Japan Trip Update/Report

[Calfan]

Is it really long? Our cat is ridiculously long

Yes! Long and lean.

 

[Haley R]

So the Quick serve / Sit down restaurants / stores take credit cards with no issue?

Yes all of them take cards. We had an issue with one of our cards getting rejected but it was a debit card. None of our credit cards had problems

 

[Haley R]

Yes! Long and lean.

Ours isn’t lean lol

 

[caylene44]

Feel free to message me whenever. I don’t mind answering questions.

Japan was the first place I’ve ever seen people stand to the side on an escalator. Everywhere else I’ve been it’s just a free for all because most people don’t walk up or down them.

Yay, thank you!

Same here. I grew up on the west coast and lived in DC for a short time. It wasn't until I moved there that I observed it. People seriously power walk up and down escalators there, especially in the metro stations. Because of that, I've gotten in the habit to stand off to the right side but I guess I'll retrain my brain to do the opposite for Japan

 

[smeecanada]

Yes all of them take cards. We had an issue with one of our cards getting rejected but it was a debit card. None of our credit cards had problems

Thanks so much for the info, sure helps with the planning. Good luck with your move.

 

[MouseyMin]

Well thank you! We had a lot of fun and the trip report will be a fun thing for Dh and I to look back at. We vlogged some while there and Dh is in charge of editing and uploading those to YouTube (he was the one that wanted to do it). It probably won’t be for awhile since we have the move and him starting a new job.

Haley, I took a similar trip in April. I took a 13 day tour of Japan and visited nearly every place you talked about! After the tour, I stayed at the Sheraton Grande for 4 nights and used the Limousine bus too. I loved TDR - and hope to go back after the 2 large construction projects are completed.

Thanks for the wonderful report Haley. Are there many ATM's around the TDR area. We are most likely staying at Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay.

ATMs are a slight problem in Japan for Americans. You need to go to one that takes foreign cards - most of them only accept Japanese cards. All of the 7-Elevens have ATMs that we can use. And the post office. I was told that there are international ATMs at the Ikspiari shopping center, but didn't need to use them.

 

[Haley R]

Yay, thank you!

Same here. I grew up on the west coast and lived in DC for a short time. It wasn't until I moved there that I observed it. People seriously power walk up and down escalators there, especially in the metro stations. Because of that, I've gotten in the habit to stand off to the right side but I guess I'll retrain my brain to do the opposite for Japan

Yeah that’s exactly why people walk up and down them in Japan. They’re all in a hurry to get to work or home from work. We did end up walking on them if the line to stand was too long. In Osaka they stand on the right side, just to confuse you even more lol

 

[Haley R]

Thanks so much for the info, sure helps with the planning. Good luck with your move.

Thank you! The people came and packed everything up today. Tomorrow the movers come to pick things up, we close on our house here, and we leave. We’re gonna go a little under halfway tomorrow

 

[Haley R]

Haley, I took a similar trip in April. I took a 13 day tour of Japan and visited nearly every place you talked about! After the tour, I stayed at the Sheraton Grande for 4 nights and used the Limousine bus too. I loved TDR - and hope to go back after the 2 large construction projects are completed.

ATMs are a slight problem in Japan for Americans. You need to go to one that takes foreign cards - most of them only accept Japanese cards. All of the 7-Elevens have ATMs that we can use. And the post office. I was told that there are international ATMs at the Ikspiari shopping center, but didn't need to use them.

We never had any issues using ATMs but I guess we normally used one at a convenience store or train station. All of the fees got refunded back to our account because our bank does that.

I’m sure I’ll get shunned for this but we actually like wdw more than tdr. The people at tdr are the obvious selling point but I personally like the rides a lot more at wdw. There aren’t a lot of thrills at tdr. I would love to go back though after the new projects are done. I’m not sure if we actually will but I’d like to.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

Yay, thank you!

Same here. I grew up on the west coast and lived in DC for a short time. It wasn't until I moved there that I observed it. People seriously power walk up and down escalators there, especially in the metro stations. Because of that, I've gotten in the habit to stand off to the right side but I guess I'll retrain my brain to do the opposite for Japan

They do that a lot in the tube stations in London. I think it’s the same as Japan because they drive on the left in both.

 

[caylene44]

They do that a lot in the tube stations in London. I think it’s the same as Japan because they drive on the left in both.

