For a free ride to the slopes, hop on the lodge's complimentary ski shuttle. Villa Alpen helps provide the perfect winter holiday with ski storage and ski equipment rentals. At the end of the day, order aprĂšs-ski drinks at the lodge's bar.
Along with a restaurant, there's a coffee shop/cafe on site. A computer station is on site and WiFi is free in public spaces. Limited free parking is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
My stay was amazing, our host made a point to ask how the day went and what plans we had to see if he could help in anyway! Great location for getting in some laps at the ski resort
Wonderful staff at villa alpen.
Food was excellent and Onsen was hot.
Easy access to sun valley and a quick couple chairlifts and traverses to the other hills.
30 seconds to chairlift and 2 minute walk to the free ski bus.
Convenient base from which to explore the various ski resorts of Shiga Kogen. Sun Valley is one of the first areas you approach from Nagano, so arrival by bus from Nagano station was quick and easy (a 3+- min walk from the stop on the highway.). Sun Valley's chairlift is right outside the front door, from there we were able to piece together the chair/gondola lifts to make it to all the other resorts too (1.75 hrs skiing & lifts to Okushiga Kogen.) Communal bath was a highlight, indoor only but with big windows overlooking the forest outside. Loved their bar/breakfast area when open, and the dinners we had each night were great - Japanese style with a variety of foods even picky eaters looked satisfied. Thanks to the Captain and entire staff for making us feel well taken care of :-).
Great fun hotel. The Captain who owns the place is an 80 year old Japanese Olympic ski racer and full of interesting stories and enthusiasm for skiing and the mountains. His son Ken is also a good and enthusiastic skier. Everyone speaks great english. Dinner was excellent and included the best fried chicken my 12 year old son has EVER had. Breakfast good too. There is a pleasant bar on site open until 10 pm. The hotel is genuine ski in ski out and about 15s ski to the lift. My kids borrowed sledges for free too. There is a ski rental downstairs run by the same family which we didnt use but others said was great.
The family that runs Villa Alpen is wonderful and make you feel right at home. The onsen was amazing and perfect for post-powder day rehab of the muscles! It is a simple, older property (as many are throughout the region) but very well kept.
Like a lot of Shiga Kogen villages, there is no (or limited) resaurant options, especially for dinner
Thus recommend going with with hotel provided breakfast and lunch.
If you plan to use shuttle service between villages, pay close attention to the schedule as last one runs around 6:30pm (depending where you are) and there are no taxis.
The skiing was top notch at Yakebitai and Osokogen. Helped that they got a ton of snow when i arrived ; ) Was very hard to leave and miss another poweder day after 1 foot fell the morning I left. : (
Highly recommend staying a few days minimum and explore all the ski areas.
Villa Alpen was like a home away from home. A lovely welcoming family run older traditional hotel. The hosts could not do enough to help through out our stay. Meals were wonderful and plentiful. The cosy fire place where guests gather and relax in the evenings is wonderful place to meet fellow guests and share stories.
We stayed for 5 nights and we ski out using the sun valley chairlift just outside the hotel. Captain, Ken and the staff are very friendly and willing to help. The food is great and there is a very relaxing bar area as well.
Very warm and tidy hotel, Captain, Ken and the family members are all very nice and they are all very good ski instructors, very warm and good to stay.
We have a very good time while staying at this hotel, this is a family run hotel and Captain and Ken are both ski expert. They just like our friends and family and we have a very good time here. Hotel room not new but very clean and the breadfast and dinner are good too.
Villa Alpen is located in Sun Valley area, the most West-end of the Shiga Kogen skiing fields, connected to other fields by charge-free shuttle busses. There are a number of selling points for Villa Alpen, 1)it is a small but cosy place, a family running hotel. Captain Nobody Okazawa sang, the owner, his wife and son, Ken, are all very kind and helpful person. You will feel very comfortable with them. 2) you can rent any skiing or snow boarding equipment from the hotel but without caring for rental and storage troubles. 3) about 50 meters to a Monkey Swing from the hotel, very convenient to get start a fun. 4) even the room site is not space as expected but a tatami area is very suitable for a family living. 5)with a build-in onsen(hot spring), very convenient and comfortable for a recovery day-activity-after. 6)and, we would like to say many thanks to Ken for him always try to help us in traffic arrangements and fields instructions. Totally, a very good memory to us when a week vacation there.