Hotels in the 23 wards of Tokyo, which comprise its center, have in recent years become continuously booked solid due to the increase in foreign visitors. Popular hotels are fully booked two months in advance.

Booking hotels in Tokyo is particularly difficult during January and February during the university entrance exams period and in early April when the new school year begins because students from all over the country flock to hotels in Tokyo. Booking hotels in Tokyo is also difficult when there is a special event or concert by a famous artist and at those times rates are also more expensive.

The most crowded times for hotels in Tokyo are as follows, so you would be wise to keep them in mind when making your travel plans.

Times When it is Hard to Book Hotels in Tokyo
January - February: University entrance exams
Early April: University entrance ceremonies
End of April - early May: Golden Week (long holiday period especially when weekends are included)
End of July - About August 20: Summer holidays
Mid-September: Silver Week (two three-day weekends and other national holidays)
End of December - early January: Christmas and New Year’s holidays

Booking hotels in Tokyo is relatively easier for Sundays and Mondays. On Wednesday through Friday, many people are coming to Tokyo on business from Osaka, Fukuoka, and other regional areas, and as a result, business hotels tend to become fully booked; single rooms especially are filled up quickly. On Saturdays, there are fewer business guests, but there is an increase in vacationers, which makes it challenging to book twin rooms and suites.

If you are unable to find vacancies on major reservation websites, try using lesser-known reservation sites or the hotel’s official web site. If that is of no avail, then your last chance might be to telephone the hotel directly. Recently it is possible to make phone calls over the Internet, which is much less expensive than international phone calls and which also makes it easy to telephone from overseas.

Types of guest rooms
Single Room – one Bed; only 1 guest possible
Twin Room – two beds; 2 guests maximum
Double Room – 1 large bed; two guests maximum
Triple Room – 3 beds; 3 guests maximum
Extra Bed – simple-type of Bed

A critical factor in selecting a hotel is the scale of the nearest station. Hotels near terminal stations, like Shinjuku and Shibuya, which are serviced by several train lines, have more expensive rates than hotels located farther away from them.

Another critical factor is the distance from the station. Hotels located more than a 10-minute walk from the station are about 10% less expensive than hotels within a 5-minute walking distance, and also, it is easier to make a reservation with them. For example, if a night at a hotel within 5 minutes walking distance from Shinjuku Station costs 10,000 yen, a hotel of the same size at the next station would cost about 9,000 yen.

Moreover, if you had to walk more than 10 minutes to the hotel, the rate would be about 8,000 yen. Of course, hotels nearer terminal stations are more convenient, but if you are planning an extended or leisurely stay, then staying at a hotel farther from the station could be easier to reserve and less expensive.

Tokyo hotels all have cancellation policies. They state in detail the cancellation fees and cancellation timing, but many hotels also have periods when there is no cancellation charge. When considering where to stay, first look for hotels that do not have cancellation fees and make a reservation with them. Then once your travel plans have become set, you can cancel the hotel reservations you do not need.

The cancellation periods vary depending on the hotel, but often it is ten days in advance, seven days in advance, five days in advance, and three days in advance. Many people cancel reservations just before the cancellation period deadline at hotels that have cancellation charges, so in the case of the previously mentioned deadlines, that would be 11 days in advance, eight days in advance, six days in advance, and four days in advance.

If you are unable to book the hotel you want in Tokyo, check the hotel’s reservation policy and try canceling just before the cancellation charge takes effect. Cancellations also suddenly occur the day before or on the day of a reservation. If you do not have a booking for the day, try telephoning the hotel around 3:00 p.m., and you might just be able to make a reservation for that day because of an opening due to a sudden cancellation.

Tokyo, Shinagawa, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, and Ueno are the major train stations in Tokyo. Consequently, hotels in those areas charge relatively higher rates. Places that are less convenient and more out of the way are less expensive and good areas in which to look for lower hotel rates.

The Senju area, for example, is not that well known. Yet, you can get to Asakusa from there on the Tobu Skytree Line and to Ueno on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line and JR, making it surprisingly convenient. The Kamata area is also conveniently located because of its easy access from Haneda. Plus, it is an area with many business hotels competing for business that keeps rates relatively low.

The Gotanda and Osaki area is another area with many large-scale chain hotels, and getting reservations in this area is also relatively easy.

As previously mentioned, hotels close to terminal stations are expensive while the farther away a hotel, the lower the rate tends to be. There is no doubt that hotels close to terminal stations are more conveniently located, but the distance to the platforms after entering the station can be long and the station itself complicated and confusing to navigate meaning that it actually takes longer than the “so-many-minutes on foot from the station” touted.

When taking that into consideration, the station adjacent to a terminal hotel has much to offer. Distances between train stations in Tokyo are also relatively short and the distance between them can easily be walked. Even riding the train they are only a minute or two away which at most costs 150 yen.

