I usually evaluate our accommodation by balancing the following criteria:
1. Location
Definitely one of the most important considerations when choosing a place to stay. We were going to a foreign country, somewhere we've never been before. Without knowing how things worked, we wanted to stay somewhere close to either train stations or amenities. Also, we usually prefer inner city locations compared to the burbs (unless we have drivers like in Seminyak, Bali).
2. Price Range
We were no longer poor students, but we also don't like spending too much money on accommodations as we'll be out and about most of the time. So we always look for cheap(er) places ($50-100), at least for a portion of our trip. For our Indonesia trip, we stayed at a $60 place for 1 night, a $45 place for 3, an $85 place for 5, and a $150 place for 3 nights.
3. Fanciness a.k.a. Cleanliness & Comfort
We needed somewhere we could feel comfortable, somewhere that we could feel at home. The amount of space wasn't as important as having a kitchen or, ideally, a washer/dryer (or cheap laundromats near by). The accommodation has to be clean though, definitely no mold or stinky smells. We usually judge by looking at the pictures and following our gut feeling. I sometimes even feel like I can sense how comfortable the bed is by just looking at it.
4. Novelty or Extraordinary Purpose
I usually try to book at least a couple nights at a fancier or "special" accommodation. For our Indonesia trip, it was the fancy villa in Seminyak, for our Japan trip, I looked for opportunities to stay at a traditional Japanese hotel/house.
5. Reviews / the Host
Reviews are particularly important when it comes to aspects that pictures and numbers can't convey. Nuances that you may not have thought of, or service levels that may make or break your experience can be determined by tirelessly reading other people's reviews. I'm also an avid reviewer online as I believe that by providing honest reviews, people will be able to make better choices and set more accurate expectations.
To be able to make the right selection with the perfect balance of the above criteria, you need to understand "the market" as well. This is the background you need to know in order to understand your options and thus choose the optimal balance from the above criteria.
The Market for our Japan 2015 Trip:
A. The Destination - Japan
After researching accommodations in Japan, I quickly sensed that the price range for this country is drastically different than of Indonesia. In Indonesia, there is an extremely wide price range of accommodations, and there is an abundance of extremely cheap (but still fancy) hotels. I've once stayed at a "hostel" for $48/night. It was just as nice as any other hotels I've ever stayed in. I had my own 200 sq. ft. room, a queen size bed, an outdoor shower, and the hostel had a pool and free breakfast. The shared dorm room (with 6 people) there was only $12/night.
In Japan, however, I'm noticing that what I deem to be "comfortable" is usually more than $150/night. Hotels in Japan are also often suited with single beds and have barely any walking space. Even hostels or capsule hotels, where you literally only get the entirety of one bed, are more than $40/night. This adjusted my expectations immensely.
Also, I understood quickly that size is a relative concept. Space is extremely limited and to get an apartment that's around 300 sq. ft. would probably be as "big" as we could afford.
B. Timing - The Golden Week
We booked our ticket not knowing that it overlapped with one of Japan's longest holidays. It is called "the Golden Week" as there are 3 national holidays scheduled back to back and often makes for an entire week long vacation. We arrived the first of the 5 day holiday, and that means many of the accommodations were sold out (even when I looked 4 months in advance). Our options were quickly limited and at one point, we even considered staying separately at hostels, at capsule hotels, at manga cafes, or simply being homeless.
After some very tedious research and endless browsing, the following were the places we ended up staying at during our trip. We had a total of 16 nights, 15 of them were booked through Airbnb for an apartment in Osaka, and the 16th, our first night, were booked through booking.com. We also booked an extra night in Kyoto to stay in a traditional "Ryokan" (Japanese style hotel) so we could experience what it's like sleeping in traditional futons on the tatami.
