Anyone stayed at hotel mystays maihama?

Aw, thanks! I hope you have a great time too!

I'm female, so not worried about random cute girls. Yes, I have all my lodging booked- I deliberately picked a place in Tokyo that I could ditch if I found DL lodging. I like hostels and found a kyoto one that looks pretty great. Life long west coast kid so we do not think about natural disasters. Mount Rainier is adorable and harmless and tsunamis are just excited waves and there is no such thing as a fault line. That shaking? Oh that must be the house settling. Yup. Yup. Denial is the only way to stay sane.

How many days do you recommend for a first timer? I arrive at 5am on the 10th- I don't sleep all that well on planes, but I usually try to stay awake and I've gotten the general idea that Japanese don't allow early checkin any way because it's a "rule". So I was considering buying a 4 day ticket rather than a three day ticket and just getting some extra park time in. Wouldn't normally do it, but it sounds better than exploring Tokyo sleep deprived. Also TDL is much cheaper than the American parks. Do hotels generally store luggage? Or are there lockers at Maihama station?

Also wondered about pocket wifi. Have you used that before? If so, where did you pick it up?

Ooops, sorry for making the assumption you might be male. Yeah for solo women travelers! I was a solo female traveler most of my trips to Japan. Heck, even one time my husband joined me, I spent the first week solo. Seriously, of all the places you can go, I think Japan is one of the best for solo women. They even have women only floors at many business hotels and even some hostels.

I've been in Japan for some quakes. The largest was this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Chūetsu_earthquake
I still remember it very clearly because I didn't realize what was happening at first and because I saw the ground literally rolling. I do worry about seismic activity in Japan, not volcanoes so much, since they usually give decent warning and I'm not climbing to the top of any mountains this trip.

My first trip I did 10. I was young, shy, knew no Japanese and had really only done limited things for myself. By the next trip I was doing 2 weeks. I did 10 days my first trip with my daughter last year and by the end I was regretting we were not doing 2 weeks. I am sure at the end of this 2 week trip, I am going to regret not doing 3 weeks lol There is a lot you can see and do. I do like solo travel but sometimes I do get lonely.

I don't know about coming from the West Coast, but from the East, I have learned the hard way, make sure you spend as much time as possible (preferably to at least 9:00 pm!) awake and don't skip meals. My first few trips I would arrive in Tokyo around 5-6 pass out and wake up at 2:00 am famished with nothing open. I forgot that rule last trip and even worse my daughter woke up at 2:00 am. It made our first full day of touring miserable. I am hoping that doing TDR first will help with that and keep her awake. I am going to do 3 days of tickets, even though we are arriving late our first day. I am also doing park hopper because I am worried about how interesting Sea will be for her. Are you flying into Haneda or Narita? I always seem stuck with flights arriving in Narita at 2-4 in the afternoon. ~.~

Most hotels will store luggage the day of arrival and the day of departure. "Fancier" places will store longer, though usually they are storing because you sent your suitcases by takyuubin. So I am leaving Kyoto on a Wednesday and sending my big bags via takyuubin to my hotel in Tokyo for when I arrive on Friday. I am not worried about the hotel holding my bags until I arrive because that is pretty normal. Hostels might have different rules. I have never stayed in one. The closest I have ever done is the the "Welcome Inn" "ryokan" in Kyoto and the classic Kimi "ryokan" in Tokyo. The Kimi use to be the big budget place to stay in Tokyo. It's quite pleasant, I just prefer private bathrooms. I'm a lot older than during my first trip to Japan now.

