Hotel Oak Forest

The rooms are spacious and clean, the onsen is fantastic, the breakfast is good, and the town’s shuttle busses to the various resorts stopped right outside the hotel. It is also a quick 12 minute walk to Echoland where you can grab a dinner and drinks at various pubs / restaurants/ cafes.

Only one washing machine in the laundry was working, the other two were out of order. That’s not nearly enough to service all the guests. Also, the table cloths at the restaurant aren’t replaced and cleaned daily. It had the stains from previous days on it. Thats a shame because the rooms and facilities overall are so clean and tidy.

The breakfast was wonderful - so many choices and everything was delicious. The staff were attentive and helpful.

We loved everything! The wooded location was so peaceful and relaxing. We wished there was a shuttle in the evenings to take us to town where our friends were staying, but taxis weren't too expensive and were quite convenient. The ski shuttle was great - it was so nice being right at the first pick up spot. We always knew we would have a seat, and the "door to door" service was such a treat - right from the hotel to the ski resort, and right back to the doorstep of our hotel. It doesn't get any easier than that! We LOVED it!

Great onsen! Just use that for showering and relaxing, if you're comfortable with public bathing. The bus arrives on schedule at the door for the main ski resorts and to get to the bus terminal (and I think the train station as well). Short walk to the main street where food is (but it is a very busy street during dinnertime, so plan). One employee spoke English well, and the other staff were accommodating and polite regardless of the language barrier. Large room for 4 people, all in separate beds!

Consider most issues are due to language barriers: The hotel restaurant requires booking a day ahead including your food order. We were not aware, and we did not get this information out until 3-5 attempts to access the restaurant/order "take-away" (which is an option on the menu). Ski rental service was adequate but difficult to get confirmation and further instructions following the emailed reservation request. Also, I wished the return time of rental equipment be 6 pm rather than 5 pm, so I could take the latest bus back without penalty on rentals. The drying and washing facilities are old and need upgrades or maintenance. The bedroom was musty, so we often left our door wide open to air it out.

The rooms are huge by Japanese standards and have good aircon. The Onsen is awesome. Literally used our shower once as I just used the onsen everyday after riding. Lots to choose from with the breakfast, lots of hot food, soups, noodles, sausages to name a few. Cereals, yoghurt, juice etc. Plenty of parking available. The bus comes right outside the front door that takes people to the main ski resorts. It's not a very long walk (5-10min) into central Echoland where all the restaurants and bars are.

Heat in the dry room: The dry room is huge and you get your own large locker which is good, but I think they need to turn up the heat as there were times when certain gear wouldn't completely dry (the rooms are large so we ended up taking our snowboard clothes/boots up there to dry and just left our boards/skis in the dry room).

Having the ski shuttle bus right at the door is a big bonus. Our rooms were comfy and spacious. The breakfast was nice and the staff were extremely helpful and accommodating. It's not a very long walk (about 10mins) to other eateries and convenience stores. The onsen was really good too.

The washing machines... only 1 of the 3 machines was working. 1 washing machine to share between all of the other occupants of the hotel just doesn't cut it. There was a funny smell on the 2nd floor - I'm not sure what it was.

Was very convenient to most ski resorts in Hakuba Valley . The onset was lovely. We opted for the daily breakfast option which allowed us to fuel up each day before we hit the slopes. We are a family with a toddler so we didn’t mind the slower pace of the hotel

I visited the onset one morning and it hadn’t been cleaned. There were towels and robes left in the entry area. There are signs requesting people put their used linen and robes in the basket but clearly this hadn’t happened.

Hotel is located in quite area Shuttle bus goes right from this hotel to any ski slopes We visited Goryu, Hakuba 47, Sakka, Gondola, Happo-one(nakiyama). We used to ski with kid, the best ski place for kids and beginners are Goryu (it also has free indoor play zone for kids) more options with places to eat, including vegan/gluten-free cafe /Hakuba 47 / Sakka (unfortunately this year doesn’t have outdoor play zone for kids, but very little indoor kids corner with toys at the food court. There is also nice cafe) Breakfast in hotel each morning was different. I am vegetarian and gluten-free eater and there was choice for me to eat. Every morning two kind of fresh fruits as well. Thank to hotel for good service Rooms were clean Nice onsen with indoor and outdoor bath. About 20 min to walk to Echoland street with restaurants. There is small food store as well.

Everything was good

What a nice traditional Japanese ryokan! We had a very nice stay & enjoyed soaking in the onsen after a day of skiing. There were even gear lockets to dry our ski gear. I was very happy the onsen allowed people with tattoos too! The location was outstanding & within 15 mins of many so resorts. There was plenty of insite parking & shuttle busses. The breakfast was outstanding & I wish we had stayed longer! Thank you for a wonderful visit!!

the hotel had free shuttle buses to ski resorts and hakuba bus station. it was very well organised and super easy to get access to all the mountains. we also loved the Onsen which is free for all guests. we hired ski equipment from them too, good prices and good quality products. the staff were super helpful!

some of the hot food at breakfast was a little cold but otherwise we loved everything

The location is quite convenient. Walking distance to the busy area where we can find restaurants and bars. The room has decent size, and we love the Japanese style room. The onsen - both indoor and outdoor, is quite nice. We were able to relax after a day of snowboarding. You can also get discount ticket for several nearby ski resorts.

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