Homestays in Zaō Onsen

Magnus Japan

The accommodation is great and the host family is super nice! Great place to stay when skiing. They helped us out a lot and gave us lots of good advice that allowed us to enjoy Zao Onsen to the max.

Clement Australia

Location: Very convenient. Less than 5 minute walk to the ski chair lift with all my gear on. About 10 minutes to walk from the bus terminal. The main roads and footpaths are heated so no ice/snow, easy walk to get to the accomodation. Convenience store was my "best friend" during the stay, which was opposite the ski lifts (5 minute walk). Home stay: Host family (Taka, Oraphin and 2-year-old Yui) was very accomodating. Taka works at the local equipment rental (can drop his name/"Matsuo house" for discounts) and Oraphin is extremely knowledgable about the area. Little Yui is very cute too. Host family speaks fluent Japanese, English, Chinese (Mandarin) and Chinese (Cantonese) so communication is no problem. Futon was very thick and clean. With the heater blasting I had no problem sleeping in below-zero weather. I went out every night to use the public onsens in the area so didn't use the showers at the accomodation. The onsen water is great and worth travelling here for. Zao onsen region: Didn't get to see fully formed snow monsters (half monsters?) this time because of the weather so I may come back again next year. Ski courses are long and fun. The flat land up near the middle zone is a confusing maze to get through so good luck.... Need 2-3 days to fully appreciate the entire ski resort. All the courses are very wide! Few red courses were icy probaby due to the cloudy/blizzard weather (no sun). The black course I wanted to try was closed due to avalanche risk. Wonderful Japow and soft snow everywhere else! ⛄ The tomato 🍅 themed restaurant up the mountain was interesting. The snow here is a bit sticky (hard to brush off equipment), so bring gear inside to melt snow near heater.

Tony Australia

Great kitchen and lunge facilities, which are shared with the family who own the property. They are wonderful, welcoming people and go out of their way to help with anything they can. They even helped me with adjusting my ski bindings, unexpectedly! There is a public onsen right next door and they gave us tickets to use it.

Pantana Thailand

Taka, Oraphin and Yui are lovely family and hosts. They always make sure that our stay was comfortable and that we got full experience of Zao. We did not do much research about the town except for ski slopes (our main purpose was to snowboard there). However, Oraphin introduced us to many cool restaurants and, of course, free public onsens! The shared facilities were not an issue for us because all the guests were so considerate and the host always kept the bathrooms clean. Overall, we felt like home and very comfy staying in their house. Would definitely stay there if we visit Zao again and highly recommend everyone who's looking for a budget place that is super close to the slopes!

siu Hong Kong

As well as having a separate entrance to the dry room, the location is very close to the ski slopes.

Elizabeth United States of America

This is a great pension run by a lovely family. The husband picked us up at the bus station and drove us to the pension and also took us to the slopes in the morning. They gave us a coupon for renting gear and a map explaining the different onsen options around town. Their English is pretty limited, but they are happy to use Google translate. Also, it was not a big deal, but I think it is important for foreign guests to be aware that ski culture in Japan sort of assumes you are eating dinner at your accommodation. We did not know this and did not book dinner at the hotel. Most restaurants in town were fully booked with reservations (although there is a convenience store with good takeaway food), so try to book dinner at the hotel or make a dinner reservation somewhere well in advance. We were very luck and managed to make a reservation at the Mongolian lamb place Kasheru for the second night and that was amazing. But we saw restaurants turning people away repeatedly because everywhere in town was full. Also, the family will not pick you up by car any later that 6:45 pm (perfectly reasonable) and the public ski shuttles don't run on weekdays, so you need to pre-book a taxi if dinner will end later than that (which it probably will since most restaurants open at 6 pm). And there are not a lot of taxis and no Uber. I wish I had realized all of this up front, but that was our own ignorance and our stay was great regardless. Again, this is just the local ski culture and not the hotel's fault. It's just helpful information for future guests.

Christine United States of America

A lovely and heartwarming place to stay for a winter getaway. The couple that owns this business made us feel like family. Mao and Qu are so kind and welcoming. They treated us like family. They picked us up from the bus station, drove us to a wonderful dinner location (which they recommended), drove us to the ski resort, and helped with all our luggage. I was so happy to meet them and talk with them. The room is just as warm as the owners. The floors are heated and the beds are very comfortable. I wish I could’ve stayed longer.