Suggestions for Japan - Tokyo and Osaka hotels

[TinyTear]

Hello, after a work bonus we have now booked flights for a holiday of a life time.
Me, DH and two pre-teen children.

The flights are booked and now we need to book hotels

we would need - 2/3 nights in Tokyo
3/4 nights in Osaka
then just over a week in Tokyo

Also the flight back is super early - would it be better to get a cheap and cheerful hotel in Haneda? Child didn't like the idea of a capsule hotel though...

We don't need anything fancy:

• one room for all is ok
• ideally western style but ok with futons (even if just for the kids)
• ensuite is essential

Thanks for any ideas to check for planning

Tokyo
We recently stayed at sequence SUIDOBASHI hotel, next to Tokyo Dome and can highly recommend! It’s next to a train line and close to the underground.

Osaka
In Osaka, recently stayed at the Ibis Osaka Umeda

(15min walk underground to the hotel. Follow the direction towards Hanshin Line until you reach Whity Mall, then follow the direction of East Mall. Keep left and walk straight until you see an Ibis poster on the wall. There are a couple of steps up to a door and there you'll find an elevator which goes up to the hotel lobby. subway exit connection right next to main entrance.)

All very affordable!

Previously stayed at J-Hoppers Osaka Universal
JR Ajikawaguchi MRT
http://universal.j-hoppers.com/

(to visit Universal Studios, Japan.)

Thanks so much @BobbyGentry . will definitely check them out...

The hostel seems interesting but don't think it will be suitable for the kids - and DH won't join us at USJ he will be going to Hiroshima (which i'd love to go to but don't think it's suitable for the kids)

Kyoto and Nara are close by Osaka and are perfect destinations to add to your list! http://q-beh.com/ Q-beh also has a traditional Ryokan in Gion, Kyoto.

The Q-beh Hostel is perfect for kids and ideal for universal studios but the Suidobashi Sequence hotel is better as they have Triple rooms (double with a bunk bed.)

Hiroshima Peace park is wonderful and the children can make and leave paper origami cranes.

Japan is a wonderful place to visit and not too expensive. You’re never too far from convenience stores, like Family Mart, for snacks and freshly packaged foods.

In Tokyo, Disney Sea is a treat!

If your budget allows for it try the New Otani. They have hotels throughout Japan and are very comfortable, in good locations, with very good service. Intercontinental in Tokyo is good too.

Nara is on the plan for a day trip from Osaka - we might skip Kyoto this time.

Loads to see and do in Tokyo but not Disney... we aren't Disney fans and will be doing a mix of temples and modern and anime locations - and the cup noodle museum in yokohama

The Studio Ghibli Museum is well worth a visit and The Zen Buddhist Temples are incomparably and quite simply beautiful.

For next time, there are 17 UNESCO world heritage sites in Kyoto; Otagi Nenbutsuji, Ryoan Ji, and Ginkaku ji temples being my favourites.

Incidentally, the Bento boxes at the bullet train stations are worth the hype.

The alarm is already set for 2am to book the Ghibli tickets...

And yes, Kyoto seems great too but we only have 2 weeks! and I did promise Super Mario Land to the kids...

Good to know about the bento boxes... added to the list

For cheap eats in Tokyo or another city, go into the department stores and go down to the lower ground floor. This is like the food basement - you can look at all the counters and point at what you would like - it's like building your own bento, but there are also bentos etc there.
It's much cheaper than eating out (soon builds up). Just be aware it's not polite to eat on the street etc. Look where other Japanese people are eating first. Or take it to your hotel!

(And I can't believe you're missing out Kyoto!)

And buy a JR (Japan Rail) pass before you leave England.
Go to the direct JR website, don't get scammed by a company fronting the site either.
Bullet train from Tokyo to Japan is amazing, zooms right past Mt Fuji.

Osaka I stayed at art hotel -easy commute to universal and Osaka plus the trains to Kyoto.

(and connected via tunnels to the metro so easy with bags to access)

Tokyo I stayed at Godzilla hotel. It was tiny rooms!

and the airports both ends to avoid hassles with early flights. bit i flew back from osaka to avoid another train back to tokyo.

Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory (Hayao Miyazaki sister’s gaff), a walk through the beautiful Inokashira Park to Studio Ghibli Museum. The Cream Puffs are shaped like Totoro; only authorized sellers. They sell out by 11am though - imagine a custard choux in the shape of Totoro.

Hell yes!
Have a friend in Mitaka so visiting her that day too

The Pokémon cafe was fun, that was super hard to book -I got Osaka in the end.

And felt very daft being 2 40 somethings when picachu came out and danced.

However 50% was in fact groups of slightly embarrassed adults!

