Help needed. Recently booked airBNB accommodation and had it cancelled for travel in May….slack bang in golden week. I'm struggling to find accommodation for the 5 of us in one room. Budget of up to $150 per night. Any suggestions where I should look. I don't want to go AirBNB track for this, as I don't want to risk it being cancelled again during this peak season.
Suggestions for Accommodation in Tokyo Ueno for 2 Adults & 3 Young Children under 7
fatming on 24/01/2016 - 23:23
Comments
Guesthouses are a great idea as altomic has suggested.
$150 a night for five people in Tokyo is a bit of a big ask. The only way you'd remotely get anywhere near that is AirBNB.
Appreciate that you're gunshy, but if you leave it too long, you'll end up with nowhere to stay.Yeh totally understand that but it's hard to justify gwtting 2 rooms for the little ones
In Japan you are typically charged a rate per person for accomodation, here its more you pay a fee for the room and can have up so many people (usually 4) Ueno being right on the Yamanote is convenient and thus more desireable, however if you are there in golden week the price of everything triples (at least) despite the fact that tokyo empties out and everyone goes back home to the country side. The best solution to your problem is expand the areas in which you are willing to stay? why ueno?
Also having 5 people in a room is very unusual in Japan (I know was in the same boat as you last October) we ended up going to a place called hatogoya lodge, at this place you pay by the room, was sufficiently big for 5 people, there business model is a little different from most in Japan, they dont generally cater to the tourist market, more orientated to the locals. Having said that they dont have many Tokyo options its just too expensive for them to run their business model with Tokyo overheads, there one and only location is in Shin Kiba (Tokyo Bay, not too far from Tokyo Disney land) website is: http://www.hatagoya.co.jp/012_Tokyoshinkiba/index.shtml the address is 1-9-9 Shin Kiba, Koto Ku, Tokyo.
Airbnb isnt really a secret over there now, when we used some places a good percentage of customers using it were Japanese, accomodation vacancy rates in Tokyo are low (less than 10%) they are having record month after month arrives of tourists (thanks China) they are getting worried about the Rugby World cup and Olympics having enough accomodation. Something to look out would be to getting two rooms which will alot easier than 1 for 5 people. Check out Jalan.net, if you book in Japanese you dont pay until you arrive change it to english and you pay when you book.
Thanks for being so informative! We wanted to stay in Ueno for our final leg coz it'll be convenient to get the train on the keisei line to Narita for a 12pm flight without having to change trains with luggage and 3 kids, no pram. Will definitely check out the places you recommended. Thanks
I hear you on that… why Keisei Skyliner? I know its a bit cheaper than the Narita Express (JR) but you can get the Narita Express from alot more place which gives you alot more options on where to stay. A couple things you might be able to work into your plans to make your life easier, narita airport rest house is a dated yet cheap hotel with in the confines of the airport its cheap and convenient, maybe the last night there before your flight, then 2 minute bus ride to the terminal? The other thing which we (5 people) have done on the last couple of trips (one in 2014 and other in 2015) is to use the post offices suitcase/luggage delivery service, you go to the post office say the correct thing in Japanese pay 50-60 bucks give them a day and they take your luggage to the airport, you pick it up in the terminal building, you only need a small bag for cloths and what not for a day or two, learnt that one the hard way with a wife, inlaws and three fighting kids whilst trying to travel 5-6 hours on trains with 100 kgs of luggage after all that wanted to jump in front of the train, the post office price was an absolute bargain after that.
Thanks for all that? I haven't really thoroughly done my research coz just trying very hard to get this accomodation organised. I didn't realize about the Narita express, must look into that!
We are staying a few nights in Shinjuku so thought would base our last leg closer to Asakusa, Ueno park etc. I like the airport idea too.have a look at jalan.net, in Japanese and English for accomodation, if you can book in Japanese then you dont pay until you actually get to the hotel, its the Japanese way of doing it, if you use english its credit card up front.
You will be flat out getting any single room that holds 5 people, really rare to be honest. Also look for a double and and triple your chances of getting something much better.
Not sure if you are aware but smokers arent treated like pirahs (as they are here) most hotels/restaurants will have strong smoke smell, be very up front about a non smoking room. "Kin'en Seki no Heya" = Non Smoking Room, restaurants you could say "Kin'en seki de" = in non smoking maybe "kin'en seki de suwaru kudasai" = sitting in non smoking please
Shinjuku is crazy, but another tip I could give is big stations have coin lockers, so the day before you have to go to the station with a ton of stuff, take it down little by little on your own with out the entourage, I would find the coin lockers nearest to the entry point of the station, some stations have a crazy number of entry point so do some home work. And yes they have coin lockers that can handle suit cases and everything in between. This kind of negates the need to stay near a Narita Express station or Keisei home liner station as long as you can ferry most of your stuff to the coin lockers the day before…
There is also the Narita airport bus, cheaper than the train (subject to traffic as opposed to trains which has free reign) but they have luggage bins and drop off and pick up at certain hotels.
Staying on the Ueno/Tokyo/Shinagawa side of the yamanote is more business/political orientated areas are not that interesting. Shinjuku/Shibuya/Ikebukuro has much more to keep you busy.. Also if you go time for a sumo,baseball,soccer,festivals (thinking Odaiba and or Makuhari Messe) you can pretty much get tickets to anything at the convenience store, the photocopier things arent just photocopiers, they can do all sorts of wonderful things. Language problem might be too much if you dont speak enough of the local tongue.
@Raheen: omg, thank you so so much! That's so much help, I will def look into your tips. The lockers would be a great help!
So wonderful have people like yourself that's so willingly to help others. Thank you!!
you could try a ryokan (sort of a traditional BnB)
here is a link ryokan katsotaro located in Ueno. but it is more expensive than your budget. however check out this link for guest houses
check out Ueno park. watch out for crows!. check out the antique places around the lake.