Monaile is great!
We had the Japanese style family room – it is huge! Large bathroom, large fridge/freezer (great for stocking up from 7-11), tatami mat sleeping area with sliding doors, 2 single beds and a lounging area/couch (and a desk!) – heaps of room for a family of 4.
Full buffet breakfast was only available up at the madarao hotel – but a 2 min shuttle ride was easy.
Onsens uncrowded and great.
Thanks for arranging a great trip.
Liz
Not quite ski in ski out but close enough and made for good exercise! Close to Aki’s for good coffee and food and lessons for the kids. The onsen was clean and a good temperature and was enjoyed by all.
This is the second year we have used your accommodation service and I have found it to be excellent.
Will be returning again once we are allowed to travel again of course.
Sonya
Aki's ski school was amazing! The staff were brilliant with our children, the girls were skiing from the top of the mountain by the second day! Aki's Pub has really good Pizza! Yummo!!
We had a great trip to Japan, the snow was incredible and we had some lovely sunny skiing days. In terms of the hotel - the room layout was great for a family, but the hotel itself is very dated and a bit rundown for the price. Though it is convenient to have breakfast and dinner included, you wouldn't want to eat at the Monaile restaurant every night as it was quite limited, so we found we went up to the Kogen Hotel for dinners (which was included in the deal, you could eat at either hotel). The staff were absolutely lovely, and it was a ski in/ ski out location. The shuttle bus was always available which was also convenient. We will keep in touch as Japan is a great family holiday for us, and we are all likely to want to return!
Kirste
Mid January 2017
We had another wonderful holiday at Madarao. As usual, the standard of accomodation, level of service and equality of food were excellent value for money.
Each year the resort is starting to provide more services for Western customers. There are now 2 really good coffee spots and more options for english ski lessons.
This year the skiing conditions were perfect . So much powder and the slopes were really quiet. Madarao is a great family resort. There isn’t a huge amount of night life or dining options outside the main hotels but for families who just want convenience and easy access to ski slopes it is perfect.
Susan Reid
Yes we had a great trip – loved Madarao. The hotel was fine – slightly older hotel etc but we had the benefit of using the facilities up the road at the bigger hotel. The shuttle bus worked well and we were always able to get around (except for one v heavy snow day!).It is a tiny resort and very Japanese. Have to say we did enjoy it a lot.
We had a fabulous stay at Madarao. This was my visit ski holiday ever so I was a little nervous about the whole thing. Your service was fabulous, very professional. Our booking went very smoothly, no issues at all once we were on the ground. Everything as planned. The accommodation was clean, tidy. Basic but very adequate. Room was warm which was the main thing! And there was plenty of hot water so we were always warm! The shuttle bus up to the main resort was very frequent. It really was no hassle staying down at the annexe hotel. We used the facilities of the main hotel without any issues. The Onsen at the main hotel is lovely. Buffet restaurant also good. Breakfast at the Annexe very Japanese style which was lovely. We had a great trip, wonderful experience which went very smoothly.We would definitely use your service again and highly recommend Madarao if you want a very Japanese ski experience. There were few Western tourists at Madarao which made our experience all the more authentic which we enjoyed immensely. Thanks and cheers
Sharon
2016
I just wanted to say thank you and all the staff of Madarao Monalie that made our stay a wonderful experience. The warm hospitality, nothing was ever a bother or an inconvenience – its very much appreciated. We will miss Madarao (beautiful people & place) – until we’re there next. Ross, Amy, Peter – thanks for all your assistance in helping us get to experience Madarao. Thanks & kind regards,
Peter
2016
I’ve now back at home and work and still thinking about my time in Madarao. Enjoyed the hospitality and looking forward to the next time I’m there. Kind regards,
Mark Browne
Late March 2016
Thanks so much for all your help. We are still at Madarao enjoying the fabulous Japanese hospitality of all here especially Toru who has looked after us so very well, he is Si,ply delightful and so helpful. We have been down off the hill on the local bus that is the only one still running to Iiyama. Iiyama itself has so much to see especially the clay doll museum, amazing!
The brand new info office at the wonderful new Iiyama station is excellent and you can see all the buses coming in from inside their picture windows and lovely heated waiting area. We also did a trip to the snow monkeys that Toru helped us arrange from the station for 4800 yen plus discount if you use the bar code on the brochure, about $50 each. Before the big dump of snow it looked like the season would end this week but we are now snowed in! Took another trip on local bus to Nozawa Onsen and returned on the Nozawa Liner bus which is still running from the station.
