Yamagata hotels

Pros: The amenities were very good. The room was clean and spacious. I liked the friendly host and his staff. I enjoyed the company of other guests and some friends who dropped in. Good people. Sometimes a business hotel is the right choice. Sometimes a minshuku or hostel is the right choice. The right choice for me in Yamagata was this wonderfully different guest house. If you like shared meals, conversation, listening to stories, a surprise burst of a capella singing, a taste of sake or perhaps even random events you may well enjoy a couple of nights here. I did. Honesty box for drinks and snacks. Donation tin for any shared meals you choose to join.

Cons: All good. Maybe walking down the stairs in the middle of the night to use the toilet at my age.

Pros: Great stay ! The dinner with the owner and staff person (+other guest) was a wonderful time ! We tried local sake and home made plum wine (plus delicious dishes) ! Food and drinks are avaimable for free or at very raisonnable prices. Very confortable and homely place ! Towels, earplugs, shampoo ... are available. Very good geographic position also : 10-15min away from the station by walking, and 1-2min away from the parc of the former Yamagata castle, which is a great area for picnic, chilling, reading, walking around ...

Cons: Honestly ... nothing. I couldn't have asked for more or better.

Pros: The most at-home guest house I have visited. You get to experience a modern Japanese house and facilities. Beautiful garden and wonderful owner.

Cons: Far walk from the station.

Cons: Other residents where loud and noisy. They were having midnight snacks with alcohol, after that they were loud and puked all night. The host and staff couldn't do anything about it. We had a really poor nights sleep.

Pros: The best part of the stay here is the ambiance. The hostess, Akane, is very special, eager to please and super pleasant. The downstairs kitchen area is open for use, and one evening a bunch of locals got together for dinner and a musical performance, which was one of the highlights of our trip. Also, there are special aromatic bars for the baths, nice touch. Also liked being 3 minutes from the big park with the cherry trees for the sakura

Cons: There's not much to do about it, but the bathrooms and showers are downstairs, so that part is not very private. By the second day, when we knew people, it felt a little more comfortable, but still not ideal. In any event, that really was the only negative aspect, and certainly not a deal breaker.

Pros: Everything is good!

Pros: Mintaro is just great in every way. It is ridiculously good value for money for such a good location, clean, large rooms and amazing amenities with the kitchen and lounging area. It isn't far from the station but in a really quiet street just minutes from the castle park. But the best bit about this place is undoubtedly the staff! The owner Sato-san is such a friendly and kind character who cooks up some amazing food in the evenings which you're welcome to join. Sake included ;). The rest of the staff are just so nice as well and made my (sadly too short) stay perfect. I had so much fun eating, drinking and getting to know the staff while exploring the delights of Yamagata and the surrounding area. Couldn't recommend Mintaro enough and already planning my trip back.

Cons: Nothing!

Pros: Decent location. It is a nice home stay with very nice character. The owner is hospitable and the place is cosy though small. There are very cute cats too! Nice garden at the back too! We can make our own breakfast too!

Cons: The sound isolation isn't that fantastic but it is fine.

Pros: Nice staffs Clean room Good vibes

Cons: No restaurant or cafe around the guesthouse :(

Pros: the atmosphere is quite warm, host will cook dinner for guests (you can pay money in a small box), and it's really delicious. the equipment in guest house is also great, beer and drinks is only 100yen

Pros: The room!!! It's newly renovated room. Modern yet with Japanese touch on it. Very impressive with my room. The onsen come second best. Nothing beat hot dip after tiring day. And the food is very delicious and large variety of spread. Definitely worth staying when you visit Zao Onsen

Cons: Nothing! If there is anything I didn't like would be i regretted booking this hotel for a night. Wish i could stayed longer

Pros: It is a beautiful hotel that has amazing onsen! They have one in the hotel building and one out of building. My favorite was the outside one and went 5 times during my 2 nights stay. they offer complimentary shuttle service from/to Yamagata station which made my trip much easier. The meal was great too.

Cons: it is a bit out of town centre. and I loved the dinner on the first night but not the second night one.

Pros: The onsen was excellent.

