I am travelling to Japan in just a few weeks. My friend and I made most of our hotel reservations on hostelworld.com, including a hotel in Kanazawa. This was months ago, and today, as I was looking over our itenerary, I went to the website of this hotel. I read it in great detail, and finally, at the bottom of one of the pages, I found a small note saying, "Guests under 21 must be accompanied by an adult."

My friend and I are both 19! Obviously we would never have booked this hotel had we known about the restriction, but we assumed that any hotel listed on hostelworld would be open to college students. The Hostelworld listing said nothing about this, and even on the website it was well hidden. My friend and I are very polite, will not be out late partying, will not create any disturbance, etc... however, of course they look at passports when you come in, and they will realize our age.

What should we do? I haven't contacted hostelworld to complain, but short of that, I won't be able to recover my 10% deposit. I am frustrated because it may be hard to get another reasonably priced reservation within a few weeks, and I do not think they made this information available enough.

Should we go there and pretend complete ignorance? Both of us speak some, but very limited Japanese, but the hotels English website looks very good, so we assume that they have some English speaking staff. Perhaps they won't enforce it if we come, well dressed and polite, with a reservation?

Interestingly, "coming of age" in Japan is at age 19. That's when a person becomes an adult.
Can you live with the uncertainty about what will happen until you arrive on their doorstep? If so, my guess is they would feel obliged to find an alternative if they cannot admit you as guests. If not, and you seem already pretty churned up by this news, it might be better to contact the hotel directly, explain the situation, and ask what they can do for you. (Does the website give an email address?) Japanese can be particular about really minor rules, but sometimes their lists of who can or can't stay at a hotel are quite formal and arbitrary. (E.g. people with tattoos, gang members, etc.)
Either way, play straight up with them rather than pretending you didn't know. Japanese can be amazingly helpful and accommodating and will try to help solve a problem if they have a business relationship with you (as in this case)..

I don't think I would leave it to chance. The Japanese tend to like to follow the rules and I noticed that when we were there last year, that not only did they ask to see your passport but the registration forms that you filled out included a line for "Your Age".

I assume your budget is fairly limited but have a look at the Toyoko-Inn website. Their prices are very reasonable but they do book up quickly because of that. We stayed at one of their hotels in Kanazawa and thought it was excellent value. The hotel is reasonably new and rooms are very small but extremely clean and had everything you need. There were coin washers and dryers available downstairs and a free Japanese breakfast in the morning.

The one we stayed at was a very easy walk from the station. Turn to the right as you leave the station (main entrance) and was only a couple of blocks down, on the same side of the road as the station.

Kanazawa-eki Higashi-guchi
ADDRESS: 13-23 Kanazawa City Syowa Machi
TEL : 076-224-1045
FAX : 076-224-1044

The website for the Toyoko chain is www.toyoko-inn.com/eng/
There are several Toyoko Inns in Kanazawa so be careful when booking if you decide to give it a go. We did not have to pay any deposit before arriving.

I just had a look at the website and the price where we stayed is ¥7,665 (with taxes) for a double/twin room.

Thank both of you for your answers!

I will try to email the hotel and ask, although I may also email hostelworld, since my reservation was paid to them, I believe.

If 19 is when Japanese come of age, hopefully that means I won't encounter this problem at every hotel I booked. I really wasn't expecting this to happen!

Shandy, thank you for the tip regarding the Toyoko Inns. I think we looked at one of those for Osaka, but decided to do something else there. The one in Kanazawa looks nice and the prices are very reasonable! I might reserve with them if I can't get anywhere with the first hotel.

I made a mistake: 20 is more accurately when you come of age in Japan. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coming_of_Age_Day

Which hotel is it? I see 3 hotels listed on hostelworld.com kikunoya, hinodeya and Central but didn't find the mention of age. Just curious, I might like to check if the same is mentioned on Japanese page too.

Hey Mirachan,

I am Kitty, actually I work for Hostelworld. If I could have the hotel name or your booking number, I will check for you to see what I could help. You could contact me at [email protected].

I am happy to help you out. Hope to hear from you.

I was just about to post that I have used hostelworld extensively on our round the world trip last years and was very impressed with teh efficinecy and service and then I saw the above post. Above and beyond the the levels of service predominant in the travel industry these days!

Hello!

Actually, it was Hotel Hinodeya.

We arrived and didn't make a big deal out of the age thing. They didn't ask any questions about it - just took our money and gave us a room. It was not the best hotel we stayed at but it was fine.

Thanks for your responses, everyone, especially Kitty, though I was already in Japan when you posted it.