Hotel Suggestions Tokyo for one night - February 2017

[Pug1]

Hi everyone, we are finishing our Feb winter Hokkaido tour in Tokyo and staying at LaDaiba Hotel on Odaiba on the night of 17/2/2017. Our flight home leaves for Sydney at 22.00 hours on 19/2/2017 (Haneda). LaDaiba Hotel is the tour groups hotel for the night of the 17th and they have quoted us AUD$578 for the additional nights accommodation on 18/2/17, (the previous night is included in our tour cost). $578 seems a bit expensive but since its a Saturday night we may have to wear that cost rather than move hotels for one night. The other thought we had was to book the night of the 18th at Haneda. Any suggestions from the AFF Tokyo experts, since we are not very familiar with the city, having been there only once before? Thoughts on the price quoted, alternative hotels that would be easy to get to or would a Haneda hotel be the best option? We don't have any particular activities planned for the 18th Feb but would like to take advantage of the extra day to see something else in Tokyo. I guess we will also be kicked out of the hotel before lunch on the 19th so will have to store luggage if we want to get out and about before our late flight.

 

[sergeyvzn]

Hi everyone, we are finishing our Feb winter Hokkaido tour in Tokyo and staying at LaDaiba Hotel on Odaiba on the night of 17/2/2017. Our flight home leaves for Sydney at 22.00 hours on 19/2/2017 (Haneda). LaDaiba Hotel is the tour groups hotel for the night of the 17th and they have quoted us AUD$578 for the additional nights accommodation on 18/2/17, (the previous night is included in our tour cost). $578 seems a bit expensive but since its a Saturday night we may have to wear that cost rather than move hotels for one night. The other thought we had was to book the night of the 18th at Haneda. Any suggestions from the AFF Tokyo experts, since we are not very familiar with the city, having been there only once before? Thoughts on the price quoted, alternative hotels that would be easy to get to or would a Haneda hotel be the best option? We don't have any particular activities planned for the 18th Feb but would like to take advantage of the extra day to see something else in Tokyo. I guess we will also be kicked out of the hotel before lunch on the 19th so will have to store luggage if we want to get out and about before our late flight.

Tokyo hotels are generally not cheap but $578 seems to be quite expensive. You can find a lot cheaper there for sure. Use Booking.com: 944,898 hotels worldwide. 94+ million hotel reviews. or Hotels.com | Cheap Hotels, Discounts, Hotel Deals and Offers or similar to see what's near a monorail station going to Haneda (Tokyo monorail - that is what you need to get on to get to Haneda, it's not the only option but one of the most scenic and cheapest) and book it.

One thing to take into account is that generally you can't book anything in Japan earlier than 5-6 months out, they just don't do it so now you'll probably only be able to book only very few hotels for February 17. Give it a couple of months and your choice will be much wider.

A good hotel I personally stayed at was Park Hotel Tokyo Park Hotel Tokyo in Tokyo - Book a Luxury hotel and it was around Christmas and we paid about $250 a night. It sits on top of a railway station so it was very easy to get around Tokyo and to Haneda (changing once from railway to monorail)

 

[Himeno]

So you need an extra night somewhere in Tokyo that your tour price doesn't cover, and you're flying out in the evening after the extra night.
Normally I would stay at a hotel within walking distance of a train station on the line to HND, but I tend to have morning flights out of HND when I do that (such as the Shinagawa Sunshine Prince).
Since you'll have to check out of the hotel by 10 or 11am and will have around 10 hours before you need to be at the airport, it doesn't really matter where in Tokyo you book, though I'd still be close to a major station.

How many people are you looking for? There are a number of airbnbs in Tokyo that are quite cheap and rent out the whole apartment. Some may let you keep the room until you need to head to the airport, and thus won't need to store baggage anywhere.
Otherwise, book a hotel near Tokyo or Shinagawa Stations, then after checking out in the morning, use the luggage lockers in the station to store your bags while you're out and about during the day.

