Accommodation in Japan

During your Japan holiday, you’ll stay in a wide range of accommodation types – from very traditional Japanese Ryokans to more Western-style hotels. For instance, you might spend the night in a city hotel, with a business like feel but in a fantastic central location – or you might find yourself in a traditional Ryokan with views over a spectacular mountain range.

We use a handpicked selection of hotels, packed with local character and the right combination of cleanliness, location, friendly staff and good service. This gives us the flexibility to find the perfect spot, improves availability during busy times, and allows us to offer upgrades or customise your experience to fit your preferences. As hotels in Japan don’t always fit European star ratings, we’ve created our own categories so you know what you can expect from your trip.

Most of our hotels fall into our standard category (category 3). They are atmospheric, characterful hotels, chosen for their location and/or good value for money. These might include 3-star city hotels. In Japan, however, hotel rooms are much smaller than we taller Europeans are used to. A single bed is often between 80-90cm, and a double bed is usually between 120-140cm. Bathrooms are also not particularly spacious.

This category includes hotels with more spacious rooms, a swimming pool, or a slightly better location. Beachfront resorts also fall into this category. For example, the comfort hotels in Tokyo offer an even better location and larger rooms with wider beds. The ryokans in the Hakone region are also part of this category.

A special stay is an accommodation that is truly an experience. It’s not necessarily more luxurious but certainly very unique. For example, you can spend the night in a traditional minshuku, a Japanese inn. If you’d like to immerse yourself more in the culture, you can stay with a local family or spend the night in a Buddhist temple.

These are simple but reasonably comfortable places to sleep. You’ll have your own room with private toilet facilities, but the hotel itself has little atmosphere. As with all categories, we ensure that the rooms in this category are clean. This type of accommodation is more common in remote areas, where there are often no other options available.