Accommodation in Japan - Last Post

Travel Reports by mfedley

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July 19, 2015 - Accommodation in Japan - Last Post

If there is one thing Japan has in abundance - it's different types of accommodation. There are minshiku's, ryokan's, business hotels, love hotels, normal hotels, shiboku's and even pensions just to name a few. For some people, accommodation is just a place to sleep but for some people it's one of the major decisions they will make.

As I have just spent a little over one month travelling Japan I've decided to include some basic pictures to give people a taste of the type of accommodation that you may stay at in Japan. Just to confirm - I'm not naming these hotels nor am I endorsing them. They are just here as a guide for people who are interested.

Accommodation Type: Former Shiboku Lodging
Location: Haguro-jinja: Yamagata.
Price: ~ 9000 yen for a single a night
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner included
Amenities: Shared bathroom.
Note: No A/C or locks on doors. Nice sento.

Note that the former shiboku is roughly 300 years old - so walls are not as thick as we are used to

Accommodation Type: Japanese style Western Hotel (14 rooms)
Location: Kusatsu Onsen
Price: ~ 9000 Yen a night
Meals: Simple breakfast
Amenities: Toilet in room. Shared onsen
Note: Nice sitting area with free extras such as coffee, tea and even fruit icy poles!

Accommodation Type: Large chain onsen hotel
Location: Manza Onsen
Price: ~ 5,000 Yen a night for a single
Meals: None. Buffet Dinner (3,600 Yen) & Buffet Breakfast (1,400 Yen)
Amenities: Shower & Toilet. Large mixed outdoor onsen and gender segregated indoor onsen
Note: This hotel is aimed at older retired couples on a budget as a part of a tour package. As such - they have an older clientele. Free bus to and from Karuizawa (must be booked by 4PM the day before)

Accommodation Type: Pension
Location: Togari Onsen, Nagano
Price: ~ 10,000 yen a single
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Amenities: Toilet in room. Gender segregated onsen
Note: Idyllic rural setting. You need your own transport from local train station or need to contact hotel before for arranged pickup

Note that the frogs can get a little noisy at night

Accommodation Type: 80's Bubble Onsen Resort Hotel
Location: Yunazuki Onsen, Toyama
Price: ~ 8,000 yen a single
Meals: Breakfast
Amenities: Toilet in room. Gender segregated onsen
Note: Very 80's feel but in good condition. I feel as though I've stepped back into my childhood. Very close to the station but hardly and restaurants in town.

Accommodation Beach Pension
Location: Itoigawa, Niigata
Price: ~ 10.500 yen a single
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Amenities: Toilet and shared bathroom outside room.
Note: Very good meals but the down side is it's location away from downtown Itoigawa. However - it is a very quick walk to the beach. English spoken.

Accommodation Type: Business minshiku
Location: Wajima Onsen, Ishikawa
Price: ~ 8,500 yen a single
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Amenities: Toilet and semi-private onsen shared.
Note: Not the most flash of places - but the seafood is plentiful and fresh. They also do an interesting thing with the onsen water by also adding kelp to it which is meant to make your skin smoother. No english spoken

Accommodation Type: High class tourist hotel
Location: Wakura Onsen, Ishikawa
Price: ~ 16,000 yen for a single a night
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner included
Amenities: Private bathroom and toilet. Gender separated onsens which look onto ocean
Note: Service is sublime, views are fantastic and food is very good. I did notice that other people did get better meals than me - but they were paying 10,000 yen a night more than I was. However - it was food similar in ingredients to my 8.500 yen minshiku in Wajima (but you get crab etc in Wajima etc!!)

Normally I'm great with booking hotels, but I originally booked the Yukai Kinpaso in Wakura but I forgot to change the dates (whoops!). As such, I needed to find accommodation in an onsen town close to a major city on a Friday night, Thankfully I found somewhere. I love how they give you a tea ceremony while they get your room ready.

