Koyasan hotel/Temple prices?

Hello everyone :) :)

I am writing to ask you for information regarding the prices of hotels/monasteries on Mt. Koya.
I have to go to Japan in November and it is my third trip.

I have never been to Mt. Koya, but I was already interested in the destination, so I had already looked at the prices and didn't remember them being anywhere near this high on booking.com.

For mid-November, the hotel/monastery that costs LESS on booking is 400 euros per night (65,000 yen).
I have never seen prices like that and they are completely crazy prices.

Is this normal or am I doing something wrong?
Is there any site or somewhere that you can book at with a price that is not to say low, but at least reasonable.

It's okay that they are temples on a mountain, but these are crazy prices.
And this is the cheapest, there are some from €800 (120'000 yen) per night.

Am I doing something wrong? Wrong site?

In the various guidebooks were marked prices from €100/150 per night, and I also remembered similar prices.

Thank you very much for your help!

Mid November koya-San sounds like momiji time. Plus not all places are likely open for booking yet

Seems crazy to me, too. If you are searching for a Saturday night you can expect prices to be higher than on weekdays, but still�c It�fs probably too early. Maybe check again in May (when six-month windows start to open up for November) and if that doesn�ft help, try later. Or maybe look into other ways to book a temple stay besides booking.com.

Note that it�fs entirely possible to enjoy Koysan as a day trip. (I have even done it from Kyoto myself, with a very early start.) If it�fs a temple stay you want to experience, you can do that many places in Japan. If it�fs the sights and ambience of Koyasan, you definitely don�ft need to spend the night. Even in November, when it gets dark early, you can visit Okunoin and some temples and possibly even do a little hiking. Plus if you do it as a day trip you can pick a day when it�fs not raining. If you have lodging booked there, you�fre kind of stuck. It doesn�ft rain a lot in Japan in November, but when it does, it can be cold and dreary.

I'm guessing you're checking on Booking.com's English site. You might have better luck checking on Japanese-language and/or Japan-based sites. A quick look on Jalan for 2-person hotel rooms in Koyasan in mid-November shows prices starting at around 20,000 yen, and temple lodging listings from 30,000 per night.

Travel prices have been rapidly rising in general in Japan since the pandemic ended, a result of pent-up domestic and inbound foreign traveler demand. The effect is especially pronounced in places that are particularly popular with foreign travelers, though, such as Koyasan. Because of that, you might have better look looking for reasonably priced accommodations on websites more aimed towards Japanese travelers.

that price is probably for two persons in a room with dinner and breakfast. (one person is not welcome.)

For the occasion I visited last year (at the requirement of some customers), the place we stayed was both the most expensive of the entire trip (higher than Tokyo and some other specialist accommodation we had), and also the worst/lowest quality.
There were certainly places that were much more expensive, and the lower cost options were either more terrible or very badly rated.
Checking prices for later this year for the place I used, the rates do appear excessive at more than 100,000 yen for one night (two people). Simply not worth it, and as a personal opinion, Koya really isn't that special.

1397700. This is the number of tourists who visited Koyasan, a World Heritage site, in 2023, as compiled by Wakayama Prefecture. The number of overnight guests was approximately 218,600, 2.2 times the number of the previous year, which was affected by the new coronavirus outbreak. The number of foreign guests was 93,900, about 11.6 times that of the previous year. The number of tourists from Japan and abroad far exceeds the town's population of 2,641 (as of the end of March this year).

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

So, in 2023 43% of the temple stay guests were foreigners. This is more than average in Japan (probably about 20%). I guess international tourism is the cause of the high price.

By the way 60 years ago when I was in a primary school, Koyasan was a destination for summer school of Osaka kids. Now Osakan children go to public summer house which is much cheaper than the temple stay in Koyasan.

I was also considering Koyasan for a stay for my upcoming trip on August, I've been 4 times in Japan but Koyasan is still an unknown place for me.

In the end after looking the prices and reviews of other travelers I decided to do a back and forth trip to Koyasan from Osaka, mainly because of the price/quality that many people said and because I have shortage of time since next day I have to go to Hiroshima and my schedule would be supertight if I go from Koyasan.