Hotel Availability

Hey all,

Am I right in thinking please, many hotels in Japan won't release availability until 3 months out?

Am going in November, but seems to be plenty of unavailable options around Kyushu for example.

Going from 14 November for ten days.

Not true. Many places you can book out almost a year, and certainly almost everything is available six months out. I have bookings out until November currently.

Well, I think it's true depending on how you look at it, and it's not only about Japan.

A lot of hotels and restaurants around the world, and whatever it is that require reservations, don't seem to accept on-line bookings until a few months prior to the date. But when you contact them directly by email or phone, they most likely book you.

The reason for this can be anything from the establishment not paying attention to on-line systems or deliberately putting priority on regular customers.

So, if you already have your mind set on staying at a specific hotel, you should try contacting directly. But just because it's not available on-line yet, that doesn't mean that you won't find any place to stay.

Another big reason can be that they haven't decided the rate for the new fiscal year yet. In that case, you could still book by contacting directly.

Thanks all.

For example looking around Fuji Five Lakes for a few nights from November 30 and there aren't many options showing.

That's probably because they arent released yet, but try booking.com which I find pretty good.

I would say I think FFL is overrated and terribly expensive so I wouldnt be bothered if you miss it, I spent 2 nights there in a $800 plus per night ryokan and aside from the Fuji views, the most memorable thing was the $5 hot dog at the cafe next to the doll museum.

But it was a fantastic hot dog.

Thanks LP.

Keen to tick it off at least!

Generally speaking, the lengths of open windows for advance booking are getting longer and longer for Japanese hotels, but they still vary widely. I still sometimes see properties that only open up for booking a few months in advance.

Another trend I�fm seeing is that some Japanese hotels are starting to lengthen the window for penalty-free cancellations. Typically you can still cancel a day or two in advance with no charge, but lately I have been seeing seven-day windows, which I find to be completely unacceptable. I almost never cancel or change reservations on short notice, but the prospect of having to lose the full cost of a reservation, if I have an emergency some days in advance, is just too much for me. Two or three days I can accept, if I like the hotel and the rate, but a whole week? Nowadays, I always check the cancellation policy BEFORE I look at a hotel seriously.

Some are 3. Some are 6. Some are 12 months.

Most would be incorrect.

Finding its a bit of a mixed bag at the moment in terms of availability.

Plenty of time to book though.