One week trip to Japan

My itinerary is as follows

Feb 3-6th Tokyo
Feb 6-9th Sapporo
Feb 9-16th Tokyo, with possibly a few day trips thrown in.

Do NOT stay at Hotel New Koyo if you don't want the AIDz. I stayed there for a bit when I had to pay for two separate rooms out of my pocket during a time where I basically had no money, but it's not going to be fun unless you're prepared to see what $25/night buys you in Tokyo. It's ****. There's a fun little bar around the corner, but the hotel itself is far away from the good stuff, and I spent $100 per cab ride just getting back after getting hammered in Roppongi. I also had to shack with some exgf of mine so I could use her shower, because Koyo's were pretty questionable, and then I ended up having to buy her some dinner in Ginza, so all in all, Koyo cost me enough money where I could've just stayed at a decent 3 star hotel in Shibuya or Shinjuku, booked off Expedia or something and saved myself the hassle.

I have fond memories though, of staying at some business hotel in Shin-Okubo during my college days for like 5000Y/night. I think I stayed there a long time, two or three weeks. I didn't even rent a cell phone, I lined up behind 2 or 3 Chinese hookers every night at this pay phone, and they were really polite and bowed and aplogized for taking so long to call China. It was then that I realized 'wow, everybody in Japan is so polite'

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

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My itinerary is as follows

Feb 3-6th Tokyo
Feb 6-9th Sapporo
Feb 9-16th Tokyo, with possibly a few day trips thrown in.

Lucky ****....Enjoy Slim.

Originally Posted by impolyt_one

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Do NOT stay at Hotel New Koyo if you don't want the AIDz. I stayed there for a bit when I had to pay for two separate rooms out of my pocket during a time where I basically had no money, but it's not going to be fun unless you're prepared to see what $25/night buys you in Tokyo. It's ****. There's a fun little bar around the corner, but the hotel itself is far away from the good stuff, and I spent $100 per cab ride just getting back after getting hammered in Roppongi. I also had to shack with some exgf of mine so I could use her shower, because Koyo's were pretty questionable, and then I ended up having to buy her some dinner in Ginza, so all in all, Koyo cost me enough money where I could've just stayed at a decent 3 star hotel in Shibuya or Shinjuku, booked off Expedia or something and saved myself the hassle.
Stayed there about six times now. Will stay again. Thanks. $25 bucks a night in Tokyo buys you more than in most cities and it's specifically what he asked for. The hotel is only far away from "the good stuff" if you think getting shitfaced in Roppongi is "the good stuff". You can get shitfaced in Ueno, Asakusa, or Akiba too you know. OR you could not be an idiot and take a cab all the way across the city. You know what the train schedule is, the bars don't close. You miss the train? Go find another bar. Or a restaurant. Or an internet cafe. Don't blame the hotel for you being stupid. Taking a cab anywhere in Tokyo is pretty dumb at any time of day. The showers are fine. They are no worse than the showers at any average/better gym. Thanks for your opinion though.

Did you attend one of their nightly "hug a local real live Japanese girl" sessions in the lounge? Mileage card?

Don't be mad bro. Just cause not everyone thinks that Gaspanic is the best bar in Tokyo doesn't mean we can't all be friends. Going to Roppongi and staying out all night drinking is something everyone has to do at least once. But the operative phrase there is "staying out all night drinking". Not *****ing out and paying $100 stupid tax in a cab when you can't hack it at like 2am. This is what capsule hotels/internet cafes are everywhere for. Nobody is dumb enough to take a cab.

It's always more fun to go out drinking with people anyways - and guess what, you aren't meeting any people at a 5000 yen business hotel in Shinjuku. Which was sort of the point. New Koyo is a great place to meet other travelers, and both Bobby and Takashi at the desk are far more helpful in ENGLISH than just about anyone in any other hotel I've stayed at in Tokyo. Admittedly less than a dozen, but still... probably more than most.

Originally Posted by hboogz

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Lucky ****....Enjoy Slim.
It ain't luck dude. Been saving about half of every paycheck since Sept. I'm putting about $4200 total into this trip (including my new camera and lenses, domestic flights, hotels, winter clothes, etc) which I've managed to save up about $235 at a time over the course of 18 weeks. I'm on week eight. Used mileage for the flight to and from Japan.

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

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It ain't luck dude. Been saving about half of every paycheck since Sept. I'm putting about $4200 total into this trip (including my new camera and lenses, domestic flights, hotels, winter clothes, etc) which I've managed to save up about $235 at a time over the course of 18 weeks. I'm on week eight. Used mileage for the flight to and from Japan.
I hear you 1000 times over man. Enjoy your time and I for one am interested in seeing pictures from Sapporo. Same here. I used my mileage for my flight to/from and I was saving up those miles for quite some time. Looking back, I should have done at least 10 days...But at least i know what I'm getting myself into when i get ****** back there.

Word. Where did you stay again? Sunlite Shinjuku?

I stayed at the Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku Hotel. Nothing but positive feedback from me on the hotel -- the best part being it's a 5 minute walk to the Yoyogi train station where you could grab 2 JR train and a Tei Oedo line underground. And it's much more pleasant to deal with routinely than shinjuku station. But, personally, I wasn't really feeling Shinjuku. I am going to stay in Shibuya next time, for DAM sure.

Originally Posted by hboogz

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I stayed at the Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku Hotel. Nothing but positive feedback from me on the hotel -- the best part being it's a 5 minute walk to the Yoyogi train station where you could grab 2 JR train and a Tei Oedo line underground. And it's much more pleasant to deal with routinely than shinjuku station. But, personally, I wasn't really feeling Shinjuku. I am going to stay in Shibuya next time, for DAM sure.
I love Shinjuku, but if I had my druthers, I'd stay in/around Aoyama/Akasaka. Ueno isn't too bad either on the other side. None of the major hubs are really that great of neighborhoods to stay in IMO, aside from the convenience. Going to try the Grand Arc Hanzomon this time for my one week stretch in Tokyo (if they still have rooms available in two weeks when I have enough to pay for it), and while not in the most exciting neighborhood ever, it's fairly centrally located right next to the Imperial Palace in Hayabusacho. $63 a night. Looks pretty nice.

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

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Stayed there about six times now. Will stay again. Thanks. $25 bucks a night in Tokyo buys you more than in most cities and it's specifically what he asked for. The hotel is only far away from "the good stuff" if you think getting shitfaced in Roppongi is "the good stuff". You can get shitfaced in Ueno, Asakusa, or Akiba too you know. OR you could not be an idiot and take a cab all the way across the city. You know what the train schedule is, the bars don't close. You miss the train? Go find another bar. Or a restaurant. Or an internet cafe. Don't blame the hotel for you being stupid. Taking a cab anywhere in Tokyo is pretty dumb at any time of day. The showers are fine. They are no worse than the showers at any average/better gym. Thanks for your opinion though.

newsflash for you: Tokyo is an expensive city.

Originally Posted by impolyt_one

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newsflash for you: Tokyo is an expensive city.
It's as expensive as you want to make it. Acting like an idiot doesn't generally help you save money in any city.

taking a Tokyo taxi when I want to makes me an idiot? We have reached a new level of Tokyo fanboy infighting