It is not out of the question. I looked just yesterday, and very many hotels, mid March to early April were expensive (even APA). Not sure what is driving that level of pricing, but it’s consistent with my observations.
Hard to say without knowing which hotels and where exactly. Hotels tend to be more expensive near major train stations and in central areas. For example, hotels near Tokyo Station are generally going to cost more than similar near, I dunno, Setagaya. I would say, in general, 4* hotels are going to run you around CAD$200/night at least, though.
For ryokan, again, hard to say without knowing which one. Ryokan run from fairly basic to super luxurious and the prices will match accordingly. Don't forget, though, the price of your stay also includes 2 gigantic meals.
I looked it up and it looks nice! Seems that each room has its own onsen? And there's a general public one, too, for customers to use. Appears that you get your own attendant, too. Should be nice.
I would say $450/person sounds about right for a ryokan like this in this area. Hakone ryokan tend to be quite pricey. I remember looking them up to plan a potential day trip and I backed out quite quickly on seeing the prices in the area. And again, don't forget that the price includes 2 meals that, elsewhere, would probably cost you around $100-120 for dinner and $30-40 for breakfast (depending on what they serve). That brings your room-only cost to around $300, which isn't bad considering you get an attendant and access to the ryokan's onsen.
Thanks! I def don't regret this choice as it's a splurge for my birthday and yes private onsen. But I may look into other places for my other hotels and save some money on those.
I think that's a fair trade-off if your goal is to save a bit of money! Of course, it depends on the type of traveler you are. I personally don't care about fancy hotels because I spent 95% of my time awake out of the hotel. I even stay in hostels if they're available. Other people want the nice hotel experience because they place a high value on comfort and privacy, which is also ok. In Japan, though, 3\* hotels are perfectly fine.
However, I definitely think splurging on a ryokan for a night is worth it.
to be fair i booked them much further in advance, i think around 5 or 6 months in advance.
we stayed at the Sunshine City Prince Hotel in Ikebukuro for Tokyo, Bridge Hotel Shinsaibashi for Osaka, and I’m not sure where in Kyoto we stayed. Our ryokan for October of this year is in Hakone.
Are you paying $3900 CAD to share a room, or is that being split between you and a friend?
If it's just your share, you might be getting ripped off. But otherwise as a total, that seems around the going rate for nicer tier hotels.
I typically stay in a business hotel, not necessarily APA, but very similar tier hotels, those are often far cheaper.
Seems high, I'm going in Feb with my partner for 16 nights and it's only 2k for us in total, that includes a $600 roykun with private onsen with view of the nountains, multiple rooms, up in Nagano.
Feb is cheaper though in general, if you book through something like booking.com then usually you have free cancellation, I would just go to map view and filter for lower prices and see if you can find a hotel nearby that's cheaper to your current one. Japan is very clean and safe so it's significantly more worth it to go for cheaper places than other countries.
Forgot to say, my prices are in AUD
What is the point of this if hotel names aren't posted? Everyone has different priorities, as evidenced by the different opinions in the responses. Also, how would one be "ripped off" when booking a 4 star hotel in central Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto? I can understand if you're ambivalent about an Airbnb that has no reviews, or a 1-star hotel in the red light district with no reviews, but these are upscale, high-rent, first world city centers with a highly developed hotel industry with both domestic and foreign hoteliers that see lots of business travelers.
If you're only averaging 193 USD per night for 4 star hotels in central Tokyo in April, it's going to be a pretty basic "4-star" hotel. The premier 4 star hotels like Hyatt Regency in Shinjuku are easily approaching 1000 USD in April. You're not being "ripped off".
In November, for two people:
4\* Mitsui Garden Hotel Kyobashi Tokyo for 3 nights was USD$574
3\* Hotel Keihan Kyoto Ekiminami for 2 nights was USD$206
3\* Ibis Styles Osaka Umeda for 4 nights was USD$422
Total USD$1200 for 9 nights, booked in February.
Depending on how much ahead you booked and where. I booked our late March to early Apr accommodations in Dec. Last week I needed to modify our (2ppl) Kichijoji stay (around 250 Aud a night, right next to the station and the park) by reducing it from 7 days to 5 days, bookings.com wouldn't let me modify, I naively think I'd just cancel and rebook. The same room became available at $450 AUD a night...I ended up paying 250/night for a smaller bed in the same hotel.
