Places to stay in tokyo/kyoto?

mooshoepork

I'm looking for accommodation recommendations for a two week stay in Japan. I'd like to stay in a ryokan in kyoto, but not break the bank.

I thought it'd be better getting suggestions from people I trust rather than crawling through trip advisor. With the Ryokan, I don't want to spend more than 100 US a night. The hotel in Tokyo (or hostel with a single room) I'm looking at a fair bit less than that.

I've looked at K's house (35 US) which actually looks the best so far. I've looked at Kimi Ryokan which has mixed reviews. And Toyoko inn also looks fine, if a little boring. That's about 70 US a night.

Does anyone know of similar places to K's house? Ethernet access would be great, and proximity to a train station.

MagicToaster

Last year, I stayed at the Sakura hostel in Asakusa. I don't exactly remember the price, but it was really cheap! You won't have a shower in your room, of course... so you might get kinda sick of that after two weeks.

mooshoepork

MagicToaster wrote: »

Last year, I stayed at the Sakura hostel in Asakusa. I don't exactly remember the price, but it was really cheap! You won't have a shower in your room, of course... so you might get kinda sick of that after two weeks.

I did check them out, but unfortunately they don't do single rooms (as far as I can see?). Thanks for the reply though!

Bartholamue

I stayed in a Tokyo Hostel in the Minowa area. It was roughly $35 a night, and it's very close to the trains. It was alright.

Megalomaniageek

I don't know how well this fits into your plans, but you might end up with the best Kyoto deal if you wait until you get to Tokyo and get a shinkansen/hotel package from one of the travel agencies there. But you either have to read Japanese well or have a Japanese friend who can help you out in order to navigate the deals.

Weretaco

mooshoepork wrote: »

I'm looking for accommodation recommendations for a two week stay in Japan. I'd like to stay in a ryokan in kyoto, but not break the bank.

I thought it'd be better getting suggestions from people I trust rather than crawling through trip advisor. With the Ryokan, I don't want to spend more than 100 US a night. The hotel in Tokyo (or hostel with a single room) I'm looking at a fair bit less than that.

I've looked at K's house (35 US) which actually looks the best so far. I've looked at Kimi Ryokan which has mixed reviews. And Toyoko inn also looks fine, if a little boring. That's about 70 US a night.

Does anyone know of similar places to K's house? Ethernet access would be great, and proximity to a train station.

I stayed at the Ks house in Kyoto this year. It was fantastic. Super clean and very friendly staff. We also stayed at the one in Tokyo which was good, though older and their internet was down while we were there. We also stayed a few nights at a hotel in Tokyo and if you are interested I can get you the name. It was right near Shinjuku station

mooshoepork

Weretaco wrote: »

mooshoepork wrote: »

I'm looking for accommodation recommendations for a two week stay in Japan. I'd like to stay in a ryokan in kyoto, but not break the bank.

I thought it'd be better getting suggestions from people I trust rather than crawling through trip advisor. With the Ryokan, I don't want to spend more than 100 US a night. The hotel in Tokyo (or hostel with a single room) I'm looking at a fair bit less than that.

I've looked at K's house (35 US) which actually looks the best so far. I've looked at Kimi Ryokan which has mixed reviews. And Toyoko inn also looks fine, if a little boring. That's about 70 US a night.

Does anyone know of similar places to K's house? Ethernet access would be great, and proximity to a train station.

I stayed at the Ks house in Kyoto this year. It was fantastic. Super clean and very friendly staff. We also stayed at the one in Tokyo which was good, though older and their internet was down while we were there. We also stayed a few nights at a hotel in Tokyo and if you are interested I can get you the name. It was right near Shinjuku station

That'd be great actually!

I'll check out K's house and see if they have space in their kyoto hostel.

edit: yeah looks like they have no space. It's almost 4 months away! :P argh.

baudattitude

My dad stayed at the Sakura in Tokyo (Jimbocho) and had a single room, it was about Y6000 a night. They have super cheap dorm style rooms for backpackers as well.

Personally I'm a fan of the Shiba Park hotel but that's not as cheap as Sakura. I just like the location a lot better.

