Xplore by Active Life

Japan , Niigata
Itoigawa, Madarao Kogen, Terumoto Ohaza 1101-155
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41 reviews shown

8/10

Excellent

16 Mar 2026

Nathan

Staff were awesome. Very very helpful.

8/10

Excellent

10 Mar 2026

Scott

Very close to madarao main lift, excellent choice if you don’t want an authentic Japanese experience

Family_with_children

10/10

Exceptional

10 Mar 2026

Amy

Helpful and friendly staff made me feel taken care of in this solo trip to Madarao for snowboarding. Communication before arrival has been great. The manager picked me up early in the morning from the bus stop and had my room ready, which I didn’t expect. This allow me to get changed comfortably in my room and jump right into action without delay. Free breakfast, though simple, has everything that I needed to get me through most of the day. The bath house is fairly basic, nothing fancy but good for a soak after a long day. My room on the top floor and at the end of the hallway was clean and quiet. It’s a comfortable stay. Upon check out, I got another ride to the bus stop from the manager who was already waiting for me in the vehicle ahead of time. I will stay here again next time I go there.

Note: The building has 3 stories and a basement with no elevator. Check in lobby is on the first floor. It’s easier to go in from the side entrance on the 2nd floor and leave the luggage’s at the designated spot before checking in.

Self

8/10

Excellent

20 Feb 2026

brendan

Great location friendly staff

8/10

Excellent

26 Jan 2026

John

Clean nice room. Mice staff

6/10

Pleasant

13 Feb 2025

Stephen

The property is very dated with no lift only stairs. Basic 3 star and in need of a re fit. Staff were good

Leisure Friends

8/10

Excellent

19 Feb 2020

Patricia

Comfy room but no yukata

Pros:
1. Location is super good as it’s close to the ski lift.
2. Bed is very comfy and room is big.
3. Breakfast is good!
4. Staff are in generally nice.

Cons:
1. The front desk lady talks too fast!
2. No Yukata (bath robe) provided in the room even thou they have onsen (hot spring), that makes it hard to go to onsen. And the opening hour of the onsen is very limited, only form 4-9pm.
3. Room is kind of too hot and no control to adjust the air con or heat.
4. No socket in the washroom so that u can’t use your hair dryer in the washroom but have to come out to use it.
5. No tall mirror for clothes matching purpose.

Friends_and_family Friends

10/10

Exceptional

18 Feb 2020

Kiang Hon

Fantastic stay!

The stay was amazing! Lisa and her team at Xplore were always ready to help. They were a pleasure to interact with.

The room was huge, clean, and comfortable. Wifi signal was strong in the room.

There was a made-to-order breakfast free every morning, with a choice between a smoked salmon or mushroom plate with eggs (your choice of cooking style).

There was also a free laundry machine in the basement (dryer costs 100 yen per use). Large drying room was available for the ski equipment 1 floor down. Unfortunately the snow was too high to ski out of the back door, but it was a short 5-10 min walk to the slope, so it wasn't too much of an inconvenience.

Would definitely stay here again if we return to Madarao Kogen!

Friends_and_family Friends

8/10

Excellent

16 Feb 2020

Todd

Great staff, fantastic location about as close to the run as you can get in private accommodation. Closer to a hostel in my definition but that is the Japanese way. Good food with lots of options close by. Shuttle bus to town and near by resorts made the whole trip very smooth. Definately recommended.

10/10

Exceptional

13 Feb 2020

GSteeds

Great location, great facilities and free yoga! Good breakfast and helpful staff. Oh and nice traditional style rooms but with the comfiest beds in japan. Will be back!

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

12 Feb 2020

Verified traveler

The employees are uber helpful. The rooms are slean, quiet, and spacious

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

17 Jan 2020

Scott

Very close walking distance (and ski out) to the Madarao slope. Onsen bath is wonderful. Room is comfortable.

