ANA Holiday Inn Resort Shinano-Omachi Kuroyon

This is a wonderful Hotel. IHG members can check out at 2:00 PM, so you can work up a sweat in the large public bath during a quieter time before heading home. Breakfast is delicious, and after you order an egg dish it is brought to your table, so you don’t have to wait for several minutes in front of the live kitchen—an appreciated touch. The “Bircher muesli” on the menu is especially recommended. Finally, the location is excellent: taking advantage of its convenient setting, you can drive about 10 minutes early in the morning to Ogizawa Station and reach Kurobe Dam from there—only about 30 minutes to this spectacular dam in the sky.

This is my second stay—I enjoyed it so much last time that I came back. I stayed in the new wing and made a Reservation with breakfast only. For dinner, I booked Botanica separately. Last time I had a French course, but this time I enjoyed the buffet. There was a great variety of dishes, and the staff were very kind. Since the Room has a semi-open-air bath, I didn’t use the public bath last time. I planned to this time, but it was very far from the new wing, so I skipped it. It was quiet and relaxing throughout my stay.