Area

Luxury hotels and villas in Karuizawa

Karuizawa is a summer retreat in the mountains, about an hour from Tokyo by shinkansen. Its luxury stays range from resort hotels near the station to separate villas scattered in the forest.

Which kind you choose changes the stay. The hotels near the station make it easy to arrive without a car and to walk to shops and restaurants. The forest villas are quieter and more private, but you will usually need a car or a taxi to get around.

Hotels

7 properties written up in English

Ordered by how many stay reports we have linked. We do not rank or score hotels.

01Nagano · Hotel

MAMPEI HOTEL

万平ホテル

A classic hotel in Kyu-Karuizawa, in business since 1894. It began as Kameya, an inn on the Nakasendo road, and was rebuilt for foreign guests after the missionary Alexander Croft Shaw and others stayed there. The Alps Wing, which is the face of the hotel, dates from 1936 and was designed by Kume Gonkuro, who also built the Nikko Kanaya Hotel. It was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2018, and reopened in 2024 after a full refurbishment for its 130th year. Guests stay in one of three wings: Alps, Atago or Usui.

8 stay reports · 8 videos

THE HIRAMATSU 軽井沢御代田 — Photo: Tsubasa Yasuda (Number X)

02Nagano · Auberge · THE HIRAMATSU HOTELS & RESORTS

THE HIRAMATSU Karuizawa Miyota

THE HIRAMATSU 軽井沢御代田

A grand auberge in the woods at Miyota, next door to Karuizawa. The rooms face the forest and each has its own hot spring bath. Being away from the centre of Karuizawa, there is little built up around it.

14 stay reports · 9 videos

03Nagano · Resort · HOSHINOYA

HOSHINOYA Karuizawa

星のや軽井沢

A resort laid out like a village, with the rooms scattered along the water in the fold of a valley. Terraced channels run through the grounds, and you walk between the buildings to get anywhere. It has its own hot spring, called the Meditation Bath.

15 stay reports · 7 videos

04Nagano · Ryokan · FUFU

FUFU Karuizawa

ふふ軽井沢陽光の風

A FUFU house in the woods at Karuizawa, every room with a hot spring bath. It is a separate property from FUFU Kyu-Karuizawa in the same town, and differs in both setting and how the rooms are arranged.

12 stay reports · 9 videos

ふふ旧軽井沢静養の森 — Photo: Tsubasa Yasuda (Number X)

05Nagano · Ryokan · FUFU

FUFU Kyu-Karuizawa

ふふ旧軽井沢静養の森

A house in the woods of Kyu-Karuizawa with a hot spring bath in every room. The stand of trees on the site was left as it was, so what a room looks onto is forest rather than the next building. A separate property from FUFU Karuizawa in the same town.

3 stay reports · 9 videos

06Gunma · Villa · NOT A HOTEL

NOT A HOTEL KITAKARUIZAWA

Villas scattered through a large forest in Kitakaruizawa. IRORI (three bedrooms, up to 8 guests) is a glass-walled house built around a sunken hearth; BASE, directed by Yosuke Aizawa, has a rock bath filled with hot-spring water. One of the two IRORI houses has a dog run, so you can bring a dog.

4 stay reports

07Nagano · Hotel

Kyu Karuizawa KIKYO, Curio Collection by Hilton

旧軽井沢KIKYOキュリオ・コレクションbyヒルトン

A hotel in Kyu-Karuizawa, the first Curio Collection by Hilton in Japan, about five minutes from Karuizawa Station by free guest shuttle or about 15 minutes on foot. Kyu-Karuizawa Ginza is within walking distance, in an area of holiday villas. It has a restaurant, and Kumoba Pond and the villa district are easy to explore on foot. Kyu-Karuizawa has been a summer retreat since the Meiji era.

1 stay reports · 5 videos