Where to Stay - NipponStays (Page 2)

Kanazawa

Kanazawa vs Toyama as a Hokuriku Base: Sights or Mountains

Kanazawa from Y12,300 has the gardens and the hotel depth. Toyama from Y13,042 is where the Alpine Route starts. They are 20 minutes apart.

Japan

Hoshinoya vs Ritz-Carlton Kyoto: A Boat Settles It

HOSHINOYA has no parking and no shuttle, and the boat to the property runs 14:30-17:45. At the floor the two cost within a few thousand yen of each other.

Shin-Omura Station on the Nishikyushu Shinkansen, a modern building with a diamond-patterned glass wall above dark red tile

Japan

Fukuoka vs Nagasaki as a Kyushu Base: One Piece of Rail Geography Settles It

Nagasaki is not on the through Shinkansen network. Every journey that is not to Fukuoka starts by going back to Fukuoka. That decides the base question.

Wide open snow at Kiroro under a blue sky, with a low base building and a few skiers

Japan

Is Club Med All-Inclusive Worth It for Japan Ski? Apply the Town Test

All-inclusive costs you the town. At Kiroro, Sahoro and Tomamu there is no town, so it costs nothing. At Niseko you would pay twice. The break-even explained.

A bowl of Asahikawa soy-sauce ramen with two slices of chashu, bamboo shoots and a sheet of nori, on a wooden counter

Japan

Asahikawa vs Sapporo as a Winter Base: The Airport Decides It

Asahikawa Airport publishes 99%+ on-time rates; New Chitose cancels 2-5% of winter flights. That gap is the only part of this comparison that is about winter.

Japan

Twin vs Hollywood Twin vs Double in Japanese Hotels: Read the Widths

A Japanese double is 140cm — narrower than a US queen. A Hollywood twin is about 200cm, wider than a US king, and priced as a twin. The labels do not map.

Tokyo

Conrad Tokyo vs Andaz Tokyo: Hilton or Hyatt, and Fifteen Floors

Conrad runs on Hilton Honors from Y56,416; Andaz on World of Hyatt from Y109,400. No crossover, and fifteen floors between the two views.

Japan

Is an Airport Hotel Worth It Before an Early Haneda Flight?

Trains to Haneda start around 05:00, so an early flight means a night taxi. Add that to a city hotel and the airport hotel costs about the same, with the sleep.

The illuminated facade of the Minamiza kabuki theatre at Shijo-Ohashi in Kyoto at night, with buses passing in front

Japan

Kawaramachi vs Kyoto Station: Price the Convenience at One Taxi Fare

A taxi between them is about ¥1,780, and you make that trip twice. Station trips are fixed; dinner trips scale with nights. The arithmetic settles it.

Okinawa

Halekulani Okinawa vs Busena Terrace: Quiet, or Range?

Halekulani from Y55,257, every room ocean-facing; Busena Terrace from Y39,210, sixteen room types. Which way children, occasions and long stays point.

A large yellow spotted pumpkin sculpture on a concrete pier, with the Seto Inland Sea and distant islands behind it

Japan

Takamatsu vs Okayama for a Setouchi Art Trip: The Ferry and the Udon

Takamatsu Port is beside the station and Kagawa's udon counters open at 07:00 — which cannot be day-tripped. Okayama is the Shinkansen city. How to pick.

A wooden barrel bath in a private guest room

Japan

Onsen Ryokan Private Bath vs Shared Grand Bath: What You Are Really Buying

The in-room bath buys timing, not a better soak. The grand bath is usually the better bath. And kashikiri solves the same problem for a fraction of the premium.