Overall Rating

Hakuba Alps Hotel

Hakuba Alps Hotel4.5/52
Hakuba Alps Hotel4.5 out of 5 based on 2 reviews
  • Recommend
    100%
  • Would Revisit
    100%
Hakuba Alps Hotel
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The Hakuba Alps Hotel is a large hotel that offers good value accommodation that’s fully ski-in ski-out to the Norikura Ski Resort of Hakuba, which is inter-connected with Hakuba Cortina Ski Resort. A stay at the Hakuba Alps Hotel Norikura provides a reasonably Japanese experience.

Where is the Hakuba Alps Hotel?

The Hakuba Alps Hotel is located at Norikura ski resort (in the town of Otari) which is located at the northern end (the quiet end) of Hakuba Valley, 10km north of Hakuba train station.

Hakuba Cortina Ski Resort is inter-connected with Norikura via the slopes (you can purchase a dual resort lift pass), although it’s 3.7km by road to the base of Cortina. Tsugaike Ski Resort and village is 2km to the south, and there are occasional shuttles to connect the hotel with Tsugaike.

The hotel offers a free shuttle to/from the Minami-Otari train station which is 5.4km away.

Getting buses to other Hakuba ski resorts is somewhat clunky. If you’ve got a car because you want to readily explore all the Hakuba ski resorts, parking at the hotel is free.

Hotel Rooms

Hakuba Alps Hotel has twin western rooms with a sofa for up to 2 guests. Or choose from Japanese/western combo rooms with 2 single beds plus a Japanese tatami floor seating area where 2 additional guests can sleep on futons.

All hotel rooms have an ensuite bathroom and TV, and some rooms offer views of the ski slopes.

Hotel Facilities & Services

The hotel has an onsite onsen with gender segregated baths, including indoor baths and open air baths that overlooks the ski slope.

There is also a hot mineral springs jacuzzi and swimming pool complex (where you wear your bathers) that overlooks the ski runs (additional charge).

Other facilities & services:
  • Ski/snowboarding locker room with large electronic lockers - the ski room heads straight out to the slopes
  • Sauna
  • Outdoor swimming pool (seasonal)
  • Wellness centre
  • Karaoke
  • Ski rentals
  • Gift shop selling snacks and beverages
  • Plenty of vending machines
  • Massage chairs for a small fee
  • Games arcade
  • Snow play area for small children just outside the hotel
  • Ski and snowboard lessons (instructors may not be fluent in English)

Dining

The main restaurant is a buffet restaurant that overlooks part of the slopes. An array of Japanese and western dishes are served for breakfast and dinner.

The hotel also has two other restaurants (open during peak periods) that require a reservation 24 hours prior.

The Norikura village has a couple of other dining options but they’re a decent walk away, or alternatively you can utilise the shuttle service into Tsugaike where there’s a small selection of restaurants.

Dogs galore!

Newbie
12/02/2024
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Guest Type
    Couple
  • Guest Age
    51-70
  • Admin Rating
    4

Dogs galore!

Newbie
12/02/2024
Ok so we didn’t go to the snow to specifically see dogs, but staying at a dog -friendly hotel, that allows dogs on the beginners chairlift was pretty cool!
Hakuba alps hotel is a friendly, non westernised hotel (we were the only westerners there). We got such a great deal for accommodation, breakfast and dinner we booked 12 nights. Probably too long, but with the Hakuba valley pass there was always a new ski field to explore.
We booked the cheapest room, but after one night we asked for an upgrade. The walls are SO thin, we could hear pretty much everything from in the hall and next door. We got upgraded to a suite in the “royal plaza”, a much larger room and in an area that wasn’t a thoroughfare. Highly recommend booking these rooms if you can.
The hotel is truly ski in/out, and although the hotel itself seemed busy there were no crowds on the slopes. Most days we had the runs almost to ourselves, except on the weekend (when the Tokyo people arrive, with their dogs!!)
The snowdrop cafe on the mountain is your typical ramen place, however the peppermint cafe is a little gem serving the best shrimp pizza!
Update from the previous review: There is now wifi in the rooms, the PA announcements don’t occur anymore, and we didn’t notice any Smokey smell.
Buffet breakfast was great and the dinner buffet had plenty of variety, including fresh sashimi.
See our video here

Very Functional and Ski in Ski Out to Norikura

06/01/2018

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  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Guest Type
    Family
  • Guest Age
    36-50

Very Functional and Ski in Ski Out to Norikura

06/01/2018
We really enjoyed our stay at the Hakuba Alps Hotel. It was absolute peak holiday period when we visited, but it didn’t feel busy at the hotel and it was a welcome change from the crazy parts of Hakuba where there were westerners galore and everything cost a fortune.

If you’re looking for a westernised experience with a village to wander around, lots of restaurants to choose from, nightlife and lots of English speaking staff, you’ve got the wrong hotel. However we went with the expectation that this was a pretty typical old school Japanese ski resort hotel, and we were very happy. As is common with lots of Japanese hotels, it was rather dated but still very cheery.

ROOM
We stayed in a standard twin room and it was of a good size, especially by Japanese standards. The bathroom was spacious and the bath was even big enough to actually have a bath (somewhat rare in Japan). The single beds were OK comfort-wise (probably a 6/10) and our room looked up to the slopes. The climate control in the room was impressive and it was really easy to dry clothes etc. There was no wifi in the room, which is somewhat typical of old-school Japanese hotels.

ONSEN
The onsen was lovely. The indoor bath was very hot and it was a shame they didn’t have 1-way glass because the views would have been lovely. However the little outdoor onsen provided great peak-a-boo vistas across one of the ski slopes (don’t stand up!) and spectacular sunset views.

ENGLISH
It was fantastic that we could escape the very busy other zones of Hakuba and come to the hotel where there was only one other group of foreign guests. They had a couple of hosts at reception that were bilingual and they provided a very good orientation on check-in. All the staff were Japanese, which was rather refreshing.

FOOD
The food was very good and there was a good range of items on offer for breakfast and dinner. Nevertheless, buffet meals get boring after a while at most hotels and the Hakbua Alps Hotel was no different. They did change some of the offerings each night a little, but you wouldn’t want to stay there for a 10 night holiday without heading into Tsugaike for dinner or elsewhere in the village.

As is common with true Japanese ski resorts, there was no nightlife. The supposed bar was never open and we happily just raided the vending machines for a relaxing après ski drink. We were probably too shattered after skiing to really care about nightlife anyhow.

Other pros and cons.
Pros:
A highlight was the location with direct access to the Norikura slopes. This ski resort is a bit of a gem with fresh powder galore compared to the other Hakuba ski areas. Of course Norikura is also connected to Cortina.
Very friendly staff
Good value compared to some of the outrageous prices charged in the busy parts of Hakuba (even the drinks in the vending machines were significantly cheaper)

Potential Cons:
A couple of times they made announcements on the PA which was piped into our room and was a bit intrusive
Wifi only worked in the lobby and there was just a handful of tables and chairs to sit to use the wifi
They had a specific smoking area but the smell seemed to permeate to other parts of the hotel (a bit like most of Japan in the 2000s)
See our video here