Published date: May 11, 2025
Karuizawa North, The Air is Different! Refreshing.
Room Type Stayed
Some info has been automatically translated by AI.
Experience of the stay
I used this for a motorcycle tour during the Golden Week.
There isn’t a dedicated motorcycle parking area, but when I inquired with the staff, they directed me to a bike storage space within the parking lot.
The bike parking area, which appears to be underground, is actually on the first floor, while the front desk is on the second floor.
I arrived around 4 PM, but there was a queue for check-in, and it took about 10 minutes to wait.
Since the facility is large, it seems like explaining how to get around takes some time.
This time, I was on the top floor, the 8th floor.
Dining reservations needed to be made in advance, but I wondered if it would be fine on the day; however, the buffet is time-constrained, and all slots were fully booked. It was also possible to take food back to my room. Due to the inconvenience of having a distant room, I decided to have dinner outside the hotel. Reservations for meals are required early during the peak season. I was able to secure a spot for the breakfast buffet at 9:00.
Since it was during Golden Week, there seemed to be a lot of families with small children.
The room was spacious, with the bath and toilet separate. To access the bathroom and toilet, one has to go out into the hallway from the room. The toilet and changing room were spacious. The bath was about one tsubo in size.
Although it’s not brand new, it was clean.
The only amenities provided in the room were toothbrushes. Amenities and tea bags are available near the front desk, so guests are expected to take what they need.
Instant coffee and tea bags, sugar, and cream powder were in the room. I chose a honey tea bag to take with me; I thought it was flavored tea but it was sweet!
The indoor wear was a yukata. It was only permitted to wear it for moving to the large public bath, not for meals or in the shop, etc. There were yukata available in various sizes for children in the same area as the amenities near the front desk.
The welcome service drinks and soft serve ice cream were available until 16:30 during Golden Week. They can be enjoyed in the lounge on the first floor. I took coffee and soft serve back to my room in paper cups.
The large public bath is on the first floor. You have to take a large bath towel and a towel in the bag. It’s nice that there are originally two towels per person in the room.
The red hot spring water is not too hot and warms the body. There was a sauna, but I didn’t use it this time. The outdoor bath water is slightly warmer than the indoor bath. It seems better for long stays in the outdoor bath.
In the women’s changing room, there were only 4 dryers for 8 washbasins, so there were wait times for the dryers. Since the airflow of the dryers is not strong, it would be good for those with long hair to bring their own dryer.
The shop on the second floor is open until 22:00 on weekends and holidays. It mainly sells souvenirs and does not have the same range of goods as a convenience store.
During Golden Week, there were paid experiences like cloisonné firing nearby the shop.
The indoor sofa was a bit hard. The mattress on the bed was soft, with a spring feeling.
The room faced the direction of Mount Asama, but due to the hotel’s structure, only some rooms can see the entire mountain. This room could only see half of Mount Asama.
Perhaps it’s the neighboring room. The high-pitched voices of children were audible, but low sounds were hardly heard, indicating the soundproofing might not be great.
The breakfast venue is on the second floor. It’s a buffet, but what’s notable is the hamburgers grilled right in front of you and the various rice balls made to order, as well as seafood bowls. There were many staple foods like cereal, soba, curry rice, pilaf, rice, porridge, bread, freshly baked mini pancakes, etc. There was only fresh grapefruit for fruit, but there were canned mandarin oranges, syruped fruits, yogurt, donuts, waffles, etc.
There wasn’t any Chinese food, but both Japanese and Western options were available.
I had been excited about getting a hamburger grilled, but feeling like having a seafood bowl, I gave up on the hamburger. However, the freshly grilled patty with a soft-boiled egg in the bun looked delicious. There were about 8 choices of ingredients to include as well.
Checkout is busy after 9:00, so they recommended settling the bill in advance from 7:00 to 9:00, and I settled before breakfast. Checkout is easy; you just have to drop the room key card into a box at the front desk on your way out.
There were about 10 paintings displayed in the corridor on the second floor for auction (with the starting bidding price ranging from 10,000 yen to 260,000 yen), and a few had bids placed.
It might be a good idea to bid if you find something you like as a travel memento. Among them, there were drawings by Kazuo Iwamura and Kiyoshi Yamashita.
Overall, it seems to be a family-oriented hotel with a pool aimed at children and suitable for those who are fine with the walking distance.
Experiences during the trip
I went to the Yamba Dam.
The color of the lake is emerald green.
Why does it turn this color?
It took 70 years to complete the dam. You can learn about the convoluted history at the museum.
I stopped by Kusatsu, but there was a huge traffic jam!
During Golden Week, I definitely do not recommend the route from Yamba Dam to Kusatsu by car during the day.
Kusatsu was very busy.
For dinner, I went to a restaurant called Pino Noir, just a few minutes' walk from the hotel.
I was able to make a reservation on the same day, but some people were turned away as it got full during dinner, so it might be safer to reserve.
The spare ribs were hearty and delicious. With beer, a decanter of wine, pasta, and an a la carte dish, we were full for about 10,000 yen.