Find the Cheap Nozawaonsen Hotels

We stayed in February 2023 for a week's skiing. The people at St Anton – which is family run – worked hard to give us the best stay; from the staff in the hotel and restaurant; to those in the public cafe downstairs; and not to forget the friendly and helpful staff in the hotel’s equipment hire store located at the ski base area. The hotel rooms are quite small, but that was OK with our being focus on skiing and enjoying ourselves up and down the mountain. Despite their size the rooms were very comfortable though! St Anton’s hospitality shone through when we arrived by bus at about 2 AM after flying into Tokyo earlier in the evening. The hotel is too small to have a staff member attending the front desk at all hours, and so we were welcomed with a detailed note about how to enter and where to find our room. Nothing could have been simpler! Breakfast was a foodie heaven, with a set Japanese menu changing each day – smoothie, salad and soup, followed by an egg dish (omelette or quiche) and home made breads served with the hotel's special and tasty Nagano honey and jams made from locally grown produce. Location, location is the absolute asset of St Anton – we were within metres of several Nozawa’s famous public onsens (and the hotel has its own), many restaurants and shops and just a short walk to the moving walkway to access the ski base area. You couldn't do better for a fabulous central location. Despite its centrality there was absolutely no street noise. While our incoming bus dropped us directly at St Anton because of the late hour, the central bus depot is within 200 metres and easily walked if arriving or departing during the day.

Gem in Nozawa. One of the best ryokan in Nozawa. Professional top quality staff. Breakfast and dinner (optional) are served on the second and third floor. English speaking staff available. A showcase of Japanese hospitality.  We had the kaiseki dinner and shabu shabu dinner at the ryokan which was excellent.  Within the ryokan, there are single sex indoor and outdoor onsen (with sauna facility) and also a private onsen for reservation. The ryokan is in the middle of Nozawa village, with a short main street of shops and many free public onsens. There are a few hot steam buns stores and also multiple craft beer joints.  From the ryokan, walk 3-5 minutes up a steep hill to reach the moving walkway up the ski hill. Very convenient.  From Nozowa village bus station, there is a free shuttle bus which can bring you to five different ski resorts around town.  Ryokan Sakaya is highly recommended and early reservations are necessary

First class service, good meal environment

This hotel is a pure homestay. It should have been run by a couple and an elderly person. During the period, I didn't see any other staff hired. Four people to manage a shop is definitely not enough. The sanitation of the room is not cleaned. They only change the bathrobes every day. Sanitation and toilets are not clean. Therefore, the sanitation is quite worrying. The corner countertops are gray and the room sleeps. When the blanket shakes, dust will float up. Then the hot spring place is also in distressing conditions, the walls are full of mildew, and then the hot spring pool can be responsible for never draining the water to clean, because I touch the edge of the pool every day when I soak, the same one every day The place is abnormally slippery, and there are always black floccules floating in the pool, both in the pools for men and women. I have never encountered this before, so I don’t think much about it. The hot spring bathroom is also all kinds of things. The cleaning is not clean, the whole is dirty, slippery and moldy. Speaking of breakfast, it's really a simple farm breakfast. More than half of the food is purchased. The meat slices and sausages are all ready-made from outside. It feels like I am eating a convenience store package. However, the family of the guesthouse are all super nice people. The room area is also large, much larger than the previous Sumiyoshi house. The location is good next to the bus stop, but the food and sanitary conditions are really flattering. In addition, The shopkeepers can't speak English or understand them, but they are very willing to help. They are very good at heart and quality. If you don't mind accommodation and food, you can choose. After all, it is very economical!