Best Hotels In Japan As Seen By Locals and Visitors

[Mulboyne]

Trip Advisor, a specialist travel website, has issued Japan hotel rankings as selected by Japanese travellers and overseas travellers. The two lists are completely different which is mostly because foreign visitors mainly stay in Tokyo while locals appear to have selected regional resort hotels. The rankings are based on user submissions to the site which are by no means authoritative but do throw up some interesting entries.

Japanese Travellers:

1. The Windsor Hotel Toya (Hokkaido)
2. Tokyo Disney Sea Hotel MiraCosta (Chiba)
3. The Busena Terrace (Okinawa)
4. Yunokawa Prince Hotel Nagisatei (Hokkaido)
5. Hotel Vista Sapporo(Hokkaido)
6. Prince Hotel Oiso (Kanagawa)
7. JR Tower Hotel Nikko Sapporo (Hokkaido)
8. Hotel Nikko Alivila (Okinawa)
9. Tokyo Disneyland Hotel (Chiba)
10. Ibusuki Hakusuikan (Kagoshima)

Foreign Visitors:

1. The Prince Park Tower (Tokyo)
2. Mandarin Oriental (Tokyo)
3. Hyatt Regency Hakone Resort & Spa (Kanagawa)
4. Oakwood Apartments Shinjuku (Tokyo)
5. Grand Hyatt (Tokyo)
6. Conrad (Tokyo)
7. Park Hyatt (Tokyo)
8. Annex Katsutaro Ryokan (Tokyo)
9. Cross Hotel (Osaka)
10. Hotel Sun Route Plaza Shinjuku(Tokyo)

[Cyka UchuuJin]

the cross hotel??? seriously?

we went to look at it as an alternative to ritz or hilton once, the lobby itself was pretty scary, the rooms are really small and charge per person, rather than by room. and the gym that's attached we were told we can not use because we have tattoos.

[Yokohammer]

... and the gym that's attached we were told we can not use because we have tattoos.

Oh brother (er ... I mean sister)!

That tattoo thing really gets my pissedometer going. It is such an anachronism.

Like, once upon a time, long long ago, in a land called Japan, if you saw someone with a tattoo you could be pretty sure that the person was in some way related to the yaks. But now, in 2009, you have lots of people with tattoos ... some of things like Kitty-chan or the name of a lover, only a very small percentage of whom are yak-attached. And yet, rather than pulling their arses out of the first half of the last century, institutions continue to uphold the no tattoos rule simply because ... well, it's always been like that.

And I don't even have any tattoos.

[Mike Oxlong]

No kidding about the tats! Heck, I bet even half the gangsters aren't that bad, at least in terms of their behavior at the gym or bath. I've seen extensively tattooed men at the sento on several occasions, and never once had the slightest problem with the way they acted.

[Mulboyne]

[Cyka UchuuJin]

hmmm. they've got some seriously flawed ideas about what tourists want to see. at least the tourists i know.

[omae mona]

I had to look up where the Pokemen Centre is in Tokyo which either means I'm completely out of touch with what foreign visitors want or else the list is not particularly representative.

I was surprised too when I saw the Pokemon item on the list. But once I noticed the "Pokemon Centre" is in Kabukicho and opens at 10PM, it made a little more sense.

EDIT: Mulboyne, actually, based on your spelling, one might have expected it to be in Shinjuku 2-chome!

[Greji]

EDIT: Mulboyne, actually, based on your spelling, one might have expected it to be in Shinjuku 2-chome!

That just might be one of his haunts.....

[baka tono]

the cross hotel??? seriously?

we went to look at it as an alternative to ritz or hilton once, the lobby itself was pretty scary, the rooms are really small and charge per person, rather than by room. and the gym that's attached we were told we can not use because we have tattoos.

There might be a difference between Kansai and Kanto on this but here in Kanto most if not all hotels charge per person per room.

[Cyka UchuuJin]

There might be a difference between Kansai and Kanto on this but here in Kanto most if not all hotels charge per person per room.

most of the western owned hotels in all of japan, tokyo included, charge by room not by person. park hyatt, mandarin, hilton, etc are all per room.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Edit: The Trip Advisor site also has the list here (Japanese) and they have a breakdown by nationality which indicates we can blame Pokemen on the Americans and the French.

It's sad to see how many times Tokyo Disneyland/Sea and Universal Studios Japan show up on that list.

[Mulboyne]

Japan Probe has found a video report on that survey:

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[Mulboyne]

[Mulboyne]

Here's the survey again. Matsushima ranks top and Tsukiji is nowhere in sight. Americans allegedly rank the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum as the top attraction.

[zero_oki]

US Military lodging = Cheap ftw

[Greji]

Here's the survey again. Matsushima ranks top and Tsukiji is nowhere in sight. Americans allegedly rank the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum as the top attraction.

That's gotta be a yaocho! There's a bunch of stuff on that list that the basic touring FG would never know about unless some J-tour staff member penciled it on to the itinerary...

[matsuki]

My list of favorite hotels is probably only known to young Japanese who still live with their rents and their cheating parents....but I guarantee more bang for your buck!

[IparryU]

temples.... you seen one... you seen them all... waste of time IMO

[2triky]

Americans allegedly rank the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum as the top attraction.

Yeah, right...and the Japanese rank White Sands, New Mexico as a top tourist destination while traveling in the States.

[Greji]

Yeah, right...and the Japanese rank White Sands, New Mexico as a top tourist destination while traveling in the States.

Right behind the Arizona Memorial at the bottom of Pearl.....

[2triky]

Right behind the Arizona Memorial at the bottom of Pearl.....

+1

Indeed. You got me there. That was my first thought, actually, when I replied.

All kidding aside, despite its historical significance, Hiroshima simply doesn't strike me as a city that would be so popular with American tourists. WTF, are they going there for okonomiyaki? Like most travelers even know what that is.

[Samurai_Jerk]

+1

Indeed. You got me there. That was my first thought, actually, when I replied.

All kidding aside, despite its historical significance, Hiroshima simply doesn't strike me as a city that would be so popular with American tourists. WTF, are they going there for okonomiyaki? Like most travelers even know what that is.

I think Americans mostly like to go there to gloat.

[2triky]

I think Americans mostly like to go there to gloat.

Damn. There is that. Perhaps not the most "appropriate" emotion but certainly understandable.

[Doctor Stop]

I think Americans mostly like to go there to gloat.

To gloat? I thought it was for the goat.

[2triky]

To gloat? I thought it was for the goat.

Now we get in to the nuances...

[Samurai_Jerk]

Damn. There is that. Perhaps not the most "appropriate" emotion but certainly understandable.

Are you kidding? I wake up with a raging boner every year on August 6th.

[2triky]

Are you kidding? I wake up with a raging boner every year on August 6th.

I prefer to commemorate April 30th with morning wood.