Where to Stay in Hakuba for the 2026/27 Ski Season: Areas, Hotels and the New Hotel Tax

No one pays to be recommended here, and we say when a free or cheaper option wins. Our promise →

Hakuba Valley’s ten ski resorts sit along one valley in the Northern Alps of Nagano and share one lift pass and one shuttle bus. For 2026/27, ABLE Hakuba GORYU has set its opening date in advance for the first time, 21 November 2026, on the strength of a new snowmaking system, and Hakuba Happo-one, a venue of the 1998 Nagano Olympics, plans to run from 1 December 2026 to 5 May 2027. Since 1 June 2026 there has also been a hotel tax: Nagano Prefecture charges one, and Hakuba Village adds its own.

Where you stay decides which resort you can walk to and which are a bus ride away. This guide covers the season and the lift pass, the tax, six areas from Goryu to Cortina at the valley’s northern end, ten hotels, and how to get there from Tokyo. The hotels are researched picks, chosen for location, what each property publishes and consistent guest feedback, and each was checked as operating, or about to open, at the start of October 2026. No hotel pays to appear here.

The short answer

The 2026/27 season and the lift pass

Each resort sets its own dates, depending on the snow. The two announced at the start of October:

The Hakuba Valley All-Mountain Day Pass covers all ten resorts and, on the days you ski, the valley shuttle bus. It goes on sale around November on the official Hakuba Valley webshop. Happo-one also sells its own ticket.

Children are 6 to 12 on the valley pass and 6 to 17 at Happo-one. The valley pass is not valid for night skiing. If you will ski only Happo-one, its own ticket is cheaper; the valley pass pays when you move between resorts. Happo-one’s early-bird tickets this autumn, up to 39% off, need a Japanese My Number card, so they are for residents.

The hotel tax since June 2026

Nagano Prefecture has taxed hotel stays since 1 June 2026, and Hakuba Village charges its own tax on top, collected together with the prefecture’s. Both are per person, per night, on the room-only price before consumption tax. Tsugaike, Norikura and Cortina are in Otari Village, which has no tax of its own, so only the prefecture’s applies there.

These rates run until 31 May 2029. From 1 June 2029 Hakuba’s become ¥300 to ¥2,000, and Otari’s ¥300. Japan’s tourist taxes in 2026 covers the rest of the country.

Happo: the big mountain and the village

Happo is the area at the foot of Hakuba Happo-one: 1,071 m of vertical and runs of up to 8 km. Happo village has the Hakuba Happo bus terminal, where the express bus from Nagano stops, and Wadano, the wooded area of hotels and lodges near it, is a short walk from the Happo gondola, the Adam. Happo-one plans to replace the Adam, running since 1983, in December 2027: the new gondola will start from the Nakiyama area, move at 6 m a second instead of 4, and carry 2,400 people an hour instead of 1,350.

Where to stay in Happo

How the hotel links work: a hotel’s name goes to its own website. “Check rates” opens it on Booking.com through our partner Stay22, which pays us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you.

• Hakuba Tokyu Hotel, comfortable. A resort hotel of 102 rooms in the Wadano woods, with a large public bath and open-air bath on Hakuba Happo Onsen, an alkaline spring of pH 11.2, and rooms from 26 m² facing the Northern Alps or the garden. The hotel puts the gondola station at a 15 to 20 minute walk, or 2 to 3 minutes on the free ski shuttle, and collects guests from Hakuba Station or the Happo bus terminal if you book ahead. Choose it for a classic resort hotel with its own hot spring. Watch out: the hotel itself says the mountains can be hard to see from some Alps-facing rooms, depending on the floor. Check rates on Booking.com →
• Phoenix Hotel, comfortable. A smaller hotel in the woods of lower Wadano, about 600 m from Happo-one and under ten minutes’ walk from Happo village, with a mist sauna and public bath, a restaurant and bar, and a fireplace. Rooms run from 17 m² singles to 33 m² twins and triples. Choose it for a smaller hotel with the village and the lifts on foot. Watch out: the singles and the Japanese-Western rooms share bathrooms, and booking sites list it as Phoenix Hotel by HHG. Check rates on Booking.com →
• Morino Lodge Hakuba, good value. A lodge in Wadano, five to ten minutes’ walk from the Happo gondola and 20 seconds from a shuttle-bus stop, with Western- and Japanese-style rooms, all with their own bathroom, and breakfast. There is no onsen in the lodge, though there are some within walking distance. Choose it for a lodge near the gondola. Watch out: when we checked in early October, Booking.com showed no winter rooms, so book through the lodge.
• Courtyard by Marriott Hakuba, comfortable. 72 rooms, mostly Japanese-Western, some with hot-spring water piped in and family rooms of over 40 m², plus a hot-spring bath and a grill restaurant; Hakuba’s tourist office lists it in the Happo area. Choose it for Marriott points and a hot spring. Watch out: the hotel puts Happo-one about ten minutes away by car, so you rely on the free ski shuttles; its own pick-up runs only on arrival and departure days. Check rates on Booking.com →

