Shiga Highland Hotel

The staff were nice and did their best to help, even when some foreign tourists were hard to handle. I hope the hotel can keep operating; I slept well here. The price is good for the room quality, and although the building is old, it’s functional and gives you a feel for Japanese style in the 1970s and 80s. There’s no Wi-Fi in the rooms, only on the 1st floor. The food is basic, nothing special. The place feels like a crime scene from a classic Japanese detective manga (Kindaichi？).

The nearest gondola is only a three-minute walk away, but that was about the only good thing for me. The hotel seems poorly maintained, if it’s maintained at all. Everything felt old, peeling, and dirty, and the diesel generator smell reached all the public areas. At least it was warm. The public bath was in awful shape when I visited: brown, greasy surfaces, a dripping ceiling, and oil and hair floating in the pool. Breakfast was terrible, so skip it if you can. Basic supplies are available at the nearby station. Dinner was okay, but nothing special. Our room was really dirty, with dusty floors, dead bugs and lice, and used, stained, hairy sheets. The sink water was brown. They moved us to a slightly less dirty room instead of cleaning the one we had. I wouldn’t recommend this place and won’t come back.

Dinner was nice, but breakfast was very poor. The hotel is cheap and no-frills, handy for a night or two by the ski lifts, with easy access to the Shiga Kogen gondola and lift shuttle bus. The rooms are old but okay if all you need is somewhere to sleep. Bring your own snacks and drinks, since what the hotel sells is expensive.

Wasn’t my usual kind of place, but it worked out okay for a weekend snowboarding trip. Breakfast was a complete miss. There’s a small conveni, though bringing your own supplies is recommended. The onsen was decent, but take shower slippers with you. Don’t risk that fungus.