Hotel Indigo KARUIZAWA by IHG

I initially booked three nights and loved it so much that I extended my stay by another night. This hotel's Italian restaurant is considered one of the best in Karuizawa, always fully booked. Reservations are definitely required. Breakfast is also served in shifts; they'll call you when your table is ready. Both the pizza and salads are incredibly authentic. And each person gets a huge, delicious apple for breakfast!

The hotel is 2.7 km from Karuizawa Station. We missed the shuttle, so we took a taxi, and it was a quick ride! The service was great, and the room was larger than hotels in Tokyo. The breakfast selection wasn't extensive, but the taste was decent! Be prepared to queue though! The public bath has both indoor and outdoor sections! Could definitely use a bit more variety! The room was clean!

Overall, this was a rather disappointing hotel stay. Before our trip, our plans changed, and we asked the Trip.com concierge to help with cancellation/modifications. However, they were unyielding, and we couldn't cancel for free, so we had to proceed as planned. After checking in, I waited alone in the waiting area for a long time, expecting a staff member to accompany me to the room and explain the facilities. I waited for half an hour with no one attending to me. When a large group of tourists arrived, the front desk became crowded. After inquiring again, I was told there was no escort service to the rooms and I had to find my way myself. At 3:30 PM, housekeeping was still ongoing in the room areas. The room space was cramped, and the view was unremarkable. For a room rate of over 4,000 yuan, the hardware and service provided were far from satisfactory. The hotel's Italian restaurant had decent food, but it wasn't positioned as a high-end restaurant, and the wine list was very limited. The next day, I asked the front desk to call a taxi to the restaurant. For some reason, perhaps they didn't understand English, there was a long delay. After further communication, a car was arranged half an hour later, which was baffling. Considering all these experiences, I will not choose this hotel again in the future.

Avoid this room type at all costs! Karuizawa is a mountainous, forested area, so it's naturally humid. This room is in the basement, making it even more damp, and the air conditioning was completely ineffective. We ended up having to pay extra to upgrade to a different room type. Also, for a five-star hotel, not having a pillow menu is quite disappointing – it made for a very uncomfortable stay. When we checked out, the lobby was packed, and there was a huge line at the front desk. You'd think they'd staff up, knowing 11 AM is peak checkout time. This experience completely fell short of expectations.

The hotel environment is great, and the room facilities are complete. The minibar isn't free, but the bedding is comfortable. There's a shuttle bus available, and a supermarket nearby. The only downside is the breakfast, which is quite ordinary and doesn't offer a wide variety of dishes.

The hotel isn't very large, but it's well-designed. The room with a courtyard has two 1.2m twin beds pushed together, which is perfect for a family of three. I didn't get to experience the hot spring, though.