Where in a hotel room do guests open their suitcase? A semantic analysis of guest reviews shows that comments on in-room storage and luggage space came in from 912 hotels nationwide over the last 24 months, more than 18,000 in total. Among the 100 hotels with the most mentions, negative comments (2,753) outnumbered positive ones (2,358), and 58 of those hotels drew more complaints than praise. Of the top 100, 51 are in Tokyo, 16 in Osaka and 9 in Kyoto, the three cities where inbound travelers bring the most large luggage. This article looks at where storage gets talked about, the positive share by hotel type and room count, the mention rate by review language, per-room cost ranges for fixes such as luggage racks, under-bed clearance and closets, and how storage sentiment lines up with estimated settled ADR among hotels of the same type in the same area. The aim is to read in-room storage as an investment opportunity.

Where Storage Gets Talked About — 76 of the Top 100 Hotels Are in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto

First, where is storage a topic? Ranking hotels by number of storage mentions, the top 100 (284,842 reviews in total) are located in Tokyo (51), Osaka (16) and Kyoto (9), so the three cities account for 76, followed by Fukuoka (5), Chiba (5), Kanagawa (3), Hokkaido (3) and Aichi (3). Re-ranking the top 100 by number of positive comments gives a similar line-up, Tokyo 38, Osaka 19 and Kyoto 9, but Tokyo’s count falls by 13 and regional cities gain ground: Fukuoka 7, Chiba 6, Hokkaido 4 and Aichi 4. In the top 100 by negative comments, concentration in the two biggest cities is even stronger, with Tokyo at 51 and Osaka at 22, while Kyoto has only 4.

In other words, the places where storage is “talked about” and where it is “praised” overlap but do not coincide. Tokyo and Osaka generate a large absolute volume of mentions and a large share of the complaints. Kyoto, on the other hand, places 9 hotels in the top 100 by mentions but only 4 in the top 100 by negatives, which suggests that storage is relatively well received there compared with the other two cities.

Source: HotelBank Editorial Team research (NLP analysis of guest reviews, last 24 months)

Splitting by hotel type makes the picture clearer. Taking the top 100 hotels by mentions in each of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, 300 hotels in total (625,323 reviews; 3,701 positive and 4,881 negative storage comments), the positive share is above half for capsule hotels (36 hotels, 54.4%) and hostels (8 hotels, 56.9%). By contrast, it is 42.1% for business hotels (185), 34.8% for city hotels (49) and 26.9% for deluxe hotels (10): the higher the grade, the lower the positive share. The median mention rate follows the same order, capsule 3.4%, business 1.43%, city 1.09%, deluxe 0.8%. One reading is that capsule-type hotels get talked about for storage as a design selling point, while at higher grades guests talk about the gap between storage and their expectations.

Source: HotelBank Editorial Team research (top 100 hotels by storage mentions in each of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, N=300 hotels, last 24 months)

Positive vs. Negative Share and Hotel Size — Positive Share Drops 10 pts at 200 Rooms

So in what kind of rooms does storage get praised? Splitting the 300 hotels by room count, the positive share is 50.5% for hotels with 99 rooms or fewer (34 hotels) and 47.7% for 100–199 rooms (105), versus 38.4% for 200–399 rooms (92) and 40.3% for 400 rooms or more (68), a step down of about 10 pts at the 200-room line. Looking only at the top 100 hotels by negative comments, the median room count of the 89 hotels with known room counts is 315, and 39 have 400 rooms or more. Larger hotels standardize their rooms further, fixing under-bed and closet dimensions uniformly, which likely makes a gap with guests carrying large luggage more common.

Source: HotelBank Editorial Team research (NLP analysis of guest reviews, last 24 months)

The same direction shows up by grade. Budget hotels (60) have a positive share of 57.7%, compared with 43.8% for economy (40), 38.1% for upper (83), 36.1% for high-grade (47) and 33.4% for luxury (26): each step up in price tier lowers the positive share. Splitting the 213 hotels with known room sizes by size band gives 45.0% for under 15 sqm (64 hotels), 35.5% for 15–20 sqm (69), 33.4% for 20–25 sqm (45) and 39.0% for 25 sqm or more (35), so there is no simple relationship where a bigger room means better storage reviews. What drives storage sentiment seems to be not floor area as such, but whether the room has floor space where a suitcase can lie open and enough height to stow it closed.

