Anyone over the age of 18 can register as a NiaHomes guest.Registration is free of charge
Meet locals, meet the world
Sign upConfirm your email address
From Sign up as a Guest, send your email address and password that you’d like to use.
User registration
Access the registration form from the URL received by e-mail.
Send your name, birth date, photo, identification document, and other information from the registration
page.
Verification
We will let you know by email when your identification documents are verified by the NiaHomes Team.
Registration completed!
Now you can send a booking request.
Find your ideal homestays by travel dates, destinations, number of guests, languages spoken by host
families, house/room features (e.g. traditional Japanese room), and other criteria.
We appreciate your cooperation!
All homestays we introduce are private homes taking lodgers, unlike hotels or inns that specialize in lodging guests.
These are five guiding principles for doing a homestay in Japan so that both guests and hosts can have a pleasant experience.
We kindly ask all guests staying through NiaHomes to adhere the following guidelines when making a booking:
① Keep the noise to a minimum in residential areas
② Be eco-friendly (turn off all electrical appliances when not in use)
③ Be mindful of how garbage is separated
④ Fill in the guest book
⑤ Visitors need the host’s permission
We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in respecting the guidelines to preserve harmony within our sustainable homestay community.
Full guidelines: NiaHomes Guest Guidelines
Booking will be completed when the host accepts your booking request
When you find your ideal homestay, send a booking request to the host.
Your booking will be completed when the host accepts your booking request within 48
hours of receipt.
Find your ideal homestays
From the NiaHomes website, search your ideal
homestays.
You can
filter hosts by travel dates, destinations, number of guests, languages spoken by host families, house/room
features (e.g. traditional Japanese room), and other criteria.
* You can also search hosts from your My Page > Navigation menu: Search Host Family.
My Favorites
Click ♡ on the host’s listing page or search result to save them in “My Favorites” of your My Page.
You can use the “My Favorites” function when you log in as a guest.
Send a booking request
When you find your ideal homestay, send a booking request to the host.
1) Select the room you’d like to stay
2) Check availability on the calendar
3) Enter the length of stay and number of guests
4) Confirm reservation details (optional: send a message to the host)
5) Register payment information
* You can make a payment by credit card (VISA, Master, or UnionPay).
* Once your booking request is accepted, the accommodation fee will be charged to your registered
credit card.
(You will not be charged until the host confirms the booking.)
The accommodation fee includes:
1) Room charge
2) Service fee (20% of the room charge)
3) Consumption tax (10% of the service fee)
* No accommodation fee will be charged for infants under the age of 2 (on the day of check-in).
* 2% of your room charge will be donated for disaster relief in Japan.
(Applicable when the room charge exceeds 10,000 yen)
Confirmation by the host
The host confirms whether they are available within 48 hours.
You can review your booking request from the Bookings section of your My
Page.
* Your booking request will be canceled automatically if not confirmed within 48 hours.
Booking completed!
Your booking will be completed when the host accepts your booking request.
Once your booking request is accepted, the accommodation fee will be charged to your
registered credit card.
* You will not be charged if the host declines your booking request or does not confirm your request
within 48 hours.
After your booking is accepted
You will be able to communicate with the host from the Chat Room
of your My Page.
Use the
Chat Room to send your questions or messages to your host.
To prevent trouble, always use Chat Room to communicate with the hosts.
10 days prior to check-in
You will receive an email confirming the booking.
* You will not receive this email/notification when a booking is confirmed less than 10 days before check-in.
Meet your host family! (Check-in)
Your host family is looking forward to welcoming you!
After checkout
Send a Thank You Letter (Review)
【You will receive a link to the letter form by email the night before the checkout day.】
Exchanging honest and truthful reviews are an important way to ensure a safe and trustworthy homestay experience through NiaHomes.
Thank You Letter is our review form to be filled in by both guests and hosts on their experiences and submitted within 14 days after checkout.
〇 Guests are requested to send five 5-star ratings about the host (required), message to the host (optional),
and comment to the NiaHomes team (optional).
The guest’s overall rating and message will be shared to all users on the host’s listing page.