Cons: We were very disappointed to find that the (non-smoking) room smelled of smoke, and worst of all, one of our yukata jackets had a cigarette butt in the pocket. Disappointing. Also, please STOP playing the Ghibli CD on repeat. Was very annoying.

Pros: 2 Outdoor onsens with nice lush greenery views. Dinner and bfast were yummy Service was excellent Room is very comfortable Free welcome drinks and snacks

Pros: The hotel was perfectly located right by the ski lift and ropeway to the snowmonsters. It was a little further away from shops and the other restaurants. Food was excellent...probably too much food at dinner. Onsen was really nice. Great place, but it was expensive! I was surprised that children under 10 were charged the full amount for the meal even though they barely eat that much.

Pros: Ryokan is located in a Very quite area with less crowd and traffic. That give a very good relaxation.

Cons: Onsen is not much privacy. Room has no aircon.

Pros: Room is spacious. The room can accommodate up to 5 people but we were there with just 3 so the space is more than enough. The dinner is great. Staffs at the dining room were great. They are willing to help and with smiling on their face all the time even though they are very busy and tired from running around.

Cons: The staffs at the reception should be replaced with a better attitude staffs. It was a little surprise that no one show up to help us with the door or luggage at all unlike all other ryokans or big hotel we visited through out Japan. When we approach the reception, all staffs were inside the room so have to ring a bell and once they came out, nothing have change her face was like “why are you here at this time?” No offer for free shuttle to Ropeway or even introducing the lounge for waiting until check-in time. At least she checked whether the room is ready for check-in or not. Another shot that I was very impressed was in the morning where I went to check out and asked for free shuttle back to Yamagata which the hotel has provided this free service. They told us that it is full and we need to reserve 3 days in advance which was not making any sense to me. But it was my fault as it was their rule so I let it go. Again, the staffs were not helpful and not even show the effort to help. The only thing they told was that there is a bus terminal but no one were saying about the anytime free shuttle back to the terminal like other normal ryokan. I strongly recommend management to replace majority of reception staffs or get them trained to make them feel proud of their work and know that they are representing the looks of their hotel. I am very confident that I will not revisit the hotel again from the above reason even though all others area are good.

Pros: Very clean, excellent staffs,dinner is very high quality

Cons: Not much actually

Pros: Low season so I I was upgraded to their renovated Japanese style rooms, very spacious and comfortable. Property is very clean and the dinner was a amazing feast.

Cons: Although hotel was pretty empty I was still required to wait about an hour until official check-in time!

Pros: Servicability and location. Clean.

Cons: Breakfast was mainly Japanese-style. Toast emptied quickly.

Pros: All of it. This's the best ever hotel I have been stayed!

Pros: Keiko was a fantastic host, very friendly, kind, she couldn't do enough for me during my stay. Puutaro was a great place clean building, the rooms & bathrooms were very clean. Great location to ski lifts. Overall a fantastic place to stay

Pros: Very conveniently located. Daily house keeping for a pension

Cons: No elevators

Pros: Location, rooms were warm

Cons: Wireless

Pros: Ms Keiko , the owner of pension is caring and helpful. Once she knows my knee is hurt, she give me bandages. Nice experience to stay here. The breakfast is delicious with appropriate value.

Pros: Everything, especially hospitality from Keiko that made us feel welcome and comfortable. Location is the best. Three pillows in bed. Great breakfast. Good deals on rental and pass.

Cons: Nothing. We liked everything there.

Pros: The owner's service

Pros: Breakfast was delicious. Keiko-san was very hospitable and helpful. My husband and I knew very little Japanese but we managed to communicate with the staff. Keiko-san even helped us with sending our ski/snowboard bag back to the airport. Location was also good - about a 3-minute walk to the gondola.

Pros: Keiko is a wonderful host, and very helpful. My room was lovely and I slept extremely well.

Pros: Everything is good. Onsen is vet nice.

Cons: It is a bit cold in the bathroom and the water is not hot enough.

Pros: The best ryokans experiences and great food, serviced mind and cleanliness.

Cons: None.

Pros: Big and clean room, great facilities and also onsen. Hotel is not too far from bus station. Good meal both breakfast and dinner.

Cons: Staff speak English not much.

Pros: Amazing traditional experience for the price. Staff barely some English but we all managed to communicate fine.

