Do we need to book hotels in advance?

How is the hotel capacity i Japan? We're a family of 5, who are going for a three week holiday in Japan this summer, in July. We'll book a hotel i advance for the first days (in Tokyo), and then we plan to travel around to other cities. We hope to be able to plan the schedule as we go along. Is that a big risk to take in Japan, regarding accommodation? In other words: is it hard to get hotel rooms in Japan on short notice?

How is the hotel capacity i Japan?

It widely depends on the place and date. Summer school holidays start around July 20, so destinations popular among families will start become busy after that date, especially on weekends.

Generally speaking, resorts come with a risk of being booked out on weekends (primarily Saturdays; secondarily Fridays and days before national holidays). On the other hands, hotels in business destinations are more likely to busy on weekdays as opposed to weekends.

It is difficult to generalize beyond that.

I used to travel flexibly in the past when I was younger and traveled alone, and I remember that I had to spend 10-60 minutes every day of my holidays to find the next accommodation. Now I consider it a waste of money and a cause of stress (but then again, internet reservations were not easily done back then and I had to make phone calls).

As for money, I remember that once in a while I landed a really cheap deal. But on other days I failed finding a place within my budget. Overall, there is a high risk that you will be spending more money when traveling flexibly as opposed to booking in advance.

These days, I cannot imagine traveling without having all hotels booked in advance, especially when traveling in a group.

It could be very difficult for a family of 5 to find last minute reservations.

I wouldn't travel to Japan without prior arraignments being made.

How old are your kids? Their ages will determine how many rooms you will need to book. In the worst case you'll need as many as 3 rooms, which will further complicate booking last minute.

Thanks for your replies, guys. I can see that as a group of 5 it will be more difficult to book accommodation on the road. Our kids are 13, 14 and 19, so we can be a bit flexible between a family room and two double/triple rooms. But I see it's better to take the stress now, doing the planning and booking in advance, rather than search in panic on tour.

If it were me, I'd book the places you definitely want to go to, and then maybe leave a few days spare if I really needed to feel "free".

In my case, nowadays, it costs so much to get to Japan that I really like to get full value for my time there. This means not wasting time every day looking for accommodation, and making sure we stay in good locations so we don't waste time getting to and from the places we want to see. It also means that we plan a long time in advance, and get more enjoyment and anticipation.

We've nearly booked all our accommodation for a trip in April, but we started booking places a few months ago. It wasn't onerous, I just did it as we did our research. Look at a city, think where we want to go, book a hotel nearby.

Totally agree, book everything now and save yourself time/stress/energy so you can enjoy your trip.

Making a booking in advance will save you time in searching and will probably be cheaper, my advice are that japan has many Ryokan that will accommodate 5-6 people, whiles a modern/western room will accommodate upto 3 and a few upto 4 people. Try searching through www.booking.com.

Definitely book in advance. Suggest to plan your itinerary before the trip. Planning for Japan trip is one of the easiest thing to do, because there are so much info on holidaying in Japan.

If there is a festival nearby, then you will have trouble booking a room. The worst case that I had last year was getting my reservation at Atami on the day of one of their fireworks.

I had reservations three months in advance. I did not expect a 60+ person line wait to check in.

Atami is a seaside hot springs beach resort that is near the Hakone region. Here is an older link to Atami, but it will give you an idea of what you can expect to see:

http://www.atamispa.com/atami_ex/english/sightseeing/index.htm

I believe this link is a current fireworks schedule for Atami:

http://www.atami-hanabi.com/

I hope this helps.

Accommodation in Japan can be very hit and miss depending on festivals. Sometimes you'd expect a town to be quiet but you can't get a room within 20 km's.

As such - I'd book at least my next night's accommodation before I left the hotel.

Due to the fact there are 5 of you - this can further challenge you getting (1) suitable rooms and (2) rooms which are affordable.

If you want some time with yourself - note that most Ryokan's charge per person and there is not that much difference in cost if 5 or 2 people share the same room (normally $5 per person per night if it's a cheaper place)....

Excellent advices! Thanks. I agree, there's enough information about Japan on the net to settle for an initerary before we get there. So I will book in advance, starting today.

Our kids are 13, 14 and 19, so we can be a bit flexible between a family room and two double/triple rooms.

Note that family sized rooms (sleeping 4+) are pretty rare outside the western chains, and tend to be on the more expensive side. Triples can even be relatively difficult to find depending on your budget. For your family you're likely looking at booking a double for the parents and hopefully a triple for the kids, otherwise you'll probably need two doubles and a single.