Hotel Search — how to use it

Open Hotel Search →
On this page: What it doesThe three sourcesRunning a search Reading a resultRates & availabilityAdding to a cost sheet TipsFAQ

What it does

Hotel Search lets you check live hotel availability and prices anywhere in Japan without leaving the dashboard — and drop a hotel straight into a cost sheet with the rate, rooms and nights already filled in. It replaces opening Rakuten, Tripjack and Google in three tabs and typing the numbers across by hand.

You'll find it under Quoting → 🔍 Hotel Search in the dashboard, or from the nav bar on any page.

The three sources

Results come from up to three feeds at once. The coloured badge on each card tells you which — and it matters, because they mean different things:

RAKUTEN

Retail rates — what a Japanese consumer pays on Rakuten Travel. Best coverage of ryokan, onsen resorts and Japanese business hotels. Use as a reference price, not a cost.

AMADEUS

GDS rates — international brands like Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, Hotel Okura. Good for group hotels near stations and airports. Shows whether a rate is refundable.

RATEHAWK · NET

Net B2B rates — actual wholesale prices we can book at. When you see a NET price, that is our cost before markup. These go into cost sheets as real rates.

Rule of thumb: RateHawk NET is the number to cost with. Rakuten and Amadeus tell you what the market charges — useful to sanity-check a Tripjack quote or to show a client why a hotel is worth it.
1
Choose the prefecture

Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hokkaido are at the top of the list. Names show in English and Japanese.

2
Narrow to an area (optional)

Pick a district — for Tokyo you'll see zones like F · Shinjuku · Nakano or A · Tokyo Station · Ginza. Leave it on "Whole prefecture" for the widest results.

3
Set dates, adults per room, and rooms

Enter the actual travel dates — prices change a lot by season. For a group, put the real room count so totals are right.

4
Optional: cap the price, choose sort and source

"Max ¥ / room / night" hides anything above your budget. Sort by price or recommended. Source defaults to All; pick one feed if you only want that view.

5
Click Search

Results appear in a few seconds. Japanese names switch to English shortly after — that's the translation running. Leave Show in English ticked.

To find one specific hotel instead, type its name in "Or find a specific hotel" and click Find. Dates still apply, so set them first.

Reading a result

Each card shows:

Rates & availability

Click Rates & availability on any card. It expands to a full table of every plan the hotel offers for your dates:

Every row has its own + Cost button, so you can cost a specific room type — a twin with breakfast rather than the cheapest single.

Availability means "bookable", not "how many rooms are left". The feeds confirm these plans can be booked today; none of them publish stock counts. For a group of 25, still confirm inventory with the hotel or Tripjack before promising.

Adding to a cost sheet

1
Click + Cost sheet

On the card (lowest plan) or on a specific row in the rates table.

2
Choose the sheet

A dialog opens showing what you're adding. Pick the cost sheet from the dropdown — the one currently open is pre-selected — or choose "＋ Create a new cost sheet…" and give it a name like KZFIT2026-231 Sharma family.

3
Check rate, rooms, nights

They're filled from your search, but you can change them here — e.g. 13 rooms for a group when you searched with 1. The line total updates as you type.

4
Click Add line

The line lands in that sheet as "Hotel: Hotel Keihan Kyoto Hachijoguchi, Kyoto (Twin) · with breakfast — per room-night (RateHawk NET)" with the source in brackets, so anyone reading the sheet knows whether it's a net or reference rate.

+ Hotels table saves the hotel into the shared Hotels rate table instead, for reuse later. Rakuten and Amadeus entries are marked "verify" because they're reference prices; RateHawk entries aren't, because they're real.

Tips

FAQ

The price here is different from what Tripjack quoted.
Expected. Rakuten is retail, Tripjack is a B2B net, RateHawk is a different B2B net. They're all correct for what they are. Cost with the net rate you'll actually book; use retail as a sanity check.
A source says "credentials not set" or "quota reached".
The other sources keep working. Tell Pkay — it means that feed's API key needs attention.
Some hotels are still in Japanese.
Translation runs in batches and takes a few seconds. If the status bar says "24 of 30 translated", the rest are on their way; click Search again if they don't appear.
I can't find a ryokan I know exists.
Try the name search with the Japanese name, or the English name without "Ryokan". Rakuten is the best source for ryokan; select it alone if the list is crowded with chains.
Prices are per room or per person?
Always per room per night in JPY including tax — even for ryokan, which Rakuten itself often shows per person. The tool has already multiplied it out for the adults you entered.
Does searching cost anything?
No. All three feeds are free at our volume. Search as often as you like.

Questions or a hotel that came out wrong? Screenshot it and send it to Pkay — the search improves with every correction.