Naeba is a ski resort that has all the trimmings. The Naeba Prince Hotel has the necessary facilities and services for skiing and snowboarding, and day trippers are incredibly well catered for too. One end of the hotel, the “N-Plateau” which includes the World Cup Lodge, has lots of services and facilities for day guests including an information booth, lockers, a kids room, nursing room, and a food court that comes complete with a foot bath (if you’re brave!). You can even rent out a hotel room for the day that has a TV, sofa, shower, toilet and general space to use as a base for the day.

Facilities for Children

At Naeba ski resort it’s all about the kiddies. The facilities are amazing and kids will think Naeba is the bees knees.

The Pandaruman Adventure Park sits right out the front of Wing 4 of the Prince Hotel at the base of the ski area. This fun kids’ park is open from 9am to 8:30pm and admission is reasonably inexpensive. Here kids can learn to ski with Mum or Dad, go tubing, sledding and enjoy the kids’ music that blares from the speakers – it’s a bit of an acquired taste!

Indoors is Pandaruman House that is also heaven for children. It features indoor artificial mat slopes for sleighing (ie tobogganing) and skiing. This kiddies’ area is amazing for the wee ones to practise.

Access to the kids’ room in the World Cup Lodge is free. Parents can take their children in there to play with the toys.

Heidi Nursery offers child care for babies from six months of age up to 6 year old kids. The crèche is open 9:30am to 5pm. Reservations are required.

Another option is Miffy Ski Camp which incorporates either Snow Kindergarten for kids to learn about nature whilst playing in the snow, or Kids Camp which is for little kids to learn to make their debut on the ski trails and lifts. Half day or full day programs are available.

Naeba Ski School

Naeba Ski Academy can offer some ski and snowboard lessons in English for kids and adults. Whilst they do offer group lessons, it’s likely that English lessons can only be provided in a private format.

Snowcountry Instructors also provide ski and snowboard lessons in English at Naeba.

Naeba Ski Hire and Snowboard Rental

For Prince Hotel guests and day trippers there are a few ski and snowboard rental stations throughout the hotel building. Prices are reasonable considering the quality of the gear they hire out, and they even have a few pairs of fat skis. In order to enhance safety, they provide free helmet rentals for hotel guests. Most of the staff don’t speak English so unless your Japanese language skills are great, sign language might be the order of the day.

Much cheaper ski and snowboard hire is available at a few shops in the town of Naeba. A couple of the shops have shaped skis whilst others have just straight skis and rear entry ski boots. This provides a bit of an indication as to the lack of modern equipment on offer! An exception is the Kinta Hotel where they have reasonable snow sports equipment for hire.

The Prince Hotel has a tuning and waxing service in wing 5.

Other Facilities

In case you had aspirations of grandeur and thought you were Shaun White in the terrain park, there is a medical centre at the Prince Hotel that specialises in orthopaedic related issues. Upon enquiry they may also be able to assist with a service for an internal medical consultation.

Eating On Mountain

Naeba has an abundance of options for lunch with eight different restaurants on mountain. Alternatively you can come down to the Prince Hotel to one of the many restaurants, or head to the food court for inexpensive fare such as pizza, ramen, pasta, hot dogs, curry, rice dishes, and assorted crepes.

Banking and Internet Facilities

You won’t have any trouble getting hold of yen at Naeba. The Prince Hotel has a 7-Eleven ATM in wing 4. The post office in Naeba town has an ATM that accepts international cards. Your other option is to visit the 7-Eleven store near Echigo-Yuzawa Station, out the west exit and 50 metres to the right.

Unfortunately internet connectivity is a little harder to come by. There is no internet access in the hotel rooms at the Prince, and wireless access is a bit hit and miss elsewhere.