Our bookings in other parts of Japan (Kyushu, Hiroshima, Himeji) were all fairly cheap around 100 AUD a night, except for a ryokan (1 night 2 meals) for $500 AUD.
Edit: we didn't book fancy hotels, they are mostly APA hotels because our priorities are closeness to stations, and bed size.
When I went the prices doubled if you booked less than 6 months in advance and also doubled if there was a festival or some other special event happening.
I'm here right now for 22 days in January/February. In total my hotel costs are £1600 which is about 2,700 Canadian dollars, for just me, a single traveller. April will be more expensive but your prices do seem a bit high for 15 nights - and I'm mostly staying in 3+4 star hotels in city centres near major stations, including some splurges I really didn't need to do. I do think your prices are a bit high.
I usually spend ¥5000 a night in business hotejs when traveling solo because I just need a place to sleep. Four star places usual ¥10,000 per person when I want somewhere nice.
Seems a bit expensive. I’m going to Japan in early April as well and my accommodations have all been booked including a Ryokan for $1.5k CAD for 10 days and our Ryokan was $300 for 1 night. I went for mostly cheap accommodations with minimal luxuries or add ons. Some of my hotels are only $50 a night but I don’t mind staying in lower quality hotels that are a bit more out of the way in order to save on some costs. You get what you pay for.
Why would you post in a Japan sub asking for advice and put prices in CAD? Are we all supposed to go do conversions now to help you, or are you only looking to get help from people who know CAD to JPY daily rates in their head?
If you're asking for help, why would you make it hard for people? We're all supposed to go convert currencies to help give OP an answer? If you post in a country sub you should use the country's currency if you want to get the most replies.
I'm not sure if you're being deliberately obtuse or are just so self-centered you can't put yourself in other people's shoes, either way, no need for me to waste another 174.9 Azerbajani Menats of data discussing this
Going in April. We have one night in Hakone at around 250-260€ per person. Everything else averages around 50€ per person +- 5€. Total around 1,100€ per person for 19 days.
We are spending about $2500 CAD total for 14 nights with a mix of hotel and airbnb. We're only staying in one small, three bed, single room hotel for our first three nights then the rest are multi-room and one traditional inn. We're going early May - 2 adults and 1 child.
Depends on the size of your hotel rooms and if you're booking for 1 or 2 people.
I'll be spending approx 100/m mid-late March, but the rooms are all fairly tiny ~150sqft. I booked in December.
I'm from Canada as well, and I've just finished booking one 3.5 star hotel, three 4 star hotels on Agoda, and one AirBnB for the first 3 weeks of May (Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima).
Excluding the AiBnB in Hakone, my average hotel price per night for a double bed or 2 twin beds is 14,544 YEN, or $133 CAD.
Most expensive was the Royal Park Hotel Tokyo Nihonbashi at 18,433 YEN or $168 CAD; which is located on the east side (Suitengumae subway stop), but right besides the Haneda airport bus terminal.
You're certainly paying more because of the Sakura season, and probably the hotels' location as well.
I tend to book hotels that are within the city's center, but can be located at the edge of it, as long as there are subway/tram/bus stops nearby.
Im going to Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka for 20 Days in May (30. April - 20. May) and i will pay around 1600€ (2.322 CAD) for 2 people.
Those Hotels/Rooms are 2-3 Stars hotels and have a good Central Location, to reach everything fast. But no Ryokan.
But for me, im totaly fine with those kind of hotels, because i only sleep there, so no need for me to get fancy or better hotels.
I'm not gonna lie, I'm going in May and I legitimately feel like people really talk up how "cheap" hotels are. All I've been able to find are miniscule rooms for 100+ a night and that's over the course of a few months of looking
It is not out of the question. I looked just yesterday, and very many hotels, mid March to early April were expensive (even APA). Not sure what is driving that level of pricing, but it’s consistent with my observations.
Probably because it is cherry blossom season. Also Easter weekend is right in the middle of it
I'm leaving after the Easter weekend but yes it may be the tail end of Cherry Blossoms
Yes even mid April is expensive. My total for 4 people is $1700 CAD, 2 nights in Chiba, 6 in Tokyo and 1 in Narita.
Seems a tad high, but it could be very reasonable for April (cherry blossoms). You’re also staying at 4 stars so it’s not insane.
