Planning Advice Please!

[TryAnything1317]

Its maybe a little early but im trying to pull a budget together for 2021. We are hoping to do Toyko Disneyland and Disneysea, some sightseeing in Tokyo and Kyoto, and Universal Studios Japan.

What I am finding the most difficult right now is planning hotel budgets because I just can't seem to find prices .

Where did you book your hotels?

I've tried directly on the hotel websites but I have no idea if they are good prices, and its getting irritating checking on each website. Booking.com and Hotels.com show some, but all are pay on arrival and I'm a little aprehensive about this...

We are a family of five (children will be 2, 4 and 8) and the whole process confuses me because certain hotels allow children under 6 to stay free if they bedshare!

[kk20]

Not too early at all. When I booked I first got the flights the day they went on sale a year before we travelled (Air france). I then started to look at hotels and met with the same issues you did. Japan do hotels differently, it isnt unknown to book a month beforehand. This didnt mesh well with me so I looked at larger hotels and booked over time. I also booked some airBnB.

For the "disney" leg, I booked Okura Bay direct about 9 months before we flew. This was an early discount booking and I also started a loyalty card with them and set that hotel as my preferred hotel - this gave me some discount. The price never went cheaper (it was a free cancellation) so I didnt need to change. I booked my airbnb approx 6 months before I flew.

Disney tickets I got when they were available (direct) and I got my JR pass around the same time.

If I were to do it again (we are planning a 2022 trip) then I would stay in the disney area and "commute" to Tokyo - the hotels are larger and the trains are great. I wouldnt spend as much time as I did in Tokyo as we loved Kyoto much more.

As for sharing, yes, Japan do allow bed share. It depends how cosy you want things, or put a camp bed in your luggage... We found the beds at the Okura to be the same size as other hotels we have been in. Due to a massive airbnb screw up we got a refund and opted to stay at the grand palace hotel on a huge discount. These beds were massive and could easily bed share.

Do not be afraid of using the subway - even with children. You will see 8 year olds navigating the subway!

Our airbnb in Kyoto was simply superb. 5 minute walk from a shopping arcade, 5 mins to the main station, 5 mins to a 7/11 and a laundaurette outside. They slept 5 also, they were called "AYAYA" in Kyoto and it was a small Japanese two storey house.

EDIT: just checked my prices for you, we paid 76,000Y inc tax for 4 nights at Okura bay for Disney. It was a twin room (2 doubles) with an extra roll away as an option. My two girls are happy to share). I cant seem to find my AirBnB receipts as my email is clogged with them, they were "cheaper than the okura" on a nightly basis, we went for AirBnB in some parts as we wanted a "house" setup. The final Tokyo leg Grand Palace was £572 for five nights (and booked on same day as arrival with hotels.com!)

[TryAnything1317]

Originally Posted by kk20

Not too early at all. When I booked I first got the flights the day they went on sale a year before we travelled (Air france). I then started to look at hotels and met with the same issues you did. Japan do hotels differently, it isnt unknown to book a month beforehand. This didnt mesh well with me so I looked at larger hotels and booked over time. I also booked some airBnB.

For the "disney" leg, I booked Okura Bay direct about 9 months before we flew. This was an early discount booking and I also started a loyalty card with them and set that hotel as my preferred hotel - this gave me some discount. The price never went cheaper (it was a free cancellation) so I didnt need to change. I booked my airbnb approx 6 months before I flew.

Disney tickets I got when they were available (direct) and I got my JR pass around the same time.

If I were to do it again (we are planning a 2022 trip) then I would stay in the disney area and "commute" to Tokyo - the hotels are larger and the trains are great. I wouldnt spend as much time as I did in Tokyo as we loved Kyoto much more.

As for sharing, yes, Japan do allow bed share. It depends how cosy you want things, or put a camp bed in your luggage... We found the beds at the Okura to be the same size as other hotels we have been in. Due to a massive airbnb screw up we got a refund and opted to stay at the grand palace hotel on a huge discount. These beds were massive and could easily bed share.

Do not be afraid of using the subway - even with children. You will see 8 year olds navigating the subway!

Our airbnb in Kyoto was simply superb. 5 minute walk from a shopping arcade, 5 mins to the main station, 5 mins to a 7/11 and a laundaurette outside. They slept 5 also, they were called "AYAYA" in Kyoto and it was a small Japanese two storey house.

EDIT: just checked my prices for you, we paid 76,000Y inc tax for 4 nights at Okura bay for Disney. It was a twin room (2 doubles) with an extra roll away as an option. My two girls are happy to share). I cant seem to find my AirBnB receipts as my email is clogged with them, they were "cheaper than the okura" on a nightly basis, we went for AirBnB in some parts as we wanted a "house" setup. The final Tokyo leg Grand Palace was £572 for five nights (and booked on same day as arrival with hotels.com!)

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Thats great thank you! I'm so used to booking Florida and planning knowing that prices won't jump around too much. I know it so well I know which budget hotels I'm happy to stay in, so it is a little frustrating not knowing my budget. We had to cancel our WDW trip for this year so we decided to put it towards Japan.

[AntonyJ]

Okura Bay - what did you think of the hotel?

[kk20]

We liked it. The rooms were large for a family of 4 with luggage (we booked the cheapest room for 4 of us). There was a fridge that we could use and a decent tea/coffee making area that we could also store shop food. The hotel had its own mini store that sold plenty of cup noodle and cup rice selections (in case you forgot to buy from ikspiari) plus plenty of toiletries and drinks etc. Price was comparable to the station shop (we were expecting the usual hotel markup).

Since this was out preferred loyalty card hotel we got a bunch of money off vouchers for breakfast, normally the hotel buffet breakfast was eyewateringly expensive bit this made it quite cheap for a very good selection. We didn't need to use the luggage room and contrary to other hotels our check in was allowed earlier too.