Tokyo Lodging Options

Lodging Options - Western Style

If culture shock has taken its toll and you're looking for some of the familiar creature comforts of home, try one staying in one of these options.

International Hotels

Japan's international hotels resemble their counterparts the world over -- expect Western-style quarters, English-speaking staffers, and high room rates. Virtually all these properties also have Western and Japanese restaurants, room service, high-speed Internet, minibars, yukata (cotton robe), concierge services, porters, and business and fitness centers. A few also have swimming pools. Some offer a handful of Japanese-style rooms -- with tatami mats and futons -- but these rooms are more expensive.

Business Hotels

Business hotels are for travelers who only need a place to leave luggage, sleep, and change. Rooms are small; a lone traveler will often take a double rather than suffer the claustrophobia of a single. Each room has a phone, a desk, a TV (often the pay-as-you-watch variety and rarely with English-language channels), slippers, a yukata (cotton robe), and a bath with a prefabricated plastic tub, shower, and sink. These bathrooms are scrupulously clean, but if you're basketball-player size, you might have trouble standing up in them. Other than those facilities, you'll probably only find a restaurant and maybe a 24-hour receptionist, who probably doesn't speak English. Business hotels are generally near railway stations. Most fall into the $$ (and sometimes $$$) price category.

Hostels

Hostels offer bare-bones lodging at low prices -- often in shared dorm rooms with shared baths -- to people of all ages, though the primary market is students. Most hostels serve breakfast; dinner and/or shared cooking facilities may also be available. In some hostels, you aren't allowed to be in your room during the day, and there may be a curfew at night. Nevertheless, hostels provide a sense of community, with public rooms where travelers often gather to share stories.

Many hostels are affiliated with Hostelling International (HI). Membership in any HI association, open to travelers of all ages, allows you to stay in affiliated hostels at special rates. One-year membership is about $28 for adults; hostels charge about $10-$30 per night. Members have priority if the hostel is full; they're also eligible for discounts, even on rail and bus travel in some countries.

Hostels in Japan run about ¥1,500-¥3,200 per night for members, usually ¥1,000 more for nonmembers. The quality of hostels varies a lot in Japan, though the bad ones are never truly terrible, and the good ones offer memorable experiences. Most have private rooms for couples or families, though you should call ahead to be sure. Tourist information offices can direct you to a local hostel. Note that hostels tend to be crowded during school holidays, when university students are traveling around the country.

Contacts

Hostelling International -- USA (301/495-1240. www.hiusa.org). Japan Youth Hostels, Inc (03/3288-1417. www.jyh.or.jp). for listings and reservations.

Apartment & House Rentals

Although renting apartments or houses in Japan isn't common, there are agents that can make such arrangements for you. In addition, English-language newspapers and magazines such as the Japan Times, Daily Yomiuri, Asahi Shimbun, and Metropolis, and Web sites such as (www.gaijinpot.com) may list properties for rent.

International Agents

Moveandstay (02/235-6624. www.moveandstay.com).

ReloJapan (03/5575-6321. www.relojapan.com).

Local Agents

Ken Corporation (03/5413-5666. www.kencorp.com).

The Mansions (03/5414-7070 or 03/5575-3232. www.themansions.jp).

Sakura House (03/5330-5250. www.sakura-house.com). Tokyo Apartment (03/3368-7117. www.tokyoapt.com).

Home Exchanges

With a direct home exchange, you stay in someone else's home while they stay in yours. Some outfits also deal with vacation homes, so you're not actually staying in someone's full-time residence, just their vacant weekend place.

Exchange Clubs

HomeLink International (800/877-8723. www.homelink.org. $80 yearly for Web-only membership; $125 with Web access and two directories.). Home Exchange.com (800/638-3841. www.homeexchange.com. $59.95 for a 1-year online listing.) Intervac U.S (800/756-4663. www.intervacus.com. $78.88 for Web-only membership; $126 includes Web access and a catalog.).

Lodging Options - Japanese Style

Looking for someplace other than the typical Western hotel to rest your head? There are numerous options: ryokan, minshuku, capsule hotels, home visits, or a stay in a traditional temple.

Ryokan

There are two kinds of ryokan. One is an expensive traditional inn, with lots of personal attention, where you're served dinner and breakfast in your room. Rates at such places can be exorbitant -- more than ¥30,000 ($255) per person per night with two meals. The other type is an inexpensive hostelry whose rooms come with futon beds, tatami floor mats, a scroll or a flower arrangement in its rightful place, and, occasionally, meal service.

