The biggest mistakes I see holidayers make when choosing accommodation in Tokyo….
1) Booking accommodation that is far away from ANY station
I’ve made this mistake before. It just looks so much cheaper and it’d be nice to be ‘in the thick’ of it, right?
Surely it will be a more authentic Japan stay if its away from everything?
BUT unless, your accommodation is going to offer a complimentary shuttle to and from the station, it’s just not worth it. You’ll regret it by around the second or third time you head out.
Did you know that Japanese real estate is often priced by how close it is to the station? That’s because being near a station means you’ll have easy access to anywhere in the city.
When I was a student here I would be prepared to walk 15 minutes to the station to save on rent – but when you’re on holidays you need to be close to Tokyo’s reliable transportation network. Also, with stations close by you’ll have more supermarket and restaurant options as well.
So the basic rule for tourists is – if you’re near a station, you have ready access to everything. I would choose proximity to the station OVER ROOM SIZE every single time.
If you want to save some cash maybe choose a major station on the Yamanote line and look two or three subway stops away?
Subway stations aren’t fantastic for elevators so maybe one or two stations away would be enough to grab a cab from the closest Yamanote line station to your accommodation for when you first arrive with lots of luggage….. and then again when you leave? Then just take the subway a few stops when you’re out and about?
An example, if you’re really watching your budget (but still… I’m not sure I’d do it unless I really had to cut down on the spending) to be near Shinjuku, maybe look a few stops away and go for an area like Takadanobaba – you’ll save a lot of money for the inconvenience of those extra stops.
The same rules apply when booking somewhere that requires a monorail or light rail to get to. Unless you are working in that trickier area to reach, you will be soon frustrated by lining up all of your transfers every time. Often these smaller trains finish early in the evening and also start later in the morning. You’ll be frustrated at some point.
2) Staying on Odaiba
Odaiba is a man-made island (re-claimed land is the correct term, I think) and therefore has made space for some amazing museums and shopping malls. It also means that many large brand hotels have been set up here too. Some of them are so lush and also very comfy but please remember that, if you stay here, you will need to take the Yurikamome (a monorail style train) every time you want to explore “the mainland.” That also means that you will have to adjust your schedule within the boundaries of the first and last Yurikamome of the day.
Odaiba is a great place to spend the day (especially when it is raining) but I don’t think it’s a great place to stay.
3) Choosing a hotel because of its photogenic outdoor pool facilities
This something that frustrates us all the time but, if your hotel has an outdoor pool, it may only be open for use in July & August (even if June or September are freakishly warm – it’s Japan so rules are rules. ).
But even more annoying is the fact that pool usage is often an additional price. It may be discounted for visitors but it is worth checking in advance as it is very rare for a pool price to be included.
Other questions worth asking in advance?
‘Are children allowed in the pool?’
‘Are children in swimming nappies allowed?’ (If the answer is no, I recommend checking out my Tokyo Splash Pad post here.)
‘Are tattoos allowed?’ (warning: the answer will almost always be no- sometimes even if you agree to cover it up.)
‘Are swimmers required to wear swim caps?’
I have written in detail about hotel pool rules in Japan and what to watch out for in this blog post here.
So if an awesome pool is the deciding factor between two hotels you’re looking at, you may want to do some research before you press the confirm button.
FYI: Additional info courtesy of Ippei and Janine, who have a gorgeous site to check out if you love out of city hikes, outdoor exploration and also want to look further into visiting the islands of Japan. The hotel pool opening period is longer in some regions of Japan (for eg. all year round on the Yaeyama Islands) and also if you’re staying by the beach in Shimoda the pools are often open longer – from mid-June through to September.)
4) Not worrying enough about smoking or non-smoking rooms (and restaurants that allow smoking)
We’ve forgotten to do this in the past – and just gone with the cheapest hotel room. But a smoking room is still a ‘thing’ in Japan and … well… you can imagine how delightful they smell. I would happily pay double at a hotel down the road than try to sleep in a left-over smokey haze.
I have listed my favourite kid-friendly restaurants by areas of Tokyo and also explain their smoking rules (as well as a rough budget for a meal and extras such as high chairs or kids meals) – for example, here is my Shibuya with Kids guide.
5) Expecting that a couple will automatically be given a double bed
This always makes my husband and I giggle.