Source: HotelBank Editorial Team research (NLP analysis of guest reviews, last 24 months)

Hotels Where Storage Is Praised — Under-Bed Space and Lockable Lockers in Common

Hotels where storage is spoken of positively share common traits. In Tokyo, 10 hotels have a positive share of 80% or more with at least 15 mentions; of the 8 listed here, 5 are capsule/hostel types and 3 are limited-service hotels, and in every case guests name specific places such as “under the bed”, “lockable” or “luggage space”. MyCUBE by MYSTAYS Asakusa Kuramae (161 rooms) stands out with a mention rate of 12.9%, 122 positive comments against 4 negative. RESOL POSHTEL Tokyo Asakusa (110 rooms) draws “large luggage fits under the bed”, Hotel Tavinos Hamamatsucho (188 rooms) “you can store your suitcase under the bed…”, and The Tourist Hotel & Cafe Akihabara (143 rooms) “the space under the bed works as a luggage area…”, so beds designed with under-bed clearance sit at the center of the praise. At 1980 Yen Hotel Tokyo (128 rooms) comments such as “lockable lockers that fit a whole suitcase…” stand out, and at HOTEL owl TOKYO (56 rooms) “lots of storage…” (all from guest reviews of each hotel compiled by the HotelBank Editorial Team, November 2024 to October 2026).

Source: HotelBank Editorial Team research (8 of the 10 Tokyo hotels with a positive share of 80%+ and 15+ mentions, last 24 months). Quotes are partial.

Locations of the 8 Tokyo hotels where storage is praised (circle size = room count). Source: HotelBank Editorial Team research

It is also worth noting that 6 of the 8 hotels are clustered in Taito Ward and neighboring Arakawa Ward (Asakusa, Kuramae, Iriya, Akihabara, Nippori). This area has good access from Narita and Haneda and many long-staying inbound guests, and room designs that assume large luggage translate directly into positive reviews. In Osaka, Fraser Residence Nankai Osaka (114 rooms; 24 positive, 1 negative), Hotel Cargo Shinsaibashi (84 rooms; 22 positive, 4 negative) and Hotel The Rock (98 rooms; 21 positive, 4 negative) fit the same pattern, as do Peace Hostel Sanjo (78 rooms; 32 positive, 8 negative) and The Millennials Kyoto (87 rooms; 30 positive, 6 negative) in Kyoto. Even among large tower-type hotels there are examples such as APA Hotel & Resort Ryogoku Eki Tower, which has collected 45 positive comments like “you can store luggage under the bed…”, showing that under-bed space works regardless of hotel size.

Mention Rate by Review Language — Japanese Reviews Talk About Storage More

We tested by language the hypothesis that inbound travelers’ large luggage is behind storage complaints. Splitting the 365,289 reviews of 146 hotels (the top 100 by mentions combined with the top 100 by positive comments) by language, storage was mentioned in 3,896 of 201,994 Japanese reviews (1.93%), 1,058 of 100,674 English reviews (1.05%), 83 of 12,965 Korean reviews (0.64%) and 12 of 12,308 Traditional Chinese reviews (0.10%). Japanese reviewers bring up storage about 1.8 times as often as English reviewers, so the data does not support the idea that “the more inbound the guest, the more they write about storage”. That different languages favor different topics can also be seen in Room Cleanliness: Foreign Reviews Mention It 1.5x More.

The negative share, however, is a different story. Of Japanese storage mentions, 44.7% are negative, versus 47.9% in English, so English leans slightly more negative. Korean is mostly positive at 31.3% negative. English-speaking guests write about storage less often, but when they do, nearly half point out a gap with their expectations, so a fair reading is that the higher a hotel’s share of English reviews, the more a storage upgrade is likely to show up in its reviews. Note that semantic analysis may detect Chinese less sensitively than Japanese or English, so the low mention rate should not be read directly as low interest.

Source: HotelBank Editorial Team research (NLP analysis of guest reviews, last 24 months)

Public data also confirms the demand created by large luggage. In the final report of the Japan Tourism Agency’s survey project on promoting hands-free sightseeing, published in June 2026, a questionnaire of 1,598 foreign visitors found that satisfaction among travelers who used luggage delivery or storage was 94.3%, that it freed up as much as 1.5 extra hours for sightseeing, and that the most wanted service was “delivery to/from airports and accommodation” at 64.6%. Accommodation is the start and end point of the luggage flow, so in-room storage and in-house storage/delivery are judged as one continuous service. On the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu Shinkansen lines, luggage with total dimensions over 160 cm requires an advance reservation of a dedicated seat, with “10+ nights, 100L+” suitcases given as the guideline. According to the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), visitor arrivals in September 2026 were 3,103,700 (down 5.0% YoY), bringing the January–September total to 30.73 million.

