Just got back from nearly two weeks in Tokyo, we stayed at the Sunroute hotel in Ikebukoro, decent hotel, clean and nice, centrally located to the subway station. Recommended as a budget option.
As long as you can book about 20 days in advance - one of the cheapest options I've seen in Tokyo is the Holiday Inn at Narita Airport (Tobu Narita).
A fair sized double room with bathroom can be had for 5,500yen +15% tax.
Even if you only stay for just the last night (or your first and last nights) you will be shaving a fair sized chunk from your accommodation budget.
Otherwise, The Mansions at Roppongi offer (for Tokyo) positively vast rooms for about 17,000yen pernight (inclusive). You can book via www.asiahotels.com. Personally, I didn't find any difference between a studio apartment and a one bedroom apartment - unless you go for the deluxe version.
I can also reccommend the Hotel New Koyo as a safe budget option - just don't even think of bringing back a guest without previous arrangement. The shared bathrooms are clean, Minowa is a lovely downtown neighbourhood, the main downside is that the Tatami mats smell pretty musty and take some getting used to.
Otherwise, the best bargain I know for a decent place in a great location is
The Asia Center of Japan http://www.asiacenter.or.jp/
Has anyone tried using Priceline for a 3-star hotel in Tokyo? I've been playing around with the numbers on trying to low ball a 4-star due to budget constraints but its not happening here. I'd try the 3-star route, but I've heard from other folks that 3-star outside of the US might be a bit dodgy.
And on that note...anyone ever have the problem of not being able to uncheck the boxes on the offer page when rejected? It says to change some of the options by unchecking things here and there...but if things are blanked out, how do I do that?
Otherwise, the best bargain I know for a decent place in a great location is
The Asia Center of Japan http://www.asiacenter.or.jp/
Gambatte okudasai
I concur with LaLoretta, I stayed at the The Asia Center of Japan for several nights whilst in Tokyo and it was cheap, safe and friendly and convenient.
As some others have mentioned you are only there for sleep and ablutions so those are the areas where you need to be comfortable. The Asia Center of Japan met all of my needs in those regards.
Last edited by Hvr; Apr 4, 08 at 6:41 am..
Reason: Spelling
Has anyone tried using Priceline for a 3-star hotel in Tokyo? I've been playing around with the numbers on trying to low ball a 4-star due to budget constraints but its not happening here. I'd try the 3-star route, but I've heard from other folks that 3-star outside of the US might be a bit dodgy.
And on that note...anyone ever have the problem of not being able to uncheck the boxes on the offer page when rejected? It says to change some of the options by unchecking things here and there...but if things are blanked out, how do I do that?
I've looked at Priceline for Tokyo over the last 4 years.
I can't say with 100% conviction that there are no 3* hotels that upload heir rooms onto priceline, but I've never heard of any.
There are a couple of supposedly 4* hotels that do occasionally load onto priceline (Asakusa View Hotel and Sunshine City Prince - Ikebukuro) I'd have a hard time classifying either place as a 4* - they seem like solid 3* hotels to me.
The Crowne Plaza in Ikebukuro just about makes it as a 4* - but priceline winners make it into their smallest rooms which remain unrenovated - so it will also feel like staying at a 3* here. And best be wary - the priceline room costs doesn't always represent a big saving on what you might get from the hotel directly.
Similarly with the (ANA) Intercontinental Tokyo Bay. Pretty much invariably you will get a Sumida river twin room here (twins are the size of small doubles).
Be sure to look at the IC's own booking pages to find out the rates on the days you are bidding for. I used priceline to book two rooms when the rates here were showing at approx 30,000yen a night (including tax & charges). Priceline allowed us to book the rooms for just under 19,000yen a night inclusive (equivalent to about 17,000yen). I found a floor map and was able to request room numbers that did allow a Sumida River View (and very nice it was too) and avoid the view the majority of the rooms have, which is of the office building opposite.
If the IC website is offering rooms for 20/19,000yen or under (which they often do) I wouldn't bother with getting it through priceline
If there are four of you, and you have no shame and nerves of steel, the only way (in my own opinion) that you can make Tokyo priceline work as a budget option is to get the Tokyo IC, make sure that no more than two of you check in and secure a twin room, then sneak in the other 2 people and share the beds together.
However, I do not advise this. What I actually mean to say by 'suggesting' this tactic (which I don't) is that priceline doesn't offer a good deal for the budget traveller - there are other, better ways of getting rooms for 4 people for around 20,000yen that don't involve priceline.
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I can't help you with 'unchecking' - I used the bidding for travel & betterbidding websites to form a strategy. Also priceline changes it zones and formatting periodically.
What are you trying for?
Yeah...I just realized that the reason they do that on PL is the 24 hour lockout for rebidding. Took some time reading up on biddertalk and other places to realize that. Silly me.
At this point, since time is winding down for me to get my hotel snapped up, I am angling for the Intercontinental or even the Sunshine City Prince in Ikebukuro. I've stayed at the Prince in Shinagawa and it was far from impressive (unrenovated room...twice!) but Ikebukuro is very convenient for my needs. I remember reading about people getting the Intercontinental for under $100, but I guess that was during a bygone era when the yen wasn't so strong!
I've tried bidding up to $99 for a 4* for Shinjuku-ku/Ikebukuro but no dice so far. I'm tempted to drop down to a 3* bid but again I fear that if the Prince somehow ends up at 4* bids, 3* hotels might be again, more dodgy. Normally when I travel to Japan, I stay at a myriad of business hotels with the Toyoko Inn chain (http://www.toyoko-inn.com) but unfortunately most of their Tokyo properties are full and I need a twin room since I'm traveling with someone. If the dollar was stronger, I'd have screwed off the whole thing and made sure to get two singles. Much easier.