We would check into a hotel for just the two of us and the room would have two beds.
I was paranoid that, before we were married, that they were judging us or something!
But when I worked at a hotel, I discovered that hotels in Japan have way more twin and triple rooms than double rooms.
There are a few reasons for this:
The first is because Japanese people take group (holidays with friends) vacations more often and the hotel wants to be able to accommodate, for example, three friends making a girls trip, or coworkers taking a golf trip etc.
The second reason is that many Japanese married couples sleep on futons next to one another at home so they are used to having their own specified ‘sleeping region’ so two single beds feels like a more natural transition in a western bed set-up.
There have been a few instances where we haven’t been able to change to a double room (or weren’t able to push the beds together) it was pretty funny to give one another a high-5 before sleeping like roomies.
*And now that we have small kiddies and they can often sleep with us free of charge (most places in Japan only charge for kids if they need their own beds) so we often prefer a twin or two doubles and one kid sleeps with one of us anyway – in a hotel it works out they sleep in with us whether we pay for them or not. Ahhhh…. the romance of holidays as parents, yes?
I have written in detail about bed-sharing and how to embrace or avoid – I also give standard Japanese bed measurements here.
6) Making the mistake of assuming a ryokan (traditional Japanese accommodation) will be cheaper or even the same price as a hotel
I’ve met a few people recently who were shocked that they weren’t able to save money by sleeping on futons in Japanese accommodation,.
Japanese ryokans are viewed in a similar way to the rest of the world thinks of resort accommodation – as in, you stay for the experience and the stay – not just a comfortable place to lay your head while sightseeing.
I highly, highly recommend staying for at least one night for as fancy a place as your budget allows. And I know the price does seem hefty but most ryokans include a very very fancy (courses and courses of) dinner and then a Japanese style breakfast and also access to the onsen bath facilities too (most allow access for 23 hours of the day.). So its best to think of the price as …Price of a night’s stay, price of a posh restaurant dinner + price of a soak in a beautiful hot spring bath.
7) Assuming they need to stay next to Disneyland
Many people get the idea that Disney needs its own accommodation to match. It is, however, a lot more expensive to stay out right next to Disney in one of the Disney hotels (but so much fun- we’ve stayed in the Beauty & the Beast room and wrote about it here.) but not necessary. Train access means you can get from the middle of Tokyo to Disneyland in about 30 minutes so I’d save your yen for inside the Disney parks. (If you can’t decide which Disney park is right for you, this post will make it easy to work out which one is for you.)
See my post here for accommodation recommendations near Disneyland and Disneysea.
8) Being dazzled by cheaper prices when their hotel is called ” Something -Something- TOKYO BAY”
I’ve had a few readers that have contacted me once they’ve arrive in Japan and are so sad as they booked a hotel that had “Tokyo Bay” at the end and didn’t realize that it would be so far out.
Don’t get me wrong, some of these hotels are really nice and much cheaper and I know some large families that actively make the distance compromise to make it work but the people that I feel for are those who don’t realize the distance ahead of time.
It will be a 30-40 minute commute into town and the line you will most likely need to take, the Tozai line, often operates at 200% capacity. that means a lot of work for, particularly, parents with kids.
Blogger Teni Wada has written a fantastic article on how Tokyo Bay isn’t always in Tokyo Prefecture. That article is here.
9) Thinking they have to stay right near Tokyo Station.
Sounds central, right?
You’re thinking Grand Central Station … you exit your hotel in the morning and Tokyo will just spill out around you like a Tokyo version of Aladdin’s Agrabah marketplace, right?
There are some great hotels in this area (in particular for larger families staying in Japan) but this spot is convenient but it’s full of concrete and you won’t stumble upon many ‘accidentally amazing cultural happenings’ – which is one of my favourite things about travelling in Japan, full stop.
It can also be an expensive place to stay.
It is, however, close to the Imperial Palace, Ginza and Tsukiji. These areas are ALL definitely worth a visit, but I don’t think it means you need to ‘live’ in their neighborhood.
So if convenience for bullet train travel is your number 1 priority then this area is for you, for sure. If you’re after a beautiful area with lots of charm – I would look elsewhere.
If you’re looking for, in my opinion, the most baby & kid-friendly areas, I wrote a post about that here.