Cons: Nothing to do with Omiya, but it was hard to find many restaurants open later.

Pros: Rooms, location, food, staff service, overall fantastic place despite comments below

Cons: No bathroom in room, rigid and not good check in and check out times, ski equipment old

Pros: The location was excellent. I liked the layout, it felt like an adventure getting to your room! It was very comfortable. I wanted to stay for more than just one night.

Cons: It was a shame the onsen wasn’t outdoors (because it was during the winter?), that probably would have made the trip perfect. The check in (explanation process) could have been shorter, the staff could print it out on a card instead or something.

Pros: Just about everything was so Traditional Japanese, which we were seeking. Great

Cons: The Meals were very complicated (v. good), some brief explanation on paper of what the items were and how to cook them would have been great

Pros: The onsen was quite and well maintained. The food went above and beyond expectations with friendly and helpful staff to guide you.

Cons: Can not think of anything bad with the place.

Pros: Comfortable and spacious traditional Japanese rooms. Nice hot onsen within the Ryokan. Place for relaxation and a massage chair. Walking distance to the village and souvenir shops.Facilities for renting and storing skiing gear not that we made any use of it.

Cons: Communication with staff very difficult as hardly any staff member could speak English. No lifts so had to carry suitcases upstairs. No dinner or lunch available so had to look for it in the village. Very few restaurants in the village and the few that were open were small and could not accommodate every one who wanted to eat there. We were turned away from the only restaurant open at 20:30.

Pros: Room is great for the size, facilities and cleanliness. Outdoor Onsen is very comfortable.

Pros: Excellent customer service.

Cons: Nothing

Pros: The location is key!!!!!

Cons: WiFi is terrible.

Pros: Just gross

Cons: The hotel room

Pros: Great location,

Pros: The location is perfect for those who want to visit the surrounding areas in Yamagata (we visited Yamadera and Zao) because it is actually inside the JR station. The employees were really kind and the facilities were really good.

Pros: Perfect breakfast, perfect rice that I had ever have

Pros: The hotel is connected to the station so the location is very central. Rooms are very clean and the complimentary bottle of water every day is nice touch.

Pros: convenient location. Clean room.

Cons: Overrated for my period of stay

Pros: Position

Cons: No English tv and newspapers

Pros: Nice Onsen facilities. Friendly staff.

Cons: Definitely not 5*. It’s a nice place, slightly outdated. We went there out of season; could not have dinner in restaurant (you have to book before you arrive!). Breakfast is ok, but hot food is not hot and avoid the coffee.

Pros: Nice Onsen of course

Pros: It's getting to the end of the snow season in Zao, so the town outside the hotel is pretty much closed up for the year, but the hotel itself is lovely to spend time in, especially in the incredible and massive onsen facilities. We really enjoyed relaxing in them after a long and exciting day snowboarding. The outdoor onsen are incredible as well, relaxing in the hot water when it's snowing on your head was an experience I'll never forget. We really enjoyed our stay.

Cons: The rooms, and the onsens are really beautiful and comfortable, but the rest of the hotel feels a little sparse and too big. It's quite a long walk from some of the rooms to the onsens which is a little frustrating.

Pros: very good onsen (hot springs) quality, very good public bath facility, good country meal, provide shuttle form train station to hotel, provide discount coupon for rope cars

Pros: The Twin room we got was big and spacious with a small living area with massage chair and there are 2 toilets in the room. The food for dinner and breakfast is good. Some staff members are able to communicate in English.

Cons: All are good.

Cons: This is just a 3 star hotel. No way even one star extra! Dont go there.

Pros: Great dinner& breakfast, location and free shuttle bus from/to Yamagata station

Pros: Best breakfast from my trip among 4 onzen resorts. They provide variety of foods and taste good as well. Outdoor bath here is very nice. Kokuzai located just next to Zao ropeway, which is very convenience. There are free parking lots too.

Pros: Location was awesome, right by the ski lift and had their own onsen.

Cons: Overpriced and required advanced booking to simply have dinner at the restaurant, what a joke.

Pros: Very good room, nice hot spring, and very kind service. Breakfast and dinner was also very good. Ski rental service is also very good and good price.

