Guest User
January 30, 2023
Our group of 8 stayed in the condo (self-contained apartment on the ground floor), a double room with ensuite and a triple room with shared bathroom on the upper floor. The rooms are small by Australian standards but adequate for our purposes. It was great having the condo with kitchenette, dining area and our own washing machine. The floor heating downstairs was lovely. The reception area/ lounge and dining room were cosy and home-like and it was nice to have takeaway dinners there a couple of nights. Souza and staff were great, driving us around in the van and trying to accommodate all our requests. Breakfasts were cereal, juice etc plus a plate of food that was possibly unusual to an Australian palate but mostly good and kept us guessing. My daughter left her phone behind and Souza posted it to our next destination, liaising with the hotel in Kyoto to make sure it got there - excellent service. Be aware that in the mornings you can be dropped at a chairlift at Happo One or a bus terminal where you need to get a public bus to one of the other resorts. You need to make your own way back in the afternoon so there can be a fair bit of waiting and squashing into buses, carrying of gear and possibly an icy walk downhill back to the lodge. If you’re old and cranky like me you might not enjoy walking 300m (or any metres at all) in ski boots carrying gear down a slippery hill. A couple of times we ordered taxis from the ski resorts (Iwatake & Tsugaike) back to the door of the lodge. Taxis take 4 people with skis, boards etc and were well priced - great service. Overall we all really liked the lodge atmosphere and prefer it over one of the large hotels. If you like smaller, homely and a bit quirky with good service then this is the place for you.