Meredydd

My eyes are crossed from reading TripAdvisor reviews and trip reports here, and cross-referencing against booking.com and agoda ... and I feel like I am flailing.

What is the best (or your preferred) way for researching and booking hotels? How do you evaluate the on-line reviews and hotel location? I need to learn how to do this more efficiently (and confidently!) as I suspect this will be the first of many trips to Japan.

Are APA and MySpace Japanese chains?

I am looking for ~$100/night in Asakusa (or nearby) for April 2-6 (four nights). One person.

I am looking for ~$100/night in Kyoto (Kawaramachi neighborhood?) starting about March 5 for five nights. Again, one person.

In addition to booking.com, is Agoda a good booking site? I've seen some hotels (eg, Richmond Hotel Asakusa) which are on one site but not the other.

Many thanks for your help!

kja

You are looking at the neighborhoods I prefer (and that is, of course, a very personal choice), using my preferred booking site -- booking.com.

FWIW, I start with booking.com, and then cross-check against TripAdvisor, which I find a bit simpler -- JMO. For me -- and again, I think its a very personal choice -- I want a clean, affordable place in a good location, preferably with free wifi, elevator access, and breakfast. I travel solo, so I only use a room for sleep and hygiene; I don't need bells and whistles. And I always go for the cancel-with-24-hour-notice option, as I'm always worried that my plans will change.

For choice of location, I base my choice on my research of what I want to see, transportation networks, information about neighborhoods, etc -- information I get from guidebooks long before beginning a search for rooms.

I don't know about MySpace, but APA is, as I understand it, a chain.

I've book through Agoda, perhaps twice? In each case, I thought I found a lower rate than I'd found through booking.com -- turns out that they were both rooms of a lower quality. I don't think I'll use it again.

I think $100 / night in Asakusa in that first week of April is ambitious. That price may also be ambitious for the Kawaramachi district of Kyoto; if you can up your daily limit, you might have a much better chance of success.

BTW, you are not the only person who ends up with crossed eyes when searching for rooms in this city!

And again, no right or wrong answers here -- lots of different strategies that work for different needs and interests.

Good luck!

Kathie

I've had good luck with agoda and with booking. But I often find the best price on the hotel's own site or the site of the chain. So I look at all of those before booking.

Good luck!

Meredydd

Thank you!

@kja: yep, I picked those neighborhoods because of suggestions on this forum. And it sound like we are looking for exactly the same sort of accommodation.

Because I'm planning this trip rather late and really want to secure the Kyoto and Tokyo digs, I figured I'd start with those neighborhoods, secure accommodation and cancel later if I find something preferable as my itinerary develops.

As soon as I get the two ends of my trip set, I can start planning the 3 weeks in between. I really must stop staying up so late reading japan-guide ....

kja

Sounds like you've made a great start to some serious planning for what should prove to be a wonderful trip.

BTW, my second favorite source of information on Japan is a now out-of-print guidebook, <i>Japan Solo</i>. I never understood why it was marketed as though just for solo travelers (or maybe that wasn't the intent), but whatever, it has a wealth of information and some of the best maps around. Used copies show up on amazon every once in a while -- you might keep your eye out for one!

lcuy

I believe the solo in the title meant "as opposed to going with a group tour"

kja

@ lcuy: That would make sense - thanks!

Kavey

Do check some of the Japanese chains such as Dormy, Richmond, Sunroute, Toyoko.

I value booking.com reviews far more highly than TripAdvisor for the simple reason that you can only leave a review on booking.com if you booked through them. On TripAdvisor there's no way to check if a reviewer really stayed out whether they are an employee or competitor...

I booked most of our hotels for our one month in Japan April via booking.com and find it works well for me.

Southam

For what it's worth (maybe nothing, since it's corporate buinsess) Booking.com and Agoda are both owned by Priceline, and they all appear to compete. So does another property, Kayak. Priceline owns OpenTable too. Agoda started out in Singapore and seems to be fairly separate from Booking.com; it's my impression, based on no actual data, that Agoda may turn up some listings independently. I check them both. Or all.

Kavey

I agree, Southam, that the listings and availability on Agoda is different from Booking.com and worth checking both if there's specific hotel you are wanting to book.