Leisure Family

4/10

Poor

14 Jan 2020

Verified traveler

A poor hotel not worth the money

Unfortunately there are a few bad things to say about this place. On hotels.com, it advertises toiletries in the room but you don’t get any. There’s some shampoo and conditioner in the onsen but nothing like what Japanese hotels usually provide in rooms. There are no staff in the hotel at all after 7pm so if you need help after that time, you may struggle. The showers were 3 floors below our room (with the onsen) - we’d expect a shared bathroom to be on the same floor as the room, at the very least. Not sure why but the elevator and area around it smells like an engine room. There seems to be a cafe in the hotel but it’s not actually manned after breakfast so no coffee or other hot drinks are available after 10. Supposedly guests are meant to take snowboards etc. to the drying room in the basement and not walk through the lobby but people were constantly bringing wet equipment and snow covered boots through the lobby and staff didn’t seem to care. The hotel is advertised as ski in/ski out but it is not. You have to leave the hotel and walk 5-10 minutes up the road to the nearest ski lift. All in all, the hotel just feels like a slightly run down hostel for mostly young Australians - it’s certainly not an upmarket hotel. Breakfast wasn’t very good but it was complimentary so it’s hard to complain about it. The lobby area is the only place to relax in the hotel (outside of your room) and it can get quite cold. The wifi is

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

03 Jan 2020

Verified traveler

an unexpected gem

had a wonderful time here, place was clean and social, great breakfast, close to the slopes, and service by Lisa and Stuart and the rest of the staff was so friendly and attentive. i particularly appreciated that the hotel can arrange pickups to and from the train station. the onsen is also a bonus. Madarao is a true gem and these guys will make sure you have the best time.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

07 Mar 2019

Verified traveler

All staffs are nice and friendly. The room I stayed was clean so I enjoyed the stay.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

01 Mar 2019

Verified traveler

Xplore review

Great location, great staff. Lisa, Manager was so helpful. Breakfast was good. Hotel could use a bit of work, missing some things - ski rack at entry, drying room desperately needs work, no mini fridge or safe in room.

Partner

4/10

Poor

19 Jan 2019

Verified traveler

Don’t be fooled by website. This property feels like s poor university dorm. Extremely old & run down although rooms have been given minimal update with new beds & carpet. Included breakfast is sparse, cheap and other than an egg offers nothing nutritious. Also take note this property offers no shuttle service to get on or off bus down the mountain requiring one to drag bags through the snow up a grade which could be considerable effort if you had kids in tow. Compared to other properties on mountain this place has a long way to go to even come close to consideration for us. Stayed another night at a different property with outstanding customer service and incredible breakfast for same cost as this dismal experience.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

06 Jan 2019

Claudia

It's a hotel renovated from an old building. They were open for just a few days so many things weren't ready. Don't expect luxury conditions from the hotel, but it has all the basics, good bed, good sheets, good bathroom, good breakfast (simple but good). It is what you pay for, it is a no-frill hotel. The hotel staff is extremely helpful and nice. The staff is almost exclusively non-Japanese speaker, which is quite unique in Japan. Pros and cons as a result. Easy to communicate to for non-Japanese speakers, but difficult if you need some local help. Hotel is very close to ski lifts, a bare 5 minute walk. Overall, we are happy with the hotel and will return.

4/10

Poor

05 Jan 2019

Verified traveler

Boiler wasn't working and no one couldn't take a bath. Our room wasn't clean enough, tatami mats were too old. I prefer other Active life hotels.

Family

10/10

Exceptional

31 Dec 2018

Ruth Clare

Nice!

This hotel just renovated & opened under new management in Dec 2018. Rooms are nice, super comfy beds & staff are fantastic. Great location - only a 5 min warm-up walk to the slopes.

Family

8/10

Excellent

29 Dec 2018

SSSman

I liked the bathroom in the room the most. Very big and clean. It was very nice to be able to take a nice & relaxed bath in my own room after snowboarding all day. Washers and dryers were a little dirty. I think hotel stuff should check them more often.