 

[Pug1]

thanks for the great advice sergeyvzn. I will ask our tour people if we are looking to book a bit early. They also suggested Park Hotel and an option.

 

[Pug1]

thank you Himeno. There are two of us Mrs pug and me. I will check out airbnb however we would probably prefer to stay in a hotel even if it is a little higher cost. Will have a look at Tokyo and Shinagawa station areas. Would be wonderful if we spoke good Japanese but we don't! Our tour company will cover the cost of a shuttle to Haneda if we stay in a hotel that has access to the shuttle.

 

[bluebean]

We've stayed at Hotel Ryumeikan across from Tokyo Station a few times. There is a shuttle bus to HND about 100m from the front door. If you watch their website they open up dates (about 3 months in advance) and offer a 30% discount if you book more than 30 days out at a lot less then $578.

 

[Himeno]

thank you Himeno. There are two of us Mrs pug and me. I will check out airbnb however we would probably prefer to stay in a hotel even if it is a little higher cost. Will have a look at Tokyo and Shinagawa station areas. Would be wonderful if we spoke good Japanese but we don't! Our tour company will cover the cost of a shuttle to Haneda if we stay in a hotel that has access to the shuttle.

These are all the HND airport bus routes https://www.limousinebus.co.jp/en/bus_services/haneda/index The routes mostly serve the major train stations. Some stop at the bigger hotels, but they aren't as common.

I wouldn't worry about not speaking Japanese. With the places you would be going, you wouldn't need it. Almost everyone in Tokyo has some amount of English skills (English is a required class in Japanese schools) or are able to get someone who does (they are more confident about writing English then speaking it though). All the train signage is in both Japanese and English.

Other then the big international chains, most hotels in Japan only open bookings 3 months out.

 

[Pug1]

that hotel looks nice and is a good location bluebean. Just waiting to hear from our tour company. I also understand that the LeDaiba hotel they have booked for the 17th is changing to Nikko soon so that may be part of the problem for us.

 

[Pug1]

thanks again Himeno; I will check out the bus link. Seems like there is no rush to book that one night.

 

[Jacques Vert]

We recently stayed at the Hilton Odaiba on the opposite side of the Odaiba station to your tour group's hotel; literally less than 2 minutes walk. We paid around 10,500 yen per night (admitably on a sale but I have not seen it more than about 25,000). I just looked at your Saturday night and it's 55,250 Yen (more than the Conrad):shock: Even the Hilton Tokyo is only 32,000 Yen

Must be some event/function nearby that weekend which is why the LaDaiba is also expensive.

Unfortunately I can't make a specific suggestion; maybe book a fully flexible rate and hope for prices to come down closer to the date.

 

[travelislife]

That is ludicrously expensive! It would normally be considered very early to be booking accommodation in Japan this far out. Most Japanese operated places historically wouldn't open bookings till about 3 months out.

 

[Himeno]

Must be some event/function nearby that weekend which is why the LaDaiba is also expensive.

Tokyo Big Sight is nearby...

However, you could also be seeing the full price rack rates with the hotels not loading the more normal rates until the normal 3 month booking window.

 

[travelislife]

Tokyo Big Sight is nearby...

However, you could also be seeing the full price rack rates with the hotels not loading the more normal rates until the normal 3 month booking window.

Yep 100% this I reckon, very typical of Japanese hotels. If you are able to book a full refundable flex rate now as back up and recheck approx 2-3 months out to see if better rates are offered.

 

[Pug1]

thanks everyone who replied. I have decided to hold the current booking at LeDaiba, which has nil cancellation cost for now, and will check again in October/November.

 

[junbugging]

I already have my accommodation booked for the 2020 Olympics... a lot of places in Japan are more flexible than it might appear initially.

Pug1, you may well find LeDaiba becomes cheaper, and if not, you'll have no shortage of cheaper places to choose from.