I'm leaving for Japan soon - hotel recommendation?

Hey,

I'm leaving on the 30th for Japan. Yes, I will be scouring for more Metal Gear items to add to my museum and I'm into kinnikuman and Super Mario stuff as well. Anyways, enough of that.

I'd like to stay within walking distance of Akihabara (to me, 15 minute walk is walking distance) and close enough to a train station if I want to venture elsewhere.

Can anyone recommend anything? I'm in the $100US/night price range. Big thanks to anyone that can help me out.


EDIT: yes that means if any of you in Japan have MG items to sell there's a hardcore buyer in town for a week

 

http://maps.google.co.jp/maps?hl=ja&ie=UTF8&q=%E7%A7%8B%E8%91%89%E5%8E%9F+%E3%83%9B%E3%83%86%E3%83%AB&fb=1&split=1&gl=jp&view=map&ei=S3MoSqOZGqXU6gOe0LjpBQ&cd=1

all the hotels actually in Akihabara.

will look later, busy at work.

I'd go a stop or so away though - Remm i ssupposed to be very nice (but is a tad over $100 a night) , but it's slap bang in the middle of aki - which will be a bit dull later at night (Ueno handy though i guess).

The washington is gone - or is at least being rebuilt.

 

Hey thanks man, yeah Remm is a *bit* pricey but might be worth it...

I've also been told Shinjuku is a cool area to stay and I can just take a train over to Akihabara no problem.

This is actually my first visit to Japan btw.

 

If you want more money for games then go further out, you should be able to find a budget or business hotel for around 5000 to 6000 yen a night in Kanda, Ueno, Ochanomizu (it's about a 20 minute walk from these places to Akihabara) or even slightly further out (its about an hour walk from Asakusa to Akihabara and you do pass Nintendo's Tokyo office and Banpresto's office too).

Basically if you save 4,000 yen a day for the time you are in Tokyo, you'll have an extra 24,000yen to spend. If you're staying in a hotel just to sleep then why spend $100 a night?

 

Yeah good point. I considered:

Oak Hotel (in Ueno) - http://www.oakhotel.co.jp/english/
Sakura Hotel - http://www.sakura-hotel.co.jp/


But I think Sakura had shared bathrooms and that weirds me out a bit.


But Oak in Ueno is looking promising. You're right about the extra cash as I plan to spend like a maniac.

I will be walking like crazy all over Tokyo. When I was in Hong Kong I could easily walk from Mong Kok to Causeway Bay (while taking MTR to cross over) and back without even a hint of boredom or sore feet heh. As long as I have an interest in what I see I don't get tired.


Hopefully the Japanese subway system is english friendly for the really long distances however.

 

yeah..take one of those popular ryoukans in the ueno district (normally around 5000~6000JPY). ueno~akiba only two stations. or you can walk (~30mins).

save money, buy more!

 

Shinjuku is an excellent place to stay, the central station links to pretty much everywhere (well it is the biggest station in the world!!!) It's about a 25min journey to akihabara, but everywhere's open till at least 8pm so there's no hurry.

As for cheap hotels try looking at the Tokyo Inn chain, there japan's business hotels - cheap at around 7000yen a night, but clean and have everything you need. I recently stayed at the kabuki-cho hotel in the north part of shinjuku - (a ten minute walk from the station). It was perfect for me just to crash out.

 

not even that long. it's about 11min. only.

 

yup, chuo-rapid to ochanomizu - then either switch to the local for the one stop to aki or get off and walk and it brings you out right by traders2

Shinjuku has to be one of the best places to stay surely? i hear all the hotels are offereing good deals to get punters in , it's handy for Galaxy in Nakano Broadway, it's handy for seeing the other sights of tokyo, etc.

We should have a secret Assembler sign when we see other foreigners lol.

 

Pretty much anywhere in Tokyo (23-ku) has very easy access to Akihabara. I haven't stayed at any hotels here, but I've lived here in and around Tokyo for over three years (not as long as some here, I'm sure!) and visited the area a few times in the year prior. Don't stress too much about wanting to stay right in Akihabara. The train system here is wonderful, going absolutely everywhere in a fairly short time. Ueno is a great place. If you like traditional Japanese stuff, Asakasa is not far from Akihabara and is one of the coolest places here for "Japanese" things (and is pretty close to Ueno, I might add). The atmosphere there is pretty cool at night, IMO. Shinjuku is ok, but the station is so huge and confusing at first that you might have a much easier time in Ueno or Asakasa. I guess if you really like neon at night, Shinjuku is Shibuya are the places to stay.

