Tokyo: Places to Stay

It's easy to blow a bundle on accommodation in Tokyo, but it's equally easy to find reasonably priced, clean, pleasant places to spend the night -- IF you know what you're looking for. Try out these three tiers for a great holiday abroad:

1. HIGH END: If you want to spend some cash and be in the center of the action, you can always try the Tokyo Century Hyatt or Hilton hotels. These are smack in the middle of Shinjuku, which is largely a business area but is very near just about everything else. It's also a major subway station, making it easy to get around.

2. MID END: If you don't want to break the bank but want a step above a youth hostel, I reccomend a Japanese traditional inn, or ryokan. These are not high-class accommodations -- you'll likely be in the middle of nowhere, and you will definitely be sleeping on a futon on the floor, not a bed -- but they are clean, comfortable, and affordable. One thing to note about ryokans is that they may have a curfew. Make sure to check!

3. LOW END: Hostels. Tokyo has a surprising selection of hostels, also known as Gaijin Houses. The best place to look for Tokyo hostels is at hostels.com, which not only lists each hostel but features user ratings as well.

Wherever you stay, most places in Japan are clean and professional. You're sure to have fun.

Interlude

We interrupt this consideration of fantastic ski resorts around the world to bring you the following! :)

People are too rich. That’s my opinion. You should not be able to afford these hotels. But if you CAN...

I mean, wow. These hotels are nicer than my home, or the home of anyone I know. If you’re filthy rich and looking for a vacation, this is the way to go!

Hotels are always interesting places, though. I haven’t stayed in a lot of really upscale hotels (although I did stay at the Century Hyatt in Tokyo... it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Nice, sure, but not worth the hype). Sometimes I think it’s better to stay in places with character. Of course, by character I don’t necessarily mean cockroaches. I would actually prefer a cockroach-free environment.

I’m reminded of a friend of mine, who tells a story about traveling to Cuba and finding a huge cockroach in her room. She called the desk to complain and they hung up on her.

I feel VERY privileged to live without cockroaches.

This has become rather stream of consciousness, but that’s okay. I think the fun part of travel is rambling on about it later. Back to these hotels, though -- when I saw them, I just couldn’t resist bringing them to your attention. I mean, they have style AND character. What more could you want?

Aside from a couple thousand bucks in your pocket, that is...

Love Hotel

All this talk about Japan and hotels has me thinking of another peculiarly Japanese phenomenon: the love hotel. Yes, you read that right. The politest way to describe these things is as hotels that would generally have an hourly rate. They’re weird places. And yet, some tourists love to visit them. After all, they’re clean, affordable, spacious (as opposed to Japanese capsule hotels, where you basically sleep in a coffin), and certainly interesting.

In keeping with the Japanese idea that it’s only dishonorable if someone catches you at it, love hotels are completely anonymous. Your license plate is hidden when you park outside, and you never see the people who take your money, bring room service, etc. Most love hotels have themes. Some are distinctly weird (for example, you may find yourself in a classroom with a bed, complimentary schoolgirl costumes included). Others are just really nice hotels that happen to be... for love.

At any rate, if you’re looking for a bit of a laugh and a cheap place to stay, you might want to think about finding one of these places. After all, who will ever know?

Checking it Out

The other day I was talking about comparing before you travel – not just hotels, but activities, flights, and the like. Not only is this the best way to make sure you’re getting a good deal, it alleviates a lot of stress from your holiday. You won’t have to worry about where you’ll find a vacancy or how to arrange a flight in Chinese, because it’ll all be taken care of!

So how do you go about it? Of course, you can always go to a travel agent, but some people prefer to plan their own holidays. Never fear – for those people, there is the marvelous resource called the internet! Before you head off, check travel blogs and places that review, contrast, and compare activities and accommodations from around the world (such as Lonely Planet).

You can also view individual hotel websites or check out the tourism resources for various countries online, but this isn’t my preferred method. Checking individual websites takes forever, and tourist resources often have deals with pricey hotels – you’ll never even hear about a discount.

No, my favorite method of comparing websites is through online travel agents and holiday sales such as http://www.directline-hotels.co.uk/. These companies often get special deals from hotels, and best of all, you can view side-by-side comparisons of different accommodations. These sites are great ways to compare before you travel!

Ryokan ni ikitai desu ka?

Speaking of hotels, I’ve been thinking about a few of the places I’ve stayed, and THAT got me thinking about a completely unique place to stay: a ryokan. Ryokans, for those who don’t know, are Japanese guesthouses -- traditional hotels. They’re wonderful for many reasons: they tend to be less expensive than a western hotel, they provide something of the authentic Japanese experience, and they’re usually clean and neat. Of course, they have a few drawbacks too, most notably that some of them have curfews -- but you can usually circumvent that problem by simply letting them know what time you’ll be in. Because the guest houses are typically owned by families, they aren’t staffed twenty-four hours a day, and they just want to know when they can lock the doors.

At any rate, if you’re thinking of heading to Japan, it’s well worth considering a ryokan. The Japanese Guest Houses website (http://www.japaneseguesthouses.com/index.htm) offers descriptions of typical ryokans, reservation forms, and lets you search Japan for guest houses. The types of ryokans they describe include:

1. Standard Ryokan: No frills, low-atmosphere, with Japanese-style rooms: a ryokan experience “on the cheap.”

2. Modern Ryokan: Has all the modern conveniences of a hotel, but with Japanese rooms and baths. Closer to a hotel than a traditional ryokan.

3. Traditional Ryokan: Low on modern conveniences but high on culture and atmosphere.

4. Minshuku: Inexpensive and personalized traditional Japanese experiences, although they tend to be small and drafty

These are just a few of the options out there. It’s well worth staying in a ryokan if you’re traveling to Japan, even if only for a few nights!

Backpacking for Grown-Ups!

Ah, the memories – trekking across Europe with a few friends and nothing but a few changes of clothes and whatever money you could scrape together, sleeping in youth hostels full of bugs and people who never seem to sleep… ever.

Who misses it?

But there’s something to be said for backpacking as a grown-up, albeit in a slightly more mature manner. You don’t need to be a multi-millionaire to have an enjoyable holiday, and you can do it without sleeping on the streets, too!

The trick is to compare before you travel. That before is key… once you’re there, it’s already too late. You’re either going to pay a fortune or wind up sleeping in a hostel. The thing is, no matter how good your intentions, once you’re at your holiday destination, you won’t want to shop around. You’ll be tired. You’ll be in the holiday mindset where price stops being such an object. You’ll just want to find a place to sleep and crash.

Which is well and good, assuming you’re either swimming in cash or don’t mind hostels. But if you want to enjoy a proper holiday and you’re on a budget, don’t waste your time on super-fancy accommodations. How much time are you really going to spend in your hotel room, anyway? You want someplace comfortable, clean, and cheap! When you’re on a budget, who wants to spend money on a hotel? There are bound to be more interesting things calling for your cash!