Name: Lodge Nostalgia
Address: 399-9301 Nagano, Hakuba, Hokujo 2459-1, Japan, Hakuba, Hakuba, Hakuba, 399-9301, Japan
Rating: 3

Air conditioning

Smoke-free property

Heating

All Spaces Non-Smoking (public and private)

General

Room service

Slippers

Rooms

Laundry

Dry-cleaning

Luggage storage

Wake-up service

Services and amenities

Vending machine

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

English

Japanese

Languages Spoken

Free Parking on Premises

Parking

Beach/pool towels

Pool and beach

Ski storage

Ski passes available

Ski-to-Door Access

Skiing

Winter sports

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the hotel

Room amenities

Matsumoto Airport

Toyama Airport

Lodge Nostalgia

Hakuba

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

20-beds

21-beds

22-beds

23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

27-beds

28-beds

29-beds

3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

34-beds

35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

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

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

A friend arranged this accommodation for a group of us, and I was worried when I read the TripAdvisor reviews but decided to keep an open mind.  At the end of the stay I thought this place has been severely maligned.  It's not the Hilton by any means but perhaps some people have unrealistic expectations of a budget Japanese Bed & Breakfast.

Importantly, this place is well-situated for travel to the various ski areas.  Shuttle buses leave for Happo One, Iwatake and Goryu/47 from a bus stop virtually at the end of your driveway.  It's not quite as good for access to apres activities but there are a few restaurants close-ish, and it's not too far to walk to Echoland (10-15mins) or Happo (15-20 mins) where there are plenty of options.  The buses, including the night shuttle, are not frequent but this is an issue for the whole area.

The owners do seem to run a lean operation but presumably this helps keep the prices down, and it didn't interfere with my trip.  The room heaters are switched off between 11pm and 6am but I was warm enough in my bed and I prefer this to places that are overheated.  There are also designated hours for shower time.  Breakfast was prepared at the time we asked for each day so that we could catch the shuttle bus.  One of our party was a bit fussy foodwise and the owners made an effort to accommodate her tastes at breakfast.  There was also copious home-baked bread every morning that is far superior to what you would be likely to get at most other places.  Our ski boots were stored in a porch area but were presented to us well-heated each morning.

The rooms are not large and are basic.  Each room was spacious enough for two people but one room was a bit more cramped with three; however there were copious hangers in the rooms and by Japanese budget standards were not too bad.  An issue was that whilst most rooms were on the top floor, the toilets were at the opposite end of the house on the lower floor which was a bit inconvenient for nocturnal visits.  Also, don't rely too much on the hotel wi-fi which works OK in the main living area but is very patchy in the upstairs rooms.

I found the owners helpful and eager to please, within limits.  The male owner speaks limited English and is the main liaison point for non-Japanese speakers.  His wife has almost no English but seems eager to help.  No, we didn't get picked up from the train station but a taxi is easy to get.  The owner did help us with booking restaurants and other activities and seemed eager to assist.  A laundry service is provided which is very quick and cheap.  They also provide bag forwarding direct from the establishment.

Some other reviewers have felt the owners intrusive on their privacy.  It's very common in Japanese hotels - even more expensive ones - for you to hand in your room key when you leave.  And most hotels will have staff come in to clean the room even if you don't hand your key in.  Yes, the male owner stands around whilst you are eating but it seemed to me he wanted to make sure he was available if you wanted something, like any good service provider.

My view - this was acceptable as budget bed-and-breakfast accommodation, with proprietors who seemed keen to please and acceptable proximity to services.  If you don't like the idea of handing in the key to your room, or living in a house that is also someone's home with them moving about, or want somewhere where you'll be left completely alone by staff, then perhaps this sort of accommodation is not for you.  If you want a higher level of service including door-to-door pickups, you'll find it at a more expensive place, but probably pay more for it too.

Acceptable budget b'n'b accommodation

Unfortunately, we did not read the reviews before making our booking. It wasn't until a few weeks before our trip we saw such bad reviews and prepared ourselves for the worst but I was not expecting such terrible service before I had even met him. From prior reviews, we thought he could pick us up as our Japanese was very limited to take a taxi however when we called for a lift, he refused to pick us up and told us to either walk or take a taxi. Note, we were standing in pitch darkness at Hakuba Station at 8:00pm during winter i.e. It was extremely dark. Furthermore, another one of us part of the group was arriving late at night by bus at 10:00pm, stranded at Happo Bus Terminal in the pitch dark. Again, he told us to tell her to walk the 10 minutes however it took much pleading to convince him to drive the 2 minute drive to pick her up. Even then, his stinginess was further revealed when he would only take one of us to pick her up, worried that the weight in his car would waste fuel. The first day was ok as we knew that he would watch our every move, whether it be eating or showering and we had already braced ourselves for this. However, by the second day, he had asked us to leave the key behind in fear that we would "lose" his key. Skeptical by this, I left my laptop webcam running and saw him enter our room. Whether he was cleaning, turning on/off the heater, or touching our luggage, I am unsure as my jumper was covering most of the camera, but what I do know is he did enter our room without our knowledge and hence invading our privacy. We've been living at many hostels and lodges but have never had to "leave our key behind" and they don't go into our room to "clean". On our last morning, he told us to please bring our luggage down by 10am. By 9:30am, we went down for a quick 2 minute noodle breakfast however whilst we were eating, he kept rudely persisting that we bring our luggages down. Before we left, we decided to give him the benefit of the doubt by asking him if he had ever entered our room. After much miscommunication where I am sure he actually understood what we were asking, he said yes to "turn on the heater and clean". We told him that we would have appreciated him letting us know as we were very uncomfortable and disturbed of our privacy. As a result, he started raising his voice and yelling at us that many visitors have enjoyed their stay which I am sure is true to an extent. However, we did not enjoy our stay as he was constantly micro-managing and watching our every move. You could see in his face whenever he felt we were doing something wrong, even on days when we didn't order breakfast yet asked for hot water. Like all other reviews say, the wife is lovely and kind however the male owner needs an attitude adjustment and does not have the personality to run this kind of business.

Another victim of Nostalgia's 5 days in hell.

Due to our strict diet (vegan), we couldn't find any other places. The food was really good, but the service was rather bad, the owner was very uptight and micromanaging. He's ALWAYS keeping eyes on us wherever we go (bathroom, toilet), making us very uncomfortable. He gets very nervous and wants everything to be perfect around him. I know he's not a bad guy, but not meant to be a pension owner... if you want to relax, this is not a good place. 
Also the owner is very cheap(stingy). I've never seen anyone so cheap in my life. We took a bath for like 30 or 40 mins (it was very cold outside) so he decided to charge us 500 yen to take shower in the morning.  He was complaining how his Australian customer used so much cream for his coffee, and bragging that he gave him milk instead of cream because it's cheaper. 
I told him many times what time our train arrives at Hakuba, but he kept insisted that we should call him when we get there. When we called him and said that we were standing in front of the station, he told us to wait in front of smoking area!! He didn't wanna leave his place until we arrived at Hakuba.
Like I said, he's totally micromanaging. He basically stares at you when you're eating, going to the bathroom, etc.   
I would go back for food, but not for service. (His wife was a great person though.)

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