Today’s blog post is all about the hotels we stayed at in Japan for our Spring Sakura trip!
One of our top priorities when booking hotels is location. We wanted to make sure the hotel was within walking distance to a train/subway for quick navigation. But also in an area that has access to what we might need (quick bite to eat, retail, etc). But, each hotel had its flaws which I'll include in each review.
* Keep in mind hotels in Japan are VERY small. IMO it is cruise ship size rooms so keep that in mind with larger families you might want to consider airbnb, booking multiple rooms on the same floor, or larger suites that could accommodate a larger family.
** Most Japanese hotels will take your rolling luggage/bags and hold them for you until check in and there's lots of lockers at the train stations you can store luggage in if the hotel is unable to hold the bags for you.... But Japan is very strict on time - so don’t expect any form of early check in. (We did get early check in at our last hotel but they charged us an additional 4,000 yen to do so).
HOW WE DID OUR HOTELS: I wanted to break down how we did hotels cause its a bit different than how I've seen other travel influencers do. We knew we were going to be shopping quite a bite so we decided to have a 'main hotel' or a HQ that we booked for our ENTIRE trip. This hotel was in Asakusa, Tokyo. We decided on Asakusa because location wise it's the best and was near the main subway line. When we went to Osaka for USJ and Hakone for the Onsen resort - we kept our 'main hotel/HQ' so we can keep our items there and packed just a small overnight bag.
*** Links to each hotel is included and these are NOT commission links.
Hotel #1 Asakusa Tobu : We only stayed here for one night. Our Asakusa hotel didn’t have availability for the day our flight landed. We originally had an airport room but last minute swapped for this location and TBH, I’m glad I was able to experience this place! Location wise, this place was a great spot if you’re wanting to be near the subway, Senso-ji, and walking distance to Skytree. Their breakfast buffet was both Japanese and Western dishes and it was probably one of the best "hotel breakfast" we had on the entire trip. The entry to the hotel was so posh. The hotel room was VERY nice, bigger than expected and the TV even had access to Youtube so we were able to fight off jet lag. My only complaint is the beds weren’t comfortable at all (maybe it was just our room but the bed felt rock hard).
Hotel #2 APA Hotel Asakusa Ekimae (our Tokyo HQ) : The location of this hotel was brilliant! It was VERY close to Senso-Ji, The Don Quijote, Ozeki grocery store, and the subway lines. I love the outside sitting area this hotel had and wished we could have used it more. The bed was VERY comfortable but the room was one of the smallest rooms out of all our hotels (we had to be creative with our 6 suitcases at the end of our trip). This hotel did have a breakfast but we never ate there - it was only a few plate options (not a buffet) plus we wanted to enjoy some of the local cafes each day (I will have a blog post about cafes soon too!). This hotel chain has multiple locations in Asakusa alone and from my understanding there is different tier sizes too - so if you’re wanting to save money on hotel cost, you might really enjoy this location!
Hotel #3 Osaka Hotel Resol Trinity : We enjoyed this hotel for 2 nights and it was one Bryce was familiar with because he had stayed here before. I must say this hotel being in the heart of Osaka, felt like you were in another world as soon as you stepped in. The design, aromas, and atmosphere was 10/10. The room was quite large too! I enjoyed the big bathtub in our hotel room and the check in area even had bath salt soaks for the guest to enjoy! Bryce and I joked that we need to have our next master bedroom set up to be similar to this hotel room because it was modern Japanese and had that zen feeling I've been searching for. Now, there was a few hiccups with this place. There's a public bath for guests to use which I was very excited for but this hotel had some ‘tour groups’ who weren’t following the rules of the public bath - I felt uncomfortable and didn’t get to enjoy it. Also the same tourist group was very rude at the buffet breakfast and some people even cut us in line and was talking extremely loud in the common areas (which for Japan and the Japanese culture - loud talking isn’t something people do). I truly enjoyed this hotel but felt maybe we just had some bad luck with other guests - it was cherry blossom season so maybe during off season this place would be a perfect Osaka hangout.
Hotel #4 Hakone Kowakien Tenyu : We only stayed here for one night because this was peak tourist season and the rates were VERY expensive but I must say this is a destination Bryce and I plan to revisit on our future Japan trips. We booked a room with a private hot spring bath which I enjoyed multiple times, there was SO much space in our room (it literally felt like an entire apartment!), and they provided us with pjs and our katas to wear. The hotel had lots of areas for the guest to relax, there was 3 dinner options and all is well worth it, the hotel breakfast was over 80+ item buffet (something literally for anyone - including Champagne!), and the grounds of the retreat were breathtaking. There was 2 public hot spring baths that rotate each day and I truly enjoyed the onsen experience and recommend everyone trying it at least once. This location is out in the mountains so be prepared to either hike to the hotel, ride a bus, or take an expensive taxi. We hiked and enjoyed the sights. This hotel also has an annex building that seems to have a lot more kid-friendly activities.
Hotel #5 Airport Collaboration Room Villa Fontaine Grand Haneda : Our final 24 hours in Japan we enjoyed the airport hotel and it was well worth it (another location we will stay at again for the convenience of being at the airport terminal). The room was a very good size and the tv had access to the internet. The breakfast buffet here was really nice too and we arrived there right when they opened and had great food selection. This hotel also has a rooftop hot spring which we sadly didn’t get to enjoy but if you have the time I recommend going since its open 24 hours. Now, our room was a special collaboration room which meant it was decorated to a theme and had free items gifted to us. We adored this experience and if you’re into Japanese collaboration experiences - I recommend booking one of these collab rooms. The bed wasn’t the softest bed in the world; it was mid. I highly recommend the airport hotels at Hanata. Its nothing like a US airport hotels and the ease of getting our luggage to the check baggage desk and through TSA made this room 100% worth it.
If you have any further questions or would like to know more about the hotels Bryce stayed at on his solo Japan trip, let me know and I will gladly include the details.
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