reserving room with or w/out breakfast
 

Can anyone please advise if we book a hotel or ryokan room and not pay the upcharge in the reservation for breakfast, can we order breakfast upon our arrival or the night before or even that morning (and pay when checking out)? I understand the situation is different with ordering dinner because of the large number of dishes included. Thank you!

With ryokan, it is often the case that ingredients are purchased only as necessary given advance information, so they might <u>not</u> be able to readily accommodate a last-minute request for breakfast. Perhaps even more to the point, ryokan staff might find failing to accommodate even a last minute request a very embarrassing -- even humiliating -- event: They would find themselves in the very awkward position (for them) of either declining your offer (because they really don't have the fresh ingredients they would use) or trying to come up, at the last minute, with a meal that they would be willing to serve (given their almost certainly well-deserved pride in the quality of their meals). I could easily be wrong, but I, personally, would not consider changing my request to either have -- or not have -- breakfast at a ryokan with less than 24-hours notice. JMO.

With hotels, I suspect it depends on size -- does the hotel have enough rooms (and enough booked rooms) to allow flexibility or not?

I could be wrong...

Oh, and BTW, be prepared to be asked to pay upon checking IN. That is normal in many parts of Asia.

I've stayed at hotels and guest houses in Japan where you had to request a meal plan when reserving the room, or at the latest the night before, with no exceptions. So it might be best to email the places you reserve and ask their policy.

Japanese hotels often include a buffet breakfast. However, you can email them in advance and ask how much they are willing to take off your bill if you exclude the breakfast.

I generally enjoy Japanese hotel buffet breakfasts because the fish is typically interesting and yummy. However, there have been a few times where I was leaving super-early, and I asked them to reduce the rate, and they did.

My take is that it's fine to make a game time decision about breakfast at a hotel, but not a ryokan.

Another point to add is that not all ryokans offer a room only rate. It's not uncommon for a ryokan to only offer a dinner, bed and breakfast rate as they factor profits based on that model. Many (but not all) do offer a bed and breakfast rate. I've come across ryokans offering room only rates much more rarely.

For hotels, as above, I'd say you can book without and add in on arrival if you want breakfast after all.

Thank you everyone for your replies. We arrived in Japan yesterday and are staying with friends now. The advuenture begins!

How exciting, have fun!