Hotel Hakuba Hifumi

“Excellent facilities and superb service”

My wife and I visited as part of a ski trip. Hifumi is a bit of a walk to the nearest ski lift but the ski bus if very close and runs more often than the timetable suggests. Our room (Sen) was huge and lovely. The en-suite onsen was a real luxury. Breakfast is excellent (both Japanese and Europea… more

My wife and I visited as part of a ski trip. Hifumi is a bit of a walk to the nearest ski lift but the ski bus if very close and runs more often than the timetable suggests. Our room (Sen) was huge and lovely. The en-suite onsen was a real luxury. Breakfast is excellent (both Japanese and European options). The real highlight was the service. The 2 young ladies who front a lot of the service are possibly the most helpful people I have ever met. They are superb, nothing is too much trouble.

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“Best hotel I’ve ever stayed in”

This is the best hotel I have ever stayed at. I came for longer than a week and the service was exceptional. Every person who worked there was so nice. Every day, my bed had been made with perfection and some drinks put in the mini fridge. The hotel has a restaurant for breakfast and dinner. Breakf… more

This is the best hotel I have ever stayed at. I came for longer than a week and the service was exceptional. Every person who worked there was so nice. Every day, my bed had been made with perfection and some drinks put in the mini fridge. The hotel has a restaurant for breakfast and dinner. Breakfasts were amazing with a different kind of delicious fish every day. The hotel has a good ski storage room and a drying room. Additionally, there were onsen baths in the hotel for anyone staying at to use, as well as one in my room on the deck. Overall, this hotel was so good and I would definitely come back next time.

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“Excellent restaurant”

Unfortunately we were not staying in this hotel (we will next time we are in Hakuba) but we had the most amazing dinner at the restaurant. From the deco to the amazing staff and the fabulous food, everything was perfect. Highly recommend it for a Japanese meal.

“So disappointing and overpriced”

Some background on this stay, we tried to book this ryokan 2 years in a row and when we finally got a booking, the pandemic hit. So we finally only made it 3 years after the first attempt to book. Due to this, sadly the anticipation to stay at this inn was a big let down. Some of the deluxe rooms … more

Some background on this stay, we tried to book this ryokan 2 years in a row and when we finally got a booking, the pandemic hit. So we finally only made it 3 years after the first attempt to book. Due to this, sadly the anticipation to stay at this inn was a big let down. Some of the deluxe rooms with outdoor bath were advertised as being renewed and this led to an impression that all deluxe rooms with baths would be of similar standard. It was also my fault that I didn’t pay closer attention to the room we were assigned to and therefore when I saw the bath in the room we got, which was a round metallic tub with some questionable surfaces on the bottom I felt really let down, instead of a nice wooden bath that I was expecting. The main reason for staying in a ryokan is usually a Japanese style tatami room, Onsen facilities and amazing food. The tatami part of our room was small and the main part was western style with a very off-putting cloth covered sofa which I would not like to see what is actually beneath it. The rug was also old and not too clean. Honestly it was quite shocking that this room costs us over ¥50,000 per night for 2 adults and one child. Ryokans always charge by the number of people and in return breakfasts and dinners are provided. There was only breakfast and dinner was additionally charged which is the first time ever in 20 years of traveling in Japan. There was no reason to charge by per person for the room then. Staying 6 nights is the equivalent of an engineer’s monthly salary in Japan and this is simply exorbitant for the standard of the room with only breakfast included. One more thing is that the only shower in the room is also outside and there are open gaps in the window so it’s always freezing in the bath area and water in the tub gets cold in 10 mins. Not very relaxing either, this is simply a bad design. Onsen facilities are small with no outdoor space and the smell was overpowering due to lack of ventilation. The staff was friendly but service is a bit lacking, we didn’t even get offered any tea at all upon checking in. Foreigners may not always be welcomed in Japan but in a international tourist place like Hakuba I really wish that the Japanese would keep their famous hospitality standards or just not accept foreign guests if they do not wish to do so. It should not be different standards for Japanese and foreign guests. For future visitors who would like to have a deluxe room with a bath, I would recommend to avoid’Hina’ room unless you want to have a metallic tub.

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