Bandaisan Onsen Hotel is a highland hotel which overlooks the beautiful mirror-like lake " Inawashiroko Lake, and it is surrounded by the Bandaisan mountain, one of the 100 famous mountains in Japan. Just 250km away from Tokyo, the ski resort of Bandaisan Onsen Hotel is with over 200 acres of the epic terrain covered in 600 cm of pristine powder in the winter time, a skier's paradise that you will only believe it after experiencing it.
After skiing, other activities like the hot spring experience or paying a visit to the Samurai city (Aizu Wakamatsu) are popular choices among tourists.
Modern Twin/Triple Room (29 m2) accommodate 1-3 guests
Each room has a private bathroom. There are also other room types to suit families or groups.
Rates from 14,950 yen per person twin share including breakfast, dinner & lift pass
26th February 2023
13th february 2023
This is my partner and I’s third trip skiing in Japan at Aizu
12th February 2023
30th January 2023
22nd January 2023
15th January 2023
Just returned from a great first trip to Japan including 1 week skiing at Alts Bandai/Nekoma and I'm writing this review from the viewpoint of an experienced intermediate skier, having skied in several countries over the past 40-or-so years!
3rd January 2023
In short, the hotel is very nice. The facilities were very nice. The food was excellent, although non buffet options are needed.
Early Feb 2019
Thank you Hisae for organising this enjoyable week. We spent 5 nights at Alts Bandai in early February. Our package was for a western twin room that included breakfast, dinner and lifts. Access was easy from Tokyo to Koriyama and we caught a resort bus from Koriyama Station. First impressions were good with a lovely foyer, lounge area and smooth check in. Staff were friendly and helpful.
The hotel is modern, clean and well maintained. Breakfast and dinner were both buffet style and there was a good variety of delicious food. We especially enjoyed the local delicacies highlighted daily. A dinner reservation time slot is required to ensure you don't have to wait too long for a free table.
The resort is relatively new with modern facilities and there are plenty of lunch options at the base as well as equipment rental.
Unfortunately, we didn't get any fresh snow during our trip and the conditions were at times quite icy. Despite this we made good use of the sunny weather to look around, and made good use of the hotel's onsen and pool. Definitely worth a return visit though especially after fresh snow.
Janne
From Tokyo, there are two ways of traveling to Bandaisan Onsen Hotel.
Option 1: Bullet Train from Tokyo station to Koriyama station (1h20m) -> Public bus from Koriyama station to Bandaisan Onsen Hotel (1h / 1,000 yen)
Option 2: Bullet Train from Tokyo to Koriyama (1h20m) -> Local train from Koriyama to Bandaimachi (1h) -> Free shuttle bus from Bandaimachi to Bandaisan Onsen Hotel (25 min)
We will provide further info before your check in.
Alts Bandai is 1280 metres high and is famous for its microfine snow.
Hoshino Resorts Alts Bandai is a massive ski resort extending over three mountain ranges: Mt. Bandai, Mt. Nekomagadake and Mt. Umaya. You have a birds-eye view of Lake Inawashiro in this world-class ski resort which boasts 22 different ski runs.
The resort is located only 1.5 hours train ride north of Tokyo. Best to catch the Shinkansen to Koriyama Station and then jump on the shuttle bus for the last leg which takes another 60 minutes. The best hotel is the Hoshino Resorts Bandaisan Onsen Hotel which is a high quality ski in/out hotel without the expensive price tag.
Other resorts close by are Nekoma and Grandeco and the nearby town of Aizu Wakamatsu is worth visiting to experience true Japanese culture.
Nekoma faces north and Alts Bandai faces south. The dream of connecting ALTS Bandai and Nekoma Ski Resorts, via an interconnecting lift, will come to life for the 2023-24 winter. Alts Bandai is already the regions largest resort. Nekoma is north facing and attracts ultra-light powder snow and runs through the picturesque beech forest. The interconnected mountain will have 35 courses to cater for all levels of skier and snowboarder abilities and will become one of Japan's largest ski resort areas.
