Karuizawa Prince Hotel East — Hotel in Karuizawa

We stayed in both a cabin in hotel west, and a room in hotel east. The major negative in regards to this hotel is the inconvenient location from the train station, if you do not have a car. There is a shuttle bus twice an hour, but even when the hotel is not busy, the shuttle is frequently full of people who can’t be bothered to walk 50 meters, and you have to deal with pushy international tourists who have no concept of queueing when you are trying to get to or from the station with your luggage. The hotel really needs to deal with this situation to make it convenient for guests getting to and from the station.

The hotel also has a strange concept where you book a table for a meal at the hotel restaurant, and when you turn up for the booked time, they tell you all the tables are full.

We went there in early winter with three ski lifts open. It was quiet the first day, but the following days mid week it was super busy with hundreds of school students. Overall I think the ski experience was ok, given the very reasonable pricing for the lift tickets. I thought the lift operators and hire team were friendly and focused on the safety of everyone. It is probably not a good idea to come here if you are a beginner skier because the lesson capacity is very limited, it was fully booked every day hike while we were there, the did offer a ski experience lesson for absolute beginners, but even that was frustrating to book on the first day, and the beginner in our group had to struggle from 9am-2pm before she could get this introductory lesson, even though it is advertised on their website as having unlimited numbers for the lesson at 9am.

The facilities at the hotel were really good, especially the onsen, the ski lockers, and the great access to the ski lifts. The rooms where quite nice, and we were very impressed with the cabin we stayed at, really nice with 4 separate rooms with beds and bathrooms. The hotel staff are very polite and helpful, except for the 1 or 2 exceptions of some staff during the busy times where they become unhelpful.

The location is very close to the huge factory outlet store. You can walk there if you don’t mind walking 5-10 minutes, but if you don’t like walking then be prepared for the annoying shuttle bus.

Giving 2 stars because overall, we are paying a premium price but there is problems which make the stay frustrating...

I had a horrible experience here. As my son and I were entering one of the ski lifts, the attendant lifted my son to place him on the seat, but instead of gently placing my five years old son on the seat he picked him up and slammed him down. My sons went back and hit the bar that supports the back of the seat. This was my son's first time on a lift so he was a bit wobbly and my self being a entry level skier, I was unable to help my son very much. As the lift continued on I looked back and the attendant had a big smile on his face and looked have no remorce. My son began to cry but put on a brave face since he was excited to be on the lift. After getting off the lift I checked my son's head and luckily since he was wearing a helmet there was no obvious injury to his head. After my son bravely went down the slope for the first time, I explained what had happened and asked him to translate into Japanese for me. We approached the attendant and explained our feelings about the situation. He offered no apologies and had no remorce for his actions. All he said was what he remembered doing and continously saying "OK". Me being a foreigner in this country I am not sure of all the customs here but I know for sure his actions were wrong and should not be working with children. On a personal note, he tainted what would have been an amazing first for...

I hate this place. You probably think the word is too strong, so let me rephrase it, “I HATE IT”. Booked a family ski tour for two nights, firstly, I was told I had to check in at 3pm ( turned out it actually was at 2pm). We were wondering in the shopping centre (outlet or whatever). The centre is so poorly designed, you have to drive from one section to another section, and it is all outdoors. So you come in to a shop, so warm, step out, so cold. The overall shopping experience is awful!! We eventually checked in to our cottage, you have to have driver to drive you to the cottage, so far away from ski and main service building. The rooms are so cold, I wanted to sleep with my ski jacket. The warm water will take 3 minutes to come and the aircon has no heating option! Ski slopes are quite boring, snow is all make by snow guns and very sticky. If you are intermittent or advanced skiers or snow boarders, there is nothing for you. DO NOT COME! Everything will cost you money, even the onset in the resort. So, don’t go in winter and choose somewhere else if you want to see snow. P.s. I gave two stars because the service is fine. But nothing else is acceptable, including the expensive accommodations,...