Accommodation Type: Onsen Hotel
Location: Yamanaka Onsen, Ishikawa
Price: ~ 11,00 yen for a single a night
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner included
Amenities: Private toilet, gender separated onsens looking onto river
Note: Close to main area and has all of the amenities you could wish for!

Accommodation Type: Onsen Hotel
Location: Kinosaki Onsen, Ishikawa
Price: ~ 16,000 yen for a single a night
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner included
Amenities: Private toilet, gender separated onsens including one as a mini cave
Note: Meals in room and located close to Kinosaki onsens and the main canal.

Accommodation Type: Business Hotel
Location: Tottori, Tottori
Price: ~ 6,000 yen for a single a night
Meals: Breakfast for 800 yen
Amenities: Private bathroom with nice onsen sauna on top floor
Note: Close to train station and good breakfast

Accommodation Type: Seaside Hotel
Location: Kada, Wakayama
Price: ~ 12,000 yen for a single a night for the best room available for single
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner included
Amenities: Private toilet, gender separated onsens looking over Seto Sea
Note: Fantastic view - you can watch the waves from the Pacific Ocean and surfers from your room. Do note that outside onsen is right next to minor road

Outside onsen - inside onsen is much bigger

View from room - note that my room was huge!

Accommodation Type: Machida House
Location: Kii-Tanabe, Wakayama
Price: ~ 8,000 yen for a single a night
Meals: No meals but 500 yen per person for breakfast at cafes close by
Amenities: 2 bedrooms, bathroom, toilet, living area
Note: 15 minute walk from train station but you have a 100 year old house to yourself!!

One of the bedrooms - note all rooms have their own A/C

Accommodation Type: Onsen Hotel
Location: Kii-Katsuura, Wakayama
Price: ~ 14,000 yen for a single a night (cheapest room)
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner included as an extensive buffet
Amenities: Private bathroom and toilet
Note: To get to this hotel, you need to catch a ferry and it's most famous for it's 6 onsens which look onto the Pacific ocean. This hotel has close to the best onsen facilities I have seen at a hotel apart from one hotel in Noboribetsu - Hokkaido.

Entrance to my favourite onsen in Japan. The hotel has drilled a huge tunnel along the peninsula to a large natural cave that looks onto the Pacific ocean. Then they've included a couple of large onsens with good quality water (calcium and sulphur). If waves are big - you might actually get wet while sitting in the onsen!

Accommodation Type: Onsen Hotel
Location: Yunomine Onsen, Wakayama
Price: ~ 11,500 yen for a single a night
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner included
Amenities: Private toilet, gender separated onsens including private onsens
Note: You really need a car to get here as the bus stop is quite a hike and there are only 4 buses a day along a windy road. It is a nice hotel though.

As you can see, there are quite a few different types of hotels to stay at. I've stayed at some of the more nicer hotels which are normally reasonably priced. Do note that including meals in your hotel price dramatically reduces your unexpected costs along with getting too much food. Unlike western hotels - Japanese ryokans and minshiku's are known for their food and if chosen wisely allows you to taste food that you would normally never order yourself. I will however say that Japanese breakfast can get a little tiring for quite a few people.

Just to confirm - this is the last of my posts from my 5 weeks in Japan. I hope that you have enjoyed reading these posts and if you have any questions in the future feel free to PM me. I'd also love to give a shout of to the many people who helped me put together my vacation which was highly enjoyable. I do however believe that I've covered close to the best of Honshu now.

I'd also like to thank JG for allowing me to make these posts which were fun but also time consuming. Hopefully - some more people start travel posts as it really helps us on this website get new ideas of where to go and what to do.

Just to confirm - my travels of Japan are not finished but it will be at least 6 months until I travel to Japan once again. I've got so many places to visit in China and I'm also looking forward to completing a driving holiday next year in Northern Australia for my Northern Hemisphere summer vacation.

For those interested in my photography - more photos of Japan (and other countries) can be viewed at the following website:

http://feddersphotos.smugmug.com

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