No matter where you are on the slopes you'll be able to see beautiful lakes and mountains. Alts Bandai is on the south side of the mountain, so you're basking in the sun's rays as you head down the slopes.
This vast ski resort is the only place where you can fully enjoy the great snow of the Tohoku region and is situated just three hours away from Tokyo.
The quality of the snow was excellent, plenty of it although not a lot of powder, but it did snow most days that we were there. There is a reasonable variety of runs, a couple of steep ones (by our terms), mostly short, say 1-2 minute runs but a couple much longer. I'd say a week is probably a bit long for experienced skiers, although you do have the option of walking over to Nekoma when it is open, about 4 days of the week. (The walk takes about 15 minutes and it's a bit clunky walking so far in your boots through deep snow and over a few small hills but they do lend you a strap to carry your skis over your shoulder, which is a nice thought)
Oh yeah, and NO CROWDS! We were there from Monday to Saturday in mid-January and I think we had to queue only once and for less than 10 minutes. Most of the time you ski straight into the lift entry. Also very few Europeans/Aussies, which is pretty unusual for Japan at that time of year.
It's a long-ish trip by train from Tokyo but the train connections are good and there is a free shuttle bus from the nearby Bandaimachi station. We actually travelled there from Kanazawa - 2 shinkansen, the local train and shuttle bus took about 4-5 hours and we didn't wait longer than 15 minutes for any of the connections, which seems to be pretty typical of travel within Japan in general.
Here is a list of what we found to be good and bad:
The Good
- nice, mostly groomed slopes and plenty of snow across the 2 sides of the mountain
- great value accommodation and lift tickets - the hotel throws in a lot of freebies, including delicious soup when you come in at the end of the day, unlimited free tea and coffee, a free beer or sake at happy hour, free shuttle into town in the evening (although a lot of the staff didn't seem to know about this - see below!), free shuttle from the nearest train station, nice ice blocks/lollies when you come out of the onsen, some entertainment with a traditional singing and dancing show each night
- decent lunch options at both resorts including a huge free lounge/dining space at the bottom of the slopes and at 2 other locations on the slopes themselves
- very friendly, helpful staff
- wonderful onsen for a great hot bath at the end of the day
- the breakfast buffet is great with a LOT of choices including for western tastes - I've never seen such huge chunks of bacon!
- there is a really well-stocked store with heaps of gear over at the resort centre and prices are the same as in Tokyo, which is pretty unbelievable coming from Australia. I picked up a good pair of gloves for a great price. ANd rental equipment is also very good.
The Bad (although not bad enough to not recommend going here!)
- we were a bit surprised to find that all lifts except for 2 don't have safety bars, which is pretty unusual for an advanced country like Japan. You do get used to this but it does feel unsafe at first. The lifts at Nekoma are pretty old and not really padded or comfortable like lifts everywhere else I have been.
- have to get a new lift pass every day, involving walking about 100 metres to the ticket counter and back at the start of the day when you just want to get out there on the slopes - this is just annoying and every other resort we have been to give you one pass for the whole time you are there
- hotel check-in process and ski rental process are too slow, complicated and time-consuming
- ski rental prices are very unclear and it took a LONG time for the staff to calculate the price when we extended for 1 extra day
- the dinner buffet is expensive and we really could not eat so much food so it would be nice to be able to order a simple ramen or set for dinner but you have to take the shuttle bus to town - about 45 minutes away for other food options
- strangely most of the front-desk staff don't seem to know about the evening shuttle bus to Aizu Wakamtsu. We had to explain this to the staff a few times as they only knew about the day trip to town, even though it is mentioned on one of the brochures.
- there is a ski map in English but the hotel doesn't stock them - we found them at the ski information office
- it's a bit of a struggle trying to communicate if you don't speak Japanese so you need to use Google translate, or actually take some lessons before you go (which I really should have...). But if they are really trying to attract westerners then they need to work on this a bit.