GRcade

Roonmastor wrote:Any hotel recommendations in Tokyo?

The APA Business Hotel in Shinjuku is pretty solid. It's a business hotel so not a lot of frills, but it's cheap, clean and functional for a pretty reasonable rate, and you're well placed for the Shinjuku/Shibuya area.

APA hotels in general are fairly good. They're cheap enough but don't quite feel like a premier inn. Though if you're after that style no frills clean and functional, MyStays are great. We paid no more than £40 a night around Asakusa and Ueno.

Bunni wrote:APA hotels in general are fairly good. They're cheap enough but don't quite feel like a premier inn. Though if you're after that style no frills clean and functional, MyStays are great. We paid no more than £40 a night around Asakusa and Ueno.

I never realised tokyo did budget hotels! Still trying to plan the trip and havent booked flights yet.

I've overestimated how much hotels are going to cost so that's a bonus.

Ended up booking rooms that were closer to £100-£150

Did anybody go to a baseball when they've been in Japan? How easy was it to get tickets? Quite like the idea of seeing one in Tokyo while I'm there.

Also, I've been reading about this wifi rental - can anyone recommend a site/service?

Lotus wrote:Also, I've been reading about this wifi rental - can anyone recommend a site/service?

Used Econnect Japan when I was there a few months ago, worked really well and it was waiting for me at the hotel when I checked in, although you can pick it up at the airport if you prefer. Would strongly recommend getting one, found it invaluable for finding places and knowing which train I needed to catch.

Air BnB is worth a look if you’re finding hotels too expensive. We stayed in some decent places through it, although they still weren’t cheap. Saying that we were around Cherry Blossum time.

I'm hoping to make a trip to Japan and South Korea this year or next with my daughter (who's hoping to go to University in Seoul in a few years). We're just back from a month in Australia, so need to get saving.

Our three week trip ended up costing around $15,000 CAD for two people, staying in a range of accommodation from Air BnB to fancy hotel. A couple of bullet train rides, car rentals and quite a few expensive meals/bars, so overall not toooo bad. We are already planning to head back next January, so will have to make adjustments to bring the cost down.

karl_fletcher wrote:Our three week trip ended up costing around $15,000 CAD for two people, staying in a range of accommodation from Air BnB to fancy hotel. A couple of bullet train rides, car rentals and quite a few expensive meals/bars, so overall not toooo bad. We are already planning to head back next January, so will have to make adjustments to bring the cost down.

15K!

Where did you get your international license from? I'm pretty annoyed that my wife could get an Ontario license no problem by just showing her Japanese license but for me to just drive over there I need special papers.

You just need an IDP to drive over there if you're from the UK. I drove over here for a year on it (actually in a car in truth) and only had to switch to a Japanese license after that. And unlike Americans, I didn't have to take the Japanese driving test to switch over, just fill in load of forms and have an eye test.

Rightey wrote:

karl_fletcher wrote:Our three week trip ended up costing around $15,000 CAD for two people, staying in a range of accommodation from Air BnB to fancy hotel. A couple of bullet train rides, car rentals and quite a few expensive meals/bars, so overall not toooo bad. We are already planning to head back next January, so will have to make adjustments to bring the cost down.

15K!

Where did you get your international license from? I'm pretty annoyed that my wife could get an Ontario license no problem by just showing her Japanese license but for me to just drive over there I need special papers.

You get it from any CAA store. Take passport photos and your license and it takes around 15 minutes and costs $25.

Yeah we spent a lot but our main reason for going was food and high end restaurants in Tokyo somehow make London seem cheap.

If you have tokyo as a base for 2 weeks, can you still do and see a lot? I ask because british airways are doing quite a few flight + hotel deals and i was wondering whether that was the way to go for my first visit?

gamerforever wrote:If you have tokyo as a base for 2 weeks, can you still do and see a lot? I ask because british airways are doing quite a few flight + hotel deals and i was wondering whether that was the way to go for my first visit?

I'd imagine yes. You could see plenty of Toyko and the surrounding areas, especially if you got a rail pass. What kind of deals are they doing?

Booked myself a few days there in April, whoop whoop!

Lotus wrote:

gamerforever wrote:If you have tokyo as a base for 2 weeks, can you still do and see a lot? I ask because british airways are doing quite a few flight + hotel deals and i was wondering whether that was the way to go for my first visit?

I'd imagine yes. You could see plenty of Toyko and the surrounding areas, especially if you got a rail pass. What kind of deals are they doing?

Last time I checked it was about £3800 for 2 people direct flights and hotels.

That seems quite a lot, but you're restricted by school holidays, right?

My flights back to the UK are usually £300, and you can get away by paying £40 per person per night for a hotel.

I also wouldn't stay in Tokyo for 2 weeks. I would say three or four nights there at most, maybe you can do the odd day trip to Hakone and Nikko (or stay in a traditional Japanese Inn at the former). You should then head to Kyoto and Osaka and further down Honshu. Tokyo is a poor base for a two week stay.

I'd generally agree with Parksey. I love Tokyo, and over several holidays I've spent over 2 weeks there (in total). I don't think I'd ever spend my whole two weeks there however. I tend to have 3/4 nights at the beginning and a couple of nights at the end.

Lotus wrote:Also, I've been reading about this wifi rental - can anyone recommend a site/service?

I use Sakura Mobile - they deliver to your hotel. I found it invaluable and helped loads with my travel anxiety