Accommodation Deals in Japan!

When I was telling people I was off on a 3-week trip to Japan the most common response was, 'Japan, won't that be expensive?'

While that is a commonly held opinion in Australia, it seems that with a few things now in our favour (like a strong Aussie Dollar) and some careful planning a trip to Japan should be no more expensive than a visit to any other developed nation.

I will detail in another post money saving advice, but for now I just want to touch on accommodation.

In Japan, it is expected that you will book accommodation in advance, which can be difficult for a 'see where the moment takes you' traveller like myself.

As a result of this I came to love Wotif and Expedia where I could book my accommodation in the morning before moving on to the next town.

It also meant I was able to score some fabulous deals on rooms, and stay in places I wouldn't have been able to consider otherwise.

Take the fabulous Hotel Granvia in Kyoto:-

The Hotel Granvia, Kyoto. Yes, that really was the view from our room.

By Japanese standards, the bathroom was ENORMOUS!

I managed to secure a rate of under $200 AUD per night for two people in the above room via the expedia site.

When I contacted reception the next morning to enquire about staying an additional night, I was offered a smaller room, and a rate more than double what I had found on-line.