How to keep accommodation costs down on a family trip

Since Japan downgraded the severity of Covid-19 to the same level of influenza, in May this year, we have been making up for lost time and travelling all over the country. More often than not, when we choose somewhere to stay, we are just looking for somewhere to sleep. In other words, we don't need a fancy hotel. Thankfully, there are several options that help keep the cost of accommodation down for our family of six. Prices in this post are per person based on six people sharing:

Hotels with a flat rate per room 

I'll start with our personal favorite, and also one of the cheapest: hotels that offer a flat rate per room, rather than per person. If you can get one with breakfast included they work out exceptionally cheap. Point in case, on our most recent expedition, we stayed in the Comfort Inn Kashima. Because we are a family of six, we had to get two rooms. However, it still worked out at just 3000 yen per person with a buffet (all you can eat) breakfast included. They are not the easiest to find, but are worth searching for. 

Bath house / Hot Spring

It is always a lot of fun to stay in a hot spring or bath house. However, it often requires that you split into male and female dormitories. On a road trip in August, we were fortunate enough that the very savvy owner of a bath house, was hovering when we were checking in and he offered that we sleep in one of the party rooms together as a family! It worked out perfectly. It also worked out ridiculously cheap at just 3000 yen per person for the futon, light breakfast and unlimited access to the baths and manga library! We also had dinner and drinks here and our entire bill was only 30,000 yen for six of us.

Cabins at campsites

Unfortunately, the price of cabins have gone up significantly in the last year. We used to be able to stay at a cabin for as little as 2,000 yen per person until this year. Now its costing twice that. Still at around 4,000 yen per person, without breakfast though, its not a bad price. Cabins, or cottages as they are often called in Japan, are relatively easy to find. However, they often book up quickly, so might not be suited to a spontaneous trip.

Travel Lodges

Travel Lodges in Japan remind me greatly of motels. There is a great chain of travel lodges called Hatagoya that are located on expressways or principle national routes. They have a standard rate per room that increases with each additional occupant. The rooms are designed for four people, but some of them can add camping beds to accommodate our family of six. They provide a light breakfast too. For our family of six, it works out at 4000 yen per person in high season with a basic breakfast, and that's paying for the extra beds. This is one type of accommodation that works out cheaper for smaller families though.

Hostels

A trip with City-cost introduced me to a family friendly hostel in Kanagawa, which unfortunately has since turned into a hotel. But since then I've unearthed several more. Some hostels actually cater to families, in that you can all stay in the same room rather than having to split into male and female dormitories. However, a lot of them don't have a breakfast option. Those that do, its usually a light breakfast. On average, we expect to spend about 4500 yen per person for a family room with breakfast in a hostel.

Others

Obviously, camping is the cheapest, often working out at less than 500 yen per person, if you have your own tent. But it is not always ideal. Plus you have to make your own breakfast, although, quite a few campsites have breakfast options these days too!  But for the types of trips we take lately it is not practical. Camping is an activity in itself. Glamping would be more suitable, but glamping costs in Japan are often on par with a luxury hotel room!

Ryokan, Japanese style inns, are another option that are often an affordable choice. However, on each of our recent trips, we have been unable to find a ryokan with as good an offer as any of the options outlined above. I feel like of all the accommodation choices, ryokan have increased their prices most since the pandemic. Anyone else notice that?

If you are single, a couple or a pair of friends, you have even more options. Such as love hotels and capsule hotels, which can work out very cheap and are ideal as somewhere just to lay your head for the night. Have you found any affordable accommodation gems in Japan? Or do you prefer a more luxurious place to stay rather than just somewhere to lay your head?