Originally Posted by
LapLap
Once you find a deal, cross check it with other sites; like agoda, booking.com, jalan, japanican, as well as the hotel‘s own website. Occasionally the rates are better for booking consecutive nights, other times it’s cheaper to book separately. If you are staying more than two nights, the most economical option might be to find one place for the 15th and somewhere entirely different for the 16th onwards, or spend the 15th in different rooms.
I also saw a split stay of 4 nts and 1 nt (both including Sat nights) at the same hotel less expensive by booking through two different sites. 4nt via the hotel direct member rate, 1nt via agoda. I don't know if it is just me but when a JP membership program advertises guaranteed best rate, I haven't found a way to submit a lower price match...
Originally Posted by
uanj
I'll second the recommendation for Trip.com for hotels in Japan, the app and customer service are top notch. You can first double check other booking site prices on trivago. I've used it a number of times this year for hotels in Japan. I found the only chain where trip.com did not fetch the lowest price was Dormy Inn. Prices are lower on the dormy site, but it is a nightmare to use and requires a Japan phone number.
I compare hotels using google.com/travel -> Hotels tab, change to show total not nightly including taxes in JPY. This usually also unlocks that bonus agoda discount from SEO (search engine optimization). Will have to give trivago another whirl and try trip.com.
There was pretty decent parity on English and JP booking sites for business hotel prices on my most recent trip, sometimes with EN Expedia/hotels.com of Agoda beating out JP domestic website rates. The best deals used to be on JP sites, but it seems people have been finding more via EN & trip.com which makes sense based on the influx of travelers. I'd personally also be aware of neighboring country holidays especially when they overlap with Japanese holidays. For example China Labor Day May 1-5 2025 and Korea Children's Day May 6 overlaps with Golden Week April 29 - May 6.
I search hotels on domestic sites via kakaku.com and Jalan directly because kakaku doesn't check there. Domestic websites usually give me the most ryokan room options and week/month availability calendar which is helpful when planning a trip around specific ryokan stays or solo stays (limited availability on certain days). They also run various coupon campaigns you redeem ahead of time and can use during the sale window until the coupon count is exhausted. I've also noticed more independent lodgings present on booking/agoda which is available in English.
ETA: Jalan, Rakuten, Ikyu (the best web interface of these) also offer ryokan specific filters like in-room bath, private onsen, in-room/separate dining, (no) meal plans. Jalan also allows booking day rates and some kashikiri onsen reservations.
I don't find the dormy desktop website difficult to use but that's after dealing with all the other JP domestic booking sites with their various quirks. Safari translation also translates images which is useful when sites embed relevant details in an image.