civic248

Hello all. This is my first post and certainly look forward to suggestions/advice. I have been to Tokyo twice and Kyoto once but without any kids or family in tow. I am bringing three kids, my wife and my mom and they have never been. When in Japan, I want to see as much as possible and I know that will be impossible with three kids so my plan is to do perhaps one site with a maximum of two sites in one day. I will be on a 11 day trip flying into tokyo and flying out of osaka. The plan is to stay in Tokyo for 6 days and the rest in Kyoto/Osaka. I don't believe I need JR pass because it is only one way so that doesn't make sense. I have read in this forum that baggage forwarding is a good option so I might have to go with that during the trip. I do plan on spending two days at disney sea and have enough Hilton points to book their hotel which has a pretty big room enough to accomodate our entire family.

I need help with suggestions on where to stay (preferably on points) for all of us. I want to stay in one room if possible but may not be practical. Any bigger rooms that any families here have stayed in? My other thought is airbnb but usually they are not as convenient location wise as hotels and I had a bad experience airbnbing during my last trip. I also worry about transportation. When I went without kids, subway and mass transit is the way to go but with three in tow and the crowds, this is probably not a good option for all of the commuting.

Any advice, tips, suggestions from families that have done it before would be greatly appreciated. It is our first "true" international trip. Convenience & cost is a big factor. Thank you.

freecia

Are you looking to fit 6, 3 adults + 3 kids, in a single room? You might want to look for an apartment style hotel which would be better for 1 yo naps.
Hotel for family of 4 Tokyo 3 nights - Posts 11 & 12.

This might be useful
https://www.thetokyochapter.com/cate...kyo-with-kids/

Stroller travel is getting better in Tokyo. Just look on Google Satellite view to make sure you're not limited to stair pedestrian overpasses and an accessible train station. The other thing a co-worker mentioned is to avoid the rush hour as kids who are new to public transit dense areas may have problems with the lack of personal space.

civic248

Thank you. I will check into Miyako and sheraton. Ideas of convenience to transportation is definitely well received!

TravelLawyer

Do you only have Hilton points or programs as well? The Intercontinental Osaka is great and is my son's favorite hotel of all time (and we've stayed in lots of different hotels). It's very convenient located inside a mall and is walking distance to the train/subway through some outdoor pathways.

civic248

Hi , I have pretty much every hotel points along with chase URs. I have two free nights from IHG uncapped and do plan on staying there for the last night or two nights before the airport. Do they allow a family of 5 in one room?

AlwaysAisle

I also do think finding a hotel room which can occupy six people (3 adults and 3 kids) can be difficult part. Maximum number of occupancy per room is often dictated by local fire code, not a hotel policy. Having hotel points or elite member of hotel program will not change the situation, try to plea to hotel staff usually will not change situation because it is local fire ordinance. I will recommend check directly with the hotel rather than assume that your family will be fine with the size of the room.

TravelLawyer

Is your mom staying in a different room? The hotels in Japan usually don't care as long as the kids are bedsharing. They charge extra for rollaways or lounge/breakfast benefits for anyone over the 2 adult limit, but they will sometimes discount if you have status.

civic248

My preference would be that we all are together in one room but that may not be possible. I may have to look at Airbnb's.

gonebabygone

evergrn

It will be tight, but there are definitely many options as far as hotels that can accommodate your party.
When I do a search on Rakuten for Tokyo with 3 adults, 1 elem school kid, 2 bed-sharing <K kids, I get TONS of search results. Those include:
- Grand Nikko Odaiba
- new Otani inn Tokyo (Oosaki)
- Grand Prince Shintakanawa
- Asakusa View hotel
- Tobu Hotel Levant
- Keio Plaza Shinjuku
on and on...
Most of these are rooms with 4 single beds. Since they'll be stuck together, u ur wife and 1yo & 3yo should be able to fit comfortably into 2 of those beds (will likely be something like 2x100cm or 2x110cm beds stuck together) while the grandma and the 7yo each gets own bed.

My wife, 2 kids (10 and 8) and I are used to sleeping in Hollywood twins (two beds stuck together, which usually works out to 200cm~240cm width combined). With your party, you're basically just adding 1 more adult plus 1 more child. My wife and I are slim, but then your kids are smaller than ours. So you should be able to fit everyone into a room with 4 beds.

BeachRat

civic248

Thanks, i never had to worried about peak times with buddies. With kids, its a lot different traveling in Tokyo!

gonebabygone

You're welcome. However I will say, the handful of times we got caught during rush hour in Tokyo we still survived. We didn't have to have any of the station agents cramming our kids onto a subway car

MSPeconomist

civic248

I think my choice might be the Asakusa view hotel. Ease of location and they have a family room. I will just use CHase UR to book. Now I gotta worry about Kyoto/Osaka, HK and Shanghai! Planning a family trip definitely is not easy!