2-Star Hotels in Hakuba

The hotel is one kilometer away from the bus terminal, but there are small stops near the hotel to various ski resorts, which is very convenient. I booked a total of 5 nights, including meals. The 5 breakfasts are basically Japanese, very hearty and satisfying! It is a traditional Japanese-style bed and breakfast. The room is on tatami mats and you make your own bed. In some years, the furniture is not new, and you can hear it in the walking room in the corridor, but it is very clean! The quality of the guests is also very good, there is no loud noise, which is much better than the Europeans and Americans who later lived in the hotel! The boss is an old Japanese couple. They don’t talk much and may not always smile like other Japanese people, but in fact they love to help. After dinner every morning, they ask you where you plan to go today, and then pull you there. His map wall helps you plan your itinerary, and the hotel also has a lot of coupons or low-cost ski tickets for ski resort cooperation. Save a lot of expenses. After checking out, you need to change to another hotel. After the boss asks the address, he will send it to the next one, but there are still not many words 😁, thank you for your rigorous and lovely Japanese grandpa Very cost-effective, recommended!

The heart warming and hospitality of this family is one of my best experiences in Japan. It was my first time traveling to Hakuba and it was snowing heavily. Masanori san was busy with dinner but he had his daughter to pick me up instead (she have left for university so I reckon on normal days, he will have to go out of his way to pick passengers if they needed.) One key thing to note was to specify where you are properly because i took a bus and they didn’t stop me at the interchange but instead they dropped me off at the Hakuba stop (outside North Face shop) so it was quite confusing and they couldn’t find me at first. The room is very spacious and the morning snowing view was really nice. The free Hakuba shuttle bus is just one minute away and it comes every hour, you can have breakfast at 7/7.30am and take the shuttle bus at 8/9am (might not come on time but just be earlier as there are many others taking the same bus). In house Onsen was decent with hot enough water but will be perfect if only it was outdoors (more for the ventilation and view). The dinner made by Masamori san was one of the main reasons why I booked this hotel - French cuisine. It is delicately made and ingredients are carefully sourced, you can literally taste the freshness of their ingredients. Book at least one day in advanced! At 84, their granny got to be the cutest and sweetest, we sang that one or two Japanese song she knew and she was so happy she served us tea, we kind of almost feel bad that she is serving us but after speaking to her daughter knowing that it is working there that keeps her body strong and makes her happy (so during Covid, she was feeling weak). And also they link up with Lion Gear for all rental of everything you need. You just have to let Masamori san know and he will arrange for them to pick you up at your preferred time. After choosing your gears, he said they will send me to the slopes (went Goryu/Hakuba 47), but they didn’t and instead they sent me to Happo and I had to bring my gears and walked 20-30mins to the bus stops and paid for the V2 buses (the larger buses are not free - so you got to pay 800Yen per person). After I told Masamori san the story, he was really apologetic and immediately called them up. The next day, he got them to compensate me for the trouble and it really did helped ease the not so great experience and time wasting - the Lion gear boss was generous in compensating and explained that it was their new staff and they didn’t follow the previous arrangements. Supermarket is about 15-20mins walk away, can be pretty cold but the walk is really nice, proper walking path with snow built up like walls. All in all, I will still rate this place 9/10 for the hospitality and sincerity of this family, the food and the spaciousness of the room! Highly recommend you to go for the French dinner!

Basically, except for the excellent location, there is no service at all. I stayed for two days without changing towels, garbage, or tidying up the room, not making the bed, and nothing. The quality of the room is simple and basic to the motel class, and the boss also ignores it.

A very special experience, the family hotel, the landlord and the family are really enthusiastic, and feel a different Japan in this quiet small village. First of all, we went to Baima in December. The snow is not early enough this year, so many ski resorts have not opened, and the surrounding facilities are naturally not open. Basically, it takes time to take a shuttle bus to the ski resort, and taxis are a bit expensive. The landlord’s son would take the initiative to ask what kind of ski resort he was going to today and what kind of help he needed. I said that I wanted to send the child to the nursery. He took the initiative to drive us to the nursery. He also called all the nurseries around him. The landlord will make some small snacks for the hotel guests every day. The last day of 2019 is hand-made rice cakes. The babies are very happy to watch and have eaten cakes for many years. Finally, we set off back to Tokyo and booked the bus. The bus station was actually nearby. The host’s mother specially arranged a car from their hotel to take us there. I was moved every day during the 4 days I stayed here. We are from a big city. This small hot spring hotel is a public restroom and bathhouse. I wasn't used to it at first, but believe me, staying for 2 days will make you feel different.

