Hakuba Alps Hotel

“Dirty, Unfriendly and Good access to slopes”

Needs a serious investment. Badly run hotel. Probably the dirties hotel in Japan. Breakfast area is large and offer a wide choice. Staff not helpful and could do with smiling. On the plus side, very convenient for ski gear and access to slopes.

“Good location but hotel could be so much better”

This hotel is in a prime spot for Norikura ski resort, ski in, ski out. However it is a 25 min drive to the main area in Hakuba which is Happo / Echoland. There are some restaurants 10 min drive away in another ski area but you will need to take an Uber or have a hire car. There is nothing in th… more

This hotel is in a prime spot for Norikura ski resort, ski in, ski out. However it is a 25 min drive to the main area in Hakuba which is Happo / Echoland. There are some restaurants 10 min drive away in another ski area but you will need to take an Uber or have a hire car. There is nothing in this area at all, no bars or shops. The bar at the hotel was not open. The hotel itself is quite old and has a strange vibe. There has been no effort to modernise or make it more welcoming. With some modern artwork and new furniture with tea/coffee machine in the vast reception area could transform this hotel and the fact there is no coffee shop, bakery or cafe in the hotel is a bit strange. The room itself was quiet and clean enough and we slept comfortably. The staff were not particularly friendly and would not give us clean towels for the Onsen when we asked for them. The towels are very small. The bonus to this hotel is the Onsen area. There are indoor and outdoor Onsen and saunas, wellness etc which is very nice. I would suggest any traveller going to Hakuba should stay in Happo or Echoland area.

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“1 of 2 on snow hotels in the Valley”

We stayed here as part of a Tripadeal Aus package and it was a classic - “you get what you pay” for experience. Hotel is definitely mid range but room sizes were ok. We stayed in a fusion Western / Japanese room with 2 singles and 2 futons on tatami mats which was fine. Smoking and smell of smoke … more

We stayed here as part of a Tripadeal Aus package and it was a classic - “you get what you pay” for experience. Hotel is definitely mid range but room sizes were ok. We stayed in a fusion Western / Japanese room with 2 singles and 2 futons on tatami mats which was fine. Smoking and smell of smoke was a bit of an issue as doors to the smoking room and karaoke lounge were left open most of the time.. so the whole place smelled. Hotel staff tried to help by offering us some scented spray and were friendly and accommodating enough (shout out to Otomo San who was very helpful through our whole trip) but the cigarette smell was bad. Being on the northern side of the valley, the hotel backs onto Hakuba Norikura Onsen and the trails were great for young ones and beginners and being ski in and out, was ideal. But you are bus rides from everything and other parts of the Valley like Happo, Tsugaike (next village) or Cortina Limited food but hotel breakfast buffet was ok but Japanese style with some mix of Western (croissants and sweet bread). We chose to eat Dinner at a local family run place instead (see other review) which was not far from hotel - walkable. Lunch at the Snow drops cafeteria outside the hotel was cheap and locally exceptional.. one of the positives. Our passes as part of the hotel deal was limited to Norikura and didn’t allow us to ski across to Cortina (fine print stuff - where as a normal Day pass should allow you to ski both of you bought it locally) or buy a Hakuba Valley pass which gives you access to all the resorts. In hindsight, we should’ve just invested in a Epic pass in Oz in 19/20 which would’ve gave us 5days skiing. Ski gear rental offered by the hotel was also pretty average with very old gear (I’m talking 10-15+ yrs old) and definitely not up to scratch if you’re expecting new-ish stuff.. we ended up organising our gear through another place in the Echoland village (see separate review) which was great. There is a luggage delivery service which was helpful to send our bags back to the airport without having to lug them around all over Japan and the trains. Hotel onsen was the saving grace and great to have it just “upstairs” after the end of the day and is segregated. All in all probably just ok.. but we stayed here for the “value” deal and local experience.

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