Japan Hotel Prices Near 30-Year High

Above, the Dormy Inn in Niigata. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The United States isn't the only country with inflation problems.

In Japan, the weak yen is fueling the highest hotel prices in 30 years along with record numbers of foreign visitors. This amounts to a two-edged sword.

According to The Japan Times:

Hotel prices in Japan soared to a near three-decade high in March, as the cheap yen and the cherry blossom season attracted a record number of tourists to the country.

The average daily room rate for March was about ¥20,986 ($136), the highest level since August 1997 and a nearly 20% increase from the same period last year, according to CoStar Group. The average hotel occupancy rate also increased to 78%.

A record 3.1 million people visited Japan in March. The yen is hovering at a 34-year low against the dollar, making the country an attractive destination for inbound tourists. The tourism boom has been led by arrivals from South Korea, Taiwan and China in the midst of the cherry blossom season, which traditionally draws in visitors.

 To read more, go here.

How Much Does A Japanese Business Hotel Cost?

Above, the Dormy Inn in Niigata. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

If a foreign traveler to Japan is on a strict budget and needs to find accommodations that is inexpensive, a Japanese business hotel is something to consider. I have stayed at a few over the years. On average, I've paid around ¥5,000 to ¥7,500 per night for a single room.

City-Cost.com has an article explaining what a Japanese business hotel is, features and costs. Some business hotels are a part of hotel chains, such as the Dormy Inn hotel chain, while others are private and non-corporate.

It begins with:

The ‘business hotel in Japan’ is something of an institution. An ever-present on the Japanese hotel scene, business hotels are the default selection for locals overnighting on a tight budget, their own or the company’s. Not exclusively the realm of the Japanese business person (salaryman / office lady), these hotels can make for a decent accommodation option for tourists and travelers of any shape, size, and nationality. You may also hear them referred to as ‘city hotels’, as predominantly, although not exclusively, this is where they are to be found, usually within easy walking distance of a train station. When considering the question, ‘How much does it cost to stay in a business hotel in Japan?, one also needs to clarify one’s own definition of a ‘business hotel’. In Japan, these places are synonymous with basic, no-frills functionality. This is not 5-star territory.  

 To read more, go here.

Japan's Hotels Saw Rise In Average Daily Rate In 2016

Above, the Niigata Dormy Inn. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Japan's hotels saw rates climb in 2016.

Despite the rise, occupancy rates have risen during the same period with record numbers of foreign tourists visiting Japan.

According to Travel Daily Asia:

Japan’s hotel sector experienced a steady increase in ADR (average daily rate) last year. 

According to the full-year data from STR, the country’s ADR climbed 5.2% to JPY15,396 (approx. US$136) in 2016, due in part to the recovery of the yen, which increased nearly 10% against the US dollar in 2016. This marked the first time the yen had increased in value since 2011.

To read more, go here. 

Japan's Business Hotels Targeting Foreign Guests

Above, the Dormy Inn in Niigata. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Japan's business hotel operators see opportunities in the current surge of foreign tourism. Several operators are upgrading their current hotels or building new ones to meet the expected demand as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics gets nearer.

According to Nikkei Asian Review:

TOKYO -- Japanese business hotel operators are trying to attract more foreign guests by upgrading their facilities or building new ones. 

Greens, which operates 50 business hotels nationwide under the Comfort Hotel brand through a franchise agreement with a U.S. company, will open its first new hotel in five years this autumn. 

TKP, a company that leases conference rooms, plans to open 10 business hotels by 2017, mostly in urban areas. 

Kyoritsu Maintenance, operator of the Dormy Inn chain of business hotels, will in fiscal 2015 set up a new hotel brand that takes traditional Japanese aesthetics as its theme.  

Another company, Fujita Kanko, will in April begin fully renovating the main building of its flagship Shinjuku Washington Hotel.

I've stayed at a Dormy Inn in Niigata in 2010 and at a Washington Hotel In Nagasaki in 2007. Both were nice places to stay and their prices were very reasonable.

To read more, go here. 

NHK, Japan's "Electronic Yakuza"

Above, hotels like the Niigata Dormy Inn may be socked with NHK fees
by the number of televison sets at their facility. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Suppose you're sitting at home reading the newspaper or book (or just napping) and you get a knock on your front door. You answer the door and find standing there a representative from Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The person says that since you own a television set or other device that can receive signals from PBS (whether or not you even watch the local PBS station), you have to pay them a fee and sign a contract.

Sounds crazy, right? Well, that's the situation in Japan when it comes to their version of PBS, NHK.

Recently, a court ruled that a Yokohama resident is legally obligated to pay NHK a fee, regardless of the fact that no contract with NHK was ever entered. But that's what the court ruled.

If you thought that was extreme, another court is taking things way beyond that ruling.

The Tokyo District Court ruled that a hotel management company (who runs three hotels) must enter into a contract with NHK and pay "overdue" licensing fees in proportion to the number of rooms each hotel contains. For residents, the fees are paid by household, not by the number of television sets or devices capable of receiving the NHK signal.

