Hospitable and warm doesn’t even begin to describe this place. Captain, his family and staff took amazing care of us during our stay. Captain’s wife prepared delicious healthy meals for us every day. Guests from all over the world gathered in the evenings to enjoy games, drinks and conversation. We booked a Japanese style room, the beds were comfortable and the room was spacious. Monkeys can be seen in the trees while enjoying the onsen. Shared showers and washrooms were clean and well maintained. Located on the ski run in Sun Valley. Easy bus access to Nagano Station. Had an amazing time here, would love to come back again soon.

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

The staff was lovely and went out of their way to make you feel welcome. They dinner and breakfast for half-biard was excellent.

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.

Nice place to stay with great staff, onsen and food. No other options for food locally

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 running this are the most pleasant and helpful I have found in Japan. Further the staff all speak English well.

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.

In the middle of extraordinary mountains, a ski-in hotel . All the staff speaks English and a bit of French.Everybody was super kind and nice.

到着から出発まで、宿の方の温かいおもてなしの気持ちが伝わり、ゆったりと落ち着いて過ごせました。建物は古いですが、その古さが落ち着きあり癒される素敵な空間になってます。綺麗に清掃されてあり清潔です。 料理も手作りで程よく美味しくいただきました。

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.

Staff was great and ver accommodating. Ski rentals were found at hotel facility.

Quel accueil ! Un hôtel familial, vous serez reçus comme des rois par le “Captain”, sa famille et son staff ... Toujours prêts à vous rendre service, l’équipe vous fera vous sentir comme à la maison. La situation aux pieds des pistes et à côté des arrêts de bus est idéal. ありがとう (ございます)

One of the most family-kind-of experiences! fantastic service, friendly staff, great food, and great facilities - only 50 meter to the ski lift

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.

Well worn but comfortable lodge. Some may find facility not modern but it actually has its own atmosphere which is centred around the warmth of the family and staff that run villa alpen.