Guides & stories
How to choose a stay that fits your trip — grounded in the official information we verify for every listing.
Basile Morin / CC BY-SA 4.0More Guests, Same One Bathroom: Counting Baths in a Whole-House Rental
Of 672 listings, only 50 state how many bathrooms they have. The median is 6.0 guests per bathroom, and 16 of the 27 properties sleeping eight or more have just one.
苗場山 / CC BY-SA 3.0Check First Whether They Open in Winter: Choosing a Stay for the Snow Season
Private stays and glamping do not all run year-round. Winter closures, snow tyres, menus that change with the season: how to check before you book a stay in the snow.
JosephCoston / CC BY-SA 4.0Sleeping in a Kominka: Renting a Restored Japanese House Whole
A restored Japanese house keeps a different kind of time from a new villa: a black-water onsen kominka in Isumi, a restored hamlet in Sayo, a seaside kominka villa in Izu.
W.carter / CC BY-SA 4.0Choosing by the Shape You Sleep In: Sleeper Cars, School Buildings, Storehouses, Trailers
Some stays are the building itself. A blue-train sleeper car in Iwate, a whole primary school in Shizuoka, a Meiji-era storehouse and a treehouse in Matsumoto, boats moored in Nichinan.
Yuya Tamai / CC BY 2.0The Night You Don't Cook: Choosing a Whole-House Stay with Meals Included
Private rentals are assumed to mean self-catering. Of 672 listings, 82 mention a half-board plan and 24 an all-inclusive stay. Chefs, drinks included, and the choice between cooking and not.
Danielle MacInnes / CC0Three Generations Should Not Try to Keep the Same Hours: Choosing a Whole-House Stay by Steps and Bedrooms
Three-generation trips get tiring because people who wake at different hours are asked to sit down to dinner together. Steps, bedroom counts, baths that are not communal: four houses to consider.
OKJaguar / CC BY-SA 4.0An Autumn Kitchen: Buy It, Then Just Grill It
Autumn produce asks little of a cook. Market vegetables, the local beef and fish, salt and fire. Three stays in Kawaguchiko, Echizen Miyama and Shimanami, and the 311 listings with a kitchen.
0x010C / CC BY-SA 4.0Autumn Cooldowns: Sauna Is Probably at Its Best Right Now
In summer the cooldown turns back into sweat; in winter the cold chases you indoors. Autumn, dry and well below body temperature, is when outdoor cooling works best. Three stays for it.
Drew Coffman / CC0Autumn Belongs to Dogs: Travelling Once the Asphalt Has Cooled
Summer walks are a fight against road temperature, and dogs do the enduring. Autumn changes that: a 2,500 sqm dog run in Yatsugatake, pear picking by Lake Togo, forest in Chichibu.
Guillaume Nargeot / CC BY 3.0Autumn Leaves, Framed by a Window: The Luxury of Borrowed Scenery
The real enemy of leaf-viewing may be traffic and crowds. Rather than going to see the colours, watch them from your stay: a gorge in Shima Onsen, Korankei, a stream in Chichibu.
DimiTalen / CC0Private Stays You Can Reach Without a Car: 21 Properties with Station or Airport Pickup
Whole-house rentals and glamping usually assume a car, a wall if you do not drive. These 21 listings state a pickup from a station or airport, grouped by region.
Timo Newton-Syms / CC BY-SA 2.0Rooms with a Wood Stove: Autumn Nights Begin by Lighting the Fire
A bonfire is an outdoor fire; a wood stove is an indoor one. Autumn, warm by day and cold after dark, needs both. Silent flame behind glass, embers that last, and the 98 stays that have one.