I went to London last summer but I don't recall noticing it. Hopefully I wasn't that tourist But yes, I'm sure that's why! We naturally try to walk mimicking "the flow of traffic" so it would be opposite for them.

 

[Haley R]

Hotel Review #1-Hyatt Regency Los Angeles International Airport
We chose this hotel because we were flying out of LAX the next day so we only stayed here for one night. Our first room was disgusting with stains all over the carpet, couch, and counters. We called and they said the hotel was sold out for the night, but somehow were still able to move us to a new room (not really sure how that works). The new room was better, but the counters were still dirty with coffee stains and other marks. It just seemed like they came in to switch the sheets (hopefully) and that was it for cleaning. It seemed like the rooms were updated recently but get a lot of use and housekeeping isn't able to keep up. We would definitely pick a new hotel if in the area again.

Pros:
close to airport, 24/7 shuttle, Starbucks coffee in room, big TV

Cons:
very dirty rooms, fixtures broken (towel holder, shower head wouldn't stay in upright position), airplane noise was loud

 

[Haley R]

Hotel Review #2-Airbnb in Shibuya
Here is the link to the Airbnb we stayed at: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/10582789?source_impression_id=p3_1561210609_Mx3aR4gdnntaHmfR

Our host was absolutely AMAZING! If you want to stay in the Shibuya area I highly recommend her. She and her husband are both from New Zealand so speak perfect English, but she's also very fluent in Japanese and can help with any issues. Her house is located next to a local station and about a 10 minute walk to a metro station. There are 7-11s and restaurants nearby. We loved that her house was tucked back in an alley away from the hustle and bustle of everything Tokyo. We heard no noises at night except for some trains. Here's my pro and con list for staying there:

Pros:

• Amazing and accommodating host
• Very clean
• Close to transportation and shopping
• Apartment was stocked with food and other items
• Quaint and quietly located in an alley off the main streets
• Guidebooks and recommendations left by previous guests
• Washer/dryer and full kitchen in the unit

Cons:

• A little small
• No housekeeping

 

[Haley R]

Hotel Review #3-Yumoto Station Hotel Mirahakone
We only stayed here for one night and knew going in that it was a small hotel with small rooms. The hotel was very close to the Hakone Yumoto Station which was nice. The room looked really updated and new, including the bathroom. Outside of the room there was a microwave, fridge/freezer, and an espresso machine for everyone on the floor to share. The staff was very friendly and kept our backpacks before we were able to check in. They spoke good English and gave us a map of the Hakone circle route with restaurants, too. There is a restaurant beneath the hotel but we didn't try it. If you're in the area for a short amount of time I would definitely stay here.

 

[Haley R]

Hotel Review #4-Hotel Gentle Fox Kyoto
We stayed at the Hotel Gentle Fox for 6 nights while in the Kyoto area. Our main reason for picking the hotel was because it was so close to the Inari shrine. It was a little far from the JR station, but really it could be walked in less than 10 minutes. I think it just felt far because it's right next to another station (not JR). Here is our pro and con list from our stay:

Pros-
Large studio apartment compared to other Japanese hotels, had a washer/dryer combo, daily housekeeping, very friendly staff

Cons-
Very busy street with lots of car noise, low water pressure in shower, high tub so I hit my knees a lot getting in

Some other cons were specific to our room that we were given. We had the room right next to the hotel office. It had a very weird layout because of that. Our kitchen was in a long hallway instead of having everything be open concept. It got a little annoying at times because my husband and I had to try sliding past each other in the hall. We also heard the metal screen the opened and closed for the hotel office window. It was pretty annoying to hear in the morning and at 11 pm. I think they would've been better off not putting anyone in this room. It just seems like they tried squeezing another unit in that didn't quite work well.