Pros: Chigusa-san (the owner) is very accommodating and excells in English. Onsen is great and it's only a short walk to the ropeway. If you want an affordable authentic Ryokan experience, this is it.

Cons: Nothing really stands out.

Pros: Helpful english-speaking staff.

Pros: Friendly and accommodating staff. Good location.

Cons: Probably due for renovation, especially the bathrooms. No lift made it hard getting up to the room with heavy luggage.

Pros: Short walk to everything in Zao-onsen, incredibly hospitable owner. Very clean rooms and great view. The indoor onsen of the property was a good size as well.

Pros: Very friendly and helpful front desk.They have reduced ski pass and Onsen tickets and can arrange transport for luggageand store luggage on check out. Room 307 was spacious and had a small sitting area. The tatami mattress was fine and great warm covers but the pillows were very uncomfortable in our opinion ( not uncommon in Japan). The walk to the ski lifts was about 5-10 minutes uphill but no problem especially if you store your skis and boots at the lifts or ski shop. The hotel is very central in the village - close to Onsen, shop and restaurants.

Cons: For those who don’t do Onsen ( public or hotel) there is on,y 1 shower room for the whole hotel. Breakfast was very plain and the breakfast room rather dull ( western breakfast choice)

Pros: -The host, Chigusa-san was able to communicate with us in fluent english. -She tried her best to give us great recommendations for food. -The staff are very kind and their dinner is amazing.

Cons: -The staff are a bit too busy. I suppose that is typical for a ryokan to cater to so many guests. -Be prepared to travel through snowy road if you have a lot of luggage. -Sound proofing maybe a bit thin.

Pros: The location for skiing, dinner and the local bus station was great. They have their own onsen plus 3 local onsens less than 3 minutes walk from the accommodation.

Pros: The host and everyone who works at yoshidaya were amazingly helpful with any inquiries and made us feel very welcomed.

Cons: The pillows were uncomfortable after a day on the mountain, to thin and a bit hard but still perfectly manageable for our stay.

Pros: Good size room with nice decor and ensuite toilet. Nice, friendly staff. 5 minute stroll to ski field. Discounts provided for lift tickets, ski hire and outside onsens. Has its own onsen which is great after a day on the slopes.

Cons: Hard pillows to be expected travelling in Japan.

Pros: It’s a great place to stay (stayed two times already). Nice place to stay in winter with convenient 5 mins distance to bus station and 10 mins to the nearest slope. Very nice staffs with all 10+ years working experience, would love to help you all the time. Would love to come back again!

Cons: Not enough adapters in room

Cons: Pillow

Pros: Everything like the hotel's name.

Pros: Friendly and helpful staffs. Great location, close to JR station.

Cons: nothing

Pros: Drinks, coffee, Super breakfast for free! Everything is fine!

Cons: Nothing!

Pros: Staff team so friendly.

Cons: Nothing

Pros: -we had a really nice view -the breakfast buffet

Cons: -only one elevator so we had to wait a bit

Pros: The breakfast was not extremely awesome, I would say it's great. I suggest that they should make the breakfast until 10AM because 9am was to short I guess. Also, they should add more options for the breakfast, although the one that I had last time was great, I suggest more options to choose from like drinks, fruits, bacon, ham, bread, cheese, etc. I like the ambiance of the room, it was very comfy, the only thing I noticed was there are no stock of sodas and chocolates in the fridge, although I would rate the room as 8.5/10. I would say the over-all rating of the hotel was 9/10 for me.

Cons: They should put more services like printing for documents, English speakers I guess for foreigners, and more discounted coupons, especially for Zao Onsen. Nonetheless, everything was fine.

