A bed for everyone, and a bit of space.
Japanese hotel rooms are famously compact, and a family of four can end up split across rooms or packed in tight. We solved it by mostly booking apartments. Here's how we choose where to stay, and what actually works with kids.
Four people, one room, beds touching.
A lot of Japanese hotel rooms top out at a double or twin, so a family of four either books two rooms or crams in with the beds pushed together. Fine for a night, wearing over a fortnight.
We landed late on our first night and just grabbed a simple room near the airport, dinner on the floor, everyone happy. The next morning we sorted our IC cards and caught the train into the city to an apartment we'd booked near Dotonbori. After that we mostly stuck to apartments: more space, a separate bedroom or two, a kitchen and a washing machine, and the boys in their own beds without us paying for a second hotel room.
Match the room to the trip.
There's no single right answer, just the right fit for each stop. Here's what each kind of place is good for with a family.
- Serviced apartments and units
- Our default. A separate bedroom or two, a kitchen, a laundry, and room for the kids to crash. Usually cheaper than two hotel rooms and far less cramped.
- Business hotels
- Small, spotless, cheap and right by the stations (APA, Toyoko Inn, Sotetsu Fresa). Perfect for a one-night stopover, tight for four over a longer stay. Look for a family room or connecting rooms.
- Ryokan and minshuku
- Traditional inns with tatami floors and futons, often with an onsen. Not an everyday base with kids, but worth doing once for the experience (more below).
- Hotels with family rooms
- Bigger international and resort hotels do proper family and bunk-bed rooms. Pricier, but simple when you want space and facilities in one place.
The five things that make or break it.
- A real bed for everyone
- Not a sofa bed for one of the kids. Read the bed configuration, not just the headline "sleeps 4", so nobody draws the short straw.
- Walking distance to a station
- Five minutes from a train line beats a bigger, cheaper place a tired family has to trek to. Location saves more than money.
- A kitchen and a washing machine
- Even a kettle and a microwave change the trip. A washing machine means you pack half as much and travel lighter through the stations.
- Space over style
- Two plain rooms beat one beautiful one when there are four of you and a wall of luggage. Floor space is the real luxury.
- Book the popular spots early
- Family rooms and apartments are the first to sell out in cherry-blossom and autumn-leaf seasons. Lock them in well ahead.
Real apartments, not staged ones.
Nothing fancy, just roomy, well-located places with somewhere for everyone to be. This is what an apartment booking actually looks like with two kids and a pile of luggage.
Sleep on the floor, happily.
One night in a ryokan is worth it even with kids. Tatami mats, futons rolled out after dinner, usually an onsen down the hall, and a proper multi-course meal. The boys decided sleeping on the floor was the best thing that had ever happened to them.
Don't make it your whole trip, the futons and shared bathrooms wear thin with kids over a week, but do it once. It's the most memorable night you'll book.
Plan it the way we would.
We planned this trip ourselves, paid for it ourselves, and wrote down what worked and what did not. All of it is on the site, free, with nothing to sign up for.
- Where to go, and how long to give each place
- What to book ahead, and what to skip
- Getting around with kids, without the guesswork
- What it actually cost us
The planning guides
Flights, trains, money, food, insurance and where to stay. Written after the trip, not before it.
Read the guides → Browse destinations