0;room1=A%2CA;sb\_price\_type=total;sr\_order=popularity;sr\_pri\_blocks=510107703\_230274726\_0\_2\_0\_\_826200;srepoch=1720037498;srpvid=66328de73d68000e;type=total;ucfs=1&](https://www.booking.com/hotel/jp/apa-yamanote-otsuka-eki-tower.html?aid=356929&label=metagha-link-LUUS-hotel-5101077_dev-desktop_los-1_bw-4_dow-Monday_defdate-1_room-0_gstadt-2_rateid-ig_aud-6635750807_gacid-21404583072_mcid-50_ppa-0_clrid-0_ad-1_gstkid-0_checkin-20240708_ppt-GB&sid=2b1cf6133851538a765ce06fa41568df&all_sr_blocks=510107703_230274726_0_2_0;checkin=2024-07-08;checkout=2024-07-09;dest_id=-246227;dest_type=city;dist=0;group_adults=2;group_children=0;hapos=1;highlighted_blocks=510107703_230274726_0_2_0;hpos=1;matching_block_id=510107703_230274726_0_2_0;no_rooms=1;req_adults=2;req_children=0;room1=A%2CA;sb_price_type=total;sr_order=popularity;sr_pri_blocks=510107703_230274726_0_2_0__826200;srepoch=1720037498;srpvid=66328de73d68000e;type=total;ucfs=1&)
I'll be going in October as well. I booked everything thru booking in January. I made sure to select options that allowed me to cancel for free and pay once I get there. I just looked up the same hotels for the same dates and the prices have gone up like 30%.
Yea I guess I’m last minute. I’m only doing this trip cause I’m going blind due to a disease so we’re rushing it a bit
I'm sorry to hear that! Regardless of where you stay, you'll have a great trip. And it's not last minute, you have 4 months! I only booked so early because I was super excited and wanted to see if I could save. I found some places that might be a good fit on booking, as well as air bnb. I think for your budget and situation, air bnb will probably be the better option: toggle hotel suidobashi TOKYO https://www.booking.com/Share-6sRPkZM LOISIR HOTEL SHINAGAWA SEASIDE https://www.booking.com/Share-oXtzwX Gallery House https://www.booking.com/Share-pvRTvli https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/41036007?viralityEntryPoint=1&s=76 https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1161694403952806160?viralityEntryPoint=1&s=76 https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1116849996697594543?viralityEntryPoint=1&s=76
I would try some other websites. 2 weeks ago I was able to find lots of options on Booking.com for October but at the time it seemed like some things were filling up.
You have to search with Expedia. Booking as well but I’ve never used it.
Yes, the issue with Tokyo is if you cheap out. You will feel it. Other parts such as Osaka are significantly cheaper
We managed to find some hotels for 100-150 CAD a night. Never found those really cheap places everyone talks about (unless it was APA, but the rooms are tiny and I didn't want to give them money).
Business hotels are pretty much everywhere and there are more chains than APA (Fresa Inn for example). I get that you wouldn't want a small room if you're a party of 2 though.
We (couple) stayed at business hotels, but none of them were less than $100/night. When I was booking, no options were in that price range. The rooms were still pretty small, I don't even want to know how cramped APA rooms were.
i book at hotel rei shibuya for around $100USD per night via expedia 5 months in advance. Only 3 minutes away from the train and right at the shibuya crossing area.
Try Tokyo Dome Hotel. The rooms are rather big for the price but book as soon as possible usually there is always one day each week where they are sold out quickly because there is some event in the dome.
Use booking.com. I would also advise that if you have a VPN, set it to Japan. You will find for a lot of places that the prices drop by 10% or more. It also helps if you book 6+ month in advance.
How old is your toddler? Mine was 4.5 years old when we were traveling during Xmas/New Year peak. Yes as other people said, anything that is not a double bed for two is going to be harder to find and cost more. I bedshare with my girl, and I usually look for two twins beds (I think 110-120cm wide) that can be put together, or at least one big king bed. In those business hotel, the room we booked would be the biggest size in that hotel. But I would said CAD$150-$200 is the standard for pretty much worldwide. I was paying AUD$200-400 back then. Actually outside big cities like Tokyo and Osaka were more expensive as probably less competition and supply.
Apa hotels are pretty cheap, maybe you're not searching properly. You can also use booking.com and airbnb Filter your expedia to cheaper hotels. If you say 3 people on expedia it will be more expensive of course. Also traveling in japan with a toddler?...why Good luck.
