Where to stay: neighbourhood guides

Hotel taxes to budget for

• Tokyo charges an accommodation tax at hotels and ryokan: ¥100 per person per night for rooms from ¥10,000 to under ¥15,000, and ¥200 for rooms of ¥15,000 or more. Rooms under ¥10,000 are exempt. From April 2027 it changes to 3% on stays above ¥13,000 per person per night, and will also cover Airbnb-style rentals.
• Foreign tourists pay a one-time Bali tourist levy of Rp 150,000 per person per trip. Pay online through Love Bali before you arrive, or at the airport. You get a QR-code voucher by email.
• London has no tourist tax right now. The government plans to let cities charge one, and the mayor says London's would be no more than 5% per night, but the law has not passed yet.
• Türkiye's accommodation tax is 1% of the room price from May 1 to December 31, 2026, down from 2%.
• Paris raised its taxe de séjour in 2026. Per person per night: €2.60 (1-star), €3.25 (2-star), €5.53 (3-star), €8.45 (4-star), €11.70 (5-star), €15.93 (palace). Unrated rentals pay 16.25% of the nightly price, capped at €15.93. Under-18s are exempt.
• Singapore has no separate tourist tax, but hotel bills add 9% GST and usually a 10% service charge (set by the hotel). Check whether the advertised rate includes both. Hotel stays are not eligible for the GST tourist refund.
• Hotel taxes are added to the advertised rate. Plan on about 14.75% in percentage taxes (state and city sales tax, MCTD and the 5.875% hotel occupancy tax).
• Rome's tourist tax per person per night: 5-star hotels €10, 4-star €7.50, 3-star €6, 2-star €5, 1-star €4, B&Bs and tourist apartments €6 or €5 by category, hostels €3.50, campsites €3. It applies to a maximum of 10 nights per stay (5 for campsites), and children under 10 are exempt. It is paid on top of the room price, usually at the property.
• Barcelona charges a municipal surcharge of €5 per person per night on all tourist accommodation since April 1, 2026. On top of that comes the Catalan accommodation tax, which depends on the type of accommodation (for example, one guide lists €7 for five-star hotels and €4.50 for tourist apartments in Barcelona). Children 16 and under are reported to be exempt from the regional part. It is collected by your hotel as a separate line, usually at check-out. We could not open the official tariff table, so check with your accommodation.
• The Catalan tax agency says the accommodation tax is calculated by number of stays multiplied by a rate that depends on the type of establishment and its location (Barcelona city, rest of Catalonia, and special rates).
• Lisbon charges a tourist tax of €4 per person per night, for up to 7 nights per stay, collected by the hotel or rental host. It is separate from the room price and may not show in the first quote.
• Children under 13 are exempt from the Lisbon tourist tax. Other exemptions include guests in medical treatment plus one companion (with documents) and students enrolled in Lisbon higher education for up to 60 consecutive days.
• Buy a T-money card at a convenience store (CU, GS25, 7-Eleven) or a subway station and top it up there. The card costs about ₩2,500–4,000 and works on subways, buses and many taxis. The subway fare is ₩1,400 with T-money, and transfers within 30 minutes are free.