When I've visited Kyoto in the past, I've actually stayed in Osaka (about 40 minutes away by train) at the Asahi Plaza Capsule Hotel Shinsaibashi. It's Y2800 a night, and while your room consists of a capsule and a locker, it has a pretty nice lounge and an excellent bath.

Weretaco

http://www.hotelsunrouteplazashinjuku.jp/en/index.php

There you go. Nice place to stay and about 1-2 blocks from Shinjuku stations south exit. Also lot's of good food and such nearby.

http://local.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=Hotel&sll=35.687906,139.699466&sspn=0.003468,0.006968&ie=UTF8&t=h&split=1&rq=1&ev=p&radius=0.23&hq=Hotel&hnear=&ll=35.687244,139.699472&spn=0.003468,0.006968&z=18&iwloc=A

Zython

When I was in Tokyo, I stayed at the Sunshine City Prince Hotel in Ikebukuro.

Pretty nice place. clean rooms, friendly staff, and is only a few blocks away from Sunshine City, which is a pretty cool place. Only downside is that you have to pay 1000 yen for 1 day of internet access in the room.

Cokebotle

I'll throw my suggestion in for capsule hotels. Just because it's an experience, but you gotta be comfortable getting naked around a bunch of other people while you change clothes and bathe.

Can you read Japanese at all? If so, Rakuten has a travel section that allows you to search for hotels, complete with user reviews and links to the hotel's own site. I use it all the time for finding hotels when I travel here.

mooshoepork

Great suggestions. Tokyo is sorted.

Any more suggestions for Kyoto? Was thinking about staying in the 9hrs capsule hotel for a couple of days.

Cokebotle, is this going to be extremely uncomfortable? I'm a short guy, so that's no problem. Seems like it'd be cool.

Cokebotle

mooshoepork wrote: »

Great suggestions. Tokyo is sorted.

Any more suggestions for Kyoto? Was thinking about staying in the 9hrs capsule hotel for a couple of days.

Cokebotle, is this going to be extremely uncomfortable? I'm a short guy, so that's no problem. Seems like it'd be cool.

Uncomfortable?

kitch

mooshoepork wrote: »

Great suggestions. Tokyo is sorted.

Any more suggestions for Kyoto? Was thinking about staying in the 9hrs capsule hotel for a couple of days.

Cokebotle, is this going to be extremely uncomfortable? I'm a short guy, so that's no problem. Seems like it'd be cool.

Capsule hotels are uncomfortable. They're pretty much the solution to "Oh shit, I stayed out drinking with my coworkers way too long, and I've missed the last train home".

Cokebotle

kitch wrote: »

mooshoepork wrote: »

Great suggestions. Tokyo is sorted.

Any more suggestions for Kyoto? Was thinking about staying in the 9hrs capsule hotel for a couple of days.

Cokebotle, is this going to be extremely uncomfortable? I'm a short guy, so that's no problem. Seems like it'd be cool.

Capsule hotels are uncomfortable. They're pretty much the solution to "Oh shit, I stayed out drinking with my coworkers way too long, and I've missed the last train home".

The ones I've stayed in have been more of a "I need a cheap place to crash while I'm away on business" kind of feeling. *shrug*

Weretaco

mooshoepork wrote: »

Great suggestions. Tokyo is sorted.

Any more suggestions for Kyoto? Was thinking about staying in the 9hrs capsule hotel for a couple of days.

Cokebotle, is this going to be extremely uncomfortable? I'm a short guy, so that's no problem. Seems like it'd be cool.

Have you checked the K's house in Kyoto? We really liked that one.

mooshoepork

yeah K's house will be booked out on my dates. Seems really popular.

Red Raevyn

Karatachi Ryokan in Inari was great. Plan to pay in cash (which is a good policy for all ryokan). It's intrinsically great, a few rooms on the second floor of a small house with excellent food and the ryokan experience, but it's also awesome because the Inari shrine a stone's throw away is amaaaazing. We'd never heard anything about it but happened to notice the crowds, being there during the golden week before New Year. Don't miss out on it; even if you stay right in Kyoto, it's a very very short train ride down to Inari and the shrine will blow your mind.