How to Book Hotels in Japan With Points - My Strategy for Great Redemptions

Good redemptions aren’t accidental - they come from understanding where points go furthest.

On our latest visit to The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto, we were upgraded to a room with a mysteriously large bed. We were swimming!

Welcome to the Hotel Side of Points

Like many beginners, I started by covering flights with miles. Later, I realized hotels could be just as powerful - and I wasn’t redeeming for roadside motels, but some of the best properties in Japan.

Here’s exactly how I search for award hotel stays in Japan.

The Tool That Changed Everything

My favorite award tool for hotels: maxmypoint.com

Why This Is Easier Than Ever

Another tool, another win.

Before modern tools, we searched night by night and brand by brand. Sometimes a 5-night stay showed nothing, but a 3-night stay starting the same day worked.

Every tweak meant starting over.

But not anymore!

If you are new to the points and miles hobby, you are not too late, and if anything, you have more tools and shortcuts than anyone ever had ten years ago.

Let’s Walk Through a Real Example

So now, let’s walk through a typical hotel award search.

Starting with Tokyo & the 5th Night Free

Let’s say you’re traveling in May, and you want to start your trip in Tokyo with a 5-night stay.

Marriott and Hilton give the 5th night free on points. Four nights or five cost the same - so definitely take the extra night. (IHG hotels have a similar rule, but for only 4 nights)

A quick search on maxmypoint.com (the free email sign-up version) populates a ton of options in Tokyo.

Narrowing to Your Points Currency

One of my favorite options lets you filter by brand so you only see hotels you can actually book.

Adjusting the Way You View Results

You can also change the search preference from “popularity” to “points value” and “availability”.

Working with 340k Marriott Points

Now let’s say you have 340k Marriott hotel points (a couple credit card sign-up bonuses will easily hit this number + Chase Ultimate Rewards & Amex Membership points transfer to Marriott).

Let’s squeeze the search to see just Marriott hotels.

Comparing Three Different Hotels

Let’s compare 3 hotels: The Ritz-Carlton Tokyo (ultra-luxury hotel), Mesm Tokyo (high-end hotel), and Aloft Tokyo Ginza (“normal” but comfortable hotel).

Here are the points calendars for May:

Click to Enlarge

Understanding the Calendar

The blue color indicates a standard room rate on points, meaning that whenever you see 5 blue boxes in a row, those dates are possible for a 5-night award stay.

Finding the Cheapest 5-Night Stretch

After a quick comparison, the cheapest 5-night stretch at The Ritz-Carlton Tokyo is May 4–9 at 506.5k. For Mesm Tokyo, May 3-8 at 282k. For Aloft Tokyo Ginza, May 3-8 at 214k.

How I Calculated Those Totals

How did I get those numbers? You can go to Marriott.com to check actual, real-time award costs, but you can also get an estimate by looking at the calendar: take the five nightly prices, remove the lowest, and total the others.

For The Ritz-Carlton Tokyo, for example, out of the 5 nights ranging from 119.5k to 128.5k, you would drop the lowest award night, 119.5k, and add up the other 4 award nights, totaling 506.5k.

Yes, This Is Really Bookable

This is the kind of hotel where the lobby alone makes you walk more slowly -floor-to-ceiling views, white-glove service, and almost always accompanied by live piano music. And hai - this is all possible with points.

If You’re Short on Points

Staying 5 nights at the Ritz would no doubt be unforgettable, but at a whopping 506.5k, you still need another 166.5k.

If your spouse picked up another Marriott card, you could make this work.

If you can’t wait and are willing to use some cash, you could buy Marriott points to offset the 166.5k, which would cost about $2,000. If, in your mind, splurging the points and an average of $400 per night is worth it, this is a direct route you can take.

As you can see from the screenshot below, cash rates are quite high - and you would still be saving close to $3,500 on the 5 nights.

Pro tip: You can buy up to 150k Marriott points per year. Your spouse could purchase the rest and send it to you for free. Also, limited promotions offer discounted Marriott points purchases.

Verify Before You Transfer

Just out of curiosity, I checked the real-time cost of the hotel on points.

