SHISHI-IWA-HOUSE KARUIZAWA — Hotel in Karuizawa

Style. Shigeru Ban designed hotel.

Setting. Karuizawa, famous for forest bathing, farm to table food and just escaping the heat

Explore. Karuizawa’s volcanic Mount Asama, waterfalls, onsens, shops and museums

Rooms. Was in room 209 (house 2). 215 square feet, tiny but cute room with a hinoki cypress wood bath. No mini bar/fridge. What I did not expect was how close it was to the main road and the sky walk — the openair pathway that wraps around one side of the building, so instead of being able to enjoy the view of the trees outside, when I checked in, the staff advised me to keep the blinds down between 10 am to 6 pm for privacy. Also, whenever heavy vehicles passed by, the whole house shook.

@ the hotel I am a fan of Shigeru Ban’s projects and have been wanting to come see this place ( I looooved Simose Art Garden Villa). Hotel consist of three buildings that you can get to only by walking alongside a busy road. Common areas are in house 2 and house 1. House 3 is not SB designed & looks totally different vs 1 & 2. You can see some of SB’s paper tube furnishings. The service from the friendly staff was a big bonus. No phone in the room but can contact staff via Whatsapp or Line.

Food & drinks. Had an excellent dinner at Shola, helmed by chef Masashi Okamoto, served in House 2 in the treehouse inspired common area, and typical for SB, built without visible pillars or columns, with fully retractable glass walls. I had some really nice sake (Iwa5) and whiskey and then regretted not having any cocktails when I realized they had quite a selection

Prices. USD495 room only

Rating: 4/5 for the loud traffic noise and the lack of privacy in room 209 (rooms across the hallway on the other side...

We stayed 3 nights here and wished it was more...It's a small hotel, can be reaches by bus from Karuizawa or Karuizawa Naka train stations or a quick ride by taxi. We did walk a few times to Naka Karuizawa station, it's a lovely walk....||The room is not big but very cosy and comfortable. There is kitchenette which is sharable with other guest. Local coffee and teas provided, simple meals can be cooked if desired. ||The hotel's staff is very professional and pro-active. All inquiries prior trip were answered. One afternoon they asked us if we had plans for dinner and we just said maybe we will go out, maybe not... 10 min later we got Ipad offered with their suggestions for dining in case we were interested....Reservations were made and we really enjoyed dinner place they recommended.... As well they gave us some tips for our day trip to Nagano and that did not disappointed us either...||The breakfast was delicious. We tried both western and japanese style breakfast and both were delicious including breads from local bakery, coffee from local roastery...||We travel to Japan once a year and I must say this place gave me: wow feeling in all aspects. If you like small hotels, fine with less amenities then you will enjoy this place!||Dreaming of...

Came across Shishi Iwa when I was looking for accommodation for our 2 night trip to Karuizawa and was blown away by the design and style of the hotel. Overall, we enjoyed our stay there and it was very cosy and felt like a nice retreat from the city. Because there’s not many rooms, you also have a lot of privacy at breakfast and throughout the day. The room doesn’t have a tv or phone and I guess they really want you to just soak in the entire atmosphere! Our room was at the end of the hallway so unfortunately it was a little noisy at times because we could hear the cars driving by.

We didn’t realise that the shower area was within the bathroom and were a little apprehensive initially but thankfully the shower curtain was quite effective.

Staff were very pleasant and helpful with calling restaurants for us to make dinner bookings.

One thing to note is the carpark is about a 7 min walk away and it is pretty quiet once the sun sets. There is a porch you can temporarily park at to drop and pick up luggage though. Not an issue if you’re travelling as a pair/group but if you’re a solo traveller then you might feel a little unsafe. Nonetheless, very glad we got to experience...