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A trip to Japan is incomplete without a stay at one of their unique and eccentric hotels. Here's our pick of five of them that you should check into if you're visiting the Land of the Rising Sun.
Consider yourself a bookworm? Now you can prove it by literally booking a bed at the Book and Bed Tokyo. Set around the theme of a bookshop, you can bunk at this mixed capsule hotel in Shinjuku where beds and bookshelves are merged together, allowing you to sleep while surrounded by your favorite novels. The Bookshelf option allows you to sleep within an actual bookshelf and you can choose between a single room or a double room.
Making your stay futuristic is the Henn na Hotel in Tokyo's Ginza district. A hotel staffed primarily by robots, it was certified by Guinness World Records as the first hotel in the world to do so. The robot velociraptors, known as a highly intelligent type of dinosaur, staff the front desk at the Henn na Hotel Maihama Tokyo Bay in Chiba. These robot dinosaurs bow to visitors, and even occasionally sneeze, making them seem both peculiar and charming.
Tokyo's Keio Plaza Hotel has special rooms celebrating Hello Kitty, a popular Japanese cartoon character. The hotel has something for all fans with rooms for children and 'Princess Kitty' rooms for adults.
There is great attention to detail in sticking to the theme of this hotel. There are bright pink bows on the room's doors and Hello Kitty paraphernalia everywhere, even the wallpaper, hairdryers, garbage cans and bathroom scales. If you love all things pink then this is the place for you. The colour is splashed all over the place including on the tubs in the bathroom.
The Toho Cinemas building in Shinjuku is Tokyo's largest entertainment complex and home to the Hotel Gracery. To celebrate Godzilla returning to the big screen they went a little nuts and placed life-size Godzilla head on the 8th floor terrace.
There are also Godzilla-themed rooms and a massive monster waiting right outside your room window so beware! This hotel definitely makes for an interesting experience and a good place to base yourself if you're looking for non-stop fun in the city.
This is a boutique art hotel in Kyoto featuring 31 unique art rooms you can sleep in, a 10-story vertical art gallery showcasing the best of Japanese contemporary art, and a bar where the locals hang out, enjoying weekly art and music events.
Staying at this hotel is also a chance to do some good as the rooms visitors stay in support the Japanese artist who created the room. An opportunity to sleep in beautiful rooms and look at art without stepping out? Sign us up.
