Zao Kokusai Hotel Yamagata

- Poor WiFi signal in the room. - Room cleaning only 9-11am, cannot clean room in the afternoon. - Free shuttle is good to anywhere in the town, but only works until 5pm - Dinner is poor with limited choices. If you stay more than two days you will have to go back through the mountain at night during snow to have dinner outside. - Location is nice and decent Onsen.

Very bad experience. I reserved their deluxe room (57sq.). After I arrived at 4pm to check in, I heard the staff in front desk realised that my reserved room was assigned to another guest arrived earlier with similar name as mine. They mixed up our name and already assigned the deluxe room to others. They called their manager and asked us to sit far away from the front desk. After a while, the manager acted normal and leaded me to a downgraded room (46sq.). I only found out the room was downgraded after I checked my booking again and compared the pictures online. I went back to front desk to ask them and only then the manager admitted that he didn’t tell me earlier and offered to compensate my visit with 2200 yen per person. We didnt accept in the first place and he offered us a session of free private bath and told us the room had already assigned and the deluxe room is no longer available. I wanted to stay at their deluxe room thats why I rescheduled my trip arrangement for this night. Compensation is one thing but they should be transparent and let me know my room was mis-assigned. The lie behind made me feel uncomfortable and ruined the experience. Would not recommend.

Although we booked a large suite, it was much bigger and more spacious than expected, especially for a Japanese ryokan. The outdoor onsen was a great and unique experience. The location is not within walking distance of major tourist attractions, but that’s probably to be expected since the ryokan mainly hosts Japanese guests who come to relax.|The location requires a car, which may be less convenient for some travelers.

Nice hotel! Quite new. Staffs are nice, room is clean, onsen has outdoor and indoor choice. Dinner is fixed with three kinds of choice but you have to make decision before 4pm. Breakfast is buffet style and the quality of food is high and healthy.

One of the best hotels for snowboarding. The food and services were great. Love the beautiful surroundings!

Hotel located at hilltop adjacent to Zao ropeway station. It’s onsen is really good despite quite acidic. Don’t soak too long or it’ll be exceptionally itchy to your skin. Package dinner is ok.

We had a comfortable and relaxing 3-night stay at this hotel. The hotel offers a convenient shuttle bus service that can be reserved in advance for pick-up and drop-off from Yamagata Station. The ski-in/ski-out access was incredibly convenient, and the onsen facilities included an option for private baths, which was a wonderful touch. We enjoyed having both breakfast and dinner at the hotel. The dinner courses were especially delightful, with different appetizers thoughtfully prepared each evening. Breakfast was buffet-style, offering a mix of traditional Japanese and Western options. The restaurant service was excellent; the staff were warm, attentive, and made an effort to communicate with guests, which enhanced the dining experience. However, since our reservation was made under separate bookings for rooms of the same size and view, we were required to switch rooms mid-stay. The hotel should have informed us at check-in or via a call, message, or email instead of entering the room without prior notice while we were away. Despite this, our overall experience was fantastic. We highly recommend this hotel for a relaxing vacation and would love to return in the future.

We arrived late (20:15) due to temporary closure of Sendai Airport (tsunami warning), and obviously we were late for the hotel dinner after having to travel all the way up from Narita instead.We were tired and hungry when we arrived, but the hotel disappointed us even more for not reserving our paid dinners for us, nor was there a reimbursement. Did they just throw the food away after all the preparation work? The (presumably) manager's attitude was one of inflexibility and apathy, so atypical of Japanese etiquette. The restaurants nearby were all closed already and we had to starve for the first night there. Very unpleasant and inconsiderate arrangement.