[Ruriel]

ash like snow wrote:

Oh I stayed sakura fleur previously!
Anyway I'll be in Tokyo for 30/3-3/4, so I tried searching sakura fleur from 30/3-2/4 and there's rooms available. But if I search from 30/3-3/4, there's no more rooms. So... Is it fully booked haven't release yet?

My itinerary is
D1- shibuya
D2- harajuku
D3- tsukiji, Tokyo station & ginza
D4- Disney
D5- Osaka

I was thinking to book 1 hotel in shibuya's area for D1-2 and check in another hotel near Tokyo station from D3-D4 as I've to take shinkasen next day. Or is it btr to stay throughout the same hotel?

Best way is to email them to ask. I looked at their availability calendar and the whole of April is blocked out / not available. No idea how you get the rooms to show up.

[ash like snow]

Ruriel wrote:

Best way is to email them to ask. I looked at their availability calendar and the whole of April is blocked out / not available. No idea how you get the rooms to show up.

I searched via Agoda. I'll ssrr again when it's Nov since it's 6mths to April's, maybe will have more hotels!

[Ruriel]

ash like snow wrote:

I searched via Agoda. I'll ssrr again when it's Nov since it's 6mths to April's, maybe will have more hotels!

Ya by 1st November should have a lot more options liao. Just 5 more days of waiting only. Good luck! Meanwhile you can look at alternative areas as backup plans lor, instead of sticking with Shibuya only.

Not sure what's defined as "affordable" to you, but Mitsui Garden Kyobashi is quite near to Tokyo station and have rooms open up 1 yr in advance. Quite a new hotel too. A little expensive perhaps, but there are still rooms available in Mar-April when I checked just now. They do have triple room listed in their room category, but you don't get any dates when you try to search for rooms with 3 pax in 1 room (their availability calendar is blocked up entirely). I suspect you can only book triple room either by sending in inquiry form on their site or by phone only.

[kia0042]

kifo wrote:

see reply in red

Thanks for the tips.
Shall add all of them to my itinerary.
Not known the apartment my partner booked is ..... well anyway, already booked, nothing can be done. Will stay extra alert during the stay there, thanks for the info.

[ash like snow]

Ruriel wrote:

Ya by 1st November should have a lot more options liao. Just 5 more days of waiting only. Good luck! Meanwhile you can look at alternative areas as backup plans lor, instead of sticking with Shibuya only.

Not sure what's defined as "affordable" to you, but Mitsui Garden Kyobashi is quite near to Tokyo station and have rooms open up 1 yr in advance. Quite a new hotel too. A little expensive perhaps, but there are still rooms available in Mar-April when I checked just now. They do have triple room listed in their room category, but you don't get any dates when you try to search for rooms with 3 pax in 1 room (their availability calendar is blocked up entirely). I suspect you can only book triple room either by sending in inquiry form on their site or by phone only.

Haha we like shibuya cause there's a lot of food options in the night! And it's more convenient for us to go harajuku too. I searched Tokyo station hotels on agoda just now and it seems many of the hotels are not near the JR Tokyo station based on the reviews... *faint

Would u stick to 1 hotel or 2 hotels if based on my itinerary?

How much expenses would u set aside for Tokyo and Osaka for 6 days (2pax including shinkasen and Disney tickets)? $1500? $1700?

[cancer81]

major hotels in Japan need to commit to tour agencies blocking out their rooms for Sakura season, which is what hanami 花見 loosely refers to.

I think I got used to staying in quieter places. Shibuya is not a bad place, near big train station and all just a little too "hot"

I always put off planning a hanami holiday due to the logistic problems it presents. I do koyo season already. I plan to try another one soon

ash like snow wrote:

Haha we like shibuya cause there's a lot of food options in the night! And it's more convenient for us to go harajuku too. I searched Tokyo station hotels on agoda just now and it seems many of the hotels are not near the JR Tokyo station based on the reviews... *faint

Would u stick to 1 hotel or 2 hotels if based on my itinerary?

How much expenses would u set aside for Tokyo and Osaka for 6 days (2pax including shinkasen and Disney tickets)? $1500? $1700?

tbh Ueno side is even better. Less chance of running into drunk folk also I can't remember exactly but one of Shibuya and Shinjuku have more eateries run by Chinese nationals.

6 days depend on your budget for meals and shopping. If you want to have an accurate estimate, do some planning and see what spotlight meals you want to try. Shopping, use card where accepted.

[Ruriel]

ash like snow wrote:

Haha we like shibuya cause there's a lot of food options in the night! And it's more convenient for us to go harajuku too. I searched Tokyo station hotels on agoda just now and it seems many of the hotels are not near the JR Tokyo station based on the reviews... *faint

Would u stick to 1 hotel or 2 hotels if based on my itinerary?

How much expenses would u set aside for Tokyo and Osaka for 6 days (2pax including shinkasen and Disney tickets)? $1500? $1700?

I always try to stick to one hotel each area. I hate moving my luggage around.

And when it comes to budgeting, I don't include big ticket items like shinkansen or admission fees to attractions. My daily budget is strictly for meals and snacks and drinks and random impulsive souvenir purchases from shops. Previously I cater about S$75 per pax per day for my Japan trip. My friend and I don't do shopping, nor did we go for Michelin star/fine dining, so it's alot easier to stick to our budget. Leftovers towards the end of the trip would mean we get to splurge for one or two meals before we flew back.