Pros: Good location, very near train station

Pros: Friendly staff Close to train for any transfers Breakfast better than anticipated with plenty of veggies and onigiri sushi also Luggage was kept before check in was open

Cons: You have to be flexible with small room configuration

Pros: Cleaniness and staff. Very close to Yamagata station

Pros: This hotel is a large western hotel, of similar standard and price to a Best Western. The position is reasonable, 8 -10 mins walk to the JR station, from where the buses to Zao Onsen depart ( NOT the Yamagata Bus terminal). The Reception staff were extra helpful, arranging our ski hire in Zao and we got a 10% discount through them. The hotel has a huge lobby beautifully decorated with a traditional diorama of the Edo royal court, the Patio restaurant and a mouth-watering display of in-house baked cakes. The breakfast buffet was generous and even included an omelet station. I loved the greeting by all the staff every time some one entered for breakfast. Dinner at Patio is western food - expensive and disappointing. Take the map and suggestions from Reception and eat local. We chose a 33 sqm Premium Double with modern decor which was comfortable, with the exception of the bed which was unrelentingly hard.

Cons: The bed. Of the 6 hotels we stayed at in Japan, this was one of the hardest.

Pros: The room/bed/view was spectacular. The food was delicious. The staff so accommodating and polite. I would thoroughly recommend the Castle Hotel. Love it.

Pros: The breakfast was nice and special food of Yamagata recommended by the staff was also delicious. The staff was helpful with sending fax to airline.

Cons: Some smell from smoking rooms in the corridor

Pros: Best C/P varlue Clean, lux, designed, nice service,food

Cons: No hat spring High price if take meal inside

Pros: Everything

Cons: Nothing

Pros: Very nice hotel for the price and close to the station!

Pros: Mosquitoes in the rooms.. No arrangements of fresh air in rooms if needed.

Pros: Good location

Cons: The second bed looks like the temporary bed. But over all it is ok

Pros: 　　good service

Cons: Nothing

Pros: Great service! I borrowed their umbrella when I forgot mine when meeting a taxi downstairs. Also loved that they had cherry hats in the lobby.

Pros: Very close to train station, decent room, friendly staff. Mostly business men. I arrived late and left early, the receptionists were fine with both. Although they did not really speak English, they understood when I asked for luggage storage and helped metake my large backpack (thank you!)

Cons: My room was ice cold when I arrived and it took me a while to figure out how to switch off the AC. (hint: it’s a built-in control panel above the bed:)

Pros: Good value for money. Nice japanese breakfast and goodies in the room.

Cons: The bed is a bit small for a tall western couple.

Pros: Based on the reviews and the price, I wasn’t expecting much, however my experience was great. The room was very clean, modern, had great air conditioning. The location couldn’t be more convenient...5 minutes walk from the main station, right next to a grocery store and several restaurants. Overall, much better than my experiences with the APA chain.

Pros: LOCATION WAS PRETTY CENTRAL AND HAD A CAR PARK.

Cons: PARKING IS NOT FOR FREE FOR GUESTS. I WAS SURPRISED BY THE FRIENDLINESS OF THE STAFS.

Pros: Ok business hotel overall.

Cons: Not very clean, in particular the bed cover. Smell of smoke in the room and breakfast not recommended at all.

Pros: It’s like 5star hotel but not new anymore. The room is good , breakfast is the BEST! and quite close to train station about 3mins walk.

Pros: Room which we upgraded on check in from a standard double to a fantastic large room with lounge, space and much comfort- well worth the extra after 3 weeks of mostly tiny rooms. View to the snow capped mountains also great.

Cons: The pillows- terrible, hard, brick like! Strange bath which drains directly onto bathroom floor. No restaurant facilities available after lunch and no room service. Icy cold and snow everywhere when we arrived- would have loved to have eaten in the hotel.

Pros: Big room and nice staff

Cons: It’s hot and can’t open the windows

Pros: Breakfast was good and staff tried to help although they had difficulties understanding. Bed was comfortable with baby in the middle.

Cons: Nobody of the staff could speak English well - but they tried. Air con was not working properly.

Pros: the location and the staff

Cons: nothing

Pros: Quick WiFi. Bag storage

Cons: Roch hard bed. Terrible "onsen" Breakfast was not good.

Pros: very close to JR station, nice staff and have a good onsen

Pros: It's beside Max Value Supermarket. There's a free car park. Staff is very helpful. Breakfast is good.

Pros: Great location right next to Yamagata station, nice staff, decent price.

Cons: Extremely uncomfortable beds (the mattress was hard as a rock -- I may as well have slept on the floor). We also chose this hotel over the Metropolitan because it had an onsen, which turned out to be underwhelming. Basically an oversize bathtub with no view.

