Japan Timeshare Recommendations?

[PDXGolfer]

Tuggers, any recommendations or prior experiences with timeshares in Japan? I did a quick search in this forum (and the International Timesharing forum), but did not find anything recent. We own HGV and were planning to use our points to stay at the new HGV resort in Odawara. But it's showing near-zero availability through August 2019. Another option, I suppose, would be to convert our HGV points to Hilton Honors points and stay at Hilton hotels in Japan instead. But, as you know, that's not the best use of the former. Any thoughts?

I'm planning to post in the International forum as well, if I don't get any responses in this forum.

Thanks in advance.

 

[tombanjo]

here is the list from the website, lots of places, it seems like silly points to stay there.

https://club.hiltongrandvacations.com/en/resort/japan

You may want to ignore timeshares (yes heresy) and book cheap local hotels. Which are an experience in themselves. Are you looking for touristy things or off the beaten track things ? Imperial palace is beautiful and worth seeing, as well as snow monkeys in the field. But not from a single hotel stay.

 

[alwysonvac]

Here are the two threads you might find helpful

Hotel Harvest in Japan (December 2017) - https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/hotel-harvest-in-japan.266654/

New HGVC location in Odawara, Japan (January 2018) - https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/new-hgvc-location-in-odawara-japan.269028/

 

[Maverick1963]

PDXGolfer,

Hotel can be a better choice, but where do you want to go in Japan? Or what do you want to do or see?

 

[jehb2]

I lived in Japan for several years and we vacationed there Summer 2017. All of the HGVC that I looked up were in locations that Japanese people wanted to visit (rural, countryside, quiet) places. Not the bustling urban places that foreigners want to visit. We ended up staying at Airbnb but we did splurge 1 night at an awesome ryokan. We would have forked over the money for a second night if our schedule had allowed for it.

 

[tompalm]

Just took a Japan trip in May 2018 and used points I had from my credit card. But, the hotel we stayed in worked out so well that I would recommend exchanging HGVC points to honor points and doing that. One thing I learned is the hotel point cost can change a lot from day to day and it is best to book rooms far in advance and keep checking for better deals. The real savings is to book four nights on points and get the fifth night free. We stayed at a really nice Hilton hotel in Nagoya for five nights that cost 190,000 points and also got royal treatment as a gold member from my credit card. A week prior to our stay, I saw where the rates on the weekend were 90,000 points per night. When we book months earlier, they were 50,000 on weekends and 45,000 on weekdays. I also saw the price change at the Hilton next to Disneyland from 30,000 to 70,000 points per night. So timing is everything.

We stayed in Nagoya and bought a one week pass on the rail. We traveled from Hiroshima to Narita. Every day was a trip to another city and we came back to Nagoya at night. It was an excellent adventure. The only problem was the hotel was a 15 minute walk to Nagoya station. But the hotel offered a free shuttle every morning and afternoon. I will stay there again the next time we go.

 

[jehb2]

The other problem for us was that were are a family of 4 and a lot of Japanese hotels can only have 2 people per room. We stayed in a total of 5 Airbnbs over the course of 3 weeks. 4 were very nice modern condos. In Kyoto we stayed in a really nice 2 story home. $800 total for 7 nights. It was in a great neighborhood and an easy walk to the station, supermarket, park, etc.

 

[PDXGolfer]

All, thanks for the responses. We are thinking of splitting our time - a few days in the Tokyo/urban area, a few days in a more rural area, a total of maybe 5-6 nights. Sounds like a hotel or condo may be the better way to go. Between the two, would probably be inclined toward a hotel so that I can use Hilton Honors points (converted, unfortunately, from HGV points), or even some points from other popular hotel chains (Marriott/Starwood, Hyatt), or a combination of Hilton and other. Any hotel recommendations in both the Tokyo/urban setting and a more rural setting (one where Mt. Fuji is visible)? Late July/early August 2019 is our targeted time period.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Hyatt Regency Tokyo in the Shinjuku district has decent point values. Points can also be converted from chase rewards.

On a clear day you can see Mt. Fuji from the lounge and from high floors on the back side

If you don't have elite status, I recommend the upgrade to lounge access (you don't need lounge floor though) because the lounge food and view are worth it.

 

[tompalm]

I like the Hilton Tokyo Odaiba. It is away from the crowd, but close enough to see everything you want. If you are not locked into Hilton, stay at the Prince hotel in Shinagawa. It is close to the JR line and lots of places to eat and very central if you want to go see other areas of Tokyo. I lived in Japan about a year and most of my time was spent here.

Hilton Nagoya is in about an hour away from Tokyo and a good location to take a day trip to Kyoto or other areas. The Nagoya Castle is a must see if you are down that way. If you want to see temples and shrines, stay in Kyoto. But, there are no Hilton hotels in that area. Maybe consider Air BnB or other hotels.

Six days is hardly enough time in Japan. You should try and stay 8-14 days to see more.

 

[tompalm]

If you only stay 5-6 days, stay in Tokyo and do a day trip to Mt Fuji or other areas. You can buy a tour from your hotel, or sign up with a travel agency below.

https://www.viator.com/tours/Tokyo/Nikko-National-Park-Day-Trip-from-Tokyo/d334-2142TYO_F300_F308

https://www.viator.com/tours/Tokyo/...in-Day-Trip-from-Tokyo/d334-2142TYO_F800_F820

 

[Maverick1963]

For five or six night stay, probably you will split 4 days in Tokyo and 2 days in another place.
And it's not a long stay. So it's better to have a short trip to the second place.
Just a few ideas.

Nikko https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3800.html
Izu https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6310.html
Mt Fuji area https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6905.html

There are hotels, where you have a great view of Mt Fuji. It is wonderful to see the mountain
while you soak yourself in a hot bath.
https://travel.rakuten.co.jp/mytrip/ranking/hotel-mtfuji/

The linked hotel articles are written in Japanese, but you can see photos. Google Chrome will
provide you with translation.

If you should need specific information, you could PM to me.

 

[tompalm]

I agree that more time should be spent in Tokyo. But if using Hilton points, the fifth day is free after booking four nights on points. So might as well stay an extra night for free and take a day trip somewhere on the extra day if you want to get out of the city.

 

[PDXGolfer]

Lots of great photos and videos in those links. And I like the idea of using the free fifth night and taking a day trip somewhere, though I'll need to build up some points to cover the first four nights (paying the 2019 maintenance fees on our Hilton Amex should help in that regard). Thanks again to everyone for the very helpful feedback (as usual)!

 

[junk]

https://travel.rakuten.com/