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Reviews of Xplore by Active Life

3 out of 5
Xplore by Active Life
1101-155, Tarumoto, Ohaza, Myoko, Niigata

Reviews

8.0

Very good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 13 out of 28 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 7 out of 28 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 3 out of 28 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 4 out of 28 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 1 out of 28 reviews" "

8.4/10

Cleanliness

8.8/10

Staff & service

7.8/10

Amenities

7.8/10

Property conditions & facilities

Reviews

8/10 Good

Patricia

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Comfy room but no yukata
Pros: 1. Location is super good as it’s close to the ski lift. 2. Bed is very comfy and room is big. 3. Breakfast is good! 4. Staff are in generally nice. Cons: 1. The front desk lady talks too fast! 2. No Yukata (bath robe) provided in the room even thou they have onsen (hot spring), that makes it hard to go to onsen. And the opening hour of the onsen is very limited, only form 4-9pm. 3. Room is kind of too hot and no control to adjust the air con or heat. 4. No socket in the washroom so that u can’t use your hair dryer in the washroom but have to come out to use it. 5. No tall mirror for clothes matching purpose.
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2020
Response from Lisa on 21 Feb 2020
Thank you for your review. I have taken all your comments on board and appreciate you have taken the time to review Xplore. We hope to see you back next season. Warmest regards, Lisa

10/10 Excellent

Kiang Hon

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Fantastic stay!
The stay was amazing! Lisa and her team at Xplore were always ready to help. They were a pleasure to interact with. The room was huge, clean, and comfortable. Wifi signal was strong in the room. There was a made-to-order breakfast free every morning, with a choice between a smoked salmon or mushroom plate with eggs (your choice of cooking style). There was also a free laundry machine in the basement (dryer costs 100 yen per use). Large drying room was available for the ski equipment 1 floor down. Unfortunately the snow was too high to ski out of the back door, but it was a short 5-10 min walk to the slope, so it wasn't too much of an inconvenience. Would definitely stay here again if we return to Madarao Kogen!
Stayed 4 nights in Feb 2020
Response from Lisa on 18 Feb 2020
Thank you so much for your review. We really enjoined having you stay with us. See you next season.

8/10 Good

Todd, Vancouver

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Great staff, fantastic location about as close to the run as you can get in private accommodation. Closer to a hostel in my definition but that is the Japanese way. Good food with lots of options close by. Shuttle bus to town and near by resorts made the whole trip very smooth. Definately recommended.
Stayed 6 nights in Feb 2020
Response from Lisa on 18 Feb 2020
Thank you Todd for your review. We hope to see you next season. Warmest regards, Lisa

10/10 Excellent

GSteeds, Brisbane AUS

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Great location, great facilities and free yoga! Good breakfast and helpful staff. Oh and nice traditional style rooms but with the comfiest beds in japan. Will be back!
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2020
Response from Lisa on 18 Feb 2020
Thank you so much for your review. We do hope you will come back next season and enjoy it all again. Warm regards, Lisa

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The employees are uber helpful. The rooms are slean, quiet, and spacious
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2020
Response from Lisa on 18 Feb 2020
Thank you for taking the time to review Xplore. We hope to see you next season. Warmest regards, Lisa

10/10 Excellent

Scott

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Very close walking distance (and ski out) to the Madarao slope. Onsen bath is wonderful. Room is comfortable.
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2020
Response from Lisa on 18 Jan 2020
Thank you so much Scott. It was wonderful having you stay here. Hope we see you back at Xplore next season. Warm regards Lisa Manager Xplore

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
A poor hotel not worth the money
Unfortunately there are a few bad things to say about this place. On hotels.com, it advertises toiletries in the room but you don’t get any. There’s some shampoo and conditioner in the onsen but nothing like what Japanese hotels usually provide in rooms. There are no staff in the hotel at all after 7pm so if you need help after that time, you may struggle. The showers were 3 floors below our room (with the onsen) - we’d expect a shared bathroom to be on the same floor as the room, at the very least. Not sure why but the elevator and area around it smells like an engine room. There seems to be a cafe in the hotel but it’s not actually manned after breakfast so no coffee or other hot drinks are available after 10. Supposedly guests are meant to take snowboards etc. to the drying room in the basement and not walk through the lobby but people were constantly bringing wet equipment and snow covered boots through the lobby and staff didn’t seem to care. The hotel is advertised as ski in/ski out but it is not. You have to leave the hotel and walk 5-10 minutes up the road to the nearest ski lift. All in all, the hotel just feels like a slightly run down hostel for mostly young Australians - it’s certainly not an upmarket hotel. Breakfast wasn’t very good but it was complimentary so it’s hard to complain about it. The lobby area is the only place to relax in the hotel (outside of your room) and it can get quite cold. The wifi is
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2020
Response from Lisa on 23 Jan 2020
Thank you for your review. I do apologise that Xplore did not meet your expectations. I have taken everything you have said on board and appreciate that you took the time to review Xplore. I do hope that you will come back next year and experience new changes. Warm Regards, Lisa