Tokyo ryokan fall in the latter category. They're often family-run, and service is less a matter of professionalism than of good will. Many have rooms either with or without baths (where tubs are likely to be plastic rather than cedarwood) as well as street, rather than garden, views. Because they have few rooms and the owners are usually on hand to answer questions, these small ryokan are as hospitable as they are affordable (from ¥5,000 ($43) for a single room to ¥7,000 ($60) for a double). Younger travelers love them. Many modern hotels with Japanese-style rooms are now referring to themselves as ryokan, and though meals may be served in the guests' rooms, they are a far cry from the traditional ryokan.

The Japan Ryokan Association has a listing of traditional ryokan all over the country plus literature on ryokan etiquette. You can inquire about reservations at member inns via an online form.

Note that some ryokan do not like to have foreign guests because the owners worry that they might not be familiar with traditional-inn etiquette.

Contact

Japan Ryokan Association (03/3231-5310. www.ryokan.or.jp).

Minshuku

Minshuku are essentially bed-and-breakfasts. Usually they cost about ¥6,000 (about $51) per person, including two meals, and you may be expected to lay out and put away your own bedding. Meals are often served in communal dining rooms. Minshuku vary in size and atmosphere; some are in small homes that take in only a few guests, whereas others are more like no-frill inns. Some of your most memorable stays could be at a minshuku, as they often offer a chance to become acquainted with a Japanese family.

To reserve your stay in a minshuku, you must contact the Japan Minshuku Center and fill out a reservation request form, available from the Web site or office.

Contact

The Japan Minshuku Center (03/3216-6556. www.minshuku.jp).

Capsule Hotels

Capsule hotels consist of plastic cubicles stacked one atop another. "Rooms" are a mere 3 1/2 feet wide, 3 1/2 feet high, and 7¼ feet long, and they're usually occupied by very junior business travelers, backpackers, or late-night revelers or commuters who have missed the last train home. Each capsule has a bed, an intercom, an alarm clock, and a TV. Washing and toilet facilities are shared. Capsule hotels offer single accommodations only and generally have no facilities for women. Although you may want to try sleeping in a capsule, you probably won't want to spend a week in one.

Home Visits

You can get a good sense of Japanese life by staying (for free) with a local family that has volunteered to participate in a home-visit program. The system is active in many cities throughout the country, including Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Sapporo. To learn more about the home-visit program, contact the Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO) before you leave for Japan.

Contact

The JNTO Tourist Information Center (One Rockefeller Plaza, Suite 1250, New York, 10020. 212/757-5640. www.jnto.go.jp).

Temples

Accommodations in Buddhist temples provide a taste of traditional Japan. Some offer instruction in meditation or allow you to observe their religious practices, while others simply offer a room. The Japanese-style rooms are very simple and range from beautiful, quiet havens to not-so-comfortable, basic cubicles. JNTO has lists of temples that accept guests. A stay generally costs ¥3,000-¥9,000 ($26-$77) per night, which includes two meals.

Reservations

The Japanese Inn Group is a nationwide association of small ryokan and family-owned tourist hotels. Because they tend to be slightly out of the way and provide few amenities, these accommodations are priced to attract budget-minded travelers. The association has the active support of JNTO.

The JNTO Tourist Information Center publishes a listing of some 700 reasonably priced accommodations in Tokyo and throughout Japan. To be listed, properties must meet Japanese fire codes and charge less than ¥8,000 (about $68) per person without meals. For the most part, the properties charge ¥5,000-¥6,000 ($43-$51). These properties welcome foreigners. Properties include business hotels, ryokan of a very rudimentary nature, and minshuku. It's the luck of the draw whether you choose a good or less-than-good property. In most cases rooms are clean but very small. Except in business hotels, shared baths are the norm, and you are expected to have your room lights out by 10 PM. The JNTO's downtown Tokyo office is open daily 9-5.

The nonprofit Welcome Inn Reservation Center can help you reserve many of the establishments on JNTO's list -- and many that are not. Reservation forms are available from the JNTO office. The center must receive reservation requests at least one week before your departure to allow processing time. If you are already in Tokyo, JNTO's Tourist Information Centers (TICs) at Narita Airport, Kansai International Airport, and downtown can make immediate reservations for you.

Contacts

Japanese Inn Group (03/3252-1717. www.jpinn.com). JNTO Tourist Information Center (Tokyo Kotsu Kaikan Building, 2-10-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. 03/3201-3331. www.jnto.go.jp). Welcome Inn Reservation Center (03/3211-4201. www.itcj.or.jp).