Saitama Hotel Guides · Urawa Station

Best Hotels Near Urawa Station: Saitama’s Refined Side &
the Home of Football Red

JR Ueno-Tokyo & Shonan-Shinjuku Lines · Old Prefectural Town · Urawa Reds Country · Tokyo ~20 min

🚆 One-seat rides: Tokyo ~20 min, Shinjuku ~25 min, Ueno ~15 min

⚽ The heartland of Urawa Reds — Japan’s loudest football support

🍱 A century-old unagi (eel) restaurant tradition

🎨 Museum of Modern Art Saitama in a woodland park

What Kind of Area is Urawa? A Local’s Honest Take

Urawa is the dignified half of Saitama City. Where Omiya (our separate guide) got the railways and the bustle, Urawa — the old prefectural seat — kept the government offices, the book cafes, the good schools and a certain quiet pride. It grew up as a post town on the Nakasendo highway, and its side streets still hold an unusually deep unagi tradition: eel houses grilling over charcoal since the Edo period, when travelers fattened up here before the road north.

Two things bring travelers now. First, football: this is the spiritual home of the Urawa Red Diamonds, whose support is the most famous in Japanese football; on match days at Saitama Stadium the town turns crimson and the izakaya roar. Second, logistics: the Ueno-Tokyo and Shonan-Shinjuku lines both stop here, putting Tokyo Station about 20 minutes away and Shinjuku about 25 — with hotel rates a clear notch below the capital’s.

Between trains, the Museum of Modern Art, Saitama (a Kisho Kurokawa building in the Kita-Urawa woods) rewards an afternoon, the Tamagawa-style eel lunch rewards any day, and the Nakasendo’s shrine — Tsuki Jinja, with its rabbit guardians — adds a gentle stroll. It is not a sightseeing city; it is a very comfortable place to sleep well and eat better.

Book an old unagi house for an early dinner — crisp-edged kabayaki, a hundred-year tare sauce — then walk the quiet Nakasendo backstreets to your hotel. On Reds match days, do the opposite: join the red tide, then celebrate or commiserate like a local.

Getting Around from Urawa

🚆 Rail

Tokyo ~20 min · Ueno ~15 min · Shinjuku/Shibuya ~25–30 min — both trunk lines, no transfers. Omiya (shinkansen hub) is 6 minutes north.

⚽ Match days

Saitama Stadium 2002 is reached via Urawa-Misono on the subway-through Saitama Railway — allow ~30 min door to door.

🚌 Local

Buses fan across the leafy wards; Kita-Urawa (museum) and Minami-Urawa are one JR stop each.

What to See Around Urawa

🍱 The unagi quarter

A handful of venerable eel houses within walking distance — lunch sells out; book or arrive at opening.

🎨 Museum of Modern Art, Saitama

Kurokawa’s lattice landmark amid Kita-Urawa park’s chairs-in-the-woods — a satisfying half day with the campus cafes nearby.

⛩️ Tsuki Jinja & the Nakasendo

The rabbit shrine of the old post town, plus highway markers and storehouse remnants along the former Nakasendo.

Where Should You Actually Stay?

A compact, quality cluster at the station — rates spike only on big match nights.

🏨 East exit: The full-service flagship and dining floors.

💰 West exit: Business hotels toward the government quarter.

Recommended hotels

• Royal Pines Hotel Urawa — the city’s flagship tower by the east exit; spacious rooms and a proper breakfast.
• Urawa Washington Hotel — dependable mid-range a minute from the gates.
• Business chains around both exits — solid value 20 minutes from Tokyo Station.

Overall Rating: Urawa Area

Who Should Stay Here?

✔ Football travelers on Reds match weekends

✔ Tokyo commuting tourists who want calm nights

✔ Food travelers chasing Edo-period unagi

✔ Business visitors to the prefectural quarter

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