Lodge Oka — Hotel in Yuzawa

You get what you pay for. Ideal for backpackers.

THE GOOD: Price, relative location to the slopes are some of the cheapest you will find for a place to base up. Rooms are spacious, bathroom/shower units in room. Mine was clean. Shampoo & soap provided. The public bath can be made very HOT! Very enjoyable once it’s cleaned. It's Your typical Japanese Onsen style so yeah you have to keep pushing the knobs to keep water flow. THE VIEW! You get a glorious view of the mountain if your on the front side of the place. The WiFi is legit.

THE BAD: No shuttle! From anywhere. It's a 15 min walk from the nearest bus station and about the same to the lifts and restaurants. No elevators (that I saw). Access. It's located on a hill. If your on foot the entrance is hazardous in winter. I almost busted my backside multiple times going up and down the steep entrance. There is no walkway either (that I could see). There is no restaurant or food in close proximity. The later it gets in the day the harder it is to find a place. (I found one ramen shop about 15 min walk away that was open around 10pm). Recommended that you bring your own food if you're doing a night session (or eat at the slopes b4 u leave). It’s a bit of a walk to the slopes but not too bad at least for me. (10-15 min). There are a couple of soda machines but that’s it. I couldn’t get the water or ice machines to work on the 2nd & third floors. The place is COLD, but typical of Ryokans. They have kerosene heaters in the room which can get it toasty, but the fumes from them are quite heavy.

THE UGLY: The public bath was filthy, and I truly mean nasty for Japanese standards. Perhaps it was because I went in so late but there was film and hair in the water. I turned on the hot water to let it all flow over the side. A simple constant flow would alleviate it from getting so many bad reviews.

THE REST: It’s an older place, but I kinda dug the nostalgic atmosphere. It feels as if the lady inherited the place and is doing her best to stay afloat. Service wasn’t bad, but it was severely lacking & short on hand. I felt a bit sorry for the only elderly lady I saw. She spoke Japanese, I have no idea of her nationality (irrelevant imo) but she seemed to be the only one in the place. Typical obaachan attitude. Nice enough for me & to me tho. Don't expect 5 star service and staff waiting on you hand and foot like the more expensive places. Communal refrigerators on each floor. I can't speak for rentals as I brought my own gear, but there doesn't appear to be a drying room. I just took my stuff to the room & used the heater.

SUMMARY: If you just need a bed & place to lay your head while on a budget, want to save a bit on the lodging segment, don’t mind a bit of a walk to bus station, slopes, or restaurants then this is the place. Bottom line: Don’t expect 5 star lodging for 2 star pricing. This is now a backpacking hotel that used to be a legit hotel in days past. The remnants of a bar & restaurant can be found in the 1st floor. Made me wonder what the place was like a long time ago.

EDIT: from what I have read and heard from talking with other guests, it is recommended that you reserve online to avoid haggling and extra fees. I used WAmazing for lift tickets (2day 1 night session), 2 nights lodging, and a three day JR pass all for around $250. (Room itself was ¥4000 per night.) I stayed here 23 & 24 Dec so weekday rates I assume. You can bet rates are higher on weekends and holidays. Especially end of year. That's typical tho.

LAST NOTES: If your unfamiliar with the area and looking for the most strategic place to set up base, I'd recommend near Toshiro. Located between Naeba and Kagura it's the best spot to access all three areas. just be aware that it's seasonal, so if it's closed you'll have to use the bus instead of the rope ways/lifts to access the other two. BE EXTREMELY AWARE OF THE BUS SCHEDULES!!! Echigo Yuzawa Station is 40 min away. Last buses to or from the area run around 5pm. A cab runs...

One word for this hotel, “No recommend” unless your first priority is cheap price.

When we arrived the hotel, we observed that the most of the customers were Chinese peoples. The host and staffs were also all Chinese peoples. Shared restroom. Shared shower room & dirty bath. There were all the services additional fees needed such as towel, parking and etc. The staffs were not supportive. For example, I could not park my car in the parking lot because of heavy snow. I asked them how to figure it out. However we didn’t get any support from them, and seems they were not interested in that how their customers got stuck or having difficulties. In addition, it was not easy to communicate with them. Because the staffs were not good at English and Japanese. Most of the time, they were absent at the front and the equipment rental room. I rented all relevant facilities for ski activities here. But the equipment was not well-maintained. It looks damaged. The skis and ski boots were scattered everywhere. Because the staff seemed no ownership for the common facilities. So I needed to figure out all the time by myself such as for finding relevant ski facilities or fixing it own way.

Strangely, the host supported us at the end of our stay such as the checkout process, refundable for the cancellation of last day’s ski activities due to heavy snow and helped each other in the heavy snow stuck situation. However, overall, we felt bad for the stay caused by the poor customer services and bad quality of facilities.

In conclusion, probably this might be a good place for group of Chinese tourists only. Because I had seen most of the Chinese group tourist guys looked fun during my stay and I just could realized now that the most of 4 or 5 good grade feedbacks came from only...

I do not recommend it even though it is very cheap.

Most of the customers are Chinese. Host is also Chinese. Shared restroom. Shared shower room & dirty bath. Additional fee for towel. Additional fee for parking. The Staff are unkind. I could not park my car in the parking lot because of heavy snow. I asked how to figure it out. But I cannot get any solution about it. It is hard to communicate with staff. They are not good at English and Japanese. Most of the staff are absent. I rented my skis here. But the equipment is not maintained. It looks damaged. The skis and ski boots are scattered everywhere. Because staff are absent. So I need to find my own skis and boots myself.

Strangely, the host supported us at the end of our stay such as the checkout process, refundable for the cancellation of last day’s ski activities due to heavy snow and helped each other in the heavy snow stuck situation. However, overall, we felt bad for the stay caused by the poor customer services and bad quality of facilities.

In conclusion, Probably, this might be a good place for group of Chinese tourists only. Because I had seen most of the Chinese group tourist guys looked fun during my stay and I just could figured out now that the most of 4 or 5 good grade feedbacks came from only...