Hotels in Tokyo and Kyoto

We are a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 children) from India. We shall be visiting Japan from 15th May 2019 for 10 days with base as Tokyo ( 6 days) and Kyoto (4 days).

I need help in centrally located hotels where we can get Indian , Vegan (no meat, eggs, fish) breakfast.

Thanks and Regards

I�fve been vegan for 20 years and I�fve never found a vegan-friendly hotel. In my experience, they�fre just about the most vegan-UNfriendly establishments in existence. You shouldn�ft have any trouble finding nearby restaurants (especially with the help of the HappyCow website/app), but a convenient breakfast before you leave your hotel every morning? I�fd love to hear what you find, since I�fve never had that luxury.

I stayed in the Rihga Hotel in Kyoto two years ago I definitely recall vegetarian options but can't be 100% on the vegan options I'm sorry. It was a buffet style breakfast and that's the only time I've seen close to Vegan options in Hotels.

If the hotel can provide vegan options for you and your family, I would recommend it as a place to stay, the rooms were clean and very comfortable, the staff were very helpful and it's less than ten minutes walk from Kyoto station.

Wait, are you what Westerners think of as vegan (no meat, no fish, no shellfish, no eggs, no dairy, and no honey) or do you eat milk and honey? The reason I ask is we have a few Indian ex-pats where I live and some are vegetarians (no meat, no fish, no shellfish) and some are vegetarians who don't eat eggs (but still eat honey and milk) and some are vegans like what I and probably @Gregalor think of as vegans. This is not meant to be offensive, it's more to sort out exactly what your dietary restrictions are, because eating dairy does make a huge difference.

Happy Cow does list a few lodging locations that have vegan breakfasts but none of them are in Tokyo or Kyoto proper. I seem to remember a place outside of Nikko that actually does offer vegan breakfasts. If you do eat dairy and honey, then many hotels offer yogurt for breakfast. Toast is another popular item, though I would not trust the bread to be dairy-free unless it is confirmed by kitchen staff. (The bread does tend to be egg-free though. ) I've also seen some western breakfast cereals on occasion and those should be dairy and egg-free though they might contain honey. Plain rice and fruit should also be safe. Lately, I've seen a few bagels in Japan. They're awful excuses for bagels for the most part, but bagels technically should never contain milk or eggs unless they are specifically egg bagels.

If you don't eat eggs or dairy or honey, you are probably better off finding a hotel rate that doesn't include breakfast and trying to get something on your own, as I think you will be a lot more successful. Tokyo and Kyoto have a lot of very delicious vegan restaurants, though I would skip Ain Soph Journey in Kyoto despite its great location. We went there last June and I felt like we were given poor service because I had my 7 year old daughter with me. My daughter would happily eat every meal in Japan at T's Tantan Ramen in Tokyo. We've also been to their Sendai branch. There are so many more options every year in Japan.

BTW if you are thinking of going to Tokyo Disney (since you mentioned having kids) the selection of children's vegetarian options (let alone vegan) options are atrocious there. (aka there are no children's sets which are vegetarian, you have to order adult portions.) Save up and go to the US parks instead, they have so many more options and are much more willing to cater to dietary restrictions/food allergies. I wouldn't go to USJ either unless you eat dairy. Again, I suspect this is an area where the US Parks are superior.

In terms of hotels themselves, what makes sense will partially depend on the your plans in Tokyo and Kyoto and the ages of your children. I find many hotels start charging/counting children for occupancy rates at 6. Kyoto has recently added a lot of aparthotels and little villages of rental machiyas. Since you are a party of 4, you might be better off renting something like that to have more space and to self cater breakfast.

Good luck!

I agree witrh getting your own breakfast.

When our kids were much younger (and before we travelled without them - a period that I like to call "the dark ages") we used to buy breakfast items and some disposable plates and bowls and then just make it ourselves in the room. Obviously you cant cook anything in there, but is is convenient and cheap, probably easier for those who would eat cereal and bread and juice.

We have vegetarian guests on our tours and they struggle finding food.
Vegan - much harder again. I wonder how those tourists that exclude dairy don't starve, but they find something.
Indian restaurants are a partial solution (a lot of inquiries I get from Indian people think they can eat there), but one I visited last year had a single vegetarian dish so you have to select carefully. Others I go to have better selections.
And you have language barriers.

But people do manage it, but just be aware you eating options are going to be very limited unless you research vegan restaurants before you come.

@JapanCustomTours, if you ever need to recommend a great Indian restaurant for vegetarians in Japan, Natarj (which is a chain and has several branches) is a great bet and I think they might actually have vegan naan. I've been to the Ogikubo branch years ago and the Ginza branch a year or two ago. The Ginza branch is super easy to find as well.

Thank you all for great inputs. Yes, we eat milk and honey

I think, the suggestion to take hotels without breakfast is a sensible one. Happy Cow would be helpful indeed!!

Could i get a few recommendations for hotels in Kyoto and Tokyo which are centrally located and per night budget between USD 150-200. Kids are 11 and 16 year old

Thanks for help

Nataraj does indeed have vegan naan, which is something I�fve never even found at home in LA.

As for �gcentrally located�h:

In Kyoto find something as close to Kyoto Station as possible. This will give you the best public transit options by far, since pretty much everything goes through that station. This will save you a lot of time.

In Tokyo, it�fs hard to define what �gcentrally located�h means. The transit map in Tokyo isn�ft like Kyoto. The Yamanote line is a circle, with others lines going through a multitude of Yamanote stations. Some stations are more major than others, but there�fs really no definitive station. Tourist destinations are also dispersed across a very large area. So when it comes to Tokyo, when someone says �gcentrally located,�h it needs to be clarified: central to what?

If you�fll be starting each day getting special dietary food outside your hotel, maybe research a place where you�fll want to get food and then find a nearby hotel (and make sure it�fs not too far from a decent train station.)

Hi!

Are you looking for hotels that have enough room for all 4 of you in one room or do you want two separate rooms? I think the biggest issue is going to be finding hotels with a 4 person occupancy in Tokyo if you all want to be in the same hotel room.

While it's not central, you might be better off seeing if you can stay in one of the large western hotels on Odaiba since they tend to have larger rooms for the money.

I've not stayed there but saw some people with larger families recommend the Hotel Sardonyx Hatchbori. (I travel with just my child, so as a party of 2 we can fit easier in more hotels.)

For Kyoto, I've not stayed at any of these places but they look pleasant and better set up for a large group so I might try:

Inari Ohan (it's just south of Kyoto proper near Fushimi Inari but you can easily take the Keihan line up to the shopping district or take JR to Kyoto Station.)

The slightly more expensive Hotel Gentle Fox

I would just look at little rental villas.

Good luck!

Actually there is one vegan Hotel in Kyoto.
https://www.veggie-hotels.com/11-1-912-Vegan-Minshuku-Sanbiki-Neko-Kyo...
At VeggieHotels we list all pure veg hotels around the world.
Kind regards, Peter