 

[Haley R]

Hotel Review #5-Hilton Tokyo Bay
We stayed at the Hilton while we were visiting the Disney parks. The hotel is so close to bayside station (monorail). We booked a King Celebrio Ocean View room and the room was very big! There were some big stains on the white chair and blue couch in our room. I was able to wipe the chair off easily so they clearly just didn’t clean it. The view of the bay was gorgeous! We had a huge window overlooking it. The room itself looked pretty modern but just not cleaned well (I’m sure it gets used A LOT). There were lots of drawers and storage space. There was a cool feature to play music through your phone into the bathtub! Here is our pros and cons list:

Pros-
Tall ceilings, large room with king bed, very close to monorail station, 24/7 convenience store, disney store inside hotel, ocean view room

Cons-
Lots of school groups and other large groups, breakfast is the same every day, room was dirty with stains coming in, musty room smell

Here are some other notes about staying here. Housekeeping did a great job restocking and gave us two water bottles every day since we are Hilton Gold members. We got priority at breakfast and free breakfast every morning for also being gold members which was a big perk. The line for breakfast was really long every morning. We would definitely stay here again if we were going to the parks. It was such a good alternative to the overpriced Disney hotels. We paid for 5/6 nights with points and only had to pay for one night.

 

[gelatoni fan]

Hotel Review #1-Hyatt Regency Los Angeles International Airport
We chose this hotel because we were flying out of LAX the next day so we only stayed here for one night. Our first room was disgusting with stains all over the carpet, couch, and counters. We called and they said the hotel was sold out for the night, but somehow were still able to move us to a new room (not really sure how that works). The new room was better, but the counters were still dirty with coffee stains and other marks. It just seemed like they came in to switch the sheets (hopefully) and that was it for cleaning. It seemed like the rooms were updated recently but get a lot of use and housekeeping isn't able to keep up. We would definitely pick a new hotel if in the area again.

Pros:
close to airport, 24/7 shuttle, Starbucks coffee in room, big TV

Cons:
very dirty rooms, fixtures broken (towel holder, shower head wouldn't stay in upright position), airplane noise was loud

I thought you had status at Hilton but you stayed at a Hyatt anyway? I prefer the airport hotels south of LAX to the ones north of the airport because they tend to be a bit better maintained and are further from the airport so the airplane noise is less noticeable. I recommend you try the DoubleTree next time.

 

[Haley R]

I thought you had status at Hilton but you stayed at a Hyatt anyway? I prefer the airport hotels south of LAX to the ones north of the airport because they tend to be a bit better maintained and are further from the airport so the airplane noise is less noticeable. I recommend you try the DoubleTree next time.

We stayed there because we used chase points to book it which means it was free. All of our Hilton points were being saved for Hilton Tokyo bay. If we are back in the area we’ll have to look at the double tree

 

[LovesTimone]

I thought you had status at Hilton but you stayed at a Hyatt anyway? I prefer the airport hotels south of LAX to the ones north of the airport because they tend to be a bit better maintained and are further from the airport so the airplane noise is less noticeable. I recommend you try the DoubleTree next time.

We are going next year, and more than likely be staying over night on the way to and from... thanks for the tip on the Double Tree...

 

[LovesTimone]

Hotel Review #5-Hilton Tokyo Bay
We stayed at the Hilton while we were visiting the Disney parks. The hotel is so close to bayside station (monorail). We booked a King Celebrio Ocean View room and the room was very big! There were some big stains on the white chair and blue couch in our room. I was able to wipe the chair off easily so they clearly just didn’t clean it. The view of the bay was gorgeous! We had a huge window overlooking it. The room itself looked pretty modern but just not cleaned well (I’m sure it gets used A LOT). There were lots of drawers and storage space. There was a cool feature to play music through your phone into the bathtub! Here is our pros and cons list:

Pros-
Tall ceilings, large room with king bed, very close to monorail station, 24/7 convenience store, disney store inside hotel, ocean view room

Cons-
Lots of school groups and other large groups, breakfast is the same every day, room was dirty with stains coming in, musty room smell

Here are some other notes about staying here. Housekeeping did a great job restocking and gave us two water bottles every day since we are Hilton Gold members. We got priority at breakfast and free breakfast every morning for also being gold members which was a big perk. The line for breakfast was really long every morning. We would definitely stay here again if we were going to the parks. It was such a good alternative to the overpriced Disney hotels. We paid for 5/6 nights with points and only had to pay for one night.

Hi Haley... was the whole hotel not clean... or just your room? I was wondering if it was a overall problem, or more than likely isolated to the housekeeper that had your room? As of right now we are planning on staying at HTB.... not unless I hit the lottery... then I can afford the cost of staying on site...

As well do you think that the large group and school groups were due to the time of year, you guys were over there?