4 Best Hotels in Tokyo, Japan

This friendly ryokan has a few modest Western-style twin rooms amid its mostly Japanese-style rooms, and its location—just behind the Kaminari-mon gateway leading to the Senso-ji complex—is convenient for exploring the area. The downside for some will be the size of the rooms; it's worth paying extra for a 12-tatami mat room if you have a lot of luggage, as the six-tatami mat rooms are extremely snug.

Just off Nakamise-dori, this small inn, with both Japanese- and Western-style rooms, could not be better located for a visit to Senso-ji temple. Although all guest quarters have private baths, Western-style rooms are plain and a bit dated, and standard Japanese rooms are cramped, even for just two. The best option is to pay a little extra for a Japanese-style deluxe or suite room with futon bedding and tatami floors. Regardless, be sure to head to the sixth floor for a soak in a Japanese-style wooden communal bath with a view of the Senso-ji pagoda.

Established in the 1980s, this small, simple, economical inn—where all the rooms have traditional tatami flooring and futon mattresses—is a five-minute walk from the entrance to Ueno Koen (Ueno Park) and a 10-minute walk from the Tokyo National Museum. Although the largest rooms can accommodate four or five people, others are very small.

You'll get a full dose of shitamachi (lower city) friendliness at the family run Sawanoya, where you'll feel like you're part of an old Tokyo neighborhood and where people might help you plan excursions, say, or book hotels for the next leg of your journey. It is popular with budget travelers, so reserve online well in advance. Japanese bathtubs are near small windows that overlook a small garden. Coffee and tea are complimentary, but most rooms have no TVs.