Some examples of these off-the-beaten-track stations are Kanda Station next to Tokyo Station, Shin Okubo Station next to Shinjuku Station, and Otsuka Station next to Ikebukuro Station. These are not inconvenient places to stay while the rates are generally 10% lower and the rooms more spacious. Compared to terminal hotels they are less popular, but for that reason, making a reservation is easier.

Airbnb style lodging, which in Japan is called minpaku, is continuing to become widely accepted throughout the world. They lack the conveniences of hotels, but their low prices make up for that and, depending on the facility, enable guests to experience Japanese lifestyles.

Until recently, there had been a growing number of these facilities in the Tokyo area. However, in Japan, there are laws regulating facilities that charge guests for lodging, and for that reason, average households can't charge guests a fee to stay there. In fact, most of the homes registered with Airbnb violated the law in that respect, and because there were no penalties prescribed by the law, the law was quickly revised to amend that situation, and the new law went into effect on June 15, 2018.

As a result, those minpaku that had operated in violation of the law quickly disappeared. Since the law came into effect on June 15, it has become challenging to reserve minpaku lodging. This disruption is expected to continue, which will make looking for minpaku accommodation increasingly tricky.

Capsule hotels were invented in Japan to get maximum use out of minimum space. Simply stated, capsule hotels offer spaces just large enough for one person to sleep; the sleeping capsules are stacked on top of one another like berths on a ship or train.

Many sarcastically see it as symbolizing the crowded and compact lifestyles of the Japanese. Until now, capsule hotels have primarily been used by commuters who missed their last trains and needed an inexpensive place to spend the night; most of the guests were men. Recently, however, they have evolved into facilities offering a range of different amenities with an emphasis on quality for a clean stay.

More business travelers are using them, and some are for women only. Naturally, an increasing number of foreigners have begun using them, too. More and more people are seeing them as reasonable lodging accommodations in place of luxury hotels. Whereas it is hard to get a reservation at a hotel unless made well in advance, that is not the case with capsule hotels where often it is possible to get a room on the spot.

"Leisure hotels" were initially used by couples for a few hours together; sometimes, they are also called "love hotels." These are often found clustered together in certain sections of popular areas like Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ikebukuro, and Ueno.

When night falls, couples drifting into these places is a typical scene. It is often not possible to make reservations in these hotels. Once you enter one, you cannot step out for a bit and then return, which makes them inconvenient, but, in recent years, that inconvenience is being remedied by an increasing number of these hotels accepting regular guests.

Usually, they are located in lively sections of town with good access to stations, and getting a room is quite easy. The guest rooms have overly romantic themes, but if you don't mind that, these are real bargains when it comes to cost performance.

If you are unable to find a hotel in Tokyo, then try looking for one in the suburbs. The terminal stations in the city have train lines running into the suburbs, making it easy to look for a hotel 30 minutes or so out from a terminal station.

One downside is the extra time and costs it takes to go sightseeing in Tokyo, but the upside is that prices are lower and the rooms generally more spacious. Look for areas that have been developed in recent years because, in many cases, new hotels have been built in locations conveniently close to or connected to stations.

For example, Kashiwa City, Yachiyo City, and Inzai City are all located in Chiba Prefecture, which is next to Tokyo. These are emerging residential areas, and hotels in or near their stations usually have vacant rooms.

The types of lodging in the Tokyo area can roughly be divided as follows. The rates are generally for one or two people use.

1) Youth hostels / guest houses 2,000 - 3,000 yen per night
Dormitories. Guesthouses for foreigners are increasing and good places for exchanging information.

2) Capsule hotels 2,000 - 5,000 yen per night
Capsule hotels, as described above, are comfortable when you get used to them—a good choice for short stays.

3) Business hotels / city hotels 7,000 - 20,000 yen per night
It is hard to tell the difference between a business hotel and a city hotel, but generally, business hotels have mostly single rooms while city hotels have mostly twin rooms.
These include Toyoko Inn, Apa Hotel, Super Hotel, Washington Hotel, Tokyu Hotel, Sun Route Plaza.

4) Ryokan (Japanese-style Inns) 7,000 - 15,000 yen per night
Usually, the guest rooms have tatami-mat flooring, and guests sleep in futons. Suitable for experiencing Japanese culture.

5) Luxury hotels 15,000 - 40,000 yen per night
Brands that are recognized internationally.
Those that are of Japanese origin include the Prince Hotels, Nikko Hotels, Keio Plaza Hotel, and Imperial Hotel.

In most cases, hotels in Japan do not charge by the room, but instead by the number of people staying in a room. The more people in a room, the slightly cheaper the rate, that for one person staying in a single being the highest. So a family staying together or friends sharing a room can help keep the price down. Most twin rooms can handle an extra bed to enable three people to stay in one place. It is best to ask about these things when making a reservation.

Most hotels charge just for the room, but many have plans where breakfast is included. There has also been an increase in the number of hotels offering free simple breakfasts. Some city and business hotels include two meals in their hotel restaurants for further savings on room rates. If you want to save money on food, look for plans like these.

Photo credit (main image): Mahathir Mohd Yasin / Shutterstock.com