Yuzawa Toei Hotel — Hotel in Yuzawa

The hotel looks worn and doubts started to creep in when we were waiting for check in at the lobby.||+ To be fair, the room is clean and the Japanese room very spacious. |+ And despite the little English language staff members spoke, service was always obliging and very pleasant.|+ Complimentary shuttle service from/to JR Echigo-Yuzawa, so that you don’t have to lug your bags 8 minutes up a steep slope.|+ Onsen is complimentary, no added fee.|+ We paid for breakfast, which turned out to be the Japanese traditional sort. ||- This hotel serves local clientele, which makes it difficult for them to entertain complex queries or provide a local insight to the town.|- TV channels are all local Japanese and the facilities are very basic. Not suitable for those who need their creature comforts like foreign viewing channels + well appointed toiletries. With sundown as early as 4pm, one would struggle to keep the kids entertained.|- Very limited food options. We had to walk out every lunch and dinner to find little restaurants lining the streets. The walk out is fairly quiet and cold. Not suitable for families with young children.|- Although this property advertises ski-in, ski-out options, there is very limited snow play areas for children. |We were told sternly by an old Uncle (doesn’t look like hotel staff) who insisted our kids cannot play outside the hotel porch and wanted us to pay ¥500 per pax to enter his fenced area just to toboggan down a small pathetic slope.||You can take the Yuzawa Kogen Ropeway up the hill (¥2000 per adult, ¥1000 per child above 6, return) and there are powder snow areas for younger kids to hang out at.||Food is expensive uphill - our lunch of a pizza, a pasta, hot stew and 2 cakes (no drinks)...

The hotel looks worn and doubts started to creep in when we were waiting for check in at the lobby.||+ To be fair, the room is clean and the Japanese room very spacious. |+ And despite the little English language staff members spoke, service was always obliging and very pleasant.|+ Complimentary shuttle service from/to JR Echigo-Yuzawa, so that you don’t have to lug your bags 8 minutes up a steep slope.|+ Onsen is complimentary, no added fee.|+ We paid for breakfast, which turned out to be the Japanese traditional sort. ||- This hotel serves local clientele, which makes it difficult for them to entertain complex queries or provide a local insight to the town.|- TV channels are all local Japanese and the facilities are very basic. Not suitable for those who need their creature comforts like foreign viewing channels + well appointed toiletries. With sundown as early as 4pm, one would struggle to keep the kids entertained.|- Very limited food options. We had to walk out every lunch and dinner to find little restaurants lining the streets. The walk out is fairly quiet and cold. Not suitable for families with young children.|- Although this property advertises ski-in, ski-out options, there is very limited snow play areas for children. |We were told sternly by an old Uncle (doesn’t look like hotel staff) who insisted our kids cannot play outside the hotel porch and wanted us to pay ¥500 per pax to enter his fenced area just to toboggan down a small pathetic slope.||You can take the Yuzawa Kogen Ropeway up the hill (¥2000 per adult, ¥1000 per child above 6, return) and there are powder snow areas for younger kids to hang out at.||Food is expensive uphill - our lunch of a pizza, a pasta, hot stew and 2 cakes (no drinks)...

Update: came back for a second time because we enjoyed it and straight up changing 4 to 5 stars. My man Sang at the front desk is a rock star. Everyone did incredible but his patience and willingness to help 100% upgraded my rating. Same experience with less Smokey smell. Still snow at the end of March and everything was so spot on. Would return if I wasn’t leaving Japan soon :(

Positive up front. Negative later.

The rooms are extremely spacious! Beds are comfy enough for a hotel, definitely above average for Japan. You get a locker with your room and leave your gear in there overnight. Throw on them boots and head right out onto a green slope. Lift pass and rentals available from the hotel easily. So convenient!!!! If you are here to ski/snowboard, I’d suggest here. Done with a rough day? The onsen is inside the hotel. Take your provided robe and slippers down and soak away the beatings of the day. The staff is super friendly. English was lacking but solid effort made communication a non-issue!! Solid powder all week and the mountain is gorgeous.

4-starts still tho. The hotel itself is a bit dated. Nothing serious but just a dated look (I don’t care about that, but others do). Shuttle times were a bit strange considering the train schedule also. The smoking area is a bit too close and the lobby smells like smoke a lot. Worst part, the in-hotel Chinese restaurant was not good at all. Like at all.

All that aside, already considering a return trip this season with our...