I Stayed At A Love Hotel In Japan – What I Saw May Surprise You

I am going to tell you about my personal experience staying at a love hotel in Japan and answer the burning questions I know you have. I’ll also tell you everything you need to know if you’re planning to visit one!

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What is a love hotel?

Love hotels are short-stay hotels operated primarily for the purpose of intimacy. Love hotels in Japan require no reservation, you can just walk in and book a few hours or an overnight stay. It’s super discreet… you usually don’t even see any staff members face to face and select your room from a panel of buttons on the wall.

Oftentimes the hotels are garishly decorated both inside and out. The rooms are often equipped with special features such as spinning beds, karaoke machines, and more. More recently, love hotels sometimes look like normal buildings on the outside but can be distinguished by the rooms having very small or no windows, and/or signs indicating hourly rest rates. This may be to draw less attention to the facilities.

The one we visited had a candy theme and there was a “chocolate” bathtub that could be filled with brown water. I didn’t make use of this feature, but our room was pretty decked out with candy-decor. The room also had some amenities to use for safe intercourse, as well as a vibrating toy (personally I don’t think these things should be shared)!

History of love hotels in Japan

The history of Love Hotels can be traced back to the 17th century in Japan, when inns and tea houses were built with discreet entry and exit points. After World War II, family-run inns with space rooms to rent became popular, especially once prostitution was made illegal in 1958. 

The modern love hotels we know today opened their doors in the 1960s. The name love hotel actually originated from Hotel Love in Osaka. As most Japanese houses at the time were small in size, shared by multiple generations, and lacked privacy, love hotels quickly became very popular as an option for couples. At the time, love hotels couldn’t advertise themselves so began to use crazy decor to indicate themselves to the public as such.

Why are love hotels in Japan so popular?

There are three main groups of people who use love hotels today: couples living in Japan seeking privacy for intimacy, sex workers looking for a safe place to conduct business (intercourse-related sex work is illegal in Japan), and tourists wanting an authentic cultural experience. They are also sometimes used by budget travelers looking for a cheap and clean place to crash for a couple of hours

Overtime, love hotels have become more female-orientated, with research showing that most of the time women are the ones choosing the love hotel and room. To appeal to women and make staying at a love hotel more of a holistic experience, these establishments have begun adding more fancy amenities and services such as jacuzzis, big screen televisions with access to spicy channels, gaming consoles, and toiletries.

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How do you book a love hotel in Japan?

There are a few different ways to book a love hotel in Japan. First, you can easily find a love hotel in Japan by searching online or even looking around for hotels that have outdoor signs offering “rest” stays with photos of their rooms– especially in the Dogenzaka and Kabukichō areas. Sometimes these signs may be in Japanese but you will still recognize them from the photos of the rooms, but if you’re unsure just whip out your translation app!

The most common way to book is to walk in through the discreet entrance and choose and pay for your room through a panel of buttons. The only time we had to make contact with another human was through a frosted glass window, through which a staff member handed us our key.

There are different types of rooms at different price points. Typically, the more expensive the room, the larger and more decorated it will be! At the love hotel we visited, we were able to see photos of all of the available rooms, which is standard. We opted for a room that cost about $30 USD for 3 hours. There were plenty of rooms available when we visited, which was on a weeknight at around 6 PM.

In addition to doing a walk-in, some establishments allow you to book online or by phone. Be aware that some love hotels do not allow foreign guests, but this is rare. Also, understand there may be a language barrier between you and the clerk. This was not the case for us, but if you are worried about this have your translation app ready or book online.

What is it actually like staying in a love hotel in Japan?

The Check-In Process

The love hotel we visited, Sweets Hotel Ruby, is located on “Love Hotel Hill” in Tokyo. As you can see from the photos, the hotel had a candy theme, both inside and out. And also offered free candy! The entrance itself wasn’t that discreet, but the hotel is on somewhat of a private street. Upon entering we looked at a big screen on the wall which showed pictures of the available rooms and prices.

Once we chose our room for three hours (which cost about $30 USD), we took a printed ticket to the clerk behind the frosted glass window to whom we paid and received a room key. We had no face-to-face contact at all. Based on what I’ve read online, some love hotels check IDs for safety purposes, but as far as we remember the one we visited did not.

The Room

Our key showed our room number so we headed up to our room. We found ourselves in an atrium which had space to put our things and a sink with toiletries similar to what you would find in a hotel. There was a small room with a toilet, as well as a room with an open shower and “chocolate” bath tub. We did turn on the bath to see what the water looked like – I think it was just water with brown food coloring. However we didn’t immerse ourselves because even though the bath seemed clean, I wasn’t that interested in giving it a whirl.

Next we opened the door to the bedroom. The walls were decorated like chocolate bars and there were donut pillows everywhere! There was also a hard seat decorated as a melting ice cream sundae and a glass table decorated with plastic sprinkles. Other amenities included a TV, menus to order food from nearby restaurants, things to “wrap it up” (idk what I can say on here), and most surprisingly, a huge vibrating toy. Even though it had something to cover it, I really don’t know if these things should be shared!

The Check-Out Process

We only stayed in the room for about 45 minutes because we just wanted to check it out. Once we left we dropped the key off to the clerk and left through a discreet back exit. There was also some free candy! All in all, the room was clean but not overly luxurious or comfortable. However, it seems like it would definitely serve its intended purpose!

Why did we visit a love hotel in Japan?

When I shared about our experience visiting a love hotel on social media, I had some people asking why we stayed in a love hotel. I don’t really know what kind of response they were anticipating, but the true answer is that we were just curious to see what it was like inside.

At first we only intended on visiting Love Hotel Hill (which has two candy-themed love hotels) but once we realized how inexpensive the rooms were to rent for a few hours we made a rash decision to go on in! I definitely don’t regret visiting as I can now share the experience with all of you!

Things to know before visiting a love hotel in Japan

Here are some other important things you should know before visiting a love hotel.

• Rooms at are almost entirely soundproof (maybe don’t test this)
• Despite rumors, there are no cameras in the rooms
• Remember to be discreet when interacting with staff or if you happen to cross paths with anyone in the hallway or check-in
• Bring your own, um, equipment if you don’t want to use what’s provided by the hotel
• Don’t overstay your welcome because staff might come knocking on your door and this could lead to a very awkward encounter

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In summary, staying in a love hotel in Japan is a great way to have a unique cultural experience. Love hotels in Japan remain immensely popular, with more than 500 million visits to love hotels occurring each year! Clearly, love doesn’t ever go out of style.