Tag: hotels

Where to stay in Tokyo, Japan, if you use a wheelchair (or not!)

Where to stay in Tokyo, Japan, if you use a wheelchair (or not!)

youshouldgoanyway

The short answer to this is stay anywhere near a metro station! If you can find a comfortable and affordable hotel that isn’t in Shinjuku or any of the other popular spots, you’ll be totally fine hopping the train and getting where you need to go quickly.

The long answer is that I was an idiot and waited until the last minute to use a United Airlines voucher that was expiring and picked a week to go to Tokyo that happened to be a national holiday — the entire week! (Golden Week) So hotels everywhere were extra-expensive. So my, “Oh yay, I’m flying to Japan for $200 cash + a voucher!” turned into, “Oh yay, I’m spending $350 a night for an accessible hotel?”

First of all it wasn’t always clear if a Japanese hotel had accessible rooms. That content isn’t always ported over to their English website versions. In addition, booking engines like Booking.com or Expedia don’t always list the accessible rooms as specific room types. I did figure out that these rooms are usually called “Universal” rooms there, which helped whenever I would search or ask.

BTW, I hate having to contact hotels directly to book accessible rooms, especially if I have to call. I’m a millennial at heart when it comes to communication.

In any case, I was not going to spend $350 a night but I wasn’t sure if staying slightly away from things was going to be feasible for me in the chair. I also wasn’t sure about safety. Finally, I found a few places that had Universal rooms and one of them was the Nippon Seinenkan Hotel. The best part was that it was going to be $800 for the entire week! It also had great reviews and overlooked one of the pro baseball stadiums. Nevertheless I was concerned about the location.

Even though it was over a mile from the big train stations, it was much closer to one of the subway stops (Gaiemmae). It was also a much quieter area and totally safe. In fact, once I got there I discovered Tokyo is one of the safest places on earth to cruise around and feel comfortable.

So no worries if you get a hotel that’s not right in the thick of things. You will save a lot of money doing this and still have an amazing time! You might also get a nicer hotel for the price.

How to leverage airport hotels to make your trips easier

youshouldgoanyway
Photo by Oleksandr Pidvalnyi on Pexels.com

Not all airports have hotels inside their terminals but there is a huge advantage to travelers when they do. If you get stressed about traveling, an airport hotel can help make your trip much easier.

Stay the night before your trip

Whether you are on the way to your vacation destination or returning home, staying at an airport hotel can save you time and stress. Including being at the airport already, there are a few extra bonuses to doing this:

  • You are forced to pack the day before your flight. Instead of rushing around the morning of a flight to finish filling your suitcase, you can leisurely pack the day before and then go check in at the hotel.
  • There is no stress about transit to the airport. If you have to take a train or taxi to the airport, any surprise delays can be dealt with the day prior instead of the morning of an early flight.
  • Airport hotels are often cheaper than hotels in the city. Staying your last night at a cheaper airport hotel can mitigate some expense to save you money on your trip.

Stay upon arrival or return home

Sometimes the best airport transit options aren’t running late at night or very early in the morning and checking into an arrival hotel at the airport terminal can be a fast and frustration-free way to get get comfortable and rest after a long flight.

Another occasion you can use an airport hotel is when accessible transit cannot be scheduled at your arrival time. For example, when accessible options for transit aren’t available from O’Hare (due to limited schedules or unavailability), I can stay at the attached Hilton until the morning and then deal with getting home while I’m in a better mood.