Student ultra-low price accommodation!

Hi, I'm a student going to Tokyo for a week. I've looked around on this site and booking sites (e.g. asiarooms) but could not seem to get a really low priced accommodation. I just need a roof over my head that's slightly more sophisticated than a bus shelter basically!!

I'm wondering if anyone knows any decent love hotels/hostels/YMCAs that are in safe areas and below �’20 (USD40) a night. I know its pushing it, but I'm sure one can find such accommodation in any country!

Thanks so much for any help!

love hotel are expensive as they charge for short stays of a few hours. a whole night stay is at least the same price as a medium price business hotel. look at www.japanhotel.net and choose a hostel in the Asakusa area. YMCA is a US thing, not found in too many other countries around the world. You could also Google "hostels in Japan" etc. for other sites. let's face it Tokyo like Paris, New York, London etc. isn't supposed to be cheap.

DY,

If you just want a roof over your head and can't afford the cheapest business or capsule hotels, look for internet cafes ("manga kissa"). Many have private booths with reclining chairs where less fortunate people spend the night. Some place have showers as well.

Have you thought about couch surfing? Of course I have not done it but it is free and a great way to meet people.


http://www.couchsurfing.com/

Cheers,

George

have a look on the hihostels site and there is a hostel near yoyogi park in your budget. I believe you get your own room as it was once part of the olympic venue, the only down side is they have a lock-out period during the day. That shouldn't matter if you are ut and about- I'm assuming you're not going to Tokyo to sit in a hotel room.

: )

this is great stuff! Thanks for the input thus far. The 'reclining couches' sound interesting...but only for one night hahaha

I suppose it's not so safe if you have your rucksack with you...it might walk off mysteriously in the night! Has anyone done any couch-surfing before and any views on it?

Are the Asakusa and yoyogi areas the low cost areas of tokyo and are they safe areas??

I'd love to know about any family run guesthouses that have cheap rooms for a span of 4-5 days. But my assumption would be that its similar to the UK where the capital city won't have budget guesthouses, if any.

Thanks again

DY,

A capsule hotel near Tokyo Station cost around 4500yen per night with bath facilities. For one week, you will pay (6 nites) 27000yen.
However, with 28300yen you can buy a JR Pass and can use those free nite trains back and forth Tokyo and Kyoto/Nigata/Aomori/Akita. And other transportation fee to/from the airport (1000yen to 3000yen per trip) and around Tokyo can also be included in that JRPass. Besides, you can take some side trip to other parts of Japan if you like.
JRPass could be a nice choice/substitution for you if you have a budget of US40 for each night. Just that you have to get more familiar with those trains and don't get very comfortable sleep each nite.

DY
a quick google search with ''hostels tokyo japan'' gives you sites where you can book hostels, most of those will be under USD 40.

some sites:
http://www.hostelworld.com/
http://www.hostels.com/
http://www.sakura-hostel.co.jp/
http://www.sakura-hostel.co.jp/

Anyway, these sites are just a few of many. Good luck with looking for something nice.

If I were to go cheap, I would go Capsule hotel. It's like sleeping in one of those tanning booths (size), but a little bigger. I stayed in one and is wasn't that bad. There were a noisy few drunk guys coming in late, but it had a public bath and TV in my capsule. It was a must do for me at the time, and I'm glad to experience it.

Go to hostelworld.com and search for Asakusa Hostel Toukaisou, it should be cheap enough for you. For me, it only cost $31 per night. Well worth it.

If you want to see how the rooms look like, you can visit my blog at http://3dudesintokyo.com

As I mentioned earlier, Yoyogi is cheap.

From my extensive research I have found that many hostels are not very close to the main attractions- this one is by far the closest to the action!

You'll have easy access to Harajuku/Shinjuku and is easy to get from Tokyo Station if you're on the JR pass and using shinkansen. (You would catch the JR Yamanote line, the city loop, to access). If you do a search, specific access details aren't to hard to find.

A note on safety: You are safer in anywhere in Japan than in the best US or Australian city.

the best one for you sounds like the hostel thats part of Olympic center in Yoyogi. Ive been there many times myself and its actually pretty cozy. If you dont mind being located a bit far from the city center, i recomment you hostels such as K's house and Sakura hostel in Asakusa. Capsule hotels are okay if you want to experience, but i donno if you want to sleep in a box for 4-5 days..

The couchsurf idea is actually very appealing. I was looking on the site and it looks amazing! I'll probably try to couch surf most most of my week in Tokyo and then go to the capsule hotel just for the experience!!! Also may look at the Asakusa Hostel Toukaisou.
Yoyogi has no vacancies at the moment unfortunately...

For the JRPass, can I confirm that you could use it on the Tokyo subway AND railway system??

DY,
About the Japan Rail Pass, it is a pass for "Japan Rail," JR trains. The metro subway trains in Tokyo are not operated by JR.

The JR pass covers a Yamonote and a central line which cover most attractions of Tokyo. Besides, it has other lines that can get you to yokohama etc. This is recommended if you are also planning a few side trips. If you are only to stick around Tokyo, I think a capsule is good.

I think I will get the JR pass - is it best to get it online (validate when I arrive?) or to get at Narita airport??

Also, I know there's something called Freespot in the city. Do I need any password/extra info to connect to these wifi points or do I simply connect without encryption etc.

Thanks again

Yoshida House. It only costs 2200 per night.

The only downside is that it's in Nerima-ku, which is on the outskirts of tokyo.

http://www.yoshidahouse.net/en/index_en.html

Are you going outside Tokyo at all, for example to Kyoto or Hiroshima? If not, the JR pass will be a huge waste of money for you- there is no way you could spend 28,000, which is the cost of the pass, just travelling around Tokyo for a week, even including the Narita Express. Most days you won't spend more than 1,000 yen on train fares- you need to do an average of 4000 yen worth of travel a day to make the JR pass worthwhile, and that won't happen if you stay in the Greater Tokyo area. You will probably find yourself needing to use the subway at times anyway.

You could take the money you would spend on the JR pass and upgrade your accommodation...

I like the yoshida house idea too, I really think I'll be spending a night here and there to get experiences of different living spaces...

I am in fact going outside of Tokyo after my initial week in the city. I'll probably go to osaka, kyoto and some other places. I'm aware that the JRpass only lasts a week so I'll probably come back to Tokyo and couchsurf another 2 days! I hope these are realistic plans...

Any info on the freespot thing I mentioned in my last post?

Thank youuuuuu

DY,

If you are considered buying the JR Pass, you should considering using the night trains to safe the accommodation so as to make the pass worth it. Besides, using it to Kyoto with the night train (sunrise seto train) will safe you lots of travelling time. I would recommend you making a few side trips like Kyoto/Osaka/Kobe/Hiroshima/Hemiji etc or even to the North if you are buying the Pass. There are other features up north of Honshu worth a day trip using shinkensan.