Echoland: restaurants and bars

Echoland is the part of Hakuba Village lined with restaurants, bars and shops, as one of its hotels puts it. It has no lifts of its own: the ski resorts’ shuttles run past it, so the evenings are easy and the mornings start on a bus.

• Hotel La Vigne Hakuba by Onko Chishin, splurge. Opened in December 2024 at the entrance to Echoland: 38 corner rooms with mountain views, each with an open living room and kitchen, from 54 m². Its cellar holds more than 1,000 Japanese wines, and the ski resorts’ shuttles to Goryu, Hakuba47, Happo-one, Iwatake, Tsugaike and Norikura stop beside the hotel. Choose it for space, a kitchen and the wine list. Watch out: price, and it is a shuttle ride, not a walk, to any lift. Check rates on Booking.com →

Goryu and Hakuba47: beginner slopes and night skiing

ABLE Hakuba GORYU has three areas, Alps-daira, Toomi and Iimori, with 15 courses and night skiing; Toomi and Iimori suit beginners and families, and Alps-daira stays open until the end of Golden Week in May. Hakuba47 joins it at the top, with a pass that covers both. Escal Plaza is Goryu’s base.

• Hotel Stelle Belle, good value. Three minutes’ walk from the Goryu slopes and five from Escal Plaza, with hot-spring baths of Hotaka Onsen water, from Azumino, open 24 hours, a miso-barrel open-air bath you book, and a space to dry skis in every room. The hotel shuttle runs to the Goryu bus stop and Kamishiro Station, and to Hakuba Station for passengers off the Azusa express, and the hotel says the area’s bars, izakayas and food courts are within walking distance. Choose it for Goryu’s slopes on foot. Watch out: standard rooms are 23 m²; families should look at the 40 m² connecting rooms. Check rates on Booking.com →

Iwatake: a gondola and a kitchen

Hakuba Iwatake’s gondola runs non-stop to the top, where there is a 360-degree view of the Hakuba range. The slopes run from wide and gentle to challenging, with a snow park and cross-country trails.

• B&D HAKUBA IWATAKE, comfortable. Opened on 16 January 2026, remaking Lodge Ito, which had been in Hakuba for more than 40 years: three minutes’ walk from the Iwatake gondola and one from Iwatake Onsen. Every room has its own kitchen and dining area, from 25 m² rooms for four to a 119 m² chalet for twelve, and the restaurant is &Deli. Choose it for a group that wants to cook. Watch out: there are only 15 parking spaces, and the other resorts are a shuttle ride away. Check rates on Booking.com →

Tsugaike: wide slopes for families

Tsugaike Mountain Resort, at the northern end of the valley in Otari Village, has slopes up to 1,200 m wide that suit families and beginners, and a gondola of about 4 km to the top. Being in Otari, its hotels charge only the prefecture’s tax.

• Hotel Hakuba Berghaus, good value. On the slopes at Tsugaike, five minutes’ walk from the gondola station, with views of the Northern Alps from the lobby and the terrace. The hotel’s own rates include dinner, built around shabu-shabu, a buffet breakfast and drinks, and there is a cypress open-air bath and a private bath. Choose it for an all-in rate at the family slopes. Watch out: check that the rate you book includes the meals, and note that the Alps-side rooms cost more than the street side. Check rates on Booking.com →

Norikura and Cortina: on the slopes at the northern end

Hakuba Norikura Onsen and Hakuba Cortina are the last two resorts at the northern end of the valley, in Otari Village. Norikura’s wide slopes suit beginners and families, with a steep course for experts; Hakuba Valley says Cortina often gets heavy snow and is known for tree skiing in powder.