We stayed in My Stay Akasaka when we arrived in to Tokyo. We knew that as we did not 'know' Tokyo, wherever we stayed we would need to travel about so we picked this one as it was reasonably close to Metro stations. It was a pretty small room but as we were using it for storage and sleeping it was fine - safe and clean and had a couple of convenience stores nearby.

In Osaka we stayed near Sakuragawa station in an apartment (but I can't find it on a link now). The location was Ok for the tube but it was quite a long walk through the station to actually reach the tube itself. We also stayed here for a few days and travelled to Kyoto and Nara from here.

I would reconsider going to Hiroshima (depending on how old DC are). The peace park is quite big and the Museum is only one element of it so you could easily tag team with DH if you think it too much for the DC. There were a lot of school groups there when we visited and the message is 'lets not do it again'. We stayed here and it was again pretty compact but was handy for the train station.

When we back to Tokyo for a our flight home we stayed in Hotel Keikyu Kamata Ekimae Kamata for the night and would probably do it again. We had a little trouble getting some food but i think that was because we wanted to watch the rugby (World Cup) match while we were eating and the places showing it were packed and we were late as we had just jumped off a plane from Hokkaido. In the end we found a little place with rugby and good food and i ate the best lamb I have EVER tasted. Fond memories!

Oh yes, do check if the JR pass works out cheaper, for many people the recent price rise makes it more expensive than buying the tickets without the pass.

Many thanks for the detailed answer! I will definitely be checking these.

Regarding Hiroshima, we won't change the plans. My husband has no interest in Universal, and the kids have some degree of special needs that they won't go (for example the oldest doesn't even want to go to the Imperial War Museum as she knows she can't access all the galleries as she isn't 14+; while the youngest is under CAMHS for anxiety so I do not want to add to it)

Maybe another time...

Obviously you know whats best for your DC 😎- I was just keen that you knew that the Peace Park is a park with features in it, rather than a monstrous museum of doom because it isnt. But its not easy to necessarily work that out when you're doing your reseach.

DH should be able to use his Suica card in Hiroshima (and Osaka) so that should be straightforward for him, i think we used the tram but it might have been buses. I would recommends he checks out the Osaka? station in advance - we didnt find it easy to navigate. Hiroshima station was much easier and they have different local food offerings in the station for his on train eating.

Just had a great holiday in Tokyo, Kyoto and Hakone with DC similar age. Loved Tokyo, Kyoto was nice but wouldn't go back. Hakone might be a nice way to break up the Tokyo week? You can do a day trip or book a hotel (many have onsens which are fab). In Tokyo make a day trip to Odaiba island not least for the science musem which is totally fab. Things are much cheaper than you'd expect in Japan - think a third off what you'd pay in UK.

Stayed here in Osaka, great location
https://en.hoteltheflag.jp/topics/966

We were in Japan last month and in Osaka we stayed in the Henn na Hotel Osaka Shinsaibashi. It’s not the very cheapest hotel you could find but was very reasonably priced, really clean and pleasant and the location was awesome. It was really well connected on the metro and walking distance to Dotonbori. I’d definitely stay in one of their hotels again and we saw a few around.

APA Hotels are also really competitively priced and from what I could see they are literally everywhere. It felt like you couldn’t walk down a street anywhere in Tokyo without passing at least 3 APA hotels.

I know people will say it’s mad to skip Kyoto but our least favourite day of our trip was the one we spent in Kyoto. Kyoto is beautiful but it was unpleasantly crowded. We will go back someday but it is not on our itinerary for our trip next year and I will make sure when I do go back it’s in the “off” season. There’s so many more tourists compared to the last time I was in Japan 15 years ago.

We loved our day in Nara. It was also busy but nowhere near the level of crowdedness that we experienced in Kyoto. If you only have time for one, I’d personally go for Nara. We also loved Kamakura as a day trip from Tokyo.

Another highlight for us was taking the waterbus from Asakusa out to Odaiba. It was relatively cheap and gave us some lovely views. We were really glad we took the boat instead of the metro.

Mimaru hotels are quite good too - they have what you've said you're after.

Thanks everyone, great tips!

No tips but so jealous !! Would love to go and watching Race around the World has only exacerbated that feeling!!

This is holiday of a lifetime - only doing it because of a work bonus and scrimping and saving for ages...

similarly excited and nervous - as it will be the biggest holiday ever in the kids lives

https://mimaruhotels.com/en/hotel/

We used these. Perfect with similar aged kids.

Ps joined the queue for ghibli tickets to find 14000 people ahead of us in the virtual queue!! I'd suggest plan B lined up. Japan is amazing but completely overrun with tourists. I'd really recommend careful planning and booking things in advance where you can.