Per-Room Cost Ranges by Fix — From ¥10k-Range Luggage Racks to New Closets at ¥200k+

Improving storage sentiment does not require a major renovation. Organizing general market prices per room gives the four tiers below. All costs are ranges of published listed prices and market rates, and vary with installation conditions and quantities.

Source: Listed prices on a hotel-supply online store; residential renovation market rates (crexgroup); per room-night conversion by the HotelBank Editorial Team (80% occupancy and 5–10-year life are this article’s assumptions)

Fixes (1) and (2) directly deliver the two things guests praise in reviews: “a suitcase fits under the bed” and “luggage can lie open”. Per room-night, (1) works out to about ¥6–13 and (2) to about ¥29–32, the same order of magnitude as mattress replacement at ¥13–89 per room-night (see Hotel Mattress Replacement: ¥13–89 per Room-Night for the estimate). (3) frees up floor space without changing room size; given the 35.5% positive share in the 15–20 sqm band, it is worth trying before enlarging rooms. (4) is realistically something to build into the design at new construction or full renovation. For the room stock in the building-age bands where equipment renewals overlap, see 214k Hotel Rooms Aged 25–35 Face Equipment Renewal.

Testing the Rate Gap — Hotel Groups with More Complaints Sit in Higher Rate Bands

Finally, we check the relationship between storage sentiment and rates within the same area and hotel type. Of the 300 hotels, those with estimated settled ADR available for at least 6 of the last 12 months (finalized months from November 2025 to October 2026) were divided into three groups by positive share (70% or more, 50–70%, under 50%), and each group’s median of hotel-level ADR was set against the area-wide median.

Source: MetroEngines Research & Consulting (hotel-level and area-level estimated settled ADR, monthly medians) / HotelBank Editorial Team research (review NLP analysis). Area-wide N is the median number of hotels with a calculated rate per month

Source: MetroEngines Research & Consulting (estimated settled ADR) / HotelBank Editorial Team research (review NLP analysis)

Among Tokyo business hotels, the 9 hotels with a storage positive share of 70% or more have a median ADR of ¥13,000, roughly level with the area median of ¥13,400, whereas the 33 hotels under 50% sit at ¥22,000, a rate band about 1.7 times that of the 70%+ group. Kyoto business hotels trace the same staircase at ¥10,400, ¥11,800 and ¥13,900, and among Osaka city hotels the under-50% group is at ¥24,800 against ¥21,400 for the 50–70% group. Osaka business hotels, on the other hand, show a reversed pattern across the three groups, so the tendency does not hold in every area.

These results cannot be read as “better storage raises rates” or as “raising rates leads to storage complaints”. The more natural interpretation is that the higher a hotel’s rate band, the higher the standard guests expect of the room, and storage becomes an easy way to voice the gap with that expectation. Put differently, for business and city hotels with ADR above ¥20,000, storage is room for improvement that completes an experience worthy of the rate, and as a gap that can be closed with an investment of tens of yen per room-night, it ranks among the most cost-effective fixes. At hotels whose ADR is close to the area median, positive storage may already be part of why guests choose them; stating it explicitly in plan names and room photos, for example “space for 2 suitcases under the bed” or “with lockable lockers”, can become a selling point for capturing long-stay inbound demand.

Summary — Storage Is an Investment in “Height and Floor Space”, Not “Floor Area”

To sum up, in-room storage is talked about most at large, higher-grade hotels in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, and 58 of the top 100 hotels by mentions draw more negative than positive comments. What well-rated hotels have in common is under-bed clearance and lockable luggage space, with no correlation to room size bands. By language, Japanese reviews put storage into words more readily, while English reviews do so less often but with a slightly higher negative share. Fixes can start with luggage racks in the ¥10k range per room, and securing under-bed clearance when beds are replaced adds almost no extra cost. Within the same area and hotel type, the groups of hotels with more storage complaints sit in higher rate bands, leaving storage as room to complete an experience that matches expectations at high-rate hotels. In a 2026 market where total inbound arrivals have leveled off, there are few areas where an investment of tens of yen per room-night can change the direction of reviews. Storage is one of those few.

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