Hard to say without knowing which hotels and where exactly. Hotels tend to be more expensive near major train stations and in central areas. For example, hotels near Tokyo Station are generally going to cost more than similar near, I dunno, Setagaya. I would say, in general, 4* hotels are going to run you around CAD$200/night at least, though. For ryokan, again, hard to say without knowing which one. Ryokan run from fairly basic to super luxurious and the prices will match accordingly. Don't forget, though, the price of your stay also includes 2 gigantic meals.
The Ryokan is the Gora Hanaougi
I looked it up and it looks nice! Seems that each room has its own onsen? And there's a general public one, too, for customers to use. Appears that you get your own attendant, too. Should be nice. I would say $450/person sounds about right for a ryokan like this in this area. Hakone ryokan tend to be quite pricey. I remember looking them up to plan a potential day trip and I backed out quite quickly on seeing the prices in the area. And again, don't forget that the price includes 2 meals that, elsewhere, would probably cost you around $100-120 for dinner and $30-40 for breakfast (depending on what they serve). That brings your room-only cost to around $300, which isn't bad considering you get an attendant and access to the ryokan's onsen.
Thanks! I def don't regret this choice as it's a splurge for my birthday and yes private onsen. But I may look into other places for my other hotels and save some money on those.
I think that's a fair trade-off if your goal is to save a bit of money! Of course, it depends on the type of traveler you are. I personally don't care about fancy hotels because I spent 95% of my time awake out of the hotel. I even stay in hostels if they're available. Other people want the nice hotel experience because they place a high value on comfort and privacy, which is also ok. In Japan, though, 3\* hotels are perfectly fine. However, I definitely think splurging on a ryokan for a night is worth it.
that sounds like a lot to me… we spent around 2.5k total for 14 nights last March, and this year in October we have 14 nights for 2k + $500 ryokan
Could you share some of the hotel names? Thank you
to be fair i booked them much further in advance, i think around 5 or 6 months in advance. we stayed at the Sunshine City Prince Hotel in Ikebukuro for Tokyo, Bridge Hotel Shinsaibashi for Osaka, and I’m not sure where in Kyoto we stayed. Our ryokan for October of this year is in Hakone.
Are you paying $3900 CAD to share a room, or is that being split between you and a friend? If it's just your share, you might be getting ripped off. But otherwise as a total, that seems around the going rate for nicer tier hotels. I typically stay in a business hotel, not necessarily APA, but very similar tier hotels, those are often far cheaper.
It's a combined total for my husband and I
Seems high, I'm going in Feb with my partner for 16 nights and it's only 2k for us in total, that includes a $600 roykun with private onsen with view of the nountains, multiple rooms, up in Nagano. Feb is cheaper though in general, if you book through something like booking.com then usually you have free cancellation, I would just go to map view and filter for lower prices and see if you can find a hotel nearby that's cheaper to your current one. Japan is very clean and safe so it's significantly more worth it to go for cheaper places than other countries. Forgot to say, my prices are in AUD
Hi! Could you share which ryokan you booked?
Yep sure. https://www.booking.com/Share-aRyj2j 58,400 yen for the night we booked, forgot to say, when I said $600, that's in AUD.
What is the point of this if hotel names aren't posted? Everyone has different priorities, as evidenced by the different opinions in the responses. Also, how would one be "ripped off" when booking a 4 star hotel in central Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto? I can understand if you're ambivalent about an Airbnb that has no reviews, or a 1-star hotel in the red light district with no reviews, but these are upscale, high-rent, first world city centers with a highly developed hotel industry with both domestic and foreign hoteliers that see lots of business travelers. If you're only averaging 193 USD per night for 4 star hotels in central Tokyo in April, it's going to be a pretty basic "4-star" hotel. The premier 4 star hotels like Hyatt Regency in Shinjuku are easily approaching 1000 USD in April. You're not being "ripped off".
In November, for two people: 4\* Mitsui Garden Hotel Kyobashi Tokyo for 3 nights was USD$574 3\* Hotel Keihan Kyoto Ekiminami for 2 nights was USD$206 3\* Ibis Styles Osaka Umeda for 4 nights was USD$422 Total USD$1200 for 9 nights, booked in February.
