Fufu Kyu-Karuizawa Restful Forest

Coming from Fufu Nikko, we had high expectations and we couldn’t be more wrong. As with the streets and buildings in the area, this hotel has a much smaller footprint than the one at Nikko. Even though the hotel itself is nicely decorated, everything, i.e. the rooms, lounge and restaurant, face towards the same small inner courtyard, it feels pretty much like a zoo as you can see all the guests going into and coming out of their rooms when you are enjoying your drinks or your meal. However the real let down is the service. We felt that the staff here were mostly quite young and not really well trained, hence the service was at an extremely unacceptable level. At arrival, not all of the staff would greet us. At check-in we were asked to sign an agreement about the T&Cs of staying at the hotel, which is the only hotel out of 4 Fufu hotels we stayed at that required it. The check-in staff for us, who had a Chinese surname, was a bit cold and incompetent. We requested a change of breakfast time and the lighting of the fireplace when he showed us the room, which out of 2 tasks he completed a grand total of zero. When we got to the lounge for the free flow drinks, the wines were quite undrinkable. Which is fine with us and we asked for the drinks menu, then the staff told us the drinks were offered for free and pointed us to the counter. We asked for the bar menu at 16:00, which they told us the bar is only open from 17:00 and couldn’t offer us drinks. After some back and forth we got the bar menu later but it was mostly whisky, so naturally we asked for the restaurant drink list. And of course we were told no again at first, then I had to explain we prefer wines/champagne/sake, then they had to check and after some more wait, they relented. Everything here just took a lot of effort, it’s the exact opposite of a luxury experience. We didn’t ask for stuff because we felt it would either get lost in translation or simply not worth the hassle and effort. When we left the hotel and came back the next morning after an excursion outside, the front entrance was unmanned, unlike Fufu Nikko. The reception lady indoor just looked at us and ignored us without any greeting. Food and staff at the restaurant however were great. We enjoyed the meals and service there was great for both dinner and breakfast. However, since the hotel is smaller, the seats are less private and more closely placed together compared to Fufu Nikko. For beverages, they also only just offered Billecart but no Dom perignon for those who care, and the sake list wasn’t particularly interesting either. To their credit the NZ sauvignon blanc on the list was actually a decently easy drinking one at a very reasonable price. I think if one must visit the Komuba pond, which is stunning during autumn foliage, then this hotel is in the perfect location. If you can accept the relatively negative aspects of the hotel, then it might be worth considering. But personally I think there are many more better