Help finding a ryokan / onsen!
 

Hey all,

Planning my first trip to Japan with my gf and two other guy friends, all in our early 30s. We're tentatively planning to:

Tokyo Tuesday March 29th to Friday April 1st
Travel to Kyoto Friday April 1st (Ryokan/Onsen day?)
Tues April 5th travel back to Tokyo (Ryokan/Onsen day on the 4th?)
April 5th to 7th in Tokyo
Fly out April 7th

The majority of our time will be in Kyoto / Tokyo, with possibly a day trip to Osaka. However, we were REALLY looking forward to doing a Ryokan, and decided that one in the country would be our best bet because we all would really like to enjoy an onsen as well. I think it makes the most sense to have it be a day in betweek tokyo and kyoto, or the other way around, so that we could potentially go to an area in between the two. We're planning to get the JR pass, so ideally somewhere off of the JR line, and something not tooooo far out of the way, since we'll only have 10 days in total. We've had a really hard time finding anything that is reasonably priced (Ideally around or under 25000 yen pp). We're open to having a 4 person room, or two 2 person rooms and really wanted it to be a traditional Japanese room.

Help!! Any suggestions on places that you think may still be avail around this time? I've emailed a few places, havent gotten any positive feedback, outside of a possible stay at Seryo in Kyoto, and I can't find many reviews on them, so was not too sure.

Thanks so much in advance!!

I suggest looking at the following site:

https://www.ryokancollection.com/ryokan/welcome/search

Click on the "Near Tokyo" or "Near Kyoto" links to get several options that will be in your area of travel. We have stayed in a couple that were in your price range, but you're traveling at peak season, so I'm not sure how much that may impact the rates.

I agree that it makes sense to fit your ryokan stay between Tokyo and Kyoto, especially because you can have your luggage forwarded between the two cities and just take an overnight bag to the ryokan (which is what we did). I found the experience well worth the cost, since breakfast and a kaiseki dinner is usually included, and especially if you go to one with an onsen. Enjoy!

Your problem is your dates are in cherry-blossom season, and you are booking very late. Vacancies will be few, and prices high.

@russ - thanks for that site - thought I saw most of them, but I hadn't seen that one! Also, didn't realize we could have luggage forwarded - is that through the JR line? Do they keep it at the rail station in the destination city until we arrive? Coming from New York, that sounds really great and not something I would expect!

Are there any smaller towns outside of the two cities that are reasonably accessible that may be more low-key around the popular season? I'm open to going outside of the two cities, but have no idea which are recommended areas, as it seems there are a lot of onsen destinations.

Thanks!

The luggage service russ refers to is called takkyubin. You can arrange this through your hotel, it's reliable, fast, easy and very reasonable.

Hakone is a famous hot springs resort area between Tokyo and Kyoto, though I have no idea of availability or prices during your travel dates.

The luggage forwarding service is definitely one of my favorite things when visiting Japan! Here is a link with info:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2278.html

Super easy. Have your Tokyo or Kyoto hotel fill out the paperwork the morning of your departure and it will arrive at your next hotel by the next day (which is why it's perfect for a single overnight in between). In all our cases it was waiting in our room already when we arrived. So nice not to have to lug our bags around. We even had them sent to the airport a couple days before our departure and used an overnight bag the last couple nights.

As for where to stay, I think I would try all the "near Tokyo" locations, which includes Hakone. Then choose from among what is available for your dates, if anything. I took a quick look at rates, and only 4 or 5 were less than 30000 yen pp per night, so you might want to start with those. Note that most are cheapest on weekdays (as opposed to your projected Friday night stay).

By the way, if you haven't discovered them yet, here are two of the best sites for planning your trip:

http://www.japan-guide.com/ for just about anything you need to know

http://www.hyperdia.com/ for checking train schedules. This might help you decide between various ryokan based on travel time to each.

Just for fun, below is a link showing ryokans in Hakone available on April 1, sorted by review score. Pricing seems to be per room, double occupancy (not per person).

http://www.booking.com/searchresults...ty&order=score

If you stay in Hakone, be sure to leave Tokyo early so you can take the ropeway to see views of Mt. Fuji before you check in. That's what we did on our first trip to Japan. You can click my name to find my trip report for the details.

Another source of info on ryokan =
http://www.japaneseguesthouses.com

You can also use booking.com, specifying "ryokan" as type of lodging, but if you do that, be sure to look up the places first -- I'm not sure they would meet your criteria.

By all means, use luggage forwarding whenever it makes sense!

One more hearty endorsement for the luggage forwarding. So worth the nominal cost (I think around $15USD) to not have to drag your main suitcase around. I even used it on two-night detours such as to Matsumoto. With your itinerary, I would think Hakone would be a prime destination you should research for ryokan. I would try to fit that in on your way back to Tokyo from Kyoto.

Thanks so much everyone for the luggage forwarding suggestions - will definitely forward our larger luggage and bring an overnighter to the ryokan. With everything I've been reading on Japan, this was the first I heard of it!

@Russ - thanks for the suggestions and the help - I saw one on Booking through your link in Hakone and went with it for the a day between Kyoto and getting back to Tokyo (https://www.booking.com/hotel/jp/gor...-sounkaku.html) - Gora Hanaougi Sounkaku. Had great reviews and looks like we were lucky to get some rooms there. Also is supposed to be right next to the ropeway, which seems ideal! I'm going to check out your trip report as well. Thanks for the help!!

We've got just one more decision to make - wether or not to stay at Seryo ryokan in Ohara because it's very close to Kyoto, or go instead to a ryokan in another area (are Kinosaki or Shibu areas too crazy to do as one day between Tokyo and Kyoto?) This would be just for one night, April 1st, the Friday. I've tentatively got Seryo booked, but should we try for one of the other areas instead?

I don't know that ryokan, but if it helps, I thought Ohara worth seeing and was very glad I made it to Sanzen-in.