Main difference between the two for me (I used Agoda more for our first Japan trip) is that more hotels on Agoda require payment upfront. One can still cancel many of them, but that means a refund to your credit card, so you may still lose some money on the deal because of charges and changing exchange rates.

Booking.com I have never paid a hotel in advance, and I only choose those that offer free cancellation - most offer it to 3 days before arrival date, but a few are farther out so I make sure to note all these in my travel planner.

internetwiz

What I found interesting on my last trip to Japan was how much cheaper it was to book through booking.com, hotels.com, JAPANiCAN.com, etc. I'd always thought booking direct with the hotel would save me money, but this was not always the case with Japan.

The bottom line: compare prices before you book. Another bit of advice, if you can swing it, opt for the biggest room you can afford. You'll be happy you have the space.

shelemm

Make sure you take a look at room size. Some rooms are super tiny. Agoda is a very good site.

Meredydd

Thank you, all.

What I find interesting is that the prices on TripAdvisor in many cases are significantly lower than booking.com.

Booking.com says they will price match -- has anyone tried that, and it is simple or onerous?

Thank for reminding me to look at room size. I also need to look at whether there is WiFi in the, or must public areas.

Also, I am now looking at neighborhoods that might be a bit quieter than Kawaramachi as I am not much of a night-life person.

Reading54

Booking.com has the taxes already added in the listed prices; other sites may not include taxes in their listed prices, it is only after you have selected rooms and number of days and then they show you a total, that's when you see the taxes added to it.

kja

IMO, Reading54 raises a really good point about the taxes.

Another consideration is cancellation -- I'm willing to pay a bit more for the option to cancel up to 24 hours in advance, an option that is often available through booking.com but, IME, is not always available elsewhere. (Despite having been given permission to take leave 6 months in advance, my bosses have twice insisted, with a month or less to go, that I cancel fully planned month-long trips. Ouch! I haven't had that problem for quite some time, but the risk is always in the back of my mind....)

And I know this consideration is a very personal one, but I find booking.com extremely useful, and am willing to spend a tiny bit more to support them by booking through them, even if I can get a slightly lower rate from the hotel itself. If the difference is substantial, and I'm sure that I'm getting the "same" deal, I've been known to use the hotel's web-site ... and then I feel guilty for not paying for the benefits I reap from booking.com. But that's just me.

Kavey

Kja, as is so often the case, we are in agreement. Booking.com is just such a helpful service that I don't mind if the fees aren't the very lowest I could get elsewhere - in most cases it's not like for like on the booking terms in any case.

For me, the convenience of being able to cancel until just before the trip is very helpful indeed. Most of the hotels I've booked for recent trips have 2 to 3 days cancellation period rather than 24 hours but I know there are some with the 24 hours.

In many cases, properties load multiple price offers for the same room and you can pay less for the room if you don't take up the option to be able to cancel without charge, than if you do.

For me the flexibility is worth paying slightly more.

I also feel confident that if there is a problem, I can get in touch with booking.com to resolve, which I've had to do only once.

When I'm at the early planning stage, I often hold 2 or more properties for the same night, and then release those I don't want once I've done deeper research. As I'm usually planning several months in advance, I don't think this hurts the hotels' forward planning or occupancy rates, as I always release those I'm not using far, far ahead of the check in date.

Meredydd

Reading54, kja, kavey: thank you for the helpful discussion of booking.com and other sites. Yes, paying a bit more for flexibility and cancellation -- the ability to book/hold and then shift hotels as I learn more -- is very valuable indeed.The point about booking.com giving the all-in price inclusive of taxes is, of course, a key difference.

And thank you for your patience as I ask all of these "newbie" questions; this is the first complex extended trip I have undertaken in many, many years and the trip-planning landscape/tools have changed considerably since 2003! I am sure I will make many mistakes -- but none of the disasterous ... just "unplanned adventures!"

Cheers!

kja

We were all newbies once, and even with a number of trips behind us, many of us find that we have plenty of questions when we plan another trip.

Mara

In your original post, you mentioned MySpace chain? Did you mean MyStays? If so, I have stayed in a number of their hotels and they are fine....but not the one in Kyoto....although friends have stayed there...good location...

Kavey

I still make at least one "unplanned adventure" type mistake on most trips!