For your hostel in Kyoto, just make sure if you need to get there by bus that you don't have a suitcase or bag bigger than a medium sized backpack. Kyoto City buses are incredibly crowded and incredibly narrow. After that first trip, I stopped staying places only accessible by bus. It's my one big rule. Personally, if I was you, I would just see how much more it was for a business hotel vs the hostel. I would also look on a few sites. Again, I can't imagine a hotel refusing a Rakuten reservation. Sometimes you can get better rates on TriVaGo or Agoda or Booking, but sometimes the rates on Rakuten and Japanican are the best. You just have to compare. I use to love the APA Horikawa Eki dori (short walk to Kyoto station and had a public bath and the APA Kyoto ekimae (literally across the street from Kyoto Station) I use to book them for 5000-7000 yen a night. I've seen some mediocre reviews for them, but most seem to be people who had unrealistic expectations on room size. I think one problem is technically the semi-double rooms for 2 people are the same size as single rooms, they just have a bigger bed. These are the sort of places I wouldn't recommend for a family, but I would recommend for a single on their own. I kept getting $100-$120 at the Mitsuis when I was booking this trip, and I'm paying for two people, they might also have some good deals as a single. I think the Mitsuis and the Royal Park are mostly non-smoking.the Ms. might be as well. I might have stayed there at one point. I've stayed in a lot of different places in Tokyo and Kyoto.

For Hakone, if you arrive before 1, you can pay to same day send your bags to many hotels/ryokan. It depends on where you are staying. That is another place I would not want to take a larger bag on a bus.

I've never done pocket WiFi. I use to rent a Japanese cell phone because it was easy. Now I... use my cell phone. I'm on a pay as you go phone service and my phone worked (mostly) last June in Japan. My bill for the month was only about $40-50 total and that included calling my husband and mother ( we were planning a trip to WDW for Sept) several times, and downloading some apps onto my cell and using GPS a few times for help walking around Kyoto. The only problem I had was I would text some of my Japanese friends and I would think they received the texts, but they had not. I could call them no problem, it was just texts and I could text people in the US just fine. I am more than likely just using my phone again like that, since it worked so well before.


@Flossbolna, I hope you enjoy your trip as well! I can't believe how soon all of our trips are!
 
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How many days do you recommend for a first timer? I arrive at 5am on the 10th- I don't sleep all that well on planes, but I usually try to stay awake and I've gotten the general idea that Japanese don't allow early checkin any way because it's a "rule". So I was considering buying a 4 day ticket rather than a three day ticket and just getting some extra park time in. Wouldn't normally do it, but it sounds better than exploring Tokyo sleep deprived. Also TDL is much cheaper than the American parks. Do hotels generally store luggage? Or are there lockers at Maihama station?

There's definitely plenty to see at TDR that you can spend four days easy. Our first trip we actually went 4 and a 1/2 days. I bought four day hoppers and then evening passes for TDS our first day.

If you end up finding a good price for a room at the resort, you can drop your luggage at the welcome center near the train station and they will transfer it to your hotel.
 
And just to be clear, using your other dates, the 17-19, you can have a non smoking single in the Center Hotel for $122 for 3 nights or under $41 a night for your own hotel room with bathroom within walking distance of Tokyo Station. You get a small breakfast of toast and salad inclusive. I saw the Mitsui Shiodome Italia Gai for ~ $230 for 3 nights. And there is a Super Hotel Lohas with sento 5 minutes from Tokyo Station with what looks like only non-smoking rooms for ~220 for 3 nights. The official site says smoking is only allowed outside. I've not stayed at a Super Hotel Lohas, just under the previous name of Super Hotel back in 2009. (I think I stayed in the Morioka and the Sendai locations.) For $20 more you can have buffet breakfast for 3 mornings. Depending on how much and what you eat that can be a good deal, that's under 700 yen a day. And see to me, that is the thing. I can't think of anywhere in NYC or SF let alone a 5 minute walk from Grand Central or Market Street, where you can have a clean hotel room with buffet breakfast every morning for $80. I admit, if I was traveling alone, I would probably stay there, I find the single rooms at business hotels are fine for 1, but trying to fit 2 people in one, especially my child who wants to play in the room is hard. The free sento bath looks quite nice and is super relaxing post sightseeing.

BTW when are you starting your Rail Pass and are you doing 1 week or two? Hakone is one of those locations where it's not so expensive to get to from Tokyo.
 