Pros: The location is close to the JR, station.

Cons: The pillow was not soft and large enough for sleep. Breakfast was simple without variety choices.

Pros: I need reservation for Mogami River Boat Cruise & the staff help me for that. Very helpful & kind.

Pros: I liked the location - it was just a 2 minute walk from the station to the hotel. The room was also very comfortable and there was free coffee being offered via self service on the side. The staff also kept our bags before check-in time so we can go around town.

Pros: Friendly and polite staff. Located very close to station. Delicious breakfast. Bath on the top floor.

Cons: Hard Bed

Pros: Near train station

Cons: Na

Pros: Very convenient location, right across from the ski slopes and the gondola up to the snow monsters. Meals included were fantastic, beautifully presented and amazingly fresh food. Lovely view from the room.

Cons: Small space for a family of 6.

Pros: The meals were nice.

Cons: The rooms need a lot of work. Layers of dust could be found on cupboard door ledges and underneath tableware and the phone. Staff were quick to try and rectify which was great but there is only so much they can clean in a short time.

Pros: The food is very nice, and the staff who look after the restaurant could not be more attentive.

Cons: The property has a proud history but it is very old and dated. It is very much in need of a full refurbishment.

Pros: staff esp those at front desk and restaurant were really helpful , attentive and very pleasant. Kaiseikei dinner and breakfast were very good and value for money.

Cons: property a bit aged .

Pros: The staff was super friendly; there was a van to pick you up from the bus station; the onsen was lovely.

Cons: Slow wifi, but I think it's more due to the location rather than the device itself.

Cons: I would like some western options for breakfast

Pros: Nice room and nice Rotenboro (outdoor onsen), breakfest was good, dinner was great!

Cons: Communication in English wasn't easy. We wanted massage service but we were told that it wasn't available for one night only guests, private onsen was a bit small.

Pros: Great location for a ski holiday with the ropeway a short walk across the road. The public onsen is fabulous. For English speakers be warned that not a lot of English is spoken at the hotel however staff will go out of their way to try and assist.

Cons: Breakfast could have a bit more variety - especially when staying for longer periods of time. This hotel also caters to large tourist groups so be warned.

Pros: Safe enough walk from central bus stop during winter (but do not bring heavy bags during winter). Good dinner at allocated table in a spacious common dining room. Easy short walk to Ropeway to view the snow monsters. Rental of snow sports gear beside the main entrance. Staff nice enough to lay out protective sheets around the main entrance and discretely remind all to remove and store snow sports gear before going up to rooms. Good enough space in the sento.

Cons: Clumsy non-Japanese groups (with kids), experiencing snow sports for the first time, make the Ropeway experience during winter unpleasant. Unpredictable snow showers and gusts make viewing snow monsters a hit-and-miss affair. No live cameras at the mountain top make it difficult to tell if one should spend the money to go up.

Pros: We chose to stay in the Japanese style room with half board option for four nights. The price was considered expensive when it come to food choices of our dinner for two. Everything else was nice and compfortable. The hotel is just opposite the ski lifts and gondola with nearby convenient store. The onsen was excellent.

Cons: The food choices of half board option seemed questioning. They were great for the first two days, we then tried to guess what we would have next. Unfortunately, we were not served any seafood for main dishes, but we observed other Japanese guests who checked in the same day as us, they got the room first (before the check-in time, as soon as they arrived), but we had to wait until the check-in time, and they were served with seafood set on the thrid day. We were served either pork or beef in a limited amount and some nights they kicked us out of the main dining area where all side dishes were available on the buffet basis and put us in a small room with other foreigners.

Pros: Hotel is conveniently located with one of the main ski robe-ways just across the street. The hotels onsen are great!

Cons: The rooms desperately need a proper refurbishment. Everything is really old and tiered. A persistent urine smell in the bathroom complemented the whole. Please stay a way and book somewhere else! Value/money is completely out of balance here!

Pros: The onsen was great and the food was very good.

Cons: The room smelled a little smoky.

Pros: Friendly and helpful staff, meals served were great, overall we had wonderful time staying at Hotel Lucent!

Pros: Nice view and good onsen especially outdoor hotspring.

