Overview

Stay among the forests and mountain scenery of Omachi Onsen-kyo at Kurobe Sun Valley Hotel. From this northern Nagano base, you can travel towards the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, explore the lakes around Omachi, or continue to Hakuba, Azumino, and Matsumoto.

After a day outdoors, return for seasonal Shinshu cooking and a soak in Tenku no Yu on the top floor. The indoor and open-air baths look towards the Northern Alps, allowing you to enjoy the mountain landscape while warming your body.

The hotel reopened following renovation in June 2019. Traditional Japanese rooms sit alongside spacious Western and Japanese-Western accommodation, giving you a choice between tatami and futons, beds, or a combination of both.

Accommodation

Choose from traditional Japanese rooms, Western twin rooms, Japanese-Western rooms, renovated 45- and 55-square-metre rooms, and larger special rooms with private bathing facilities.

The ten-tatami Japanese Rooms give you tatami flooring, a low table, window-side seating, and futon bedding. This traditional layout provides plenty of space to stretch out after visiting the Alpine Route or walking around Omachi.

Standard Japanese-Western Rooms combine beds with a tatami area, giving you separate spaces for sleeping and relaxing. Additional futons can be arranged on the tatami when you need more sleeping space.

The 45-square-metre Japanese-Western Rooms add a comfortable seating area to the bedroom. The 55-square-metre rooms offer a more spacious layout with a bedroom and a living area furnished with a sofa.

Room 105 is a large Japanese-Western Suite with floor heating and a separate living room. Room 106 offers approximately 80 square metres of space and a generous Japanese-Western layout. Selected special rooms include a private bath, giving you the freedom to bathe without leaving your accommodation.

Your room may include a private bathroom, Washlet toilet, television, refrigerator, electric kettle, tea set, climate control, hair dryer, and free Wi-Fi. Towels, yukata, toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, body soap, razors, brushes, cotton swabs, and feather bedding are also provided. All current accommodation categories are non-smoking.

Dining

Dinner introduces you to the seasonal flavours of Shinshu through a Japanese course meal prepared with mountain produce and regional ingredients. The menu changes with the season and may include Shinshu beef, salt-grilled ayu, sashimi, vegetables, simmered dishes, and selected Chinese-inspired plates.

The changing menu lets you experience ingredients when they are at their best, from fresh summer vegetables and river fish to mushrooms and warming dishes during the colder months.

Omachi has three local sake breweries, giving you the chance to pair dinner with sake produced in the area. Shinshu wine and other drinks are also available.

Breakfast is served as a Japanese set meal rather than a buffet. Rice, soup, grilled fish, and several small dishes provide a warm start before an early departure for the Alpine Route or a day around Hakuba and Azumino.

Breakfast normally begins from 7:00, while dinner begins from around 18:00. Service times may change according to your accommodation plan and the number of diners. Meals are served in the restaurant.

Onsen and Wellness

Tenku no Yu sits on the fifth and highest floor of the hotel. Separate bathing areas for men and women each include a spacious indoor bath and an open-air bath overlooking the Northern Alps and the natural surroundings of Omachi Onsen-kyo.

The water blends the historic Kuzu Onsen source with a newer source and emerges at approximately 62.8°C. The dedicated hot spring information describes it as a clear, colourless simple hot spring with a gentle character that is suitable for a long, relaxing soak.

The water is traditionally associated with easing fatigue, muscle and joint discomfort, stiff shoulders, nerve discomfort, bruises, sprains, and sensitivity to cold.

You can use the shared baths from 15:00 to 23:00 and again from 6:00 to 9:00. Shampoo, conditioner, body soap, and hair dryers are available in the bathing areas. Bring the bath towel and face towel provided in your room.

Tenku no Yu does not include a sauna.

Guests with Tattoos

You can use the shared indoor and open-air hot spring baths only when every tattoo is fully concealed beneath no more than two covering seals. Each seal can measure up to 8 by 10 centimetres.

You cannot use Tenku no Yu if your tattoos cannot be completely hidden beneath these two seals.

Facilities

Inside the hotel, you can relax in the spacious lobby or enjoy complimentary table tennis and billiards. The table-tennis area has two tables and normally operates from 15:00 to 22:00. Karaoke is also available when you want to spend the evening with family or friends.

A coin laundry with washing machines and dryers is useful after hiking, skiing, or a longer journey through Nagano. You can also use vending machines, an ice machine, banquet halls, meeting rooms, dining spaces, free Wi-Fi, massage arrangements, and storage space for winter sports equipment.

Free outdoor parking is available on the grounds, and major credit cards are accepted.

Activities

Use Kurobe Sun Valley Hotel as your base for the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. Ogizawa Station, the Nagano-side entrance to the route, is around 20 to 25 minutes away by car. From there, you can travel towards Kurobe Dam and continue through the mountains by electric bus, cable car, ropeway, and other transport.

Kurobe Dam offers wide views across the Northern Alps and presents its powerful sightseeing water discharge during the operating season. Higher areas along the route bring mountain walks, alpine plants, autumn colour, and the towering snow walls of spring.

Closer to the hotel, explore Lake Kizaki, Lake Nakatsuna, and Lake Aoki. Depending on the season, you can enjoy lakeside walks, cycling, canoeing, stand-up paddleboarding, fishing, and winter landscapes.

Hakuba Goryu and other ski areas around Hakuba are within driving distance, making the hotel a useful winter base. You can also visit the Omachi Mountain Museum, walk around the hot spring district, or travel south towards the countryside and museums of Azumino.

After your outing, return for table tennis, a seasonal dinner, and an evening soak with views of the mountains.

Additional Features

Check-in begins at 15:00, and check-out is by 10:00. JR Shinano-Omachi Station is around ten minutes away by car, while the drive from the Azumino Interchange takes approximately 40 minutes under normal road conditions.

Your stay includes free Wi-Fi and complimentary parking. You can choose plans with dinner and breakfast, breakfast only, or no meals, depending on availability for your dates.

Snow and ice can affect roads around Omachi and Hakuba during winter. You need winter tyres or suitable chains when arriving by car in colder conditions.