How to book accommodation in Japan when all websites are fully booked?
Japanese people tend to all take their holidays at the same time, so some periods (Golden Week, Obon, Silver Week) are extremely busy, with zero availability for most touristic cities on all booking websites (Jalan, Goo, JTB, Booking, etc).
Even when all websites show all places as fully-booked, is there still hope to find any accommodation?
Japanese language is not a problem.
Best Answer
Many small hotels (self-described as minshuku or ryokan) are not bookable through the Internet. Such hotels often have availability even long after all of the Internet-bookable options have sold out.
Booking is made by phone. Obviously, this require knowing some Japanese, as very few have English-speaking staff.
The main difficulty is to find these small hotels that often have no Internet presence. Here is the best way I have found:
- Go to the Japanese yellow pages website: http://itp.ne.jp
- Type the name of the city you want to stay at
- In the left bar, choose
????(tourism accommodation) - Choose
????????to switch to map mode - Zoom to downtown, as some minshuku can be in very remote places far from public transportation
- You get a list of hotels in the desired area
- Open each hotel name in a search engine
- Filter out the hotels for which the search engine shows Jalan/etc (because you have already searched through these websites)
- The search results might have some blogs or pictures of the hotel, and price information
- Call the ones that seem OK. It might take 2 or 3 tries before you find one with availability.
As pointed out by Mazyod, another option is AirBnB, they might have different occupation patterns than usual forms of accommodation, because some people rent their place precisely while they go on vacation.
One other solution can be urban camping, which is tricky but feasible in Japan with a bit of attention. If travelling with a low-cost airline, remember that tents might not be allowed as cabine luggage.
A last resort is cited by Wikivoyage:
24-hour comic book library/internet cafes known as manga kisa, are common [...]. This is one of the cheapest ways to crash [...]. No bed, but you have a comfy chair and a PC and/or DVDs if you can't sleep. Later in the evening, karaoke boxes often offer discounted prices for the whole night, they usually have a couch you can sleep on. Most of these cyber cafes charge ¥1500–2500 for 8 hours.
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How far in advance should I book a hotel in Japan?
Hotels in Central Tokyo are always Fully Booked so Start Your Search at least 2 Months in advance! 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.Where can I book a Japanese hotel?
Rakuten Travel is the biggest online hotel reservation company in Japan. Rakuten Travel offers substantial savings on regular hotel room rates. You have 24-hour access to real-time online booking and can make reservations anytime you want.Is Airbnb cheaper than hotels in Japan?
Airbnb is generally considered cheaper in Japan. If you are traveling in a group, it is much cheaper renting an entire house with Airbnb than renting two or more rooms with a hotel.How much will a hotel cost to stay each night in Japan?
Expect to spend around $100 per night for two people at a business hotel. Single travelers looking to lower their budget may want to try hostels or capsule hotels, which run about 3,500 yen per night. Luxury hotels, such as the Hilton or Marriott, and Ryokan (Japanese inns) typically charge per person and not per room.Top 3 Websites For Hotel Booking
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