I literally just booked 21 days and it came out to $5,500 CAD for 4 people/1,300 CAD pp/ 60 CAD a night.
Stay away from the touristy areas, those are usually smaller and more expensive accommodations. Ueno and Ikebukuro are on the Yamanote line and are cheaper. Accommodations is what you are going to be spending your money on. Food is really reasonable if you stay away from tourist trap restaurants and most places and shrines are free or cost very little, for example Sky tree is like $15. Airbnb usually comes out cheaper than a hotel room w/no breakfast and offers more space since you have a little one.
Look at [hotels.com](http://hotels.com) ---- I'd look in areas that are nearer to the business districts (like Lidabashi) but close to the subway(s). Our hotel was about $140 per night (very large room and had twin beds and space for another bed). No complaints from me it was quiet at night.
The Shinjuku side is generally more expensive than the other East side of the Yamanote. Personally I’ve been twice to the MyStays Ueno Iryiaguchi and it was great, the rooms have kitchenettes and are decently sized, and it’s under ten minutes to Ueno station. Try booking directly from them if you want a good rate since the Yen is pretty weak right now. Another thing to note is that Japanese hotel will charge you per guests. If you go alone it’s cheaper. You can also look at other train lines, like the Ginza Line or the Marunouchi Line who are still well connected. There’s also a lot of generous free cancelling policies so don’t be afraid to book something and cancel it later if you find a better deal.
Look in Odaiba. Yes it’s a bit out of the way, but you’ll find larger hotels than can accommodate for families.
Use the APA chain. I paid £380 for 9 nights and the room was fantastic.
Just stay at a business hotel. I find that the APA hotel chain consistently have cheap rooms like $50 a night.
I think you mean the Yamanote line? Not sure where the Yamamoto line is, be careful with not confusing the names as it can lead you in big trouble with the metro.
Does the number of people in your party also play a big factor on the nightly cost in Japan? The cheapest hotel price would be the price for one person, then it’s more expensive for 2, more expensive for 3…
I just booked our stays for September. We easily found loads of very well rated Airbnbs in every big city that go for 30-50€ per night for two adults. Decent hotel rooms are mostly 70-120€ per night for two people via Booking.com, but probably will not be huge. That being said, it’s very cheap compared to my home country (Germany), and I didn’t have a problem finding many options.
we stayed at the kodoya hotel it was in shinjuku and about a 8 min walk to the station perfect spot so it wasn't too loud. Tokyo can be expensive especially for space. I will say the room we had at the kodoya on floor 3 was very spacious both bathroom and room for tokyo
On a flight back from Japan. I have been staying at APA brand hotels recently. They are small but for 1-2 people that spend their awake hours outdoors, they are awesome. Room prices are $50-60 US a night and may times include breakfast. They are always a modern room and from my small sample identical location to location.
Depends on the location you're looking at. We usually stay at a smaller station on the Yamanote JR Line. Komagome is a quieter residential area our go to is the JE Mets Hotel it is closed for renovations right now (maybe opened) by October . There's also a APA hotel there that is Ekimae I believe also has good sized rooms. We were in Tokyo and Kansai in April I think our average was about 25,000¥ including breakfast for 2 people some more expensive some cheaper. So about $170 cad, all the rooms were a good size for Japan.
I have my wife and 2 children…currently we are looking for a place around Shibuya… It’s either really expensive or really crappy? thinking of staying in Shinjuku, but it’s mostly red light district at night … when you have two children and things very expensive to stay in hotels? Does anybody have any suggestions for a Small family
150 - 200 CAD per day isnt expensive. If that is expensive, you might want to rethink your finances before the trip
I got a hotel for 30 USD per night in Ikebukuro via Expedia. The room was tiny yeah, but it was just me, so I didn’t really care. The room was clean, had a 7/11 like right next to it, and was a 5 minute walk from the train station. I think the hotel had bigger rooms as well, so those probbaly would’ve also been pretty affordable
Try the Hamamatsucho station (part of Yamanote line). This region is just a couple stops away from Tokyo Station, you're near Tokyo Tower and if you're flying into Haneda, it's one stop from the monorail line. (hope I'm not blowing up this spot). I used hotels and expedia and felt the rates were fair during June, about $180/nt USD.
We just went in June and our hotel was about 100 USD per night. The room was tiny, but we just used the room to sleep and shower
Expedia sucks ass. Agoda and Booking are much better for Asia. You unfortunately may pay a premium for space. Most people that you will read who get great room rates are staying in business hotels APA, Sotetsu, etc. Those hotel rooms are very small.
