Zao Kokusai Hotel

The location is beautiful and the staff was incredibly kind, patient and accommodating. They were able to help us set up a private onsen experience, ensured we had everything we needed, and were very helpful. Limited English options for speaking but most things had English translations for guests who are new to Japanese or struggle with Kanji.

Western-style beds are much bigger and softer than Japanese "beddos" (mattresses instead of futon). This is something to expect when staying at a Ryokan. Travelers who are unfamiliar with Japanese beds might be shocked by the firmness of the mattress. I recommend asking for extra

We really like the food. Especially the dinner. Since our group doesn't eat beef, at the time of check-in, we asked the hotel staff if they could amend the menu for us. They were able to do that and we had our dinner with a set of grilled seafood which was very delicious and beyond our expectations.

We saw a picture of a private onsen on the hotel website and made a reservation to use one. However, the ambiance is not quite the same as depicted in the picture. In the picture, the private onsen is very bright and new. However, when we entered the private onsen, it was not clean and quite old. So it was a little bit of a disappointment.

The hotel offers great onsen facilities. Public baths: 1 indoor pool and 2 outdoor pools as well as 3 private facilities. The rooms are spacious and the staff is extremely polite and helpful. They offer a free shuttle bus service to and from Yamagata station which has to be reserved 3 days in advance. Wonderful dinner which was included in our room rate and very good and copious breakfast.

Almost nothing to mention here. The rooms are cozy but maybe a little outdated.

A beautiful hotel in the town of Zao Onsen. Facilities were amazing, onsen were excellent and meals were very high quality including kaiseki style dinners and buffet style breakfast. The free shuttle bus for guests to and from Yamagata Station is extremely convenient - contact the hotel via email 3 days before check-in to arrange this! For Western travellers this is a very Japanese hotel with some language barriers present. A few staff speak English but the majority do not. It's not insurmountable but it led to a few minor moments of confusion. For example we were assigned to dinner at different restaurants on nights 1 & 2 of our stay. This wasn't explained beforehand and so the hostess of the restaurant from night 1 walked us down the corridors to the other restaurant on night 2. As a say - not a significant issue but just small things.

Nice bath. They offer free drinks. That was especially nice after taking bath. Breakfast was excellent. Staffs at the restaurant were nice and friendly. Location is perfect for skiers but outsides of onsen areas. It will be 10-15 minutes walk.

Our plan didn’t include dinner. A staff didn’t know which restaurants open. We had to call each restaurant. She gave us a map without any instruction. We wish she would have give us more directions about the town.

the onsen was clean and beautiful and the staff were very helpful even with limited English spoken (Google translate really helped!). as the hotel was up a slope, the staff was kind enough to drive us up and down when requested as we were travelling with an elderly and child and it was not convenient for walking down a snow hill.

It was really too far away, 1 night at this hotel will be good but 2 nights was a bit too much (unless you’re planning to ski for days, included that you check the weather updates). restaurant choices nearby were also limited.

Enjoyed our stay at this ryokan. The tourists info center at the bus terminal arranged for our shuttle bus pickup. On arrival, that has an English peaking person who checked us in, explained everything in detail, showed us to our room and answered all our questions. The onsen was very good. The Japanese kaiseki dinner was outstanding as was the breakfast the following morning. The staff were very attentive and helpful.

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The reception staff made exceptional assistance to send us to nearby hotel which we stay for another night in Zao onsen. Understand that the hotel normally does not provide any free transportation other than to Yamagata Station. Secondly, the pick up waited for as we were late because we waited at the wrong exit. We were about 10 mins late. Very helpful staff and driver.

More clearer instructions for pick up location for free shuttle bus from Yamagata Station.

Very clean. Near nature. Excellent rotenburo. Breakfast is great, accommodating for both Japanese and Western style.

While booking as a solo Traveller, booking.com charged me for 2. I would have expected the hotel to figure it out but this was not the case.

The service was excellent. From front desk to dining to housekeeping. Everyone was very friendly and all smiles. The rooms were very clean, spacious and new. The private and foot bath were great. I especially loved that the hotel does not have many rooms so service is personal and the baths and dining areas were not crowded

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