LONGINGHOUSE Kyukaruizawa Suwanomori

This was my third stay at Longinghouse, and it’s been great every time. The Western-style rooms are comfortable, and the Japanese-European fusion meals are delicious. I’d definitely try the dinner-and-breakfast plan. There’s a relaxing shared living room with a fireplace and bar, plus private Japanese baths you can reserve.

The location is good, but the rooms felt overpriced for what was offered. I came midweek hoping to avoid crowds, yet during my four-night stay there was no one on site whenever I wanted to order something or needed help. Although a restaurant is advertised, nobody was there, and the front desk was empty except on the night I arrived, when someone was available to charge my card. I had to keep going out for anything I needed, which was inconvenient. When I finally called the hotel, the person who answered just told me to wait. It was frustrating to pay good money and feel so disregarded. Service and hospitality seemed completely absent, as if collecting payment was all that mattered. There are plenty of hotels in town, and I’d stay somewhere else.

The reviews are deserved. From the shrine just behind the hotel, it’s an easy eight-minute walk to Old Karuizawa Ginza Street, with a couple of restaurants, a wine and sake shop, a little souvenir shop, and a traditional mochi shop along the way. There’s plenty of free parking at both the front and back, and I really liked the place. One downside: the servings are tiny. The lamb chops came as two pieces, and the Caesar salad was more like a side dish for one.

We booked because Agoda described the property as “Family / Child Friendly.” Traveling with our infant, that was the deciding factor. But when we arrived, they refused to accommodate us properly and said the booking only showed two adults. That doesn’t match how the property is presented online, and families shouldn’t have to face a check-in dispute over a listing advertised as child-friendly. Their proposed alternative was a sister property far from the original, with clearly less convenience and value. Sending a family with a baby to a remote, downgraded location wasn’t a reasonable fix. We were left waiting in the lobby for 3 hours, without water, and no staff came to help.