I received a few questions the other week from folks traveling to Tokyo asking me about recommendations for affordable places to stay. I already wrote a post about it, but that was from a trip over 7 years ago, so there are other better ways, and I’ve used some of them. Funky ones are capsule hotels, now there’s Airbnb ofcourse (which I enjoyed in Kyoto), the hotsprings combo overnight stays or all night posh spas. But perhaps the funkiest one to try is are the love motels, a phenomenon well worth exploring. There’s even a hill in Tokyo dedicated to love hotels. Thing is about love hotels, is that they’re extremely well equipped and even luxurious, with lots of funky sex-love related themes, and they’re extremely affordable, especially after midnight. So, an option would be to go hang out and grab a late night dinner and some drinks at a local watering hole, and when it’s past midnight go in to one of those love hotels and pick up the themed room you feel like staying at. I promise you an adventure.
Here’s one I stayed with one night…
As you can see, it’s got pretty much everything you can hope for.
Here’s what it looks like from the outside, so they don’t really look as sleazy as you’d expect from love hotels… I think the reason is that prostitution is not the main target for most of these, but rather they’re aimed at couples and love affairs for the average Japanese who can’t afford the insane real estate prices in Tokyo and stay at very small and boring flats. These are an adventure, and even if you don’t plan on staying in any of those, I strongly encourage you to atleast walk in and check out the rooms. They’ve got Hello Kitty rooms, Star Wars and Titanic rooms, Cosplay ofcourse, and endless sex related themes to cater to every taste.
Location:
Give it a try, let me know how it was…