This is my second review for Ishiuchi ski center. The first stay was 1-3 Feb 2024. After 3 nights I have grown to like the hotel even more, getting into routine, having a bath at 7 AM to be ready for breakfast at 7:30. And prepare for the slope. From the hotel there are several ways to get to the top of Sunrise Express. And from there the mountain is your. The easier one is to ski down about 50m to the first lift on the left and it will take you up to the top. Or ski down about 2 KM to the base center. There are 3 courses to go all the way down: Dynamic course, sportsman course and Devil course, I never took this one, un-groom, vertical drop. The dynamic course is a dark green, enough challenge for intermediate, speed, manageable fear. The skiers. All the guess is skier. Sometime there are young group belong to ski club and it is a pleasure to watch them calming gravity with beauty of their parallel turn. Sometimes there are a large group of international students in a short one night stay. It is very popular with family with young children. Of course there are individual like me who is happy to involve with a few cad game of UNO or just seat back sampling long list of Niigata sake watching night skier dancing the high beam golden lighting and listening Nina Simone in the back ground music.

Incredible Family own and run property: parents, young daughter, who is also a mother of two girls, one and three years old, the husband, and very dedicated 4 young staffs. Initially I booked 2 nights but after some more researches I booked additional 5 nights. Because I feel something is very special about this property. And it is. The first night was beyond my expectation. Watching Japanese family at work. The food is very good delivered with Japanese punctuality wand calmness. I feel part of the family not just a guess. The young mother is looking after the guess with the youngest baby on her chest and the older one dragging her toy following her every footstep. I am very privilege to witness a culture that I heard so much about. The dinning table has a view to the ski slope. It is a resonance slope and very popular one half way between the top of Sunrise Express and the base station. The restaurent back ground music is Jazz. Nina Simone came now and then with her Feeling Cool while we are watching a group of skier racing the slope in front of us. I feel this is Aspen without the Hollywood stars. Just me, a group of skier, and the Japanese family who found us the new dawn. Thank you.

Family run business which was great.real homely atmosphere.location was super,right on the main slope.the owners were extremely friendly and helpful.many good memories were made at this location.

We were on the 5th floor and the stairs were a challenge every day. Kind of a bit hard to access as lift access is reqd to det to hotel.rooms were small and had low hanging lights which we were constantly banging our heads on

The accomodation serves breakfast and dinner, which is quite major point. The hotel is located in the middle of the slope, perfect for those who wanted to jump into ski straightaway. The host and staff was very very friendly and I appreciate their mochi making event held during one on the night.

Nothing, except maybe the access is limited by ropeway. But, in all cases, the host was very responsive and quickly send snow mobile to dispatch guest to and from ski lift. being on a snowmobile is also quite an experience for me!

We visited mid-January for the snow. Ishiuchi Ski Center is a great place to stay when going on a ski/snowboard trip. It's right in the middle of the slope. The room was very comfortable, the heater was toasty and kept us warm from the freezing temperature outside. Toilets were well cleaned and also has a bidet/washlet. The reception floor has a cafeteria and dining area, although at certain times only. We paid for the dinner (being halfway on a snow slope and didn't want to risk missing the last lift back up). It was a full and delicious meal, Japanese style. They had heating rooms downstairs to dry your gear, and the heater was working. I like the idea of being in the middle of a slope. Will visit here next time to be more active with snow sports.

During snow, either the location in the middle of the slope, or that the hotel don't have snowmobile service to the bottom of the hill. Travelling in the gondola is fine, but on the chair lift with heavy luggage is very risky. (Lucky we just had backpacks.) The location also makes it a bit tricky to reach there when travelling in snow: you need to buy a lift pass, take the gondola up past the hotel, then take the left (not right) chairlift down to the halfway point, then walk about 2 minutes on flat snow to the entrance. When getting off the gondola, you should take the chairlift on the left; if you take the right chairlift, it ends below the hotel, and you need to walk up in the snow.

The staff were really helpful. Nice, traditional rooms with futon bedding, air conditioning and wifi. Bathrooms, sinks, shower rooms and kettle/fridge shared on each floor but works really well. Enjoyed the Japanese style breakfast. We were there in summer. Stunning backdrop of hills and trees. Best thing though was the staff. Super helpful.

It is difficult to find if you don’t have Japanese but we got a taxi there late at night after Fuji rock so completely do-able.

Location is very convenient for my daughter and I. We feels like in the a family house, very warm ambiance,comfortable, friendly, very helpfull and I trust to leave my daughter with them while mom is having 3 rounds of snowboarding slides ! ❤️

Room was on higher floor, but still manageable and not complaining about it.

Location is perfect for trip to the snow. Food was nice and good price And the host are very nice

Pillows were not good and my room made a constant humming noise from outside air conditioning unit. so if you are noise sensitive when trying to sleep it can be annoying. Also the toilet room was abit smelly. But the location for the price is well worth any negatives. I would still stay again.

The location is exceptional, the staff didn’t speak English well but they tried their best! The food is also excellent, I will highly recommend to anyone who is going to Ishiuchi!

The community restrooms were a change from what I was used to, but they were very well maintained and very clean.

The instructions to get there were very thorough. The staff were quite nice and welcoming of one of us doing remote work while the other went on the snow.

No lifts, but that can't be helped.