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I too have stayed at the Prince Hotel in Shinagawa - really dated rooms though the location is convenient.
One suggestion for a budget priced business hotel is the "Washington" hotels, with several locations. I believe there is one in Shinjuku. The rooms as you might expect aren't very big but they're very reasonably priced and the location is pretty convenient.
So here I am starting yet another Tokyo hotel thread. But I've read the others (thanks to Search), and nothing immediately jumped out at me as 1) current, and 2) offering quite the sort of thing I'm looking for.
I'm planning travel that includes a few days in Tokyo in early April. Two people, one bed preferred ("double"). Don't need anything too fancy -- we'll have fancy accomodations on other stops on the trip. Suggested hotels?
Last time I was in Tokyo for leisure, I used UA 50% off hotel certs to stay at a New Otani at a rate <$90/night as I recall. (See discussion in http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...ML/000049.html and elsewhere.) But these certs are no more, leaving me looking for good alternatives.
http://www.izuhotel.co.jp/roomrate.htm looks pretty appealing, at 8000-9000 yen/night for a double room, and a good location near Ueno (easy airport transfers). This is probably the best I've found so far, but it does look a bit run-down...
The listings on http://gojapan.about.com/cs/tokyoacc...kyo_lowidx.htm look pretty appealing at first glance, but that list gets to be a bit daunting and, upon closer examination, doesn't obviously offer any incredible bargains.
Other ideas? Google searches for "tokyo hotels" and similar are getting a litle old!...
I stayed in the Blue Wave Inn in Asakusa (just behind the temple and maybe 5 mins walk from the subway station) for 3 days. It was nice. I paid around 7000 yen with breakfast. I would go back.
I'm looking for almost any place in Tokyo (although closer to Makuhari Messe would help) for the above dates and not all the way out by Narita airport. I'm trying to keep it under $100 US/night but also as good as or a better value than places I've stayed at before and within walking distance to any JR or subway station.
I've stayed at Prince Shinagawa, Dai Ichi Inn Ikebukuro, Kasai Pearl Hotel and Kayabacho Pearl Hotel. None of them really stood out but recall that all of them were close to either a train or subway station.
I'm the only one staying in the room so a single small bed is fine. I've tried bidding on Priceline for days on 5 star hotels and gave up after the my bids started getting too high. I tried 4-stars a bunch of times and I'm up to $87 before taxes/fees, so it almost looks like I'd be better off not using Priceline. I'm a little wary of trying 3-star hotels as I haven't been able to find anyone saying what they got.
I've tried browsing http://travel.rakuten.co.jp/en/ and I'm a bit wary of the really cheap rooms I see (some non-capsules as cheap as ~4800 yen). I absolutely do not want a dorm style room or any sort of shared bathroom or capsule hotel.
People remark that business hotels have tiny rooms. How much smaller can they be vs. a room at the Prince Shinagawa? The room I got was pretty tiny, although clean.
In addition to the fine suggestions made by our resident budget hotel guru Lap Lap, try http://www.japanhotel.net/data/pref/...sp?area=tokyo2 .
They offer descriptions and reference data on room size and amenities. I usually search through their "western style business hotel" and "city hotel" listings.
As for business hotels in general, they can range from very basic to quite nice. All but the most basic will have ensuite bathrooms. Otherwise, what is important to you might not be what is important to me but I usually search for location, larger beds, free wi-fi, breakfast included and, occasionally, on-site coin laundry facilites. Other things, like on-site restaurants are nice but not as important. Japan Hotel Net gives more extensive descriptions than Rakuten and I've found them to be reliable and easy to work with. They have never let me down.
If you are looking for larger room size with decent amenities at a reasonable price, the american Comfort Hotel chain is usually a good bet. They are all over (3 or 4 in Tokyo alone.) Just be aware that the atmosphere is not very Japanese. It is pretty much like staying at a higher end Comfort Inn or Hilton Garden Inn in the states.
Thanks but I'm not sure how you're getting these rates but some turn out to be much higher w/tax. Regardless, I take it that you've stayed at these and/or recommend them?
Quote:
Originally Posted by LapLap
I'm rather busy today so can't go into depth.
Initial search yields
Expedia: Sunroute Akasaka at under 35,400yen for those 5 nights
through Utell: Weekly Mansion Akasaka at 33,250yen for a 24m2 room (compare rate with that offered by Rakuten)
Tokyu Inn Shinbashi Atagoyama at 33,600yen for a 13m2 room
Hotel Sunroute Akasaka on the expedia.com ends up being $551.56 including taxes and fees.
Weekly Mansion Akasaka claims to be 33,250 yen for the stay but ends up being 40,900 yen after taxes.
Tokyu Inn Shinbashi Atagoyama on utell claims to be 36,000 yen for the stay but ends up being 45990 after taxes.
Weekly Mansion Akasaka at 33,250yen for a 24m2 room (compare rate with that offered by Rakuten)
I recommended checking this property with Rakuten - it's 31,500yen for the five nights including taxes when booked through their site: JPY 31,500
weekly Mansion Nihonbashi is JPY 32,500 for 5 nights, also with Rakuten, also tax inclusive.
Others who have contributed to this forum have stayed at Akasaka Weekly Mansion. I don't believe you will find a single room any larger than this, certainly not at that price.
) and avoid the view the majority of the rooms have, which is of the office building opposite
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