Affordable Accommodations in Tokyo, Japan

[Anonymous]

Hello, I am planning a 2 week vacation in Tokyo, for this September, 2025 and am wondering if anyone knows of somewhat affordable accommodations? Where are places you've stayed and would recommend? Would it be worth it to stay outside of Tokyo to find better prices? Would appreciate any and all recommendations or guidance. No trolls please.

[Anonymous]

I found booking.com very helpful. I booked all my japan accommodations through that site and had no problems. If you read the reviews of hotels you can get a sense of what you are getting for the price.

I loved visiting Japan. I hope you have a wonderful time.

[Anonymous]

APA Hotel is a chain and generally fairly inexpensive (for Tokyo) and reliably clean/nice. The rooms are teeny tiny but that's kind of just a reality for tokyo in general.

[Anonymous]

You’ll have to state what your budget is.
I stayed in a hotel with a tiny room that was completely characterless but had a microwave, small fridge, and kettle. There was room for 1 suitcase. It was near a subway and a Japan Rail station, in a quieter neighbourhood.
This was adequate but next time I’d stay in a more charming place.

Tokyo is a really busy and big city. For a 2 week stay, I’d consider picking 2 neighborhoods and staying in 2 different places.
Also depends on when you are going.
If it’s so hot that you’ll be taking the subway anyway, that’s different than walking everywhere. I was there in July last year and it was so hot that it was walkable only until 11 AM and then it was unbearable,

[Anonymous]

Most of the American chains (Marriott, Hilton) have hotels in Japan, but they are not usually the largest brand set and not especially cheap.

Look up independent hotels in Japan or on the Japan tourism website.

Try to stay in a Ryokan if you can, for a more traditional experience, that’s really pretty nice.

You can also look for what’s called “love hotels”, which are typically rented by the hour so that people can get away from their multigenerational family home and have quiet seggs., but they also rent them by the night too.

[Anonymous]

PS If you have two weeks in Japan, don’t spend all of it in Tokyo. Spend at least 3-4 days in Kyoto/Osaka/Nara. They are older than Tokyo; Nara was the capital of Japan from 700-1600, and there’s lots more to see and do there. The distance from there to Tokyo is about the same as NYC to DC by train.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PS If you have two weeks in Japan, don’t spend all of it in Tokyo. Spend at least 3-4 days in Kyoto/Osaka/Nara. They are older than Tokyo; Nara was the capital of Japan from 700-1600, and there’s lots more to see and do there. The distance from there to Tokyo is about the same as NYC to DC by train.

DP. I agree, trains are fast and frequent in Japan. I only spent a week, visited Kyoto for 3 days, Tokyo for 5 days. I ate so well, and cheaply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You’ll have to state what your budget is.
I stayed in a hotel with a tiny room that was completely characterless but had a microwave, small fridge, and kettle. There was room for 1 suitcase. It was near a subway and a Japan Rail station, in a quieter neighbourhood.
This was adequate but next time I’d stay in a more charming place.

Tokyo is a really busy and big city. For a 2 week stay, I’d consider picking 2 neighborhoods and staying in 2 different places.
Also depends on when you are going.
If it’s so hot that you’ll be taking the subway anyway, that’s different than walking everywhere. I was there in July last year and it was so hot that it was walkable only until 11 AM and then it was unbearable,

+1 what is your actual budget? "Affordable" means many things on this board, and most aren't actually affordable

Also how many people? Options for a family of 5 are much different from options for a solo traveler.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PS If you have two weeks in Japan, don’t spend all of it in Tokyo. Spend at least 3-4 days in Kyoto/Osaka/Nara. They are older than Tokyo; Nara was the capital of Japan from 700-1600, and there’s lots more to see and do there. The distance from there to Tokyo is about the same as NYC to DC by train.

Go off this well travelled tourist route as well. Consider Nikko and the Izu peninsula.