Iiyama Accommodation

The town of IIyama is located 11km from Madarao Kogen Ski Resort. Iiyama (pronounced ee-ama) is a little temple town and a lovely place to stay if you have a car and want the full Japanese experience. Wandering along the streets is enjoyable, as is checking out the little Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. Iiyama has some interesting shops and lots of Japanese eateries ranging from little izakayas to the sushi train restaurant.

Iiyama is also a good base to visit other nearby ski resorts such as Nozawa Onsen, Togari Onsen and Myoko Kogen.

Or another option for Madarao accommodation is to stay around Lake Nojiri on the other side of Mt Madarao from Iiyama. Nojiri Lake Resort offers an inexpensive shuttle service to Madarao, Tangram and the main Myoko ski resorts.

Madarao Accommodation

You can search for Madarao accommodation options here, and check availability and rates by entering your dates. The post popular Madarao Kogen accommodation is the Madarao Kogen Hotel, which is the hub of the resort and village and is conveniently ski-in ski-out and located right near the kids’ play area and the beginners’ zone. There are several pensions (inns) and renovated lodges that are pretty much ski-in ski-out, and other Madarao accommodation spread out across the village; some require a walk of up to 10 minutes or a shuttle ride. One of major pros of staying in one of the pensions is that the accommodation is very affordable. A couple of the old-school Madarao pensions only accept cash – double check before arriving. As is common at non-westernised Japanese ski resorts, there are mostly only hotels and pensions, and negligible self-contained accommodation options such as apartments or chalets. See the Japanese ski resort accommodation overview regarding what to expect with pensions and Japanese style accommodation. 

Short Walk To Madarao Lifts

The Madarao village is somewhat spread out, and some of the Madarao lodgings are up to 1km away from the slopes of the Madarao Ski Resort. If you don't want to walk to and from the ski area, most of the pensions offer on-demand shuttles.

Madarao Ski-In/Ski-Out Accommodation

Madarao Kogen has various ski-in ski-out accommodation options, including a few hotels and various pensions. Some of these are located around the main base area near the Madarao Kogen Hotel, whilst others will require a shuttle ride to get to the main part of the village for ski rentals, to visit the onsen, or sample different restaurants.

Tangram Accommodation

There isn't really a village at Tangram, with the base area primarily consisting of the large ski-in ski-out Hotel Tangram. There are also a few other Tangram hotels and pensions near the ski resort.

Tangram is very Japanese and don't expect lots of the hotel staff or other guests to speak much English. The Tangram Ski Resort (Tangram Ski Circus) is inter-connected with the Madarao Ski Resort.