Cons: The location of hotel is a bit distance from the town and Zao ropeway. The hotel is quite old

Pros: All over excellent. Great location, staff and facilities.

Cons: Nothing. All great.

Pros: Onsen with fabulous panorama snow.

Pros: The room and Onsen were very good,close proximity to the ski area,and an easy walk to town. The village was very nice as traditional Japanese experience.

Cons: Mostly it was good but I found the dinners pretty much the same every night just with a different name and different meats.

Pros: Great service from the staff. Lovely buffet dinner and breakfast Free shuttle service to the bus station as well as to the ropeway station

Cons: It was pretty far from the ropeway station. Walking in the cold and up the slope was no fun.

Pros: The rooms, location of hotel and breakfast selection.

Cons: No problems with stay.

Pros: The rooms are fairly generous by Japanese standards (although a typically Japanese "compact" bathroom. The ski drying room was conveniently located. Breakfast was good, with an excellent selection of both Japanese and western options. Ski hire was available at the hotel for those in our group who needed to hire their skis, and the price was extremely reasonable.

Cons: Just points to note (not criticisms). There is very little English spoken right around Zao Onsen. If you're heading to Zao then take the opportunity to learn a few Japanese phrases - the effort will be appreciated. Also bear in mind that this is one of the higher hotels, so it's a bit of a walk to the main street and restaurants. The bonus is a very short walk to the slopes.

Pros: Very helpful staff and good location for enjoying Zao Onsens' mountains.

Cons: My first rental snowboard was little too old and broke on the mountain. Second one given to me next day was all good.

Pros: although small room, but with enough space

Cons: very small toilet and bathroom

Pros: The staff spoke minimal English but we somehow managed to understand each other (google translate when available and some hand movements helped lol), they went above and beyond to help us with anything we needed. If you need to get to the Jupeer base centre, or anywhere in the village, someone will send you and pick up can be requested too. The Japanese dinners were excellent! After a day at the slopes, take a dip in the in-house onsen, it’s amazing!! There have ski and snowboard equipment rentals, as well as ski/snowboard wear. If they don’t have your size, they will take you to the nearest rental shops and help you get what you need, which they did for my brother. And they helped us return them as well! You can ski in/ski out (Yokokura slope I think?) and take the Sanrokusen ropeway to get to the snow monsters. We arrived after 7pm (the cut off time to check-in) because our Shinkansen was delayed but they waited for us and even gave us plenty of options for restaurants that were still opened within walking distance to hotel.

Cons: Eventhough the onsen is in-house, it’s situated at the back of the first floor, and there is access to it but the heaters don’t help so be prepared! Especially you plan to head there after dinner, or when the temps drop.

Pros: The location was a little up the hill side but an relatively easy walk to the main street. Very close to the one slope which we used to then gain access to the rest of the mountain. They had a great drying room for ski equipment. We had 2 suppers in the hotel- traditional Japanese which was fantastic. We had 1 breakfast which had a lot of Japanese food but also had fruit and toast etc. We used the onsen for only 1 night. Being a female-male couple it isn't that much fun hanging out on your own but it was great that it was on site, very convenient and a great experience.

Cons: The staff speak only a little English but we managed to get by. Would not say this affected our trip in anyway.

Pros: Staff couldn't have been more helpful. Stayed for a week to ski. Great access to the Nakamori slope and the Zao Chuo ropeway. 100 meter flat walk. Huge drying room. His & hers onsen (watch out for the time change when the rooms swap over). Breakfast is well worth it. Would recommend dining in the restaurant at least once. While expensive it is an experience to remember.

Cons: It is a bit of a walk (10 mins) uphill from the centre of town. A good way to work off the those extra holiday calories but it can be slippery when icy so be prepared!

Cons: Paid more than booking.com price They don’t understand English Booking.com should act on this case

Pros: a private bathroom

Cons: Staff cannot speak English No one stayed there accept us Front office cannot handle us, 12 person when check in For other booking i agree they have to pay for their children due to their bookings But for the last 2 night I have to pay more than stated at your web. They charged us for onsen for everyday though we didnot use everyday

Pros: Breakfast buffet was amazing. It was just ¥1000. But it worth more than that

Cons: Convenient Location and free parking lot that was reserved in advance.