• The Alps Hotel Hakuba, comfortable. The Hakuba Alps Hotel, opened in 1971 at the foot of the Norikura slopes, reopens on 15 December 2026 after a renovation by its new operator, Plan·Do·See: 159 rooms from 27 to 100 m², ski-in, ski-out, with hot-spring baths and a sauna, a crèche, and ski rental and a ski school. Choose it for ski-in, ski-out with everything under one roof. Watch out: it opens on 15 December, not before, and there are no guest reviews yet. Check rates on Booking.com →
• Hotel Green Plaza Hakuba, good value. At the foot of Hakuba Cortina, ten seconds’ walk from the slopes, with its own hot spring from 1,221 m underground and a spa of eight kinds of bath and sauna; Hakuba Valley lists 253 rooms. In winter a free bus runs to Minami-Otari Station, about 20 minutes away, with no booking needed. Choose it for a big ski-in, ski-out hotel with a hot spring. Watch out: it is at the far end of the valley, so Happo and Echoland are a shuttle ride away. Check rates on Booking.com →

How to get to Hakuba

• From Tokyo, take the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Nagano, about 1 hour 30 minutes, then the Alpico express bus, about 1 hour 15 minutes to the Happo bus terminal; Hakuba Valley puts the fastest connection at 2 hours 50 minutes. The bus is ¥3,500 one way in winter and also stops at Goryu and Hakuba Station. Some departures take reservations and others are first come, first served, and Alpico had not published its 2026/27 winter timetable at the start of October.
• By train all the way, some Azusa limited expresses run from Shinjuku to Hakuba, in about 4 hours.
• From Osaka, Nagoya or Kanazawa, Hakuba Valley puts the fastest connections at 4 hours 47 minutes, 3 hours 34 minutes and 2 hours 42 minutes.
• Around the valley, the ski resorts run free shuttles to their slopes. Last winter the valley-wide shuttle was free on the days you skied with a Hakuba Valley pass and ¥800 for adults without one, online tickets only; its 2026/27 timetable was not out at the start of October.

How to book Hakuba

• Book January and February first. When we checked at the start of October, Booking.com already showed several of these hotels as unavailable for the January and February weeks we tried. Early December, before Happo-one’s peak season starts on 19 December, and the weeks from 23 March fall outside it; when we checked, several of these hotels were also cheaper in late March.
• Match the pass to the plan. Skiing only Happo-one? Its own ticket is cheaper. Moving between resorts? The valley pass includes the shuttle.
• Count the tax. Up to ¥1,900 a person a night in Hakuba Village, and ¥200 in Otari, home to Tsugaike, Norikura and Cortina.
• Check what the rate includes. The Berghaus’s own rates include dinner and drinks, La Vigne and B&D have kitchens, and some rooms at the Phoenix share bathrooms.
• Compare totals. Hotel booking sites compared goes through where to book. Deciding between Nagano and Hokkaido? Our Niseko guide has the 2026/27 season there, and our Tokyo guide covers a night in the city on the way in or out.

All 10 at a glance

Before you go

• Before you fly, sort out mobile data (the best eSIM for Japan), and see the best time to visit Japan for the rest of the winter calendar.

Frequently asked questions

Sources & further reading

• Hakuba Valley: lift tickets, 2026–27
• Hakuba Valley: access
• Hakuba Valley: shuttle bus
• Hakuba Valley: the ski resorts
• Hakuba Happo-one: tickets and passes, 2026–27
• Happo-one: the 2026–27 season and early tickets (PR TIMES, 4 September 2026, in Japanese)
• Happo-one: the new gondola for December 2027 (in Japanese)
• ABLE Hakuba GORYU: opening date announced for 2026–27
• Hakuba Village: accommodation tax (in Japanese)
• Nagano Prefecture: accommodation tax (in Japanese)
• Alpico: the Nagano–Hakuba express bus in winter
• Plan·Do·See: The Alps Hotel Hakuba to open in December 2026 (PR TIMES, 1 April 2026, in Japanese)
• B&D HAKUBA IWATAKE: opening on 16 January 2026 (PR TIMES, in Japanese)
• Official websites of each hotel named above, checked in October 2026

Lift prices, seasons and hotel terms change. Every detail here was checked at the start of October 2026; confirm rates, room types and cancellation terms with the hotel before booking. These are researched picks, not reviews. This article contains affiliate links: hotel rates on Booking.com and other booking sites through Stay22, and tours, transfers and eSIMs through our partners; if you book through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. No hotel pays to be included.

← Back to Gently Yonder