Niigata Prefecture winery accommodation

Good sized room and excellent Japanese breakfast

The Lotte Arai Resort exceeded all of our expectations on our recent 2 day getaway to the mountains. We only learned about this resort because it was affiliated with the Ikon pass, but we will certainly return for our next snow adventure in Japan. The location was beautiful and less than 2 hours from Tokyo by shinkansen. There was a convenient hotel shuttle that provided door to door service from Joetsumyoko station to the hotel. The check in process was flawless. We stayed on the 5th floor of the Lodge building in the most spacious hotel room I've ever encountered in Japan. The beds were extremely comfortable and the room conveniently connected to our kids room next door. Restaurant reservations were a snap to get online. The Japanese restaurant AKIRA had both an extensive Japanese buffet for breakfast and a tasty local set menu for dinner. Restaurant HA NOI was fine but not up to US standards for Vietnamese food. The ski/snowboard rental process was quick and easy. We were able to reserve snowboard lessons online without difficulty, and our friends were able to join the group lesson with only 1 days prior notice. The Village Station food court had modern Japanese standard fare that hit the spot after a busy morning on the slopes. There were so many other nice details provided at Lotte including: the Christmas Market where we had a nice Irish Coffee, the Christmas Cake, the pool table and darts, and best of all, the Onsen.

The breakfast spread was by far the best I’ve had, it was not only very affordable (¥2400 if you make a reservation one day prior) and the food spread was also very varied. There were 3 types of Niigata rice to choose from, and also some of the best bread I’ve ever had. The ensuite bathroom was spacious, and the showerhead had good water pressure. The room was also big enough to open 2 medium sized luggages without having to navigate too precariously around. The traditional Shoji in the room also added more character to the room. Humidifiers and even pillows of different heights were available for rent (ANA Crowne Plaza calls it their sleep advantage), which definitely improved our sleep. Location of the hotel was also very convenient; 10mins from the train station (flat ground, easy for luggage to be pull across), 5mins from LoveLa Bandai (a mall with all the shops that you need) and multiple bus stops.

Hôtel très bien, bon rapport qualité prix. Pour un 2 étoiles c’est vraiment pas mal! Très rétro et agréable

We had 2 rooms. Both non smoking but one of the rooms absolutely reeked of cigarette smoke. Unfortunately it was the room assigned to me and I suffer from asthma so I had a very difficult time breathing and sleeping was limited. Our other room had our children and it was not feasible to swap rooms. I do not know if we would consider going to siunroute again as it is very hot and miss with the rooms.

Good location and nice staff