Lotte Arai Resort

the hotel is excelent.

We (family of 5 – kids aged 18, 15 and 11) visited for 5 days just as the ski season opened in December 2023. We were on a Luxury Escapes 5 night/4 day ski lift package. We chose Lotte Arai as we heard it was an excellent place for beginners. Unfortunately our experience was not positive. Luxury Escapes were not transparent at the time of booking that we were right on the cusp of season opening, which would have influenced our booking decision. Weather was not favourable and unfortunately the snow was not sufficient to fully open on 15/12 as planned (not LE or Lotte Arai's fault of course). This coupled with a broken chair lift (which Lotte Arai did not disclose - we only discovered when we arrived) and another chair lift that couldn't run due to lack of staff, meant our ski options (as beginners) were limited to one 350m run. 4 days of limited ski options at top $ was incredibly disappointing and no way reflective of the quality experiences we had with LE previously. We stayed in a lovely room in the Lodge part of Lotte Arai resort. Spacious comfortable room, somewhat tired bathroom. The resort is a hodgepodge of different buildings that connect only on different floors (it seems the property has grown organically over 30+ years with no real thought to full integration). Navigating from the Lodge to breakfast and the onsen took some planning, especially as one part was almost outdoors, in freezing conditions. Meals were at the buffet styled Plate restaurant in Lotte Arai Hotel (a full 700m walk involving a lift ride, outside (albeit undercover) walk and flight of stairs from our room) which was more akin to 3/3.5 star standard. On the plus side the bus transfer to and from Joetsu-Myoko train station was great; we really enjoyed a lovely dinner at the Japanese restaurant Asahi and the outside onsen was lovely. The separately run Myoko Snowsports school is exceptional and the resort's ski hire enterprise rents quality gear. Plus our step count walking around the various buildings was high! Lotte Arai staff were warm and tried to help best they could. But truthfully for a resort claiming to be 5 star, staff were not as polished or proficient, as elsewhere on our Japan trip. Communication in advance to organise meals etc. was difficult - often multiple days' wait for response and sometimes no response at all. We did speak to the Manager on duty on our last day to offer feedback. He was pleasant and listened. He offered a bottle of wine and free access to swimming pool and indoor climbing wall. Luxury Escapes similarly listened to our concerns and offered a $300 voucher for next booking. On a $4.7k booking it felt more symbolic than significant. All in all the most disappointing days of our holiday. We spent A$6k incl. ski gear on a "special deal" - it was by far the worst value on a 3.5 week holiday trekking around Japan.