Hot Spring Hotels in Omachi

Great service is very good

I went to Hakuba to ski for half a month and wanted to stay in a hotel with a kitchen, so I chose this place. It’s not far to drive to Hakuba Ski Resort every day, but the car cannot be parked in front of the house. It has to be parked in the free parking lot outside, but it’s a bit difficult to drag the luggage back to the room in the snow! There is no big problem with the room. There is enough hot water. The room has an air conditioner and a heater, so it doesn't feel cold. But for some reason the bedroom has no door. Maybe there is only one air conditioner in the whole house, installed between the living room and the bedroom? It's a bit administratively confusing, the details are as follows: I booked Base 2, but when I checked in, the staff gave me Base 1. I asked again if it was Base 1? The staff answered yes. I thought it was a deliberate arrangement by the hotel and did not investigate further. However, when I came back from skiing the next day, I found a notice posted on the gate. It said that the staff had given me the wrong room by mistake and asked me to go to the front desk, but they did not explain the solution. After arriving at the front desk, I could not communicate with the staff, and he did not say whether he wanted me to change rooms or pay more or anything. He just apologized for giving me the wrong room. I took the initiative to ask him if there would be other guests checking in. Otherwise, can I not move? Because I had already unloaded all the items in my four large luggages, it would take a lot of time to pack them up. Plus, I was exhausted after skiing all day and hadn’t eaten dinner yet. The staff was also hesitant and kept pressing his phone, but he didn’t use his phone to translate for me, so I was speechless… After at least twenty minutes of arguing, I took the initiative to suggest that I move back to Base 2, but he just kept saying OK OK. When I asked him to get the key to Base 2, he was stunned and asked me why? How can I move in if you don’t give me the key? There was no cleaning or housekeeping during the stay, even the garbage from several days was not cleared, which was really unhygienic; towels and other supplies were not replenished either.

This is the first time I stayed at a Hoshino resort. Perhaps my expectations were too high.  Food quality was the best reason to stay here. The restaurant offers an elaborate menu. The onsen is the next big feature of the hotel. It was not as big as seen in the advertisement. Perhaps wide angle was used. Location was not great. Not much to do nearby. The free transfers to Omachi helped to kill time if you have no plan to ski at Hakuba.  Service was patchy. Below are two examples: 1) Asked reception about train tickets conditions in general but the response was we are not train company. We know that but would appreciate help in calling into the train company or checking their website in Japanese. 2) Over a supposedly fancy dinner, the server was rushing us to finish by asking us to move unfinished food items from one plate or another by ourselves to make space for the next dish. I would have expected the server to wait for us. On another occasion, the server left the next dish on the table, with lid closed, without explaining what it is. We were not sure if we should start eating or wait. The server came back in a few minutes realizing that she had not explained to us yet and apologized.  With better service and things to do nearby, the hotel will see happier customers.

We love the location because it's not far from Hakuba where we go skiing. The facilities at the hotel are great; bath, gift shop, vending machine. However, they don't have a laundry machine which is not convenience for people who come for skiing. Breakfast and dinner are super delicious. The room is spacious, we booked the Japanese style with futons. However, we wish they come and fold the futons while we were out. Other than that, it's very nice hotel.