Name: Oohira Hotel
Address: 825 Zao Onsen, Yamagata, Yamagata, Yamagata, 990-2301, Japan
Rating: 7

Smoke-free property

Heating

Ticket assistance

Gift shop

Garden

Electric car charging

General

Room service

Fridge

Family room

Rooms

Safe-deposit box

Luggage storage

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Breakfast

Restaurant

Vending machine

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet access

Internet

Transfer services

Transfer

Tour assistance

Tourist services

Offsite parking reservations required

Parking

Beach/pool towels

Pool and beach

Massage

Beauty and wellness

Family/Kid Friendly

Kids

Ski storage

Skiing

Winter sports

Location

At the hotel

Room amenities

Yamagata Airport

Sendai Airport

Oohira Hotel

Yamagata

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

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king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

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not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

park access

We went as a group of 5 to snowboard and the location was perfect, 7 min walk from chairlift 4, they also offer special deals for daily lift passes and nearby rental shop (Best Rental Shop) which was great! Fantastic onsen in the facilities open 24 hours every day (2 public and 3 private was available) was perfect for our aching bodies! 
The best part were the staff in particular a very cheery waiter who always delivers breakfast and dinner service with a smile! Food was delicious and showcased all the best seasonal local foods. 
While reception staff were not well rehearsed in english they tried their best to assist us as best as possible. They are slightly short staffed on front desk/in the shop but we were never really rushed for service and a bit of patience meant everyone is happy and you were eventually seen to! 
Our room was simple japanese style room with futons but very large for 5 people with nice views.
We would absolutely come back here it was a very enjoyable stay!

Great service with a smile

Oohira Hotel is located in the Zao highlands and getting can be quite challenging without a car. We drove all the way from Narita from 2pm and arrived around 8pm including multiple toilet breaks and snacks. The highway toll is quite costly so it is better to purchase the ETC package depending on how many days you are driving around in Japan. The drive there is amazing because we get to see autumn colours along the way. The GPS almost preciously except for the final 100 meters,, it said we arrived but hmm.. not quite. Try to drive in the day time because we saw a car hit a big size adult deer along the highway. Be cautioned that the sun sets around 4.45pm in autumn. Once we reached, we had to carry our luggage up to the Front Desk floor which is on the 2nd Floor. 
The rooms are clean and yes there are no private showers. Only private toilet in the rooms. Shared showers are located at the public or private onsen. The private onsens were small and located at different location around the hotel and its outdoors! We could enjoy the autumn foliage as we dipped in the private onsen. This is our first time enjoying private onsen. So it was amazing. Highly recommended to stay at least 2 nights there before moving on to Iwate or Aomori :")

Relaxing and Charming Place

Same as another review, I was initially a little apprehensive booking this place due to some negative reviews. However, my husband and I had no issues. There was a pickup service to and fro the Zao Onsen Bus Terminal. The staff is also able to ferry you to and fro the bottom of Zao Ropeway station. The price of the hotel is reasonable and food was nice. The room is a little old and the heater was constantly making a sound throughout. 

However, if anything at all, the private open air onsen experience during winter was amazing and makes it all worthwhile. There are 3 private open air onsen which can be used during winter and they are free for you to use anytime. You simply have to take a tag which belongs to each onsen from near the check-in counter and hang the tag outside the door of the onsen when you are using it. This informs others that the onsen is currently in use. Do not forget to drink a bottle of fresh milk (free) from the fridge along the corridor when you are finished with your bath/onsen. It tastes wonderful!

Private Open Air Onsen Experience

I was initially a little apprehensive booking this hotel due to some negative reviews. However, I had a great experience here. The hotel is situated on higher ground so had to drive up a slope to reach it. Check in was smooth. There is no lift but the hotel staff helped to carry our luggage up to our room on the 2nd level. Our room was western styled and came really basic. The beds were soft, I couldn't get the hdmi input to work, and the bathroom did not come with a shower head. However, all these were overlooked with the lovely view we are getting from the room, the nice and inviting onsens which we enjoyed tremendously, and the great service from the staff. Dinner and breakfast are Japanese styled. If necessary, you can arranged for pick-up and drop off from anywhere within Zao Onsen and even Yamagata Station (at a specific time). Overall recommended if not anything but the onsen.

Great hotel, great onsen

We stayed at Oohira hotel in October to use it as a base for hiking. It is perfectly located, near the top end of Zao Onsen, right next to the base of the mountain and the big Zao outdoor onsen. We found it with no issues, and the hotel will pick you up from the bus station if you call in advance.The main thing to stand out for us at Oohira was the staff, who were really excellent throughout. They even spoke some English which was surprising and welcome!The hotel building itself is a little 1970's and could do with a lick of paint in the corridors, but it was perfectly clean. The onsen was really nice, hot, steamy and free shampoo and shower gel on offer.The food was excellent too with lots of, somewhat unrecognisable, food to try and be brave with. Though there was good shabu shabu, beef sukiyaki and really standout sashimi.Overall a pretty safe bet for an authentic Japanese ryokan experience!

Lovely staff, great location!

The hotel has free paring lots that connect to the only entrance. Once you get in, you have to carry all your luggages over the stairs to the lobby, there is no other option. 

The room surprisingly has no hot water. So, we must shower either in the public bath or or private outdoor bath tub. We cannot even was our face.  The water is too cold. The weather outside is -5 degree Celsius. This is very ridiculous. 

There is a paper sign in our toilet stating that there is no hot water available in the west wing rooms. But when we ask to switch, the hotel says there is no hot water for the entire hotel rooms. 

The hotel says it offers free wifi both in the lobby and in the room, but there is no signal in the room. 

Therefore, we decided to cancel all the other rooms of the entire trip and move to another hotel. 

Oohira Hotel

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