8/10

Excellent

25 Dec 2018

Verified traveler

I enjoyed the overall feel of the hotel and the staff was wonderful. It is really close to other restaurants and only a 3 minute walk to Madarao Ski Resort which was really convenient.

Leisure Friends

10/10

Exceptional

25 Dec 2018

Joshua

Moderao ski area

We had an amazing time there! The hotel was ran by a couple young Australian people who were great!! It was so nice to go to a hotel in japan and have people who spoke English easily! The food was westernized, which was amazing!!! The Onsen doesn’t fallow Japanese rules, they allow tattoos and you have to wear swimwear! 11/10. Totally recommend

Family

4/10

Poor

14 Mar 2026

JOAN-MIN

設備很差，沒有電梯。

8/10

Excellent

19 Feb 2026

MASAMI

ハイシーズンの価格で仕方ないと思いますが、値段の割に室内設備が古く、掃除も行き届き方ももう少しと期待してしまいます

6/10

Pleasant

18 Feb 2026

Chi Lung

A very basic hostel type of accommodation.
The daily breakfast provided not really nice.
Some of the facilities are old or in repair.

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

08 Feb 2026

YIU CHEONG

Cleaning room and changing towel.
Lock the door after open the room to clean.

Self

6/10

Pleasant

08 Feb 2026

YIU CHEONG

Not clear enough. No cleaning.
Breakfast can be improve.
Communal bath is a feature.

Self

6/10

Pleasant

29 Jan 2026

TING CHIEH

客房暖氣每間暖度不太一樣，有些房間有衣架有些沒有。
早餐很簡單，吃了四天只有一樣菜和麵包會更換，其餘每天都一樣。

Friends_and_family Friends

6/10

Pleasant

09 Jan 2026

Stephanie

L’hôtel est vieillissant il faudrait lire redonner un petit coup de neuf
La chambre est correcte

Friends_and_family Family

6/10

Pleasant

06 Jan 2026

YINGYING

客房清潔度普通有上一個住客留下來的零食在櫃子

4/10

Poor

05 Jan 2026

Veronika

During the first night of our stay, there were several unresolved issues:
• one electrical outlet in the room did not work
• the heater made continuous loud water noises for hours at night
• staff said they could not repair these issues
• we were asked to “reduce the heating,” even though it was below freezing outside
Additionally, the bathroom ventilation fan was covered with thick dust, and we saw an insect on the wall, which raised hygiene concerns.
We requested a room change. Although the hotel eventually moved us to another room for the second night, the first night of our stay was significantly affected and we could not rest properly.

Partner

2/10

Poor

02 Jan 2026

スキー場利用の為に宿泊しましたが駐車場がわからずスタッフが外国の方の為翻訳アプリでしか会話が出来ず苦労しましたしかも駐車場は無し。
部屋も通風口？から大量にカメ虫が入って来て駆除しても次々入って来てホラーゲームの様でした。
ディナーを後から頼めるのは良いシステムでしたが支払い時に機械が遅く10分ぐらい待たされました、朝食はスクランブルエッグに大きな卵の殻が入っていたのとバターと書かれた物は味的にマーガリンでした。
アメニティも無く宿泊されるのであれば歯ブラシやカミソリは持参した方がよいです。

Leisure Friends

4/10

Poor

24 Feb 2025

Hiro

Staff was very nice, but that does not make up for the horrible cost-performance of the hotel. Parts of the building are shut down, the onsen is half disassembled (joint male-female onsen), sauna shut down, rooms very basic, breakfast with bare minimum buffet, yet is priced at double any nearby lodge and at 1.5x the much better Madarao Kogen Hotel.

Guess the investors have to get a high IRR on their investment to buy and minimally renovate the hotel.