In my opinion, it's not too bad of a walk to Akihabara from Tokyo station area, Ochonomizu, Iidabashi, Ueno, etc. Shinjuku is definitely too far to walk. The best sites in Tokyo are also in this area (mostly along the JR Keijin-Tohoku line/east side of the Yamanote line). Shinjuku is more for commuters living in the western subburbs.

Don't forget to visit Odaiba when you come! Lots of cool stuff there for us guys who are into games, electronical and futuristic stuff.

How about a t-shirt with Tatsujin's avatar on it? Or even better... we could all walk around shirtless with the PC Engine logo tattooed on our chest.

 

there's budget inn... a room with services goes for around 40 euros, nice confortable and all. i think it was in shibuya If i'm not mistaken

 

Odaiba...never even head of that...

Thanks for the tips. I'm mostly going there to shop and just check out the city, and I may even be going back for a longer trip at the end of the year with my wife. This trip is just a week by myself to scope it out and fill the empty suitcase(s) I'm bringing.

Wether or not I find any Metal Gear treasures who knows, but I but so much other video game and kinnikuman shit.

Oh who am I kidding, I'm going there to buy posters of hot j-pop idols. OOPS did I say that out loud!?

 

I've stayed in quite a few places all over tokyo.

The first time I went there I stayed in a Sky Court hotel in Asakusa, it was basic but clean and was cheap, it's quite quiet at night but still has lots of nice things to see (plus it was walking distance from Akihabara for me).

The next time I stayed for 3 weeks and I rented an apartment as it was cheaper then a hotel (was around 100,000), I rented it in Akihabara of all places. Was a 5 minute walk to the main shopping area. Was great for entertaining female guests and I could cook, clean my clothes and have aircon on all day (good for the August heat....).

I've also stayed in Shibuya too, stayed in a Tokyustay hotel apartment, again worked out decent value and offered a kitchen and washing machine plus decent high speed internet access. Was far away from Shibuya to be peaceful but close enough that I could get to the main area in 10 minutes. Although the front desk staff would jump out at you if you tried to bring guests to you room...

I'm sure you'll enjoy where ever you stay, if you are going to spend most of your time around akihabara then stay near akihabara.

Top tip : If you think you will buy a lot of stuff then pack light, bring clothes you don't mind chucking away and use an airline you have a frequent flyer card with as if you are over the limit they are more relaxed about it.

 

I stayed in Villa Fontaine Ueno http://www.hvf.jp/eng/ueno.php the last time I went to Tokyo.
7900 yens/night with breakfast, a little bit more expensive than your average business hotel, but I'd go back without hesitation.

 

lol, sounds like one of those millions love hotel names:lol:

kiddin'

 

It's probably not everyone's cup of tea, but I love staying at the New Koyo hotel:

http://www.newkoyo.com/

Yeah, it's in the slums (very near Minami Senju JR station), but the slums of Tokyo are no problem. It's also very near Minowa subway station, and 20 minute walking distance to Asakusa.

I wouldn't mention the place, except I believe it's the cheapest hotel in the whole country - cheaper than a capsule or a hostel. You get your own room for 2500Y per night. It's not much, but after a long day of shopping, it feels like home to stretch out on the tatami with a beer and see what's on the crap TV :nod:

They keep the place pretty clean, and it's run by great people. No bedbugs; I've heard other places in the area are quite worse. Usually there are nice people staying there, too.

 

is everything open pretty late in Tokyo? like lets say I want to head over to Shinjuku and do some shopping during the week, around what time would stores start closing?


I remember when I was in Hong Kong everything was open REALLY late, much later than over here in the west where at 9pm pretty much everything but restaurants are closed

 

Most shops that you want to visit will close around 8pm and some even before that. It's in contrast to the late opening of shops in Hong Kong and Taiwan...

 

Ah ok - also, I'm going to assume many smaller shops only accept cash?

I'm so used to paying for everything credit card....

 

The larger chains will accept credit cards but some may give you issues for cards that aren't Japanese issued, if you can't speak fluent Japanese it's easier to give cash then trying to get them to take your card.

However all post offices (there are a few around Akihabara) and the few braches of citibank will allow you withdraw cash as long as your cashpoint / ATM card has either Cirrus or Visaplus logos on it, you can also get cash advances with Visa and Mastercards. The machines have a English option on them too.