Kamikochi Imperial Hotel

Check-in at the Imperial Hotel, Kamikochi is from 2pm. We’d finished our walk and we’re ready to indulge. My darling husband had booked a deluxe twin room with double verandas. The rooms are gorgeous decorated with antique wood, upholstered double and single lounges, exquisite botanical prints through out, a wind up wooden musical box and a tantalising selection of cakes, chocolates and apple pastries. The views of the mountain from the balcony were beckoning, as we searched for climbers with the binoculars. My husband wouldn’t tell me the cost, saying only, that memories are what counts and indeed this stay will forever remain precious for the two of us. Among the delicacies was a gift memorial plate of the hotel dated 2025. The staff were young and friendly, freely giving of their smiles, the commanding fireplace was burning in the lounge warmly and dressing up for dinner was so much fun. There seemed to be two waiters per table, champagne and five courses exquisitely presented. Breakfast was equally delightful and delicious and attention from our beautiful wait person Takagi san made us feel like royalty. If there is someone in your life that you would like to spoil, the Imperial Hotel Kamikochi ticks all of the boxes.

Really lovely old hotel with wonderful staff, but a few things did niggle. For example, an additional charge of 600 yen for ordering pancakes (instead of toast or breakfast bread) on the 5,500 yen breakfast menu. Everything should be included. And generally the drinks prices were really high compared to everywhere else we’ve stayed in Japan. But it’s a captive audience, you have no choice except to pay or go without. Lovely area to go for walks and bus stop is directly outside.

Somewhat overpriced hotel, food was prohibitively expensive, even in the cheapest restaurant. But the food was at least acceptable. Service was mixed, some staff were enthusiastic and some seemed like they didn’t want foreigners. Overall very old-guard and formal as you would expect from an Imperial Hotel. Most staff hailed from the Tokyo hotel and are only here for the season. Location was in the middle of two scenic spots which was awkward. Tons of picture taking non guest day-trippers during the day. Very small lobby and the check in experience was chaotic. Most guests were older. As for the rooms, there is no AC so it gets hot during the night. The natural springs water was delicious and makes your skin smooth

Staff very friendly and outstanding customer service. The food that came with the room was outstanding. The bath house and sauna was very clean. Most all staff members speak English. Great stay and nice location.

This hotel was the perfect base for hiking around the Japanese Alps. The hotel has an alpine lodge vibe which makes it very comfortable. I recommend trying the famous beef curry which was delicious. The hotel was spotlessly clean and the staff so friendly and helpful. A big thank you to Iwasu, Mastu (spelling??) in the lobby and Tomita who served us at breakfast. All had excellent English, were very professional and helpful and had great sense of humour. I cannot recommend this hotel strongly enough!

Service: Service overall from the staff was excellent. Room: I did not find the room relaxing at all. You can hear the room next door or above every time they run the bath, turn the taps on, flush the toilet. You can also hear their TVs and when they wake up at 5am talking. Just way too noisy for me and I didn’t feel like I had my privacy. Doors constantly slamming out in the hall were also irritating. The little chocolate in the room was a very sweet touch and the amenities were excellent. The beds were way too hard. I sleep on my side and it really hurt my hips. I tried to use an extra duvet as padding but it didn’t help much. The pillow deflates as you sleep on it so I woke up with a sore head. Overall the room was a huge no-no for me. Dining: The French dining room was cold because we were seated next to the window. In the morning it was also cold. The breakfast was average and some of parts were overcooked. Dinner however was very good both nights even though the prices are phenomenal. Overall it was an interesting experience and a piece of history but I would not stay again and do not recommend for a younger couple as the guests are mostly 50-80+.

The staff are fantastic, very attentive and efficient. We had the Japanese dinner, and the staff were very helpful explaining what to do and what the food was, though the poor chap in charge of my area while I was doing shabu shabu was very concerned because I was too slow getting the ingredients out of the pot 🙈 We were gifted a photo frame and a picture was taken at dinner to fill it, this was for our wedding anniversary which was very sweet. We were also served surprise red rice dish at dinner for this also. Dinner was an experience. One of the ladies serving us dinner was absolutely lovely, and we saw her the next morning, I wish we had gotten her name but her English was excellent and she was so friendly and explained to us something we had seen on a train earlier in the week to do with archery. Breakfast was very formal, the staff were brilliant again.

In short, the hotel is far too expensive for the experience. Two good points: For the most part, the staff are very attentive. The hotel has a Swiss-chalet style which is not often seen in Japan Bad points: The rooms don’t have air-conditioning so we were too warm all night even with a fan. While pleasant enough, the rooms still felt old, especially the bath. Really bad points: The food is prohibitively expensive. I would understand a small markup because of the remote location, but charging 3600+ for a very basic beef curry + rice and 1100 yen for a cola(!!) is inexcusable. And this is the “casual” restaurant. At these prices I would expect a very high quality of food but even the egg on the carbonara I got was over cooked. Also despite ordering in Japanese, the wait staff messed up our dessert order and assumed what we wanted without showing us the list. They then argued that we didn’t understand even though they didn’t show us the dessert menu. — If you want to visit Kamikochi, stay just outside the valley and get the early bus in. I would only recommend this place if you hate money.