Sora Hotel Karuizawa Outlet

I booked for six nights and was assigned room 202. The moment I walked in, there was a strong smell of dog urine. I endured it for two days but couldn't take it anymore, so I moved to another hotel for three nights. When I returned for the last night, the dog urine smell hadn't diminished at all. I asked the front desk if I could change rooms, but they said there were no other rooms available. They offered to clean it, but unfortunately, it still stank after cleaning. Sleeping there for one night with that smell made my throat uncomfortable. The hotel staff's service attitude was excellent; the front desk guy was very enthusiastic. It's just that this room was too smelly. I peeked into a few neighboring rooms when they were being cleaned, and they didn't have any strange smells. Perhaps the previous guest's dog peed a lot on the floor in our room, and it wasn't cleaned properly.

The room was bigger than I expected and the environment was comfortable.

Great hotel for animal lovers, you can bring your dog, and parking is free.

The location is great because it's close to the ski resort and outlet mall, but there aren't many other places to go in the area, so the choices are limited. Overall, it's clean, but rather old-fashioned, more like a traditional guesthouse than a hotel. The rooms are dark and poorly lit. The toilets are very small. This hotel also welcomes dogs, so it's somewhat like a dog hotel. There's absolutely no soundproofing; you can hear noises from the next room or upstairs. The worst part is the hot and cold water system; it's inconsistent and the temperature fluctuates. Breakfast is included with the purchase, but it's not a buffet. If you order breakfast, you're required to eat it. If you don't eat at the restaurant during designated meal times, they'll wake you up in your room. If you still don't eat at the restaurant, they'll pack your breakfast for you. This is unlike typical hotels where you can freely choose your breakfast at the restaurant during meal times. Furthermore, the restaurant closes after meal times; it's not always open. There's no restaurant after breakfast hours, making eating breakfast feel somewhat oppressive. A few notes: During my stay, a female staff member at the front desk was extremely discriminatory towards Chinese people during the daytime hours, but was extremely respectful to Japanese people. She even bowed 90 degrees to Japanese guests as they left, escorting them to the roadside until their cars drove away. However, she completely ignored us Chinese and Hong Kong people, treating us as if we were invisible! Another strange incident was that the TV turned on automatically while I was sleeping, even though I never turned it on during the entire trip. Since I wouldn't be watching TV in the hotel during the trip, the remote was on the top shelf and I never touched it, yet the TV turned on by itself. Overall, the accommodation was uncomfortable, nothing particularly good. Staying overnight in Karuizawa is okay, but if you want to stay for several days, you should choose other options.