4/10

Poor

29 Feb 2020

Ka ho

Worst accommodation in japan ever

Room is very very small, when I made the booking I saw 2 double bed in the pictures and I have booked for 2 adults and 1 child. However once we checked in we found out there is only a queen size bed avail in the room. The worst thing is you have to share one male and one female toilet with 12 other rooms. That’s insane. Dry room is useless there is no heat at all during my stay, the heater has no oil at all . Breakfast is included but allow yourself a hour for breakfast , there is only 2 staff serving 50-100 guest per day and you have to wait for your breakfast at leat half a hour

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

15 Feb 2020

Verified traveler

Super close to the ski lift ticket office, standard Japanese room with a sink is good but there is only 1 female and 1 male toilet on the floor, would be too busy if full house as about 10 rooms are sharing . Big drying room on the basement, free breakfast and shuttle to/from Ilyama station.
Big TV in room with only youtube anf Neflix. A kettle and a heater in room. Separated Public bath (onsen) for men and women, strange that 7-9pm is the \"communal\" time on men's side (i.e. female can get in the men's bath during the period that means all have to be in swim suits).
Better to have a bin inside the room, for the public bath area, it would be great if put a tissue box there and a clock ((guess it has no battery), also replacing the old hairdryer which is too weak.
Staff are all very friendly and the common area has a great mountain view.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

14 Feb 2020

Kwok-yan

超高性價比的西式酒店！

這家酒店是由一班澳洲人向本地人購買了舊式日本滑雪酒店再翻新而成的。保留了舊式日式酒店的硬件，例如客房、洗衣房、浴場等，以西式營運方法管理。服務員態度親切，亦樂意提供一切協助。早餐是西式的，出餐時間稍長，如果想每天趕頭班吊車上山的話，就要早點去吃早餐了。
這裡洗衣是免費的，前台會提供免費洗衣球。乾衣則是100日圓15分鐘，全自助形式。
客房的電視除了基本本地電視台外，還有Netflix看！超贊！客房不提供每日清潔及執房服務，垃圾要自行清理放出走廊外。
最後一提，如客人連續住四晚或以上，可免費參加酒店提供的滑雪課程，由專業外藉教練執教！
酒店位置亦接近滑雪場，只是酒店推介的那家雪具租用店Miyuki的雪具質素一般，不建議在那裡租用，反而Miyuki側邊的那家雪具店可試試。

Friends_and_family Friends

6/10

Pleasant

29 Jan 2020

CHIEN PING

幾乎全部都是澳洲人，從早餐、大眾池時間的安排上都是給西方人設計的。

例如早餐是單點的一份吐司、燻鮭魚/培根、其他配菜、蛋，不是日式，沒有自助吧。而且一份一份做，所以要等待一段時間

大眾池只有到晚上七點前，7-9點是男女混浴，要穿泳褲。

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

23 Jan 2020

Yutaka

This hotel is very near from ski area, and all staffs are really kind and helpful.We were really satisfied with this hotel.
This hotel is also near from Malu restaurant. This is also nice.
We want to use this hotel again.

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

08 Jan 2020

Marco

Great place for ski holiday!

Great place near ski lifts. Restaurants and bars all walking distance. Super friendly staff. Run by Australians. If you are looking for Japanese culture don’t go here. I would definitely recommend. For kids also great, lots of activities in the hotel. Small bar with good (western) food. Wifi is pretty bad! Super soft comfy beds. Bathrooms are not Japanese superclean, but acceptable. They have a shuttle bus to take you from station Nagano and back.

Friends_and_family Family

6/10

Pleasant

06 Jan 2019

Verified traveler

請準備充足下，才再營業吧！

酒店只是剛接手，整體性表現極度勉強，傢私、員工也未到位，相信只是趕著雪季開店，有想轉酒店的衝動，可惜不能退錢，而員工也在能力下努力表現出友善，所以在體諒上會接受。

Friends