The reason being, maxmypoint.com is not always 100% refreshed with the latest rates, so before you transfer miles or decide to book, it’s always best to go to the hotel website and double-check real-time award costs.

In this case, the points were not far off at all - MaxMyPoint displayed 506.5k, the Ritz website shows 508k.

If You Don’t Want to Spend More Cash

Now, after going back and forth with your spouse/ travel partner, let’s say you don’t want to spend more money.

That’s totally fair.

So then the options are clear: Mesm Tokyo or Aloft Tokyo Ginza. Keep in mind that, technically, there are at least a dozen more hotels you can afford with points (340k or less for 5 nights).

How I Break a Tie: Breakfast

But for the sake of argument, let’s say you’ve narrowed it down to just these two options.

Where do you go from there?

At this point, I always go to TripAdvisor and read reviews about the breakfast.

Since I have Platinum Elite status with Marriott, most Marriott properties in Japan offer breakfast for my wife and me (Ritz-Carlton, EDITION, and Bvlgari do not usually offer free breakfast).

In Japan, hotel breakfasts are events. Beautiful plating, local specialties, real coffee, and unrushed mornings. Getting this free every day can easily save hundreds over a week.

Burn or Save?

If saving ~70k Marriott points is important to you for another part of your trip - maybe you want to have 2 nights somewhere - then, Aloft Tokyo Ginza would be a great option.

Not only would you save 70k, but you would still be in a very central location, and the hotel has very nice reviews - citing modern rooms and a solid breakfast.

As such, the rooms average about $250–$400/night, just a little below the Mesm Tokyo rate.

Before Moving to the Next City

Once the first major stay is secured, it’s worth thinking about how you want to transition between cities.

One of the best ways to do that is by inserting a different kind of stay in between. Adding a cash stay at a ryokan (a traditional inn) or an Airbnb to break up big cities and hotel stays is ideal.

With a ryokan, you’re immersing yourself in Japanese hospitality and traditional food. Often, the best ones are in more rural areas, such as Hakone or near Mount Fuji (both about 1.5 hours by train from Tokyo).

Stepping into nature is also a welcome break after days in bustling cities. With Airbnbs, it feels organic to explore a neighborhood and wander into local grocery stores or boutiques. Cooking simple dishes (or reheating depachika premade food) doesn’t sound glamorous, but it can be a fun new way to experience “real” Japan.

The Day-Trip Trap

Most first-timers to Japan visit the big three: Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka.

It kills me, though, when people stay in Tokyo and take bullet trains to these cities for day trips.

First of all, that’s very expensive and inefficient. I’ve even heard horror stories from friends who booked one of the final bullet trains leaving Kyoto, only to be hit with a delay - and then - all panic broke out.

They somehow forced their way onto the last train but were left standing for two hours, squeezed by other last-minute passengers.

That. Sounds. Miserable.

So, the better plan would be to actually spend a few days in these cities so you don’t get stuck.

As if Tokyo wasn’t overwhelming enough, Kyoto and Osaka also have so much to offer, even a week would still be too short.

But for a first-time trip, or even a returning trip, five nights should be enough to allow you to explore the city and satisfy that itch for a little bit.

When Your Dream Hotel Isn’t Available

Let’s say, on top of the Marriott points, you have a healthy stash of Hyatt points that you intended to use for hotels in Kyoto.

And maybe the exact hotel you had your eye on in Kyoto is available - that’s great, your work here is done.

But what if it isn’t?

Don’t panic. Instead of forcing Kyoto, pivot the search.

Go back to Tokyo and switch programs - this time, narrow your results to Hyatt properties.

Tokyo simply offers more Hyatt options than Kyoto, and you may uncover a hotel that delivers a similar experience to Mesm Tokyo or even the Ritz-Carlton.

My Ideal Tokyo Combo

A quick search reveals two clear winners in my book: Park Hyatt Tokyo, a hotel that rivals The Ritz-Carlton for ultimate luxury, and the more cozy and practical Hyatt House Shibuya Tokyo for exploring.

And yes, it’s that Park Hyatt - cocktails above the city, live music at night, Tokyo glowing below you.

