Finding Tokyo hotels for your upcoming Japan trip? Not sure which is the best area to stay in? Come in to find out the top 5 best neighborhoods to stay in Tokyo and our top hotels recommendation for each neighborhood!
Japan is Mokolate’s favorite travel destination by far, everytime we visited we were amazed by the food, fashion, fun culture, cleanliness, and the hospitality of the Land of the Rising Sun! This post marks the first of our new Japan travel series, where we will share with you all our tips to help you plan your next vacation to Japan!
Today we will be providing tips to find your Tokyo hotels. Despite its reputation as an expensive city, from our experience we found that Tokyo hotels are actually cheaper than most other major tourist cities such as New York City, London, or Paris. In Tokyo you can easily find clean, modern hotels close to subways lines for around $100 CAD, even during peak season such as summer or Cherry Bloomsoom (late March – early April). For the same price it is almost impossible to find anything reasonable in New York City (unless you stay all the way in New Jersey) or London (outside Zone 1).
The hardest part of finding Tokyo hotels is probably selecting the correct area. Tokyo is an enormous city, home to 37 million, spanned across 13,572 km2. That is like everyone in Canada crammed into area size of two Toronto!
To help you to find the best Tokyo hotels, we will rank he top 5 best areas to stay in Tokyo. It won’t go wrong if you pick a Tokyo hotel within any one of these areas for your next trip!
Key to Finding Tokyo Hotels
- Close to major transit stations, preferably on the Yamanote line (major loop line in Tokyo connecting all the major stations)
- Easy transport to/from Narita and Haneda airports
- Lots of shops / restaurants close to the hotel
#5 Tokyo Station
Pros:
- Close to Tokyo Station, major transport hub with Shinkansan (high speed rail) connection to anywhere else in Japan
- Close to Ginza for luxury shopping and Tsukiji Fish Market for the best sushi in the world
- Lots of hotel choices around Tokyo Station area
Cons:
- Not much to do at night wit
h limited shopping and restaurant choices after normal business hours - Tokyo station is large and can be difficult to navigate
Hotels:
- Courtyard Tokyo Station
- Sotetsu Fresa Inn Tokyo Kyobashi
- Super Hotel LOHAS Tokyo Station Yaesu Chuo-guchi
#4 Shinjuku
Pros:
- Heart of Tokyo with numerous entertainment, shopping, and dining options
- Shinjuku station is well connected to a lot of JR lines and Tokyo Metro stations
Con:
- Shinjuku is huge, walking from Shinjuku JR station to hotels in Higashi Shinjuku area can take ~20 mins
- Shinjuku station is busiest station in the world and very complex; it is normal to find even daily commuters to be lost inside the station
- Due to its popularity, hotels can be more pricy and less rooms availability.
- Shinjuku area is always crowded and filled with tourists
Hotels:
#3 Shibuya
Pros:
- Shibuya is the youth capital of Tokyo; lots of trendy fashion and other shopping options
- Lots to do at night with a vibrant nightlife
- Shibuya is well connected with direct access to Narita airport
Cons:
- Less hotel choices than Shinjuku/Ikebukuro
- Hotels seem more pricey
Hotels:
#2 Ueno
Pro:
- Closest major station to Narita Airport with direct access via Skyliner
- Shikansen hub for Tohoku area
- Hotels are cheaper than other areas with lots of options
Cons:
- Less shopping and dining options at night versus Shinjuku / Ikebukuro / Shibuya
- Longer travel to Tokyo’s fukutoshin shopping districts
Hotels:
- Courtyard Marriott
- Toyoko Inn
- Super Hotel
#1 Ikebukuro
Pro:
- More compact shopping area than Shinjuku with all department stores and restaurants within 5 mins walking distances
- Station is much easier to navigate than the hectic Shinjuku Station
- Lots of hotel choices and cheaper; less crowded shopping area
Con
- Further away to Narita / Haneda airport by train
- Far from Tokyo / Shinagawa for Shikansen connections
Hotel
Hope this post helped you finding your Tokyo hotels! In the mean time check out my Instagram – Mizzmok for more lifestyle ideas!
Looks like so much fun! I’d love to visit sometime
These options look great! I’d love to visit Tokyo sometime.
Such great information! Thanks for sharing.
I love going to Tokyo. Good to have family there so we usually stay with them 😉😊. Free is best. Haha
Great tips though.
i am soooooooo jealous hahaha you can give me some tips on some local food and fun!! i can’t wait to go back =D
Travel to Tokyo is one of my travel dreams <3 Thanks for this post, I found it really useful and interesting 😀 PD: I added it to my bookmarks