An amazing deal if you’re headed to Japan’s upcoming world’s fair, or even if you’re skipping it entirely.

When planning a lengthy trip, you’ve basically got two philosophies to choose from when booking hotels. You can either bounce around from one hotel to another every few nights, or you can pick one place to stay for the entire time. There are a lot of advantages to the latter, as it really lets you get a feel for the local neighborhood, and as long as you’re staying somewhere with good transportation access you can also use your single hotel as a home base for doing all sorts of daytrips in the region without the hassle of lugging your bags with you. Then there’s the economic upside, since many hotels offer discounted rates if you make a reservation for several nights in a row.

All of those benefits get even more beneficial the longer you’re staying, and if you’re looking for an extreme extended stay plan, First Cabin Midosuji Namba, in Osaka, is the hotel you’re seeking, as it’s now offering a 183-night package at a very attractive price.

At 500,000 yen (US$3,310), the Expo Accommodation Plan isn’t something you can pay for with pocket change, but considering that it essentially gives you a place to live for six months, it’s not a bad deal, and that price is about 60 percent off what First Cabin’s normal rate. First Cabin Midosuji Namba isn’t located in some dull, remote part of the city, either. The hotel is just a few blocks from downtown Osaka’s famous Dotonbori canal area, giving you on-foot access to tons of dining, shopping, and entertainment options. What’s more, the hotel is connected to the Namba subway station, allowing easy access to other parts of the city, and rail links to Kyoto, Nara, and other sightseeing destinations outside of Osaka are just short rides away as well.

▼ First Cabin Midosuji Namba

There are a few things to be aware of before you clear out your schedule for the next half year and make you appointment, though. First Cabin is a chain of budget hotels that’s somewhere between a capsule hotel and a business hotel. While you’re not sleeping in a multi-level bank of bunks, it’s not exactly a traditional hotel room either. For the 183-night Expo Accommodation Plan, guests will stay in a single-occupant First-Class Cabin, with a semi-double bed and about 4.4 square meters (47.4 square feet) of total floor space. It’s not palatial, but it’s not tiny either, and we were quite comfy during our stay in a First-Class Cabin at the chain’s hotel in Fukuoka.

▼ First-Class Cabins

First-Class Cabin amenities include air conditioning, a TV, and in-room safe, but no private toilet or shower. For those the hotel has shared facilities, but in the case of the showers, that’s not necessarily a minus, as there’s also a communal Japanese-style bath that looks rather classy, and a sauna too.

There’s even a hotel fitness room, and a lobby area lounge to relax in.

The other thing to bear in mind is that, as you might have guessed from the name of the Expo Accommodation Plan, this package is aimed at travelers who’re coming into town to attend the upcoming Expo 2025 Osaka world’s fair, and the period of availability overlaps exactly with the dates of the 183-day event, April 13 to October 13. In addition, the Expo Accommodation Plan is available only to those who have purchased a Season Pass for the Expo, which allows an unlimited number of entries to the event and costs 30,000 yen.

Of course, even if you buy the Season Pass, you don’t actually have to keep going day after day if you’ve already had your fill, and in fact, you could skip the even entirely and still take advantage of the Expo Accommodation Plan, since even after the additional cost of the Season Pass, 530,000 yen for 183 nights in a hotel is still a very impressive travel bargain.

Related: First Cabin Midosuji Namba website
Source: Namba Keizai Shimbun, Expo 2025 Osaka
Images: First Cabin Midosuji Namba
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