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
an unexpected gem
had a wonderful time here, place was clean and social, great breakfast, close to the slopes, and service by Lisa and Stuart and the rest of the staff was so friendly and attentive. i particularly appreciated that the hotel can arrange pickups to and from the train station. the onsen is also a bonus. Madarao is a true gem and these guys will make sure you have the best time.
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2019
Response from Lisa on 3 Jan 2020
Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback. I hope we see you back at Xplore next year. Have a great 2020. Warm Regards Lisa Manager Xplore

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2019
Response from Lisa on 3 Jan 2020
Thank you for your feedback. The Xplore team would love you to come back for the 20/21 season. Have a great year. Warmest regards Lisa

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
All staffs are nice and friendly. The room I stayed was clean so I enjoyed the stay.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Xplore review
Great location, great staff. Lisa, Manager was so helpful. Breakfast was good. Hotel could use a bit of work, missing some things - ski rack at entry, drying room desperately needs work, no mini fridge or safe in room.
Stayed 10 nights in Feb 2019

6/10 Okay

Ng

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Disliked: Cleanliness
Stayed 5 nights in Feb 2019

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Disliked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
Don’t be fooled by website. This property feels like s poor university dorm. Extremely old & run down although rooms have been given minimal update with new beds & carpet. Included breakfast is sparse, cheap and other than an egg offers nothing nutritious. Also take note this property offers no shuttle service to get on or off bus down the mountain requiring one to drag bags through the snow up a grade which could be considerable effort if you had kids in tow. Compared to other properties on mountain this place has a long way to go to even come close to consideration for us. Stayed another night at a different property with outstanding customer service and incredible breakfast for same cost as this dismal experience.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2019

10/10 Excellent

Claudia

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
It's a hotel renovated from an old building. They were open for just a few days so many things weren't ready. Don't expect luxury conditions from the hotel, but it has all the basics, good bed, good sheets, good bathroom, good breakfast (simple but good). It is what you pay for, it is a no-frill hotel. The hotel staff is extremely helpful and nice. The staff is almost exclusively non-Japanese speaker, which is quite unique in Japan. Pros and cons as a result. Easy to communicate to for non-Japanese speakers, but difficult if you need some local help. Hotel is very close to ski lifts, a bare 5 minute walk. Overall, we are happy with the hotel and will return.
Stayed 4 nights in Jan 2019
Response from Active Life on 14 Jan 2019
Dear Claudia, Thank you for your feedback, and I’m happy to know that you will return. Most of our Japanese staff work for all of Active Life and therefore aren’t always on-site at Xplore. That being said, we have taken your feedback into consideration and will do what we can to hire more staff whom can speak Japanese.

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Boiler wasn't working and no one couldn't take a bath. Our room wasn't clean enough, tatami mats were too old. I prefer other Active life hotels.
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2019
Response from Maya on 16 Jan 2019
Thank you for your feedback. We did have a temporary issue with the hot water for a few hours on January 1st, the issue has now been resolved. Each Active Life hotel is unique with its own ambience and design which appeals to a different audience, so I understand that you might prefer other Active Life hotels. As long as you enjoy your stay at any one of our Active Life hotels, we are happy.

10/10 Excellent

Ruth Clare

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice!
This hotel just renovated & opened under new management in Dec 2018. Rooms are nice, super comfy beds & staff are fantastic. Great location - only a 5 min warm-up walk to the slopes.
Stayed 4 nights in Dec 2018
Response from Xplore by Active Life on 14 Jan 2019
Dear Ruth, Thank you for the feedback. I am happy to hear that you enjoyed your stay with us at Xplore. Hope you had an overall lovely experience in Madarao.