Karuizawa Villas

Traveling with 2 teenagers. This is not a suitable place for them. Check in at 3pm. You can check your luggage early. But, during this waiting time, you can only go for outlet shopping. Sadly, not for teenagers ! Staff are fine but quite fixed. For example, we arrived at 1030 and one teenager asked for using gym. They said no. It's his birthday, none is happy about this. At the early evening, I found you need to pay 2000 yean for each use of gym and hot spring. I feel this is silly. You are charging us anyway why not let us use and pay? Cottage: is cute and cozy but extremely oldx3. I think you can describe a vantage cottage. Clean but a bit of natural symphony from outside. Buffet dinner: selection if food was ok. Western, Chinese and Japanese. But certainly the entire area are a bit of pricy. 9000 yean plus 18% charges. If you dont have a choice , this is acceptable. Or you can choose to eat early at the outlet area. Hot spring: outdoor and indoor. Very nice setting but you pay 2000 per use. Overall, this area is pretty pricy. But if you are here to chill this should be nice but with teenagers I would say they rather live in Tokyo like a cheap hotel not this. They don't appreciate this at all. I still appreciate the service and the experience.

I really enjoyed my stay at this brand new hotel. Although it has been open for a couple of months, they have kept everything spotless. The lobby with open fire is beautiful and a comfortable area to have a drink and relax. The room itself was also incredibly clean and everything worked well including the WiFi. The hanten jackets were in the colours of the Ukranian flag which was a nice touch. The breakfast was good, as was the restaurant in the evening. The public bath was a nice place to soak after dinner. Service was good although it's clear the team was new and still training - I am sure this will change in time. Small criticim is there was no room service menu in the room. This was fine as it was on the TV but navigating to the menu needed Japanese skills. The architecture and general design is fantastic, as are the fittings and the carpets are just beautiful - same as all new IHG properties I think.

After a great stay at the Hoshinoya Okinawa last year, we were looking forward to staying at the ”main” resort, which did not disappoint. I love how Hoshinoya takes a completely different approach to luxury than a Four Seasons or an Aman. This is not about excess and opulence. This is about simplicity, discreteness, thoughtfulness and nature. We stayed at one of the water-side villas, which appear to be worth the higher rate than the row of villas farther away. Check-in and reception were a breeze, except for the expected English language gap. There are a few staff members who speak very good English, but overall you can tell some of the staff will struggle. The rooms are gorgeous. High ceilings. Turn on some music and it will echo wonderfully. There is some attention paid to lighting. The sleeping areas are darker. And quieter. The only sound filling the room is the rush of the water. The rooms are extremely clean and you will find yourself tidying up your own clothes just to not mess up the clean/zen vibe of your room. Being able to wear the yukata around the resort and even in nearby areas was great. Next time I will make sure to pack less clothes. We ordered the kaiseki style breakfast and dinner. The breakfast was a bit too much on the veggie side but the dinner was excellent. Pricey, but worth it. More reasonably-priced dining options are available at the nearby Harunire Terrace, which is a 15-minute walk or a 5-minute ride with the resort's free car service. The Meditation Bath facility in the resort was more than enough for me to enjoy the hot springs. It's open to very late and you can check via a web site as to whether the place is crowded or not. My wife ventured out to the larger Tonbo no yu onsen and thoroughly loved it. It won't take you a lot of time but just walking around the resort grounds is amazingly relaxing. The layout does come across as a bit too manicured but still very pleasing both visually and aurally. I didn't want to go too much into the details of the place because part of the wonder of this resort is discovering and marveling at it for the first time yourself. If you can shed the concept of excess and luxury and opulence and are open to a ”very” different approach, then go.