Japan: is it worth spending extra money on better hotels?

The quality of hotels is different from country to country and region to region. There are regions in which hotels are generically bad, other in which they are generically expensive, and others generically good.

In Japan, is it worth spending extra money to sleep in better hotels?

No.

Let's discuss further, why I have this opinion.

When I visited Japan, I opted to book hotels through booking.com and airbnb.com. Some of the hotels were cheap but had good reviews and excellent pictures.

So I thought: "there must be a catch here!"

Turns out, there wasn't one.

All hotels and apartments were exactly what was described and promised. Even though I was visiting in peak season (August) and there are many hotels sold out, the ones I was staying in, were very good.

My experience

One of the hotels I picked, was a cheap ryokan in Hakone, in the region of mount Fuji, called Ryokan Oyado. Ryokans are usually more traditional hotels, some of them you even sleep in futons (mine was not the case).

This hotel had a shared bathroom and one shared room close to mine.

When I arrived at the hotel, I got immediately worried, because I saw a group of around 10 Japanese teens arriving with their backpacks...

My first thought was: "I will not sleep anything! They will be making noises the entire night..."

I could not have been more wrong.

In general, people know how to behave in Japan and there is great respect for others in the culture. This translates into one of the reasons why it is easy to get good cheap hotels.

Since Japanese know how to behave, the culture spreads and there isn't a lot of people making noises and bothering others. So, even cheap hotels are very quiet.

Also, Japanese are known for their having everything very clean and tidy. This means, that even in the cheapest hotels you notice that everything is organized and very clean.

So, if you don't have a lot of money to spend in fancy hotels, there's no need to do it. Just read the reviews and see if you like the hotel, because almost certainly, it will be an excellent value for money.

Do you get what you pay for?

Here and there you can find good deals for hotels, but usually, you do get what you paid for. More expensive hotels are generally better than cheaper ones.

This is also true for Japanese hotels. The inclusion of breakfast, better food, more and better amenities, and a service with people that speak other languages, is obtained in better hotels. The better they are, the better the service is, and usually this comes at a premium price.

However, I do feel that because Japanese culture prioritizes the service without expecting a lot in return, the quality of every service is usually much better than in other places around the world, including Europe and in the US.

So, you can get very good value for money in cheaper hotels, where the service may not be as top notch as in fancier hotels, but you will still have a very good service.

Also, I was able to get international hotel chains at excellent prices even in August, just because the competition was leading the prices down. But this is something that you may not always find.

If your looking for a a more luxury service, be prepared to be "wowed" by the fancier hotels. Their services are usually second to none.

You can still cut your costs further by sleeping in capsule hotels, but that is a whole different concept, which may not appeal to everyone. Please check my blog post on my experience of sleeping in capsule hotel here.

Conclusion

Japanese culture prioritizes the service without expecting a lot in return, so the quality of services is usually excellent. 

Also, Japanese culture values respect, quietness and cleanness.

This means that hotels are usually very quiet and clean. Even in the cheapest hotels everything is organized and very clean.

If one opts for more expensive and fancier hotels you do get a service that is second to none. But if you do not want to spend money in expensive hotels, you will be fine sleeping in cheaper ones.