Hotel Romantik di Inawashiro

I stayed here for 10 nights over Christmas whilst visiting my daughter who is working as a ski instructor at Inawashiro Global ski school. I was a little disappointed to find how far out of inawashiro the hotel was, but it runs a regular shuttle bus to/from Inawashiro train station and getting to town was straight forward (although it did stop running at 5pm). The twin bedroom I had was very spacious and well equipped. It was cleaned daily (if I managed to get out of bed in time to allow them in..!). You had to reserve a time to eat, both dinner and breakfast which unless you did so early may have made it difficult to get the time you wanted. The breakfast times were too early for my liking, but the restaurant started serving lunch at 11am, so many days I simply had a brunch intead. Lunch was Italian type food and for £20, you could have a gourmet 3 course meal - very good value and very nice. The spa/swimming pool was great and a lovely place to spend a couple of hours. It costs ¥1500 which is fine for a couple of hours and it was only ¥500 for a return visit. The buffet dinner was fantastic and it had something for everyone. Although it was very Japanese orientated (we were in Japan after all) I found it to be fantastic; even my daughter, who is very fussy found plenty to eat. The hotel shop, along with all the vending machines provided all the snacks and drinks you could want and all very reasonably priced. What I would have liked is a bar area to sit and relax in with my book. As I was on my own, not having somewhere to sit and mix with others was disappointing. Maybe it's not a Japanese thing to do.... English is not very widely spoken in this area and even amongst the hotel staff communication was tricky, however Google translate was our savior and with patience and perseverance we always manged to get sorted without too much problem. Regardless of the language barriers the staff couldn't have been more friendly, helpful or polite. I appeared to be the only western person, so perhaps English isn't required much, but if the hotel wants to appeal to, and to encourage tourists from the west, then perhaps this needs a little improvement. Although I was able to travel to the station in the mini bus (booking required, but always plenty space) and then I could get the free ski bus from the station to the inawashiro ski paradise slopes, it would have been useful and a big plus, if the hotel ran their buses to the slopes also. I'm led to believe from other reviews that they used to do this some years ago, but not any longer. Taxis are pricey, so make use of the hot shuttle if possible is definitely recommended. All in all, this is a nice place to stay, very comfortable with plenty good quality food and friendly helpful staff.