deannaC

Hi FTers

Is there anyway to get a Toyoko Inn Membership whilst overseas and not yet in Japan? I want to book several nights of rooms but the General Guest is greyed out but seems Member nights are still available ..

ChrisLi

Nope, it is impossible, membership sign-up are done when you physically there as they will use a webcam to take a photo of yours.

Note though a member can book a room for you even the member is not staying, so if other FT-er here has member have membership there they may able to help (Not me though)

ksandness

Search for other budget hotels. I was once scheduled to attend a meeting in a city that, wonder of wonders, did not have a Toyoko Inn. I did a search on "budget hotels"+"name of city" and found that there were several options in the same general price range as a Toyoko Inn.

TripAdvisor.com is another good source for finding hotels in specific price ranges.

abmj-jr

Isn't Toyoko the hotel group that was in trouble a couple of years back for skimping on things like building codes and safety equipment?

OP, if you are just looking for inexpensive stays, you might try looking through the business hotel choices for your destinations at Japan Hotel Net or Rakuten Travel.

http://www.japanhotel.net/

http://travel.rakuten.co.jp/en/

RichardInSF

Yes, as I recall, although it was a very few hotels that had the problems.

They have also been cited in these forums for anti-gay policies; i.e., not letting two men share a room with a single bed.

ChrisLi

Ha ha ... I did once in Kyoto, as all the other room are sold out we got a single room and added 1050 yen for extra pillow

We are traveling in group so that may be the different. BTW I am 100% sure both me and my friend are straight.

jib71

On the contrary. These were not isolated incidents. Violations were widespread in their hotels across the entire country. This stemmed from head office policy.

[EDITED TO ADD: There were violations at 60 of the chain's 122 hotels, according to Japan Times: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b...060207a1.html]
In addition to those 60, 18 hotels were illegally altered to violate regulations on disabled access:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyoko_Inn
IIRC, experts explained at the time that the violations could have trapped people in the event of a fire.]

It's also true that the hotel won't let two men share a double. (Two women, or a man and a woman = OK).

The hotel hates gay people and handicapped people - as evidenced by its policies. But, whatever. Why should able-bodied straight people care? (Sarcasm alert)

The best I can say about this is that there are doubtless other hotels in Japan that have committed similar offenses without being caught. However, Toyoko stands out for really driving this cr@p from the headquarters level. AFAIK, the company hasn't changed it's fundamental character since this incident. You can find more recent complaints on Debito's site and others.

kitsura

Why bother there is a huge selection of salaryman hotels in Japan like Route inn and [insert weird name] inn.

Q Shoe Guy

http://www.richmondhotel.jp/en/index.php
I have found the above to be a reasonable choice on the occasion I have stayed with them!

RichardInSF

jlb, thanks for documenting the Toyoko problems further, they are much broader than I had realized.

Pretty grim stuff. I think that Debito has also found that at least some Toyoko Inns apply stricter identification requirements on guests that don't look Japanese, some of which are prohibited under Japanese law.

Doesn't all add up to a great bunch of folks, does it?

jib71

My feelings exactly. I have been making a noise on this board about how awful this company is for a few years. Typically, other posters try to play down my criticism as idle chatter. They say: "Oh. I've stayed there and it was not so bad".

It really is so bad. Cheap and clean hotels abound in Japan. There's always somewhere better to stay than Toyoko.

deannaC

Thank you FTers for your advise .. I've been told Toyoko Inn is nice, budget, and allows kids to stay with you FOC if you get a twin bed room. We are a family travelling on budget. Usually I see hotel rooms charging extra for kids.

jib71

I expect you'll make whatever choice is right for you and your family. I hope you have a wonderful trip to Japan.

kitsura

I think Toyoko is pretty bad. I stayed there for a week on business. Due to the fine grade sandpaper that they pass off for sheets, I developed abrasions on both my knees 2 nights into my stay. Made for a really miserable rest of the week.

rts123

I'm in the midst of a 3 week work trip to Japan. I expect to spend all but 2 or 3 nights at Toyoko Inns. The price is right (I'm not in the room long enough to justify spending more), the amenities (especially the coin-op laundry) work well for me, and the locations are quite convenient for the places I need to go.

I'm aware of their unsavory practices but choose to overlook them. I'm sure I do business with other companies that do equally odious things that I'm just not aware of.