Guesthouse Chaconne Karuizawa

For the price I paid, this was a good deal. I had a twin room to myself, and the bathroom had to be reserved, but booking it was easy and it wasn’t crowded during my stay. The location is good in daylight, though it gets dark after nightfall. A taxi from Karuizawa station to the guesthouse costs about 900 yen, which isn’t too bad if you have a lot of luggage. I didn’t talk much with the staff, but the woman who helped me check in and do laundry was kind. I forgot to ask her name. They had a staff board with drawings, though it was hard to match the pictures to people’s real faces. I only had breakfast on my last day, and that was why I took off half a star. There was no protein, like eggs or ham or bacon for a Western-style bread breakfast, and I think the miso soup was salty. The local yogurt was the best. There’s also a top-rated soba place five minutes’ walk away. I didn’t try it because it was closed the day I stayed and opened late the day I left.