How I Picked My Hotels In Japan

Tokyo:

The first consideration that I had was that I wanted a hotel that would be easy to access from the Narita Airport. My research indicated that the easiest way to travel from Narita to Tokyo was to take the NEX subway. It has reserved seating, is affordable, and only makes a few stops across Tokyo. I narrowed my search down to the subway stations that the NEX stops at. I decided to look at hotels near Shinagawa Station. As a bonus, two of my day trips from Tokyo are accessible from Shinagawa Station. I will travel to both Yokohama and Kamakura early in my vacation.

For me, the Shinagawa Prince Hotel was the ideal place to stay. The price was in the $60 to $70 range per night. The hotel is only about a 5 minute walk from the subway station. There are lots of places to eat near the hotel too. The biggest drawback is that the rooms are very small.

Western Japan:

I plan to travel to Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara Japan. I chose to stay in Osaka due to the city staying open a little later at night. Osaka is very well known as a foody town and that is one of the main reasons that I wanted to go to Japan. I wanted to stay at a hotel near the high speed train station and was affordable. I chose the New Osaka Hotel near Shin-Osaka Station. The price was around $65 to $70 per night. The hotel is about a 5 minute walk from the subway station. I will be taking the early morning train from there to Kyoto most mornings while I am in western Japan. Also, the main food districts are a short subway ride away.

Return To Tokyo:

I plan on staying at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel again whenever I return to Tokyo. It is convenient to the high speed rail from the Kyoto/ Osaka. It is also on the NEX subway that I will take back to Narita Airport when my stay in Japan is over.

It is very importantt to book your hotel rooms early. The price went up every week until both hotels were sold out for the time period that I will be there. I booked my stay with the Shinagawa Prince Hotel directly. I booked my stay at the New Osaka Hotel through Travelocity. I did not have to pay anything in advance. All fees are payable upon check in. If you have to cancel then you pay a small fee up to the price for one nights stay. It depends on how far in advance that you cancel your reservation or are a no-show.