[ash like snow]

cancer81 wrote:

major hotels in Japan need to commit to tour agencies blocking out their rooms for Sakura season, which is what hanami 花見 loosely refers to.

I think I got used to staying in quieter places. Shibuya is not a bad place, near big train station and all just a little too "hot"

I always put off planning a hanami holiday due to the logistic problems it presents. I do koyo season already. I plan to try another one soon



tbh Ueno side is even better. Less chance of running into drunk folk also I can't remember exactly but one of Shibuya and Shinjuku have more eateries run by Chinese nationals.

6 days depend on your budget for meals and shopping. If you want to have an accurate estimate, do some planning and see what spotlight meals you want to try. Shopping, use card where accepted.

Ueno seems far from Shibuya! How about Ikebukoro? Will there be any eateries at night?

At least Shibuya still have Ichiran and Uobei sushi for supper

I prefer to use cash more than card hehe

[luv_boa]

cancer81 wrote:

Osaka consider Umeda, tennoji(sp) area

Tokyo, avoid Shibuya and Shinjuku. Lots of areas with hotels



Odaiba takes quite a while to get to and depending on what u plan on doing there would take around a good 3-4 hours. Depending how you intend to go there and if you want to see the rainbow bridge with lights or other stuff there... the important bit is your method of transport. Plan your route so that you do not over spend taking the Tokyo Metro.

I am not sure yet where to go in Odaiba. Yeah I am only using the mrt as the mode of transport. I am trying to make the places I go is on the way instead of back and forth that waste time and money.

[luv_boa]

laeticia wrote:

Lol am here now and not much non-winter clothing for sale at local brands like Gu. Thick autumn clothes not so suitable for sg weather. However some places like Muji, Gap etc have sales on summer clothing

Wah like that means I will shop quite abit. Hoping it stays this way till 20 November when I go ahha

[cancer81]

ash like snow wrote:

Ueno seems far from Shibuya! How about Ikebukoro? Will there be any eateries at night?

At least Shibuya still have Ichiran and Uobei sushi for supper

I prefer to use cash more than card hehe

I stayed at Sakura Ikebukoro before during an early summer trip. It is not a really big problem. The difference is how far it is from your hotel. I am normally too tired to go out after I get back to the room. They had fun eating mapo tofu and a ramen store nearby.

[ash like snow]

Ruriel wrote:

I always try to stick to one hotel each area. I hate moving my luggage around.

And when it comes to budgeting, I don't include big ticket items like shinkansen or admission fees to attractions. My daily budget is strictly for meals and snacks and drinks and random impulsive souvenir purchases from shops. Previously I cater about S$75 per pax per day for my Japan trip. My friend and I don't do shopping, nor did we go for Michelin star/fine dining, so it's alot easier to stick to our budget. Leftovers towards the end of the trip would mean we get to splurge for one or two meals before we flew back.

Wah $75?! Looking at my itinerary and the places I'm going, I think I'll spend ard $300-$400/day for food and shopping. Trying to cut down but changing Yen in Japan is not recommended right?

[Ruriel]

ash like snow wrote:

Wah $75?! Looking at my itinerary and the places I'm going, I think I'll spend ard $300-$400/day for food and shopping. Trying to cut down but changing Yen in Japan is not recommended right?

Haha, our motives for going Japan very different mah. I don't usually shop when I'm overseas (except for food souvenirs for family, friends and colleagues). So my "budget" is essentially mainly for food. I can't appreciate fine food either, so I don't go for those, hence I am able to keep my daily budget down.

Main bulk of my travel expenses go into flight, lodgings (I tend to stay at better hotels because I usually end my days early and spend at least 10hrs in my hotel room everyday) and shinkansen transport. And these are kinda "necessary" expenses (aka non-negotiable) to me, hence these are fixed costs and not factored in my "budget".

So it's difficult for us to answer whether what you put aside for your trip is enough or not, because everyone has different objectives when going overseas.

[ash like snow]

Ruriel wrote:

Haha, our motives for going Japan very different mah. I don't usually shop when I'm overseas (except for food souvenirs for family, friends and colleagues). So my "budget" is essentially mainly for food. I can't appreciate fine food either, so I don't go for those, hence I am able to keep my daily budget down.

Main bulk of my travel expenses go into flight, lodgings (I tend to stay at better hotels because I usually end my days early and spend at least 10hrs in my hotel room everyday) and shinkansen transport. And these are kinda "necessary" expenses (aka non-negotiable) to me, hence these are fixed costs and not factored in my "budget".

So it's difficult for us to answer whether what you put aside for your trip is enough or not, because everyone has different objectives when going overseas.

Btw is it better to use cash or card in Japan? I always thought it's more expensive to use cards @_@

To me, as long it's near to a JR station, even if it's a small room, I wouldn't mind!

[ash like snow]

Does Don Quixote the best place to buy snacks back for colleagues? Or is Ueno Ameyoko cheaper?

I previously went to Ameyoko and I didn't manage to buy anything back. The things there seem limited compared go Don Quixote.