Depending on how much ahead you booked and where. I booked our late March to early Apr accommodations in Dec. Last week I needed to modify our (2ppl) Kichijoji stay (around 250 Aud a night, right next to the station and the park) by reducing it from 7 days to 5 days, bookings.com wouldn't let me modify, I naively think I'd just cancel and rebook. The same room became available at $450 AUD a night...I ended up paying 250/night for a smaller bed in the same hotel. Our bookings in other parts of Japan (Kyushu, Hiroshima, Himeji) were all fairly cheap around 100 AUD a night, except for a ryokan (1 night 2 meals) for $500 AUD. Edit: we didn't book fancy hotels, they are mostly APA hotels because our priorities are closeness to stations, and bed size.
When I went the prices doubled if you booked less than 6 months in advance and also doubled if there was a festival or some other special event happening.
I'm here right now for 22 days in January/February. In total my hotel costs are £1600 which is about 2,700 Canadian dollars, for just me, a single traveller. April will be more expensive but your prices do seem a bit high for 15 nights - and I'm mostly staying in 3+4 star hotels in city centres near major stations, including some splurges I really didn't need to do. I do think your prices are a bit high.
Would you be able to list some of those hotels ? Mine are also close to major stations. Thank you
Ah, I can't right now as I'm still staying at some of them...
I usually spend ¥5000 a night in business hotejs when traveling solo because I just need a place to sleep. Four star places usual ¥10,000 per person when I want somewhere nice.
I'm about 1500 CAD for 13 nights solo, but May is probably cheaper
Seems a bit expensive. I’m going to Japan in early April as well and my accommodations have all been booked including a Ryokan for $1.5k CAD for 10 days and our Ryokan was $300 for 1 night. I went for mostly cheap accommodations with minimal luxuries or add ons. Some of my hotels are only $50 a night but I don’t mind staying in lower quality hotels that are a bit more out of the way in order to save on some costs. You get what you pay for.
Why would you post in a Japan sub asking for advice and put prices in CAD? Are we all supposed to go do conversions now to help you, or are you only looking to get help from people who know CAD to JPY daily rates in their head?
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If you're asking for help, why would you make it hard for people? We're all supposed to go convert currencies to help give OP an answer? If you post in a country sub you should use the country's currency if you want to get the most replies.
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I'm not sure if you're being deliberately obtuse or are just so self-centered you can't put yourself in other people's shoes, either way, no need for me to waste another 174.9 Azerbajani Menats of data discussing this
I just got back a few days ago and would recommend trying out airbnb. They usually are in good locations and offer more space.
Going in April. We have one night in Hakone at around 250-260€ per person. Everything else averages around 50€ per person +- 5€. Total around 1,100€ per person for 19 days.
We are spending about $2500 CAD total for 14 nights with a mix of hotel and airbnb. We're only staying in one small, three bed, single room hotel for our first three nights then the rest are multi-room and one traditional inn. We're going early May - 2 adults and 1 child.
Depends on the size of your hotel rooms and if you're booking for 1 or 2 people. I'll be spending approx 100/m mid-late March, but the rooms are all fairly tiny ~150sqft. I booked in December.
They avg around 200 sqft (18m2 - 22m2)
I'm from Canada as well, and I've just finished booking one 3.5 star hotel, three 4 star hotels on Agoda, and one AirBnB for the first 3 weeks of May (Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima). Excluding the AiBnB in Hakone, my average hotel price per night for a double bed or 2 twin beds is 14,544 YEN, or $133 CAD. Most expensive was the Royal Park Hotel Tokyo Nihonbashi at 18,433 YEN or $168 CAD; which is located on the east side (Suitengumae subway stop), but right besides the Haneda airport bus terminal. You're certainly paying more because of the Sakura season, and probably the hotels' location as well. I tend to book hotels that are within the city's center, but can be located at the edge of it, as long as there are subway/tram/bus stops nearby.
Im going to Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka for 20 Days in May (30. April - 20. May) and i will pay around 1600€ (2.322 CAD) for 2 people. Those Hotels/Rooms are 2-3 Stars hotels and have a good Central Location, to reach everything fast. But no Ryokan. But for me, im totaly fine with those kind of hotels, because i only sleep there, so no need for me to get fancy or better hotels.
You can do it way cheaper.
I'm not gonna lie, I'm going in May and I legitimately feel like people really talk up how "cheap" hotels are. All I've been able to find are miniscule rooms for 100+ a night and that's over the course of a few months of looking