Spa Hotels in Kitashiobara

Living in Japan as a vegetarian for many years I am used to having to tough it out at hotels. Although there are exceptions, the majority of these facilities in Japan are still in the dark ages when it comes to vegetarian food options and unfortunately this hotel is no exception. This was our second time to stay here and we had hoped in vain that the food selection would be better. Shame on us, yes, but shame on the hotel even more, in my opinion. First, the positives. It is in a great location: you step out of the hotel and you are practically launched on the Goshiknuma trail. If you have a car it is easy to drive to nearby starting points for various excellent hiking options. If you don't have a car you are very limited in how many hiking spots you can access. The staff is friendly and helpful. The previous time we stayed, during the pandemic, there was a near-fluent in English tri-lingual front desk staff member who was great. We don't really need that, however, so I cannot say that this time we encountered any English speaking staff. The room was clean and comfortable. On our previous stay we had a gigantic room for less than what we paid this time but that was during the pandemic when hotels were practically begging for business and we were also able to avail ourselves of the government subsidy program for travel, which has long been discontinued. Anyway, we were happy enough with the room. The onsen is good: spacious and properly maintained. This facility is actually two joined hotels and if you stay on this side (pricier and with nicer rooms) the onsen is less crowded and nicer. The food was another story. Both the first time we stayed and this time, we opted for the buffet meal package: breakfast and dinner. Breakfast is passable if you are lacto-ovo as I am and not super strict, meaning you can drink miso soup that will doubtlessly have at least some fish stock as part of it. Dinner is, frankly, pathetic. There is nothing of substance for vegetarians unless you consider a salad, rice, pickles, and a couple of fried vegetables to be a meal. I do not. Virtually every dish had some meat or fish in it. Why does the pasta have to have bacon? Why does the stir fry vegetables have to have chicken? This hotel is far from the only one that does this, but in 2023 is it not possible to have one or two entree type offerings entirely meat or fish free? The buffet is gigantic and has huge variety but all of that variety is thoroughly saturated with meat and fish. Total fail. We will not stay here again, regretfully. Note: the buffet was equally poor during our first stay and it was entirely on us that we hoped there would be some improvement a few years later. Like I said, shame on us. That does not excuse the hotel from not providing better food options for vegetarians.

The hotel is very close to the Wuse Marsh and can be reached in 6 minutes on foot. It is good to want to live here in Wuse Marsh. (There is also a bus directly to the entrance of Wuse Marsh in the hotel. My bus schedule is put in the picture, you can see it if you need it) The breakfast is also quite rich. Because there are no restaurants around the hotel, you can eat in the hotel. You can eat the hotel's buffet dinner, or the restaurant in the hotel. I think the restaurant in the hotel is not very expensive and very cheap. We ate twice, basically a little over 300 yuan (2 people eat). The room is quite big. The hotel has an open-air hot spring. The nearest convenience store around the hotel is also a bit away. Fortunately, there is a small supermarket gift shop in the hotel. Buy some water and you can solve it there. The service is not bad, in short, it is still possible...

The hotel is very good with great proximity to the ski  place. The room is clean and cosy with great views. And the onsen is very good that it had long opening hours, we can go after the ski to relax.  However, it would be better if the guest had a choice of whether the room can be made everyday or after we left. And it will be even better if more variety of restaurants/ cur-sine  can be provided rather than just buffet.

休暇村はどこもサービスがいいと思いますし、建物も広々としていい感じ。ロビーが開放的で磐梯山が眺められるのが素敵です。 部屋は広く、リラックスして滞在できます。 食事はその土地のものを利用していて好感度抜群。 休暇村の無料会員で、平日宿泊1000円引きがあったり(投稿時)、夜にタイムサービスで買い物5％off(投稿時)など様々なサービスがあってお得感があります。 また来たいです。