I Looked Into Legrand Karuizawa Hotel & Resort

I've been researching places that seem doable without a car, like campsites, day-trip hot springs, and hotels, one after another.

This time I looked into Legrand Karuizawa Hotel & Resort, which I've filed under my “Hocance Detour” category as a side trip during a hotel stay. I'm an indoors person, so the idea of getting both the hot spring and meals done on the property caught my attention, and I read through the official website pretty carefully.

What Is Legrand Karuizawa Like? Three Buildings on Roughly 70,000 Tsubo

It's a resort hotel in the Hotchi area of Karuizawa, Kitasaku District, Nagano Prefecture. According to the official website, three buildings, the Main Building, the Mountaintop Suites, and the Villa Suites, are scattered across roughly 70,000 tsubo of land. Apparently there are 10 room types in total, but I couldn't find the total number of rooms on the official site.

Here's the basic info, as far as I could tell from the official website.

• Check-in / check-out: Check-in is at 15:00 and check-out is at 11:00. Late-night check-in also seems to be possible.
• Early check-in / late check-out: Depending on availability, it seems an extra fee applies.
• Room rates: I couldn't find any prices listed on the official site.
• How to book: Apparently you book through the official website, but I couldn't confirm the detailed steps.
• Parking: There's free parking for 91 cars, indoor and outdoor combined. The indoor lot has a height limit of 1,940 mm and is first come, first served rather than reservable.
• Pets: Staying with pets isn't allowed. However, it seems you can dine with your pet on the terrace seats at Minori, the soba and Japanese cuisine restaurant.

The official website is here.

Komorin

When I hear the grounds are 70,000 tsubo, I worry I'd get lost inside the place. But if I'm planning to stay holed up in my room, maybe that's actually reassuring.

“Happu Onsen,” Which You Can Use Without Staying, Caught My Eye

What interested me most this time is Happu Onsen, which you can use as a day-trip bath. The water is a bicarbonate spring, and the bathing facilities apparently include an indoor bath, an open-air bath, a pot bath, a cold plunge, and a sauna.

• Hours: 10:00 to 22:00 (last entry 21:15). There also seems to be a note saying temporary closures or changes in hours can happen depending on circumstances.
• Regular-season price (tax included): Adults 1,500 yen, children (ages 3 to 12) 750 yen.
• Peak-season price (tax included): During Golden Week, summer, the New Year holidays, and other long weekends, it's 1,800 yen for adults and 1,000 yen for children.
• Rental towel: 330 yen.
• Hotel guests: It seems to be free for guests staying at Legrand Karuizawa Hotel & Resort.
• Things to note: On busy days like Golden Week, the New Year holidays, and the Obon period, there may be restrictions on use. Apparently children who aren't yet out of diapers are asked to refrain from using the baths.

I couldn't confirm whether there's a regular closing day, or whether day-trip bathing itself requires a reservation. It seems safest to check the latest information on the official website before heading over.

For hotel guests, there's apparently also a natural hot spring public bath called “KOMOREBI” on the 2nd floor of the Main Building. It's open from 6:00 to 10:00 and from 15:00 to 24:00, and the bathing tax is 150 yen (waived for ages 11 and under). I couldn't tell what the water type is or whether there's a sauna there, at least from what I checked this time.

Rooms and Dining, From an Indoors Person's Perspective

As someone who tends to stay shut in, the options for rooms and meals are something I care about.

• Main Building (6 types): Rooms range from the Deluxe Double at 48.2 m² up to the Junior Suite at 68.8 to 70.1 m². The Asama View Deluxe Double is described as having a balcony with a view of Mount Asama.
• Mountaintop Suites (2 types): Located at an elevation of about 1,000 m, with a 60.7 m² Double and a 69.8 m² Twin.
• Villa Suites (2 types): Standalone buildings on a hillside, limited to 3 buildings. There's a Double and a “Front Chapel Villa Suite (Twin),” both apparently 66 m².
• Restaurants: Apparently there's the French restaurant “Vaas” (breakfast is served here too), the grill restaurant “grill mille,” Minori for soba and Japanese cuisine, the bar “Rouge,” and a poolside bar.
• Guest-only services: A free-drink service at the poolside bar on the 2nd floor of the Main Building from 15:00 to 22:00, and morning coffee at “Rouge” on the 1st floor of the Main Building from 9:00 to 12:00.

I couldn't find any mention of private hot springs or open-air baths in individual rooms. The same goes for bed sizes and bath specs. My impression is that you'd be soaking in the public bath rather than in your room.

A Free Shuttle Bus From Karuizawa Station Makes It Look Easy Without a Car

I have a license but don't drive, so access is the biggest checkpoint for me. According to the official website, a free shuttle bus runs between the hotel and the south exit of Karuizawa Station. It takes about 15 minutes, and no reservation is needed (first come, first served).

• Boarding point: There's no designated bus stop at the south exit, so it seems you just get on the bus with the hotel's name on it.
• Operating hours: These change by day of the week and season, and the specific times are apparently provided in PDFs for the regular season and high season. I couldn't confirm the actual times in the page text this time.
• Things to note: Hotel guests may get priority. Apparently the bus can run late because of traffic, or you might have to wait for the next one if it's over capacity.
• By car: It's listed as about 15 minutes from Karuizawa Station and about 15 minutes from Usui-Karuizawa IC.

Since you can't reserve a seat and guests may get priority, it seems wise to leave plenty of time. I couldn't tell whether day-trip bathers can use the shuttle bus, at least from what I checked this time.

Rakuten Mobile Signal Conditions

As a Rakuten Mobile user, signal conditions are something I wanted to know. I tried checking this facility's location (Karuizawa town) with the official “my Area Coverage Simulation,” but no result was shown. Instead, I got a message saying it's temporarily under maintenance right now.

So the overall result was “unknown.” It looked like it might be how the tool behaves when there's no data for the address, but I couldn't figure out the exact reason. For now, I can't make any call on the signal conditions.

If signal matters to you, please check it yourself with Rakuten Mobile's official coverage simulation tool. If you try again after a while, a result might show up.

Komorin

It's a bit frustrating that no result came up. Still, I think it's important to write down that I don't know when I don't know.

Wrapping Up

To sum it up, my impression of Legrand Karuizawa Hotel & Resort is that it's a resort hotel with three guest buildings on roughly 70,000 tsubo of grounds and the day-trip-friendly “Happu Onsen,” and it looks easy to get to without a car thanks to the free shuttle bus from Karuizawa Station.

Day-trip bathing is 1,500 yen for adults in the regular season and free for hotel guests, so it looks usable both as a hot-spring detour and for a hotel stay. On the other hand, I couldn't confirm the room rates, the water type of the public bath, Happu Onsen's regular closing day, or the specific shuttle bus times this time. It's best to check the latest information on the official website before you visit.

As for Rakuten Mobile signal, the official tool didn't show a result, so it came out as unknown. If you're curious, please check it yourself with Rakuten Mobile's official tool.

This article includes a referral link for Rakuten Mobile's employee referral campaign. For details, please see our Disclaimer & Advertising Notice.

Related Links

• Official Site