Many thanks again, I am more than happy to provide any kind of promotional support I can for this fabulous lesser known resort in the area. Do let me know if I can be of any help. Do you have Toru or Aki's full names and email contacts as I would like to send them personal letters of thanks. Here are some from Madarao Kogen for you to use in what ever way best suits the support of both resorts - a great place for aussies to visit and ski and sOOOOO easy with the beautiful new Iiyama Shinkansen sation right at the bottom of the hill. Even though we were at the very end of the season and most buses had stopped running we could still work around the community bus timetable and get down to walk Iiyama City, do the snow monkeys tour including beautiful Shiba Onsen on the way back and went down later in the week again to go over to Nozawa Onsen for a look. Then.....we had a meter of snow dumped on us over two nights and days so of course went out for the next three days to play in the pow!
It was just beautiful, Toru was sensational as was Aki and Toru even drove us down the hill on the final sunday morning as our shinkansen connection for Osaka via Kanazawa didn't match with the local bus. He's simply the loveliest guy and so very helpful. I would do what ever I can to assist you guys support our Buller/Madarao relationship and feel so very privillaged to have been accepted into the program from BSL. Ski Hire people at Madarao Kogen Hotel couldn't do enough to help us, gear was fine! They had our soft boots ready for us each time we turned up back at ski hire! I have about 1000 pictures of all over Japan, do let me know if you'd like me to hunt you up some specific areas - like Shinkansen photos etc.
Kind Regards Lea and Rod Gill
Mid January 2016
Madarao hotel this was really great for families and would highly recommend this hotel and location is fine. It’s a quiet family hotel with all the facilities you could want. Lovely rooms. I don’t mind if you put my Madarao comment on the web site. Thank you again.
Lorraine
Mid January 2016
We stayed Monaile Madarao in Mid January. Two families of 2 adults and 3 children each. The hotel was very comfortable and perfect for a family. Great views of the slopes from the rooms and very clean. Fairly basic accommodation but excellent value. Excellent in Hotel Onsen. Breakfast was always good and perhaps better than the breakfast on offer at Madarao Kogen Hotel which is the sister Hotel. The shuttle between the 2 Hotels was terrific. It went whenever you wanted with very little wait. Being able to ski pretty much from outside the door down to the lifts every day was a huge bonus. The runs were a good mix of challenging and steep right through to some wide gentle cruisers. It was nice to see so many Japanese and so few westerners at Madarao. Lots of snowboarders! Lifts are pretty slow but quite well connected and as the resort is on the smaller size it is easy to ski it all, but it doesn’t become boring. There are good eating options on the mountain and a few great little restaurants in the the village. Be prepared to book for the evening meals as they don’t have much capacity and close early. You could end up eating 2 minute noodles in the room otherwise! One tip is to stock up in Iiyama on snacks and things when you get off the Shinkansen and before you get the bus up the mountain. The supermarket is next to the station. Madarao has very limited convenience store options. Overall a wonderful resort and despite the unusual season of 2016 we still had enough snow to really enjoy the trip. Hisae and the team at Japan Snow Accommodation did a great job recommending the Resort. Thank you Benton van Dorsselaer Hobart Pics attached below
Late February 2014.
Your help and advice was very helpful! Our trip was amazing! We were actually caught in the massive storm... Left sleeping on the floor of the tokyo airport and then a 15 hour bullet train ride! But After 70 hours in transit. We were met by torou at iiamya, amazing man he is! We had four days of the most amazing powder with no one around to steal our first tracks! It was all worth it on our first run down powder wave!! I would return to maderao again for sure! All the staff at monaile and maderao kogen resort were so helpful and the restaurants and people in maderao were also amazing! I'd like to thank you again Hisae for all your help and advice in making our journey so accommodating and fantastic!! Can't wait to visit again in the near future!
Carlie Tyrrell
6th February 2014
I would just like to say that we had a great time All the staff from the lift guys to the staff at the monaile were always helpful and friendly. If you have a stand at this years snow expo in Sydney i will stop in and say hi to you, Aki and Toru. Thankyou again for all your help
N.C
Mid January 2014
Madarao was really fun It is only a short distance from Iiyama (that is soon to get the Hokuriku Shinkansen), making it easy to get to and from by train. It is also close to Nozowa and Togari if you want to change it up and visit another slope for a day trip. I was lucky because the snow was good when I was there, it snowed every other day - letting me experience the clear skies and views to the Sea of Japan, as well as the fresh powder on the Tree Line runs. With mostly school kids on the slopes during the week, there was plenty of fresh snow on the groomed areas all day too The hotel rooms were pretty big, all the staff friendly and helpful, and the buffet dinner really good. There were also few restaurants in the resort area too (so you are not stuck at the hotel for food). Japan Snow Accommodation made it easy to book and I look forward to future snow adventures planned with them Thanks again
From Shane