Splurging for a couple of nights at the Park Hyatt sounds very appropriate - let’s do 2 nights for 80k Hyatt points total.

Next, the Hyatt House Shibuya Tokyo for 3 nights - the perfect amount of time to actually walk and explore the buzzing, youthful areas of Shibuya and Shinjuku.

Back to Marriott for Kyoto

After finding potential hotels in Tokyo, you switch gears back to Kyoto and search for Marriott hotels.

Marriott has a large footprint in all three major cities in Japan, so you’d probably find something comparable to the 200k~280k range.

Taking the Middle Ground

Yup, great options as expected.

Much like in Tokyo, you immediately see three categories: The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto (very similar value to The Ritz-Carlton Tokyo), The Westin Kyoto (maybe a touch below Mesm Tokyo but close enough), and Genji Kyoto (Aloft Tokyo level).

So we’ll take the middle ground with The Westin Kyoto to enjoy a posh stay, with 60k Marriott points in our pockets to cover some extra nights somewhere.

Add Buffer Days

So with all the major hotel stays figured out, all that’s left are the fringe days, or “buffer days”.

I’ll explain this in more detail in the next part, Part 3 - Routing, Logistics and Preparing for the Trip, but essentially, it’s always advisable to have a couple of days after you land and a couple of days before you take off to yourself - to recover and recharge.

Oftentimes, I use free night certificates that I receive as annual benefits from credit cards. (Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Amex FHR, Chase Edit, etc.)

My philosophy is that if anything happens to the flight and I arrive late, I won’t be super upset or heartbroken if I miss these hotel nights.

And if all goes well, I can stay in a comfortable room in a familiar area and gently recharge after a long flight.

Especially if you aren’t able to snag business or first-class lie-flat seats, you’ll want these buffer days to adjust comfortably rather than going full speed right away.

The Itinerary Now Complete!

So, here you have it - an ideal itinerary that was hypothetically constructed on our little “points consulting tour”.

Depart the U.S. on 5/1, landing in Tokyo 5/2.

Stay in a low-key Marriott using free night certificates 2 nights, 5/2 and 5/3.

Stay 2 nights at the Park Hyatt Tokyo, 5/4 and 5/5. 80k total

Since we splurged, let’s stay the rest of the 3 nights in Tokyo at the nearby Hyatt House Tokyo Shibuya (extremely nice for a Hyatt House by the way!) 5/6-9. 60k total

We’ll take a break from Tokyo’s metropolis energy and go to Hakone for 3 nights - a ryokan with a sweeping view of Mt. Fuji from their famous outdoor open-air onsen. 5/9-12.

Now, all refreshed, we take a train down to Kyoto. You were torn between another Ritz-Carlton, The Westin, and Genji Kyoto, but settled for the familiar Westin - costing only 280k for 5 nights, saving $1,800. 5/12-17

5/17 go back to Tokyo/ Yokohama area, stay 1 (or 2 nights) using left over 60k Marriott and another free night certificate

5/18 fly home

A 16-night trip to Japan is complete!

The Value of the Redemption

Summary of points and cash used (cash values are conservative estimates):

2 Marriott Free Night Certificates/ equivalent = $500 cash value

140k Hyatt Points/ Chase = $2,000 PH Tokyo + $1,500 HH Shibuya = $3,500 cash value

$750 cash for the ryokan/Airbnb = N/A

280k Marriott points/ Chase or Amex = $1,800 cash value

Final night using points or Free Night certificate = $250 cash value

Saved: $6,050 on this hotel itinerary

The Real Win

Maybe you can have sushi every night with a bougie nightcap. You’d still have plenty to spend on shopping and tours. Best of all, instead of spending money on a bed, you get to spend it on memories.

Would you take this trip? I know I would! Now that you understand award flight and award hotel bookings, on to the final part of the series - The Framework I Use to Plan Every Japan Trip With Points - Part 3: Routing, Logistics, and Preparing for the Trip

Also in this series:

The Framework I Use to Plan Every Japan Trip With Points - The Complete Overview

The Framework I Use to Plan Every Japan Trip With Points - Part 1: Flights

The Framework I Use to Plan Every Japan Trip With Points - Part 2: Hotels