Hotel Taigakukan

Family holiday with teenagers, room fit us all in and was a nice warm space to come back to after a day on the mountain. Owners and staff go above and beyond to make your stay enjoyable. Quiet location close enough to Happo one slopes to walk there daily.

We stayed at Hotel Taigakukan for a week of skiing last week and had a wonderful time. The hotel is centrally located at the fringe of the Happo village and within walking distance to the Nakiyama ski slopes (less than 5 minutes walk in ski boots and skis). Tatsuya-san, the owner was very kind to pick us up from the bus station at Hakuba Base Camp when we arrived (emailed the hotel before arrival giving the arrival information) and also dropped us off when we checked out. He was waiting for us when the bus arrived from Haneda. The hotel is one of those renovated traditional ryokan, which means modern facilities with the old traditional feel and hospitality. We opted for the half board option (breakfast and dinner, which is value for money especially the dinner). We also opted for the Japanese breakfast option in the morning. Western breakfast is also available but need to pre order the day before. Dinner meal is a fusion French/Japanese cuisine (eg lamb chops served with miso soup with rice and side salads). The chef knows how to prepare a great different meal each night. Each morning, the owner drove us to the gondola station, which save us from walking to the slopes in the snow (as it was snowing the whole time we were there). At the end of day, we just walked back from Nakiyama slopes. It has an in house indoor and outdoor onsen which is welcoming for the tired legs. There is also an in house bar next to the restaurant, which means we hardly go out after we returned to the hotel after ski. We stayed in a western room, facing the mountain. Although it is a raised bed, it is still tatami underneath with the normal futon mattress and duvet. Not the normal thick western mattress, one would expects. It is clean and well appointed. Wi-Fi is available throughout the hotel although the connection is not stable, when too many guests are using it at the same time in the hotel. Our friends stayed in a Japanese family room, quite a big room, suitable for a family of 3. There is also lots of single rooms, which we think this hotel caters to as we seen many singles dined-in in the evening Overall, an enjoyable stay and would definitely stay there again in future, mainly due to the location (walking proximity to the slopes and the village), hotel facilities and meals. Highly recommended.