JRP hotel discount before start date?

Is it possible to get the hotel discount in one of the JR Hotels listed in the booklet that comes with a JRP, even before my JRP becomes valid? iow, do I just need to have a JRP, or does it need to be actually valid to travel with, for the dates that I'm staying?

The reason I'm asking is, in the booklet it nowhere says how this is handled. "When you buy a pass, take full advantage of its benefits" is what it says. That reads like you just need to own a rail pass, whether still/already valid or not...

Anyone knows for sure?

Ask travel agencies as PASS voucher sales office or Hotel directly by call/e-mail.
http://www.japanrailpass.net/en/purchase.html

Like you, I was about to try and use the pass for some hotel discounts, but when I did more research I found that in many places I could get a cheaper hotel on my own. Unless you really want something that's more swanky, you might try the same. Business hotels like Toyoko Inn, Comfort Inn, Super Hotel, Route Inn, Dormy Inn, Japan Economy Hotel Group and others do quite well - they are cheap, clean, quiet, usually conveniently located, and many throw in breakfast for free.

I agree with Ken. Other hotels are just as good and cheaper than the JRP discounted hotels.

And when you pay for ten nights at Toyoko Inn, you get a free night.

Even if you want to stay at one of the hotels where you can get a JRP discount, you're likely to find that booking in advance will get you a bigger discount than the JRP discount.

And if you want to stay in a fancier hotel, like Granvia or Associa, you can oftentimes get better discounts just using a website like Rakuten/Orbitz/Expedia/Booking.com.

Thanks for the replies so far.

In this case, the JR hotel is really one of only very few options, and the only available decent hotel close to a station. Otherwise I wouldn't have asked around, since I know JR hotels can be pricey.

That aside, I'm still curious to an answer for the the original question: is a stay eligable for a discount before the start date of my JRP? In other words: do I *just* have to be able to show my JRP for a discount, or does it *also* need to be within date?

I hope I can't be clearer than that :)

I can't say, but if I were to give my guess, it would be that in order to receive a discount on any JR service, the JR Pass must be in effect. I may be wrong, but I tend to feel I'm not....

I think the pass has to be active on the first night of the stay. I'm sure I have read this somewhere before. But not 100% sure. Could always email the hotel you are staying at for proper advice.

I would also just recommend looking at the price on an aggregate booking site like TriVaGo and just see if the rail pass actually helps you. Sometimes, you can get a similar rate just by using Booking.com or Orbitz or Expedia.