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And just to be clear, using your other dates, the 17-19, you can have a non smoking single in the Center Hotel for $122 for 3 nights or under $41 a night for your own hotel room with bathroom within walking distance of Tokyo Station. You get a small breakfast of toast and salad inclusive. I saw the Mitsui Shiodome Italia Gai for ~ $230 for 3 nights. And there is a Super Hotel Lohas with sento 5 minutes from Tokyo Station with what looks like only non-smoking rooms for ~220 for 3 nights. The official site says smoking is only allowed outside. I've not stayed at a Super Hotel Lohas, just under the previous name of Super Hotel back in 2009. (I think I stayed in the Morioka and the Sendai locations.) For $20 more you can have buffet breakfast for 3 mornings. Depending on how much and what you eat that can be a good deal, that's under 700 yen a day. And see to me, that is the thing. I can't think of anywhere in NYC or SF let alone a 5 minute walk from Grand Central or Market Street, where you can have a clean hotel room with buffet breakfast every morning for $80. I admit, if I was traveling alone, I would probably stay there, I find the single rooms at business hotels are fine for 1, but trying to fit 2 people in one, especially my child who wants to play in the room is hard. The free sento bath looks quite nice and is super relaxing post sightseeing.

BTW when are you starting your Rail Pass and are you doing 1 week or two? Hakone is one of those locations where it's not so expensive to get to from Tokyo.


I'm doing 35 days so the general consensus has been that a rail pass would not work for me. (I don't travel fast enough).

I definitely get what you're saying about hotels. Italy and Germany were both like that and it really surprised me. But hostels are $30/nt, so I do save a significant amount of money that way. If there are any particularly bad hostels, I have the money to book a hotel, but I rarely end up doing that. I generally only stay in small female dorms at highly rated hostels.

Editing to add that sometimes I do a mix of hotels and hostels but generally I just prefer the social atmosphere of a hostel. They frequently offer tours or other activities, and I occasionally get really good ideas or tips on what to see from roommates!
 
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I'm doing 35 days so the general consensus has been that a rail pass would not work for me. (I don't travel fast enough).

I definitely get what you're saying about hotels. Italy and Germany were both like that and it really surprised me. But hostels are $30/nt, so I do save a significant amount of money that way. If there are any particularly bad hostels, I have the money to book a hotel, but I rarely end up doing that. I generally only stay in small female dorms at highly rated hostels.

Editing to add that sometimes I do a mix of hotels and hostels but generally I just prefer the social atmosphere of a hostel. They frequently offer tours or other activities, and I occasionally get really good ideas or tips on what to see from roommates!

Nah, then it probably is not worth it to get a pass. I just wanted to know because there are lots of ways to get to Hakone and unless you have a pass, I would not take the shinkansen. The non-shinkansen ways are slower, but it's like 20 minutes slower and $20 per trip cheaper, and see for me, that is somewhere where I would be cheap.

One possibility since you don't have a pass is going from Tokyo to your furthest away destination via a plane and then working your way back towards wherever your flight is leaving from. Foreigners don't often fly in Japan but the AirPass is a pretty good deal and sometimes you can even manage the discount airlines that Japanese people use as well. Back in '09 I was in Nagoya and wanted to go to Hakodate, at the time the shinkansen ended in Hachinohoe, so it would have taken a long long long time. So instead, I went down to Chubu and flew to Hakodate. It took under an hour and the view from the plane was pretty special. I saw Fuji during take off, went right over Towadako, and got a great view of the Shimokita Pennisula before landing. I used up the last few days of my rail pass getting to Aomori and went to Towadako and then switched to a JR East Flex pass which use to be only 10,000 yen and covered all of JE East (cause the Nagano line ended at Nagano not Kanazawa.) So if you were say going as far as Nagasaki or Fukuoka, you might want to fly there and then work back to Tokyo, assuming you are flying out of Tokyo. If you're flying out of KIX all the better to work your way from West to East. Heck if done correctly, you might actually be able to get your money's worth on a Sanyo pass.