〇 Hosts are requested to send four 5-star ratings about the guest (required), message to the guest
(optional), and comment to the NiaHomes team (optional).
Except the comment to the NiaHomes team, the host’s ratings and message will be shared with the guest and
hosts who will receive a booking request from the same guest in the future.
Can we post pictures of you and us in the “Guest Book” of my listing page?
Selecting yes to this question will allow the host to post photos of you and them, if you have taken any during your stay with them, in the Guest Book of the host’s listing page.
Share your happy memories with other NiaHomes travelers!
Pay when booking is accepted
At NiaHomes, guests pay the accommodation fee when booking is accepted by the host.
The host will receive the room charges after checkout.
There is no need for you to pay the accommodation fee to the host during your stay.
* You will not be charged if the host declines your booking request or does not confirm your request within 48 hours.
When you use “For additional fee” optional services
The fees for the charged optional services should be paid directly to the host in cash.
Accommodation fee
The accommodation fee includes:
1) Room charge
2)
Service fee (20% of the room charge)
3) Consumption
tax (10% of the service fee)
* No accommodation fee will be charged for infants under the age of 2 (on the day of
check-in).
* 2% of your room charge will be donated for disaster relief in Japan.
(Applicable when the room charge exceeds 10,000 yen)
Payment methods
You can make a payment by credit card (VISA, Master, or UnionPay).
You will register your payment information when sending a booking request.
The accommodation fee will be charged to your registered credit card when the host accepts your booking.
You will be able to log in to your My Page after your user verification has been completed.
Reservations
You can see details of each booking:
Booking Requests, Confirmed (bookings accepted by host), and Canceled (bookings declined by host or canceled by guest/host).
From Chat Room of each booking page, you can send your questions or messages to your host.
* Chat Room will be closed 4 weeks after checkout or 2 weeks after cancellation.
Once the Chat Room is closed, it will become view-only.
Booking History
You can see details of each “checked-out” booking.
From “Thank You Letter”, you can fill out your thank you letter (review) and view the letters received from your hosts.
My Favorites
The hosts that you have added to your favorites are saved here.
Chat
You can send a message/question to a host before sending a booking request.
To start a chat, click “Contact Host” at the bottom of the host’s listing page.
* Chat is available to registered guests only.
* Your profile photo will not be visible to the host before your booking request is accepted.
Changing a booking
Details of a booking cannot be changed once it is confirmed by host.
To change the length of stay and/or the number of guests, the person (either the guest or host) needs to cancel the booking and the guest has to send another booking request.
Please note that the cancellation fee may be charged for cancellation after the host accepts the booking request and the booking is confirmed.
Please contact the NiaHomes team if you need any assistance to change a booking.
Canceling a booking
Cancellation by Guest
The following cancellation fee will be charged for cancellations after the host accepts the booking request and the booking is confirmed.
○ There will be no cancellation fee when a guest cancels the booking request before the host confirms it.
○ In the case of cancellation less than 7 days before check-in, the host will receive the cancellation fee, excluding the service fee and consumption tax.
Timing of Cancellation (Japan time) |
Cancellation Fee |
---|---|
From confirmation of booking up to 8 days before check-in | Service Fee (including consumption tax) |
7 to 2 days before check-in | 50% of the Accommodation Fee |
1 day before check-in | 70% of the Accommodation Fee |
On and after the check-in date (including cancellation without notice) |
100% of the Accommodation Fee |
* “Accommodation Fee” is the total amount paid by the guest, including the room charge, 20% service fee and consumption tax.
* The Service Fee is refundable 1 time per calendar year (from January 1 to December 31 of the same year) if the guest cancels within 48 hours of booking and at least 8 days before check-in.
* Refunds for accommodation fees, excluding cancellation fees and refund fees, will typically be made by the end of the month following the cancellation.
Please note that the time it takes for the refunds to arrive in your account depends on your payment method.
Cancellation by Host
When the host needs to cancel your booking, we will refund the full amount of your accommodation fee.
(In the case of cancellation after check-in, we will deduct the amount equivalent to the services already provided and refund the remaining amount of your accommodation fee.)
Join us as a host family and offer your home to the world!
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