Too late to find Kyoto hotel in April?

I have been checking Kyoto hotels since last May for part of the first week of April. Booking sites never had a lot of availability in that time period. I assumed it was because I had not hit the 90 day threshold. Now it's 90 days out, and I think I screwed up.It seems like either I can stay in a dorm bed or a luxury hotel, but not much in between. Are there any other places to look? Should I just call a travel agent and have them deal with it?

Are you looking at single days or an extended period? The longer the period, the more likely it is to contain one of the busy days and the less hotels will be available. Saturdays tend to be by far busiest. Fridays next busy. And what sites are you using? How large is your group?

I just made a search for April 8 (which is likely to be during the cherry blossom season) on Rakuten Travel (Japanese version) for two persons, and got 30 hotels in the Kyoto Station area alone. 122 for the entire city. Some offer reasonable rates, but others admittedly blow up their rates to a degree where I start feeling disgusted (over 20,000 yen for a 10 square meter APA hotel room!).

As Uji said, a longer period is more likely to contain one/more days when rooms may be in short supply. Whilst not ideal, one possibility might involve searching for shorter periods and splitting up your stay between 2 hotels within a short distance of each other. (I did this when vacancies ran out at my first choice in Sapporo during the snow festival.)

If all else fails, then yes, a bricks-and-mortar agent might be worth trying (especially if they've got direct links to the Japanese tourism industry). I once ran out of rooms in Kyōto during the peak kōyō season a few years back, so I paid a visit to the local affiliate of a major Japanese travel agency and they were able to sort things out for me.

Last April we found rooms at the Daiichi hotel. It's a couple of blocks fro, Kyoto station but they have a shuttle bus. It was rather expensive for a barely adequate room, but a room is a room. :)

http://www.kyoto-1-hotel.jp/english/access.html

I thought APA was an expensive hotel? I too am debating if I should go to Japan in April...


Last time I tried to book a hotel in Kyoto but in Sept it was sold out for Nov when I was going. Is Kyoto typically more expensive for a hotel compard to Osaka?

I stayed in Osaka and went to Kyoto for the day.

My time period: April 1 or 2 through April 5

Oh - my group is me, just one hapless solo traveler.

The Japanese Rakuten had some different hotels than the English, but about a dozen in my price range. I've booked a back-up hotel just in case.

You could try the Toyoko Inns in Nara and Osaka - not too long a trip.....maybe Otsu....

At this time, Coop Inn Kyoto has some vacant rooms.

http://goo.gl/xp0ppZ

As I searched Rakuten, this is the best value, in my opinion. APA hotel provides very expensive rate (250 USD or so per day), but it is not considered to be a top notch hotel. Coop Inn provides very reasonable price considering it is the top season in Kyoto. It is run by COOP and is an ordinary business hotel (I have stayed once). Breakfast is included and seems to be nice if you like Japanese-style food.

I tried Otsu and Kinsatsu where there is more choice for hotels in my budget range. Using the express train from Kinsatsu is said to take 20+ minutes from Kyoto, while the suburbs could take longer ( see Tokiwa, including a transfer, about 30 minutes.)

If there is no problem,(ie not too crowded? Express is JR rail), it should be a viable option, would be cheaper. Please confirm yourself, as I am first time visitor as well.

Well, the travel agents were a bust. I don't think there are Japan specialists in my city.
Japanese Rakuten has a ryokan (Ishida Ryokan) I would like to stay at, but I can't book it. The registration asks for my name in hiragana. I will see if an acquaintance who has a degree in Japanese can help me.

Have you tried booking thru Japan I Can http://www.japanican.com/en/ We've used them for several hotel and ryokan bookings last year and were very pleased with their service. Might be worth a try. Good luck!

Try Takazuki. It is about 1/2 way between Osaka and Kyoto. Both JR and Hankyu train stations are there so you can go to Arashiyama, the Gion section of Kyoto on Hankyu and Kyoto station on JR.

APA Hotel is a cheap business hotel chain. The same room that they charge over 20,000 yen on an April weekday, is usually avaibale for around 6,000 yen!

Here are some more basics about the issue of hotel rooms in Kyoto during the cherry blossom season:
http://www.japan-guide.com/news/0029_spring.html

Toyoko Inns (2) in Nara have availability for your nights....also check Osaka....

jalan.net seems to have some availability at reasonable prices. Now the question is, will I be able to book it?

I would rather stay in Osaka, usually cheaper and more choice too.

Thank you for all your help. With the assistance of my Japanese-speaking friend, I was able to book a room in Gion with Japanese Rakuten. I also decided to stay the night of the 4th in Osaka.

I would suggest instead of Nara or Osaka you try Otsu. It's only 10 minutes or so from Kyoto Station, and not too many savvy travelers are aware of it yet.