Karuizawa hotels & places to stay

The stay was exceptional - the cottage has everything you need from a microwave to heater and space for luggage and a sofa to chill at. The area was a little far from the main city centre - Karuizawa, but it was fine because we wanted a less crowded place to stay over. Naka-Karuizawa is a quiet neighbourhood but its proximity to the Stone Church and Harunire Terrace was good enough. The accommodation place has a superb place for dinner - wagyu beef set was heavenly! Great haven to stay if you like to be in a little quiet town away from the buzz of tourists!

The place is a little bit far from Karuizawa station but we enjoyed the walk along Karuizawa Hon-Dori. At night, the surrounding area is also dark. We made use of our phone flashlights to find our way to the lodge. Staffs were very friendly and accommodating. They even gave us a ride going back to Karuizawa Station after we checked out. We slept well. However we didn’t expect that the place only have shared bath and toilet rooms.

I have always stayed in other hotels in Japan during my previous visits, but decided to try APA hotel this time during our skii trip in Karuizawa. I am a frequent traveler and love to explore hotels to evaluate the level of service. My room preference was given and the room is bigger than what we have expected as compared to other hotels in Japan which is quite small. I would definitely recommend this hotel in terms of facilities and cleanliness. Only, I hope the Front Desk staff would be a little more helpful. I approached a staff to inquire regarding the shuttle bus to Karuizawa skii resort but was plainly told "No". He could have offered directions or alternatives to help. Japanese people are always nice and polite. And it was a bit disappointment that I have encountered a not so nice staff for the first time in Japan in APA hotel.

I booked this hotel during my April trip to Karuizawa. Hotel is very conveniently located near a nice supermarket and not too far from the station. Shuttle bus to and from the station is running all day. If you have a car, there’re plenty of parking spaces. Beside nice apartment style room with kitchen, what I like are the friendliness of all staffs and huge public bath in the basement. Bicycles ate available for rent too. Rate was good too when I stayed. Rooms are duper spacious. Great stay. I recommend this hotel to anyone going to Karuizawa with family.

we have a great experience staying in ryokan ikoisanso. my husband and me like it so much, as the location good, as we rent a car to hanging around. the surrounding of hotel is beautiful especially in the early spring morning, we and our baby can walk outside to enjoy the scenery. staff very nice, our baby very happy with tatami bed and like to crawling here and there, it is very worthy to stay with less money but high quality hotel in karuizawa, as you know hotel at karuizawa not cheap. cp value for ryokan ikoisanso is high, we probably will come staying again for next trip. thanks.

A bit far from Karuizawa station (about 30mins by foot, but quite a nice walk), perfectly situated in the woods, with nice traditional rooms & a great communal bath, although everything is a bit narrow and dinner/breakfast can only be ordered in advance when booking. But definitely a good spot to unwind in the green and explore some of Japan‘s most scenic landscapes, although a car is highly advisable for that!

Room is really large specially for Japan standards. 2 large beds. No closets / cabinets as in a lot of hotels in Japan, just hangers. Staff are very friendly. Coin laundry is available inside the hotel. Fire place at lobby lounge. Location is less than a kilometer away from Karuizawa train station, Outlet Mall, Prince Ski Resort and Snow Park. Breakfast though is limited to just hard boiled egg, japanese salad, breads: sliced, roll and croissant; margarine and jam, coffee and apple juice. Overall simple but will return. Van to train station available at set times.

The hotel is big, with spacious room and bathroom that is separated between shower/toilet and dry dressing areas. The road in front of the hotel is quiet, nice environment. Staffs were attentive, excellent manner. The minus point is that there are many stairs to lobby from entrance, and another stair to the room, which is troublesome if you bring heavy/big luggage, or if you travel with children.

The Hotel is conveniently located just a 5-minute walk away from the JR Shinkansen Karuizawa Station. There are residential buildings around, ensuring a quiet environment and some quality sleep. There are also 2 convenient stores within walking distance. The Hotel houses fewer than 10 guestrooms. They are all spacious, clean and tidy. Bathroom facilities and amenities are great. Breakfast is in western style and is quite delicious. The Hotel provides rental bicycles (7am - 11pm), which is excellent as the usual rental shops only open till 5pm. The bicycles are of good quality too. Staff are polite, friendly and helpful. Will definitely return in my next trip to Karuizawa.

Without much planning we decided to make a mid-week visit to the Karuizawa area. But we hadn't counted on a typhoon. We visited the Ginza district of Karuizawa proper, damp but fun. The storm hadn't really hit yet. By the time we reached Naka-Karuizawa station, it was late, getting wetter, and we didn't know where we were going. We took a taxi. Once we arrived and were settled in an attractive room, we were served tea in the lobby/dining/bar area. We got acquainted with the proprietors. The atmosphere is comfortably casual. Although they were busy preparing dinner for the guests who had ordered that option, they sat with us and chatted. he described nearby options and called around for us. We decided on a yakiniku place. Such an accommodating host! We walked back to the hotel and I spent most the evening visiting with his daughter, and others from the area there for dinner or a drink. My wife and I ended the evening with a dip in the onsen-style bath. At night the typhoon came in. In the morning it was raining buckets. We had a great English breakfast including a muffin topped with scrambled egg and home-smoked salmon, home-made sausage, local veggies and tomato, juice and coffee. After discussion, we decided to visit the Sezon Museum of Modern Art and planned to walk to other attractions in the area. He told us to call when we were done and he would get us to the train station. After a satisfying museum visit and completely unnecessary snack in the museum cafe, we decided to ask to take us to the station, rather than to wander bout in the storm. Fifteen minutes later he was there for us and when we parted at the station my wife and I felt we had a new set of friends whom we plan to visit again. When the weather is better.

