Yuzawa New Otani Hotel

“One of the best Japanese hotel brands, yet affordable”

It is located in a walking distance from JR Echigo-Yuzawa Station, but they offer a free shuttle bus from the station as well. Rooms (both Japanese and Western style) come with a free Wi-Fi, a flat-screen TV, a fridge, towels, a kettle and a Japanese style nightwear /robe. All staff members are ver… more

It is located in a walking distance from JR Echigo-Yuzawa Station, but they offer a free shuttle bus from the station as well. Rooms (both Japanese and Western style) come with a free Wi-Fi, a flat-screen TV, a fridge, towels, a kettle and a Japanese style nightwear /robe. All staff members are very friendly and attentive. There are several plans you can choose, but you should take a breakfast. All plans are very affordable. We recommend to make a reservation through the hotel web site. When we visited there, it was too early for Winter activities, but you can rent ski/boots at the hotel and take a free shuttle bus to several ski resorts, such as Yuzawa Gala Snow Resort. You can get a better price at JR East Travel Service Center (Marunouchi Exit side) in Tokyo for Gala.

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“Local hotel with all the facilities”

We had a great 4 day stay here. Staff have limited English but are able to get by with great success and a big smile on their face. Shuttles were fantastic and prompt and ski rental and passes were cheaper than at the resorts themselves. Traditional rooms were great and the Onsen was my personal hi… more

We had a great 4 day stay here. Staff have limited English but are able to get by with great success and a big smile on their face. Shuttles were fantastic and prompt and ski rental and passes were cheaper than at the resorts themselves. Traditional rooms were great and the Onsen was my personal highlight, wow - one of the best we went to in Japan.

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“Fun experience ”

My daughters first time seeing snow so we thought we would opt for a more traditional hotel experience with Futon beds and Onsen on site and have some fun. We were not disappointed with our choice. The hotel was warm and inviting, the traditional rooms were very clean and comfortable and the Futon … more

My daughters first time seeing snow so we thought we would opt for a more traditional hotel experience with Futon beds and Onsen on site and have some fun. We were not disappointed with our choice. The hotel was warm and inviting, the traditional rooms were very clean and comfortable and the Futon beds that were laid out at night were comfy and v cosy. Pjs and kimonos are provided, our girls had fun wearing them down to the onsite Onsen where we enjoyed sitting in the outside pool surrounded by snow. The breakfast options were varied, we opted to get dressed for breakfast though rather than wear our PJs and slippers 😀 We skied up at Gala Zuzawa, there was a very convenient shuttle bus that takes literally 4 mins to get there. If we hadn’t had the kids we would have probably walked, it’s very close. Lots of restaurants in short walking distance, although check if you need to book. We also opted to walk from the station as the roads were clear, but there is a bus pick up too. Fun experience and we would stay again.

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“Lower Your Expectations, and You May Be Fine”

The New Otani Yuzawa is located in rural Japan, and it's important to keep this in mind when making any comparisons. Staying in town was a good idea for proximity to the station. We stayed 4 nights at the hotel. The staff is genuine and wants to be helpful, but the limits of that help become quick… more

The New Otani Yuzawa is located in rural Japan, and it's important to keep this in mind when making any comparisons. Staying in town was a good idea for proximity to the station. We stayed 4 nights at the hotel. The staff is genuine and wants to be helpful, but the limits of that help become quickly apparent. I am allergic to cigarette smoke, and so a genuine non-smoking room is essential to me, or I have to fine another hotel. (Sometimes Japanese hotels will place an ozone generator in a smoking room and then tell you that the room is non-smoking. I've tried to stay in these, and I can't breath after a while.) I booked a non-smoking room, and I also e-mailed ahead to the address on this particular hotel's website to specify a genuine, non smoking. When we arrived, the desk clerk used a computer translator to tell us we had been assigned a room that would be de-odorized. When I tried to explain that I needed a real non-smoking room, a woman was called from the back to talk with us. Over the years, I have learned to express this need in crude Japanese - and this did the trick. Luckily, they did have a non-smoking room available, and we were assigned one. Because smoking and non-smoking rooms exist on the same floor, and sometimes across the hall from each other, we still had smoke very nearby. The hallways also smell of smoke, as do the elevators. We did not see smoking in the restaurant for breakfast, but we also did not see a "no smoking" notice for this restaurant. Our room itself was between standard and "nice". It was large enough and the beds were comfortable. At this particular hotel, guests are asked to wear the hotel's official robe and a pair of supplied slippers whenever they move about within the hotel. The problem is that the slippers are comfortable only if you are a male with a US shoe size under 9 and 1/2. When I asked our kindly room attendant if larger slippers were available, I was told that they came only in one size. Breakfast came with our room, and it was a strange affair, and not because the food was strange to us. Some days, the buffet was well filled, other days we would arrive well within the proscribed hours and find that little was available. I mean like, no eggs, almost no fruit, no cereal, etc. Our only conclusion was that they set out a certain amount of food each day, and if a group was eating early, people arriving in the middle of breakfast time simply got very little to eat. (One morning there was no dried cereal. When I asked repeatedly for dry cereal, someone eventually did bring some for me.) The hotel van runs regularly to the train station, but when I asked the driver to drop me at the post office a few blocks away, I was told transportation went only to the station. One good point about the hotel, we were allowed to check out at noon, when many of the hotels in Yuzawa have a mandatory 10 am checkout. Our art tours in the Echigo Yuzawa Art field lasted until about 7:00 pm Because most restaurants in Yuzawa closed at 7:00 pm during the time of our stay, including the hotel's, we found our dinners in the form of bento boxes at 7-11. That's a little sad, but on the other hand we had one or two great lunches and didn't have to put up with a smoky dining room at dinner. We probably would look for other lodging if we visited Yuzawa again. There are many hotels in town.

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