Finding accommodation in Japan is easy nowadays, offering great rates and competitive price guarantees. The country’s steadfast real estate sector provides a variety of choices, including comfortable vacation rentals. Known for its suitability for customers’ demands with easy and secure booking, many tourists have been resorting to one.
There are many tourist attractions globally, and Japan counts as one of the top tourist destinations. And who can blame foreigners? Japan is a site to behold! Home to twenty-one (21) World Heritage sites, including the Himeji Castle and Nara, Japan offers a variety of breathtaking sites, exhilarating activities, and mouthwatering food to foreigners. In 2018, more than 30 million tourists visited Japan. Other popular tourist attractions in Japan are the ever-bustling city of Tokyo and the peaceful Kyoto where the mysterious Japanese Geishas reside. Even though Japan can be a pretty expensive country, there are various ways that tourists can afford to visit Japan, especially its living accommodations. Gone are when tourists would lounge around in fancy hotels while touring Japan. Nowadays, vacation rentals are all the rave as it offers a more cost-efficient method to temporarily reside in Japan while on tours. Let’s look at what vacation rentals are and where to find the best deals in Japan.
Introducing Vacation Rentals
The concept of a vacation rental is relatively simple. A homeowner would rent out a residential property, usually a condominium, a house, or a furnished apartment, as an alternative to a hotel. Tourists usually rent out this as a more cost-efficient alternative to expensive hotels. There are key differences between vacation rentals and hotel accommodations. These are:
- In-house amenities
Hotels would usually offer in-house amenities such as towels, coffee, bottled water, and basic toiletries at the onset of your stay, and these get refilled each day of your stay. Most would also provide these amenities for vacation rentals, but they will not replenish. For example, towels will be provided at the onset of your stay, and a laundry area will also be available for you to wash your towels and clothes if needed.
- Dining Services
Hotels pride themselves on the food they offer. Breakfast buffets are a norm for hotels, and room service is also offered as an option for those who want to take their meals in the comfort of their hotel rooms. Hotels usually do not offer a kitchen space where guests can cook their own meals. However, guests can prepare their meals for vacation rentals however they wish. Take-out meals are permitted, and guests can even barbecue if they wish to do so!
- Cleaning Services
Hotel services provide 24/7 cleaning services with just a quick phone call from the guests. There is a specific duration of stay for vacation rentals where cleaning services are offered free. It would take a minimum of three (3) nights before owners or agencies will offer free cleaning services, so guests usually just clean up after their own.
- Check-in Procedure
Some hotels accept walk-in guests if their accommodations permit. Others accept reservations, and payment can be done during check-in or even after check-out. On the other hand, Vacation rentals would always require a deposit fee.
- Noise
It is important to note that hotel rooms are close to each other, and there are times that people can hear unnecessary noise. On the other hand, most vacation rentals would offer privacy for guests like a real home! Because of this, vacation rentals, especially those away from the bustling city, are considered more private and intimate.
Vacation rentals would attract all tourists and short-term visitors of any age. Typically, the late twenties to thirties would often avail of the luxuries that vacation rentals offer. Vacation rentals in Japan are also typically located in the city’s outskirts – usually by the countryside or seaside with spectacular, breathtaking views. Because of the recent boom of tourism in Japan, there are more and more homeowners who would offer vacation rentals within the city, but the norm for Japanese vacation rentals is usually in far-flung areas.
As a tourist or foreigner in Japan, you should also know Japan’s customs. Common etiquette for guests visiting Japan in most vacation rentals would be to keep noise at the very minimum and ensure that they have sorted and disposed of the garbage properly after their stay.