Pros: The hotel was in a decent location in terms of convenience, about a 15-20 minute walk to Yamagata Station. There is a Lawson next door for quick snacks and whatnot. Plenty of places to eat nearby if you’re feeling adventurous.

Pros: The hotel building and the rooms are showing their age, but it had an onsen which made it an acceptable choice for us, we thought, when booking. We were first given a room looking into the parking garage a meter or two away. When we pressed the agent at the desk we were offered a room of the same size (the largest they have) on a higher floor and it was much more acceptable. You can walk to Kajo Park from the hotel and that is a plus. There are a few historic buildings in the immediate area as well.

Cons: We took a taxi from the station because we were hauling a lot of luggage, but even with less luggage I think we’d want a cab. The hotel is not a short walk from the JR station. The entrance is up a short step, not that easy to maneuver with luggage and a tripper if you don’t watch your footing. The lobby is on the second floor reached by elevator or escalator. The hotel really needs to be renovated. Everything is old and drab, from the lobby, to the halls, the room, the toilet and bath. The onsen was tiny with only a few wash stations and a very small dressing area. The process of accessing it by exchanging your room key for an onsen key was a bit awkward dressed in yukata. You then have to go to the ground floor to enter the onsen, dressed in yukata, right at street level across from the Lawson’s entrance.

Cons: the airconditioning was not very effective

Pros: Excellent location, free motorbike parking, free available onsen, 24h Lawson in the building, decent value for money after all

Cons: Staff looked confused, room considerably outdated, bed hard like e a rock, overall below average condition

Pros: Lovely staff

Cons: Air flow

Cons: Far away from the JR station.

Pros: Unfortunately we chose a very busy weekend, therefore availability was low and prices were high. We also got stuck with a smoking room due to lack of availability. That's no fault of the hotel, but sleeping in a stinking room and having all our cloths stinking wasn't too nice. The room was average at best. The bathroom was fitted out with the cheapest fixtures I've seen since I lived in student accommodation. We paid more for one night than better hotels we stayed at for 3 nights. If you can get it for a good price it's entirely reasonable, unfortunately we had to pay through the nose to find somewhere to stay.

Cons: The bed wasn't particularly comfy. The bathroom was smaller than your average Japanese bathroom and the fixtures were really cheap.

Cons: The shower was very uncomfortable to get in and out of as the doorway is very narrow, with a higher-than-knee-height edge to step over.

Cons: Thin walls, could hear other guests in the rooms. Complimentary breakfast was only bread. Usually love APA hotels but this one was a bit sub-par.

Pros: Very good location near the train station and lovely staff who were willing to help and give us advice. It was really good being able to make use of the washing machine and dryer. Generally very happy considering the value.

Cons: The breakfast was pretty simple (various breads/toast with jam) and the room (small double bed) was very small for two people, but we had a good stay and can't complain considering the value!

Pros: It is ten minutes walk from Yamagata station, but still very nice location with reasonable price. Suitable for single person to live. The clerks there are all very kind and polite. Highly recommend to live here in the near future.

Cons: Although it has TV in the room, doesn't have channels to watch. You should buy extra tickets to watch the channels. A little bit pity for it.

Pros: location

Pros: Staff were very friendly. Laundry was a bonus.

Pros: The staff were kind and tried their best to speak English with me. They were very caring and warned me about the weather because it was a bit cold and it was going to snow the next day.

Pros: Little walk away from station. Staff is very good Our room on 6th floor has little bit interrupted but amazing views of mountains(snow clad as its winter)

Cons: Bath room is little in convenient to use.

Cons: Extremely simple breakfast: Bread and coffee/tea, some walking distance to the train station

Pros: Everything is good ,they staffs are very friendly and good location.

Cons: I found the room a little cold, and it would be necessary to pay to have a blanket and a fan hita.But it’s ok ^ ^

Pros: The location is very convenient and staff are friendly. Really affordable for people on a budget.

Cons: No wifi in the rooms and the only had wifi in the lobby. The rooms also need a good cleaning. Random stains were on the bed frame, carpet and curtains. Parking is very limited and needs to be reserved a head of time.