I admit, I just like my own private bath and my own space. I still tend to overpack and I definitely over purchase.

I don't know that much about the hostels, I'm sure some are really nice. Just be careful with any place that requires a city bus to reach it. Seriously, Kyoto buses are so insanely cramped and get crowded very very quickly.
 
Nah, then it probably is not worth it to get a pass. I just wanted to know because there are lots of ways to get to Hakone and unless you have a pass, I would not take the shinkansen. The non-shinkansen ways are slower, but it's like 20 minutes slower and $20 per trip cheaper, and see for me, that is somewhere where I would be cheap.

One possibility since you don't have a pass is going from Tokyo to your furthest away destination via a plane and then working your way back towards wherever your flight is leaving from. Foreigners don't often fly in Japan but the AirPass is a pretty good deal and sometimes you can even manage the discount airlines that Japanese people use as well. Back in '09 I was in Nagoya and wanted to go to Hakodate, at the time the shinkansen ended in Hachinohoe, so it would have taken a long long long time. So instead, I went down to Chubu and flew to Hakodate. It took under an hour and the view from the plane was pretty special. I saw Fuji during take off, went right over Towadako, and got a great view of the Shimokita Pennisula before landing. I used up the last few days of my rail pass getting to Aomori and went to Towadako and then switched to a JR East Flex pass which use to be only 10,000 yen and covered all of JE East (cause the Nagano line ended at Nagano not Kanazawa.) So if you were say going as far as Nagasaki or Fukuoka, you might want to fly there and then work back to Tokyo, assuming you are flying out of Tokyo. If you're flying out of KIX all the better to work your way from West to East. Heck if done correctly, you might actually be able to get your money's worth on a Sanyo pass.

I admit, I just like my own private bath and my own space. I still tend to overpack and I definitely over purchase.

I don't know that much about the hostels, I'm sure some are really nice. Just be careful with any place that requires a city bus to reach it. Seriously, Kyoto buses are so insanely cramped and get crowded very very quickly.

Oh, right. Thanks- already knew about the different Hakone options.

I looked at the air pass but it doesn't really save me any money. If I'd been able to fly that first day to my furthest pint I would have, but I wanted to do TDL at the beginning of my trip because it gets higher crowds later on and I specifically want to see the Gion Matsuri parade in Kyoto, so I had to work the itinerary around those things. I'm not really going to far flung corners anyway- I considered Hokkaido and Okinawa but there's so much I want to see and do in central Japan that I'll just have to go back for those someday! Hiroshima is the furthest away I'm going.
Thanks for the tip on kyoto buses- it's really helpful to know that. Pretty sure I'm staying very close to the train station though!
 
Oh, right. Thanks- already knew about the different Hakone options.

I looked at the air pass but it doesn't really save me any money. If I'd been able to fly that first day to my furthest pint I would have, but I wanted to do TDL at the beginning of my trip because it gets higher crowds later on and I specifically want to see the Gion Matsuri parade in Kyoto, so I had to work the itinerary around those things. I'm not really going to far flung corners anyway- I considered Hokkaido and Okinawa but there's so much I want to see and do in central Japan that I'll just have to go back for those someday! Hiroshima is the furthest away I'm going.
Thanks for the tip on kyoto buses- it's really helpful to know that. Pretty sure I'm staying very close to the train station though!

In regards to Hakone, I always think of private Odakyu/Tozan line out of Shinjuku, but I always forget you can just take the JR Tokkaido line to Odawara and the Shonan-Shinjuku line. I should remember the Tokkaido line, since I've now gone 2x to Hakone by way of Kamakura.

I'm surprised the JR Sanyo Pass won't work for you if you're not going further than Hiroshima/Miyajima. It's 19,000 yen for 7 days and you're at 10, 240 just going to from Shin-Osaka to Hiroshima one way.

I'd look up all your hostels/hotels on Google Maps just to be sure. It also just helps to have a good idea where you are going ahead of time. ^_^
 



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