Located in Hakuba (Echo Land), Nomad Hakuba is steps from Hakuba Valley Ski Area and a 3-minute drive from Hakuba Happo-One Ski Area. This hotel is 2.9 mi (4.7 km) from Hakuba Goryu Ski Resort and 5.1 mi (8.2 km) from Tsugaike Ski Resort.Take in the views from a terrace and a garden and make use of amenities such as complimentary wireless internet access. Additional features at this hotel include ski storage, barbecue grills, and a banquet hall.Wrap up your day with a drink at the bar/lounge. A complimentary continental breakfast is served daily from 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM.Featured amenities include luggage storage, laundry facilities, and a safe deposit box at the front desk. Free self parking is available onsite.Make yourself at home in one of the 10 guestrooms featuring microwaves. Prepare your meals in the shared/communal kitchen. Complimentary wireless internet access is available to keep you connected. Bathrooms feature shower/tub combinations, slippers, and children's slippers.

The Villa Rengatei is an ideal spot for travelers wanting to discover the city. Visitors to Hakuba will find that the Villa Rengatei is a fantastic accommodation choice.From the hotel, JR Hakuba Station is just 3km away. There is no shortage of things to see in the area, with the Hakuba Happo Onsen (Hot Spring), Hakuba King Papaia Auto Camping Ground and Shimofurimiya Hosonosuwa Shrine all nearby.When guests have some time on their hands they can make use of the onsite facilities. For those driving themselves, parking is provided on site.

Let me start with the good parts:  - The location is convenient, with lots of restaurants, cafes, and rental shops nearby. They also work with Hakuba Lion Adventure, so we got some great discounts for rentals.  - The room was very clean and well-equipped, they also have a dry room for snow gears.  - Breakfast was freshly made every morning, with a nice variety and really delicious food.   However, our experience was tainted by communication issues with the owner. Upon arrival, he realized we had come by car and immediately scolded us for not informing him in advance. He claimed to have messaged us about it, but we later discovered he was talking about *********** while we had booked via Trip.com. Since no parking was reserved for us, we had to use a nearby rental space for 1,000 yen per night. We accepted this, understanding that parking is limited during snow season. Until the third night, our car got stuck in the snow, so we went to ask for help. Instead of assisting us, the owner started blaming us again, saying he had already sent us a message telling us not to drive because of the heavy snow. But we were very confused because we double checked all our booking platform messages and emails there was NO such message at all. So before we checked out, we brought this up again and the owner just said, “Well, that’s not my fault, and I don't recommend booking platforms such as Agoda, Trip.com or *******”. This place is quite a disappointment. The location itself is great, and the breakfasts were amazing, but the owner’s attitude completely ruined the experience. To make things even more frustrating, the owners speak Mandarin (as does one of us) and a bit of English, yet the owner insisted on speaking Japanese, fully aware that we didn’t understand it. It almost seemed like he was pretending to be Japanese. If you’re expecting authentic Japanese hospitality, this is not the place. I genuinely liked the place and even considered staying for a week to work remotely, but the owner’s behavior made that impossible. Who wants to be scolded multiple times during a vacation?

Need a separate bathroom

Meteor Garden is located conveniently 5-7min drive from main Hakuba Village. One thing to note is that the main cafe in the stay is not open so need to find other dining alternatives. Rooms and amenities are clean and well maintained, the one issue is that it’s not well marked on Google map as it keeps pointing to the restaurant which was not opened and gave us a false alarm. Wifi is not the fastest and does not handle multiple devices that well especially when you are trying to work. There was some confusion when booked via Trip as the contact information was somehow truncated so hotel was unable to contact me without going through Trip thus messages were delayed. Overall it was an enjoyable stay and everyone had a great time…

Fully equipped, the landlord is super warm, close to the station, the shuttle bus leads to various ski resorts, convenient!