Hakuba Alps Hotel

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.

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.

I stayed on Saturday during the Bon festival. I wanted to try a nice outdoor sauna anyway because there is an outdoor pool and sauna in Hakuba hotel, but it was not the right time. The outdoor sauna, jacuzzi and pool belonged to the kids, and they couldn't try after all. The room is an old-fashioned ski inn. The food is surprisingly adult buffet, which is highly rated. The bath is not open-air but semi-open-air. There are saunas indoors, but it's hard not to have water balloons. There's a lot of space out there, so why not make it there.... The complaint from Tsure is that the rampage of the child in the bath was tough anyway, it is always endless material. I can't help it because the price is good value.