Love hotels, also known as boutique or fashion hotels, are creatively-themed hotels designed for short-term stays by couples in Japan looking for privacy. With themes from castles to the Titanic, love hotels provide couples with private exotic getaways in fast-paced, crowded Japan. There are over 25,000 love hotels in Japan, visited over 500 million times a year. Some cities, like Tokyo and Osaka, have love hotels clustered in specific districts, while love hotels in smaller cities are found near major roads or on city outskirts. For short or overnight stays, love hotels don't require reservations; guests can simply walk in to pick a themed room.
Love hotels, while often in kitschy and flamboyant buildings, offer discreet service. Many hotels have underground parking garages and entrances, provide screens for license plates, and replace reception desks with touch screens featuring pictures of available rooms. In addition, some hotels may allow payment through machines rather than hotel personnel. Rooms can be rented on a walk-in basis for day visits, called "rests," which range from one to three hours, or, after 10 p.m., for an entire night, which is called a "stay." Rooms are themed and generally feature at the very least a double bed, television with erotic programs, and a bathroom.
Tokyo's Love Hotel Hill, one of the largest clusters of love hotels in Tokyo, is located to the west of central Shibuya, a short walk up from the Hachiko exit of the Shibuya subway. Best seen at night, with its bright lights and giant TV screens, Tokyo's always-busy fashion and entertainment district is a great place to explore before you stop in at a love hotel. Love hotels on Love Hotel Hill are easily recognizable from the outside, designed as Gothic castles, traditional Japanese-themed inns, and Caribbean getaways. Because these hotels are clustered together, you can easily explore the hill to find a love hotel that best suits your mood.
Located in the Kansai region, Osaka is a bustling economic center of the region and is popularly considered to have better love hotels than Tokyo. According to Ed Jacob, author of "Love Hotels: An Inside Look at Japan's Sexual Playgrounds," love hotels are clustered in four key areas of Osaka: Umeda, Sakuranomiya, Namba, and Uehonmachi. Umeda and Namba are particularly convenient locations to explore love hotels because they are near the two major city centers of Osaka, Namba being near by the colorful entertainment district of Dotonbori. Sakuranomiya is in a less attractive section of the city, but all of these districts offer numerous and exciting love hotels for your exploration.