How much do they have to pay? Here's what Rocket News 24 reported:

According to the Asahi Digital, the hotels have approximately 280 rooms with television sets, along with units in the dining area and other locations. Taking these numbers into account, the total unpaid licensing fees that the hotels’ management company must pay adds up to a staggering 6.21 million yen (US$57,851).

If I were the hotel management company, I would definitely file an appeal.

You know what will happen if this ruling is allowed to stand? Japan's hotels in the same situation would pass on the cost of the NHK fees to their guests by raising their room rates.

To read the full article, go here.

Condé Nast's Primer On Hidden Hotel Fees

Above, the Dormy Inn in Niigata, Japan. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Recently, I posted about how greedy hotels are becoming by tacking on fees and surcharges for different amenities, just as the airlines are doing.

Condé Nast Traveler has posted an article on how to avoid these extra fees and, if wrongfully charged, get them off your bill.

They begin with:

Hotels have been notorious for offering "convenient" products and services, then finding a way to tack on the extra charges to your hotel bill before you leave. According to a recent report, those fees will total up to $2.25 billion for hotels in the U.S. for this year alone. 

While some fees and surcharges are unavoidable—i.e. the infamous Javits Convention Center tax in New York City, and state and municipal taxes—there are other fees that aren't always clearly marked, like that daily newspaper charge that is actually optional, or the pool towel surcharge that isn't listed anywhere except in small print at the bottom of a sign far away from the pool entrance.

To read the full article, go here.

How Fast Is Your Hotel's Wi-Fi?

Above, a room at the Niigata Dormy Inn. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

During my February trip to Japan, I stayed at the Tsukuba Hotel in the Ueno section of Tokyo.

The hotel was familiar to me as I stayed there in 2005. My usual accommodations are at the Hotel Asia Center of Japan, but they were all booked up during the time of my trip.

The Tsukuba Hotel does have free Wi-Fi, but it is very slow and signal losses were frequent. That is the subject of an article in Travelpulse.com, "How fast is your hotel's Wi-Fi? Here's how to find out."

The article states:

With free Wi-Fi and high-speed Internet being among the most requested amenities by guests, it’s more important than ever to track hotels’ Wi-Fi service. 

And Hotel WiFi Test, a website that tests and predicts Wi-Fi speed, is holding hotels accountable in that regard. 

Hotel WiFi Test has recently unveiled a Wi-Fi prediction system for properties it hasn’t tested yet. 

The prediction system, which currently assesses Wi-Fi speed for over 108,000 properties worldwide, ensures that Hotel WiFi Test covers more of the globe. By looking at the cities, countries and hotel chains that regularly boast the fastest Wi-Fi speeds, the site can predict what the speed will be at a given property. For example, Hong Kong generally provides faster Wi-Fi service than a destination like Las Vegas, while Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts is generally known for having faster Wi-Fi than a lot of other chains.

Having fast and reliable hotel Wi-Fi has become very important to business travelers, who have to remain in contact with clients and the home office. It is also very important to vacation travelers who, for varying reasons, have to remain in contact with family members back home or with friends.

To read the full article, go here.

Romanized Signage Problems In Japan

Above, a typical street sign in Asakusa, Tokyo (upper left).  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Japan News has an interesting article on efforts to boost tourism to Japan, but there is a problem they need to address: signs.

The article states:

Better use of signs may be key to realizing “Japan is Back,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s new strategy to invigorate Japan. 

The strategy was announced in June, and one of its main goals is to raise the number of foreign tourists to 30 million by 2030. 

However, there are many issues to address to achieve this goal, observers say.

One problem is that many foreign tourists are puzzled by romanized signs at tourist spots and public transportation facilities that do not include any explanation of their meaning. 

For example, if foreigners see the sign “Kokkai-gijidomae” (which means “close to the Diet Building”), most will not know what that means.

Above, from the sign in front of the building, this is a hotel.  But there's nothing to indicate
to a non-Japanese that this is the Dormy Inn in Niigata.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Besides those kinds of signs, the private sector needs to also address this problem.  For example, when I went to Niigata in 2010, I had a taxi take me from the JR Niigata Station to my hotel, the Dormy Inn. When we got there, there was a sign in English indicating that the place is a hotel, but there was nothing to indicate that it was actually the Dormy Inn (see photo above) in English. At least the Hotel Asia Center of Japan in Tokyo has a sign in English telling new arrivals that they made it to the right place.

Fixing problems like this would go a long way to help foreign tourists to find their way to their destinations. Foreign tourists would not be so fearful in going to Japan knowing that they won't have to face a "Where the hell am I?" situation.

I've had no problem with the romanized signs at train and subway stations as I always have a map in hand. Others, who may not have the foresight to have a map handy, would be at a loss as to which is their stop.

To read the full article, go here. 

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