Our Osaka Apartment - through Airbnb (15 nights; $64/night)
After getting the picture of how expensive hotels can be, we looked at Airbnb for alternative accommodations. We've used Airbnb many times and it's always been pleasant for us. They are cheaper alternatives, and also have apartment options, which are better suited for longer duration stays. One day in November, a week after we booked out flight, we found what seemed to be an unbelievably good deal in Osaka and soon decided to book it for the entire duration of our stay. The advantage of doing this is that you get a "home base", and not have to worry about packing/unpacking too many times. Even if you decide to book other accommodations on top of this one, you always have a place to store the majority of your things.
This Osaka apartment was 5 minute walk from the nearest train station, 2 stops away from the entertainment central of Osaka, and 15 minute walk from Osaka Castle. It had 2 double beds, a table, portable wifi, air conditioning / heating, a kitchen, fridge, microwave, toaster oven, full bath, a washer/dryer, and even 2 free bikes we were allowed to use. It looked newly renovated and really well kept. The host was communicative and works for a larger vacation rental company. We booked this within 1 day of finding it.
With this exceptionally amazing price we got, we were open to booking other accommodations on top of this if needed. This Osaka apartment was also only available for 15 out of the 16 nights we were there, and meant that we had to look for another accommodation for our first night in town.
City Plaza Osaka - Hotel through booking.com (1 night; $280)
May 2nd was the night we didn't have a place to stay. I found this hotel right across the street from our apartment and it looked really nice. The price was a bit high but if it was only for one night, convenience might outweigh the price.
Our flight, at one point, changed and we were going to arrive at 9pm. We had actually decided to stay overnight at the airport but wanted to keep out reservation until our last allowed cancellation date. That turned out to be a life saver. During the time we decided to stay overnight at the airport, we looked at alternative options. This is when I dug into capsule hotels, hostels, and other "crappier" options. We thought that since we weren't going to be able to enjoy our hotel much, and would only be using a place to crash for the night, we would try to save some money. But being the Golden Week and a Saturday night, I literally could not find any other viable options. 4 days before I was going to cancel our hotel reservation, our flight changed back to arriving at 3pm, so we just went ahead with our original plan.
City Plaza was amazing!
In Japan, you are able to book single beds, double beds, or 2 single/double beds (called twin). To be honest each hotel seemed to call things differently, and it was a bit difficult to tell just how big the room or the bed was. City Plaza had these twin rooms that were slightly more expensive than the double, and the rooms looked a lot bigger, so I booked that. When we arrived, it took us less than 5 minutes to check in. We had requested a higher floor, and got the 11th (out of 14) floor. I actually think we got the top floor because the very top few floors were amenities like restaurants, gym, pool, and spas anyway. Our room was approximately 300 sq. ft., it had a small living area with couches and a coffee table, a desk, a change room where the sink is and a full bath. It had 2 very comfortable double beds and the water pressure was blissful. We were really glad we kept our reservation.
Kyoto Ryokan "Sanjojuku" - through Airbnb (1 night; $169)
Keith had never stayed in a tatami room, whereas I've always had a tatami in my bedroom growing up. I remember the fresh straw smell and how great it felt, and really wanted Keith to experience what it's like sleeping on a tatami. I also thought it would be cool for us to experience a traditional Japanese ryokan (hotel) so I booked us a place in Kyoto for one night.
I booked it on Airbnb when I first saw it and realized it was one of the best deals I've seen. I paid in full, only to later discover that it was listed a lot cheaper on Expedia.ca. In addition, the host on Airbnb omitted to mention that there are 2 sister hotels and gave us the wrong address. This caused some extra walking at the end of a very tiring day, and the amazing bath tub and garden was not at the hotel we were assigned to. The hotel staff was ok though, and the room was fairly accurately represented. The place is a century old hotel with only 3 guest rooms, there were 3 shared bathrooms downstairs and one shower room.
In the end, all the accommodations we picked out treated us very well. We loved the experience of staying at a traditional Japanese house, the luxury and comfort of a fancy hotel, and definitely, most memorably, the warmth and hospitality of our home away from home in Osaka.
To be continued...
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