Roving58114439236
October 25, 2021
We stayed at this hotel for 5 nights to ski and see the village where Nozawa Onsen is located, which I hear is highly rated. The hotel is located at the far end of the village, about 500 meters from the Shin-yu double chair lift, which takes you to the Hirage Gondola (where there is a ski school, information desk, coffee shop, etc.). The lift is free, but if you want to ski then you have to buy a ticket at the top. You can't ski back to the base of the lift, you have to sit back by the lift. The walk to the ropeway is hilly but short and none of us in our group had trouble wearing ski boots and snowboards. On arrival at the hotel we were shown to our room and the maid made and poured tea and she was very hospitable. The hotel room was very clean. Our room had two western style beds and a tatami area with futon mattresses. The maid put down the mattress for us every night and put it away while we were having breakfast. The room has a fridge, minibar, kettle with green tea, a small snack or cake every day, air conditioning, alarm clock, flat screen TV (both Japanese stations), good shower and sink. But we mainly bathed in the hotel's hot spring shower, first in the purification area, and then sat in the hot spring pool for a few minutes. This is very relaxing after a day of skiing. The hot spring is big and after dinner, you basically enjoy the hot spring exclusively. The breakfast was Japanese with some western stuff, bacon, sausage, and it was great, including grilled fish, salad and steamed broccoli with a nice Japanese salad dressing, a variety of veggies I can't name and Pickles, rice, miso, rice dumplings, porridge, etc. and the best croissants and good coffee. Breakfast is included in the room rate. It's a pity we didn't try to have dinner in the restaurant as there was a communication issue. The price of dinner is expensive, 500 yuan per person, and the food is Japanese food with fixed menu. Nobody speaks good English in this hotel, our Japanese is limited, so we struggled with little things like recommending restaurants for dinner, how to use the electric kettle, is there a shuttle bus from the hotel to the ski slopes (there is none), the hotel lobby and The story behind the pot bird with wheels around the village, etc., are in trouble. As in many Japanese hotels and restaurants, smoking is an issue, especially in cold weather. There is also a computer in the stairwell with a high-speed internet connection (free), but no wifi, and the computer I brought couldn't connect to the internet. This village is wonderful. There are sure to be many small restaurants to try, all cheap and some high end too. Most have menus in English, and the owner has enough English to take orders etc, but struggles with special requests or questions (e.g. whether eggs are hot or cold). Pork ramen is always a safe bet, tasty and cheap. There are 13 hot springs in the village (indoor hot springs, separate pools for men and women), and they are all free (you can donate some money in the box). We didn't try the onsen as it was always full when we went and the hotel has its own onsen.
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