Ok, if you are traveler with easy luggage won't be a problem. If you are in Karuizawa for shopping and going around then you gotta rethink. Hotel is not exactly near the station and hotel doesn't provide any transportation to the nearest station. Train is not very frequent either. Train fare to the next station cost 230~240 yen each trip, so it adds up and it doesn't take JR pass. And make sure you choose the non-smoking room, it didn't provide the option when we booked, we stuck w/ smoking room for 3 days, really stinks. But, staff is nice, service is good. Location is not very convenient, there is nothing around the hotel complex. The pool is pretty, that's about it.

This golf-focused hotel with one of the most amazing views you will get anywhere in this world. You'll see Mount Asama with its heart shape natural carving towards the top of the mountain. All rooms face this side with mountain view, overlooking a gorgeous golf course and several km of woodland. Autumn with the red leaves is amazing! The room itself is roomy for Japan standards, twin room with a separate hallway and bathroom. Even though the hotel was refurbished in 2016, it's still got that 80s feel, particularly the bathroom and hallway sink. But this hotel isn't geared towards high end luxuries - it's geared towards the avid golfer who wants to have a wonderful view early in the morning and when they're back from a couple of rounds during the day. Negatives: taxi rides are Yen 27k-30k to Karuizawa (for a 15 minute ride, c. US$26/GBP20), a free shuttle bus only runs from 9am with about 4 trips, last bus around 5:20pm. Not much food options at the hotel. Best to have a car/rent.

There was shuttle bus around every 20mins from Karuizawa Station going to different parts of the hotel until 9PM so going to and from the station was not a problem. Checkin and checkout was also surprisingly very fast. I reserved one of the west cottages for an overnight stay for 3 people. When we arrived in the Hotel, the receptionist told us that if we do not smoke, we will be moved to a larger non-smoking room. We didn't expected that "larger" meant a room for 6 people! (the cottage has 6 beds, 6 slippers, 3 toilet, etc). It was very nice. Our cottage was a little far from the main part of the hotel so a staff drove us to the cottage (by a small car) and picked us up immediately when we called and said we wanted to see the souvenir shop. The souvenir shop was very good. We were surprised to see so many varieties of Karuizawa/Nagano specialties, it was like a summary of the shopping streets. Some of these we saw while going around Karuizawa and the price is the same in Shopping Street and in the Prince Hotel Souvenir shop. The only bad point is the insects. Since the cottage is in the middle of a field, there were some insects (dead and alive) on some parts of the room. The room is equipped with an insect spray but when there was a time when the insect was too large/fast for us to handle, we called a staff and they came and took care of it immediately, so maybe this is still a plus point for them.

We made many trips to Karuizawa and each time we would stay a few days at the Prince (west, east, etc). We prefer the east for the winter lodge experience and the main for the used of onsen. Our experience of the west was not good at all, we felt very unwelcome there, which was not a common experience in Japan. We like the location of this "hotel", close to the station, food court/outlets, the outlet malls and the convenient shuttle service. Skiing was nice, right at the door steps, there were English instructors for beginners too.

We were foreigners and rented a car driving from Haneda to Karuizawa. A couple with one young child. The driving was about 4 hours, including the time spent in R&R. Many R&Rs with clean restrooms and nice food court along the journey. The Prince Karuizawa is a big complex with The Prince Karuizawa Hotel, Hotel East, Hotel West, Shopping Plaza, Golf course, skiing resort, etc. We stayed in The Prince Karuizawa Hotel which is at the Golf course area. Pros: - A very quiet and tranquil place. It faces the Golf course with a small lake in front of the room’s full size window. - Room is spacious and has a small kitchenette. Bath tub is very clean. Bath salt and amenities are supplied sufficiently. - Free bicycle rental for both adults & children. The cycling path is nature feel but hotel shuttles may pass by. Therefore need to be cautious. - The breakfast is great. The restaurant inside this hotel building has a fantastic view. Food is good. You can also choose other restaurants in the West or East hotels. - The shopping plaza has many brands and every shop is decorated nicely. The items are trendy. Very good shopping experience there. The food there is also good and price reasonable. - The Onsen is great because it’s very clean and comfortable. It’s not big but very cosy. Water dispenser with hot and cold water for drinking. Our 4 years old daughter loved the hot spring very much. Cons: - However, the Onsen is at the East hotel which is about 6 mins driving. Otherwise you need to take hotel shuttle. In cold weather, it’s not so enjoying to walk that much. - The shopping plaza is also walking distance from the East hotel. The train station is also nearer to the East. Thus I would prefer to stay in the East if there is another time! - We arrived in April. It’s still very cold and the trees are barren. Not greenery at all. Overall, I still like Karuizawa because it has both sceneries, Onsen and shopping but think Summer/Autumn time should be better season there.