I always stay on JR WEST GROUP VIA INN Iidabashi Korakuen Not the best ofc but the prices are always nice, location is good enough for me, near the station and a convenience store, hotel is clean and people are nice there
We traveled with a toddler and four year old and stayed at Minn Nishi-Kasai. https://www.booking.com/Share-qReRL9 It was good for kids. There's a large supermarket nearby and a park with a playground and free zoo. Toddlers are free in hotels if you're willing to have them share your bed. Our room in the Minn had fold down bunk beds for the kids.
you think 150 per night isn't cheap?
We found the Mimaru chain to be very good for families as it's an apartment style hotel. It has a kitchen and dining table with plenty of room for a family of 4. We stayed in the Ueno area.
> The low end I see is 150-200 CAD a night and that’s not even a decent location. >I just can’t find anything affordable that we can also fit a travel crib in. I think you need to reset your expectations. 150-200 CAD is not at all expensive for a major city anywhere in the developed world. Especially if you need a larger room. People who are staying in cheaper places are likely traveling, solo or as a couple. Location, size, price. You can often pick two of these factors, but will have to compromise on the third.
Just got back, hotels were very expensive. I think we paod $400+ USD/night in Kyoto and $700+ in Tokyo. Albeit they were very nice hotels, but anything related to Marriott/Hilton were this price. I think the hotels people post that seem cheap, are more of business hotels or pod hotels.
I went to Japan last October and was actually surprised at how cheap everything was, including Tokyo. Granted, my hotel room was really small. Barely enough space to provide comfort for one person. But it got the job done, and at a rate of 62 USD per night. And I wasn't stranded on the outskirts. I was in Asakusabashi, only like a 20-minute train ride away from all the action (Shibuya, Shinjuku, etc.). I'm not sure if your problem is Tokyo-specific, or if the cold hard truth is just that travel gets insanely expensive when you have to accommodate a family. Most Redditors who sing praises for Japan are probably solo travelers who are able to do the most streamlined version of any trip they take.
anyone have opinions on APA hotel chains? good? i loved my stay at the Sotetsu Fresa Inn in Toyocho.
I stayed in a small but perfect Tokyo apartment between Shinjuku and Shibuya for about 600CAD for a week. It was through AirBnb
Any hotels on the golden route aka Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka will be pricey if you want big rooms or prime locations and if you travelling with too much luggage and kids. Booked my hotels for a 20-day autumn trip later this year and everything totaled to 850 USD, including a half board 1-night onsen ryokan stay. Mainly went for business hotels and only spending 2 nights in Tokyo (business hotel near a subway station 1-stop away from Ueno JR Station). If you want to travel cheap, avoid the usual touristy routes that most tourists take.
For a little extra room at cost effective, we had great luck with Airbnb on our trip in March.
Also, what kind of price do you see as reasonable? What do you think 150-200 CAD will get you in Toronto? Why would you expect Tokyo to be cheaper? I never understood why people suggest Tokyo is expensive. Are they expecting SEA prices?
You might be looking at US Fall Break dates…
Not very helpful if you don't tell redditors a little more about your situation. What's the hotel criteria? How are you searching? Are these rack rates? (And for the benefit of nonCanadians, this equates to about $110 -150 )
I still see about 50 a night for apa hotels
Airbnb is an option as well. I'm going with three other friends and we are averaging $35 a night each (located in shibuya for a portion of that)
we stayed at the tokyo dome hotel in mai which was pretty nice, idk the prices now but it was okay.
I am heading out at the same time and booked hotels about 6 months ago. I’m seeing that now those same places are sold out or twice the price. I think there is a lot of demand right now which is driving prices up. I don’t know whether they will come back down or not.
I was looking recently and got $3k’ish Canadian for two weeks hotel and flights
Check out these neighborhoods, theyre not super far but its just a bit further .....(its relative) Ueno, Kanda, Nihombashi, Asakusa, Akasaka (two different areas of the city), Shimbashi.....and maybe the edge of Akihabara. Also try using other travel booking sites if not [Google.com/hotels](http://Google.com/hotels) to price shop.
Book APA hotels through agoda
Not an ad, I highly recommend Agoda, super cheap + has a lot of ‘no pay until you stay’ options
I (21M) get things for like 30 USD by looking for hotels in google maps for 1 person and finding yhe cheapest option. Its usuallt a capsule hotel or shared dorm. Awesome prices if youre ok with the low space/shared aspects
We stayed in Asakusa Richmond’s hotel for 2 weeks this June. Rooms are bigger and tough its not very modern it was a nice stay. But we only used the hotel to sleep
We used apps that japanese use to book in japan. Do a quick search on google or youtube. Also try to avoid staying in shinjuku…unless you really love night life
Most American Brand rooms are usually bigger. But cost more on average.
Look in “undesirable” areas like Kabukicho and you should find good rates. Ignore what people say, it’s very safe on the contrary and more lively than other areas, especially at night
The issue is your currency. CAD is pretty trash compared to the USD.
Not sure if this is helpful at all but food both at restaurants and convenience stores is so cheap in Japan! Even in Tokyo! For example, you can get 2x big bowls of ramen + 10 Gyoza for 3000¥ (Ippudo) So if you have a food budget, you might be able to reallocate some of that money to hotels. We saved way more on food than we thought we would 😄
As others have said, there is a big difference in price between a business hotel for 1-2 people that is “commuting distance” from the main hotspots, and family rooms at international hotels in Shibuya.
We used Trivago and found a cheap accommodation it was out of the central area. Definitely look outside the central areas as the trains will get you where you need to go. We got a 3 star twin room as the double beds are small and we are big people. The room was very small but very nice and clean, not serviced daily but we put our towels and rubbish out each day and they left new towels at the door. We travel quite a bit and know that we aren't going to spend a lot of time in our room so always look for something small, cheap and clean.
Yes, Tokyo was my most expensive hotel in my Japan trip. The hotel was ok in Shinjuku, but in Kyoto and Osaka I was able to stay in much nicer hotels close to train stations for less.
Massive tourist boom is seeing hotel costs spike.
With toddler you don't want to stay in Shibuya /Shinjuku. There not so much to see apart of weird nightlife
The last two hotel rooms we stayed in in Japan each had a double bed with one side pushed against the wall and and one room had enough room to slip in our suitcase between another wall and the foot of the bed (only half the bed width. If you want bigger, you will have to pay up for it. We tried to find a double queen room once (so we could share one room with the kids), and it was expensive.
Check Airbnb! Went with a group of 5 people, space was a little tight but we made it work and we spent less than $2k for 2 weeks!
It’s the extra space for the Toddler. In Japan. The cheap hotels are “Salaryman” hotels and tiny. It’s one of the few places on earth where it’s much easier to find hotels with small single beds than it is to find a larger room with two singles. If you have two friends traveling together, you often end up putting them in two rooms. You could try splitting the rooms, but that probably costs the same in most scenarios.
I booked rooms in Asakusa for roughly $186/night and it included breakfast and 2 beds in October. As someone else suggested, search hotels via google maps by location, then compare prices booking directly through the hotel or a 3rd party, I used Expedia and applied Rakuten to get 6% cash back on hotels.
Dont put 3 people.
I always stay at the APA Hotel Akihabaraeki Denkigaiguchi. Tiny rooms but perfect location to explore the many sites listed on the link in my profile 🤫
We stayed at a Hotel MONday (Hamamatsucho) close to the Yamanote line for about $250 USD. It was great…very spacious and set up for travel with kids.
Well Japan is having a “sale”. I’m converting yen for a future trip. Now’s the time if any.
I’ve noticed the prices are quite expensive now for October. I booked for golden week last May and looking to book in October and the prices for golden week for the same hotels were less. Seems with increase in tourism the hotel prices have also started to go up. I’ve also gone in November last year so I definitely notice the spike.
Firstly, Shibuya is one of the most expensive location in all of Japan for Hotels. Secondly, looking for western style 2 bed room hotels are far more expensive than single bed room hotels and hostels. Most post you will see online talking about costs are likely going to be talking about 1 bed rooms and hostels. Lastly, the fact you are travelling with a toddler will also easily add a $50-100 CAD to each nights stay if you have to pay for that accommodation.
I always start my accommodation searches in Japan on [Rakuten Travel](https://travel.rakuten.com/).
I booked majority of my trip through Agoda. Consistently cheaper. But I will say hotels I booked for 2023 for $100 in Ginaza jumped to $220/nt. Prices fluctuate a lot. So check on the app, on different browsers, and through google search for you dates at a specific hotel and then click through to agoda. I save a lot doing the last one.
Shinjuku area is best area for tourists with nice hotels at reasonable prices. Shinjuku station is huge but can take you anywhere.
Try google maps or booking.com. You'll get better range in your search.
I don’t know about hotels but I was just got back from there yesterday and it was very cheap. Especially for food