10 Days in Japan - Places to Stay
Places We Stayed
Photos by Ling
Image from left to right: Entrance of Shinto Shrine in Kyoto and the Kyoto Hotel Tower from the Kyoto Train Station POV.
The places we chose to stay in Japan are intentional because we focused on the proximity to the train stations in alignment with our excursions. This helped us explore and find our way back to the hotel easily especially after a long day. It also helped save us time from commuting or getting lost by using the train station as the “home base.”
We recommend looking through hotel options and Airbnb to find the best deal. The hotels we booked below had a long cancellation period and they did not charge us until it was a few days before our stay. This allowed us to shop around further without being penalized for canceling a hotel when we found a better deal. We found most of the hotel deals on booking.com.
In total, we spent about $821 for two people! See the breakdown below.
Shinjuku, Tokyo
Hotel: Oyado Cocochi, 169-0073 Tokyo-to, Shinjuku Hyakunincho 1-4-13, Japan
Total Cost: ~18,000¥ / $127 for 2 nights.
Rating: 4 out of 5
This place is very close to the train station and tucked away from the main busy street. It was decently priced and comfy for two people. There are many street food and eateries within walking distance. The check-in and check-out process was easy. They do make a copy of your passport upon check-in. Japan tends to randomly rain so they had umbrellas for their guests to use as needed. This place had a small but deep tub along with an open shower next to the tub where the floor had a drain. They had all the amenities we needed for the two nights, read more on their website.
Kyoto
Hotel: Shimogyo Ward (Airbnb)
Cost: ~37,844¥/ $268 for 4 nights.
Rating: 3.75 out of 5
This Airbnb is about 15 minutes from the Kyoto Station and tucked away in a residential neighborhood. Somehow the walk seemed further than what Google maps suggested. lol. The check-in and check-out process was all self-service provided by the Airbnb host online. There was no human contact at all during our stay. We communicated through the Airbnb app as needed. They had a washing machine in this unit but no dryer. This place also had clear umbrellas near the entrance for those rainy days for the guests to use.
Osaka
Hotel: Osaka Bay Tower
Total Cost: ~20,800¥/ $147 for 1 night.
Rating: 4 out of 5
This hotel is on the pricey end and is attached to an onsen. It has about 51 floors and you get an amazing view of the city. This hotel screams luxury upon walking in and checking in at the front desk. There’s plenty of shopping and restaurants attached to this hotel. The selling point of this hotel was the connected onsen, both public and private options. Most public bathhouses are not tattoo friendly so we opted for a private onsen. This onsen has an interactive experience before you enter the bathhouse or your private onsen. Treat yourself to one night of luxury.
Akihabara, Tokyo
Hotel: HOTEL MYSTAYS Asakusabashi
Total Cost: ~39,400¥/ $279 for 4 nights.
Rating: 4 out of 5
This hotel is very close to the Akihabara train station. This hotel is connected to a convenience store so it was nice to go down and buy some snacks before we went back to our room. This hotel has an indoor-outdoor feel — each floor is exposed to the outside so there are no air-conditioned hallways. You’ll hear a lot of noise from the streets. Since it was the last hotel we stayed at, we wanted to make sure the route would take us to the airport with minimal stops and transfers. Perfect spot to wrap up our trip!
NOTE: *This trip took place from May 22- June 1, 2023. The roadmap of our trip: Tokyo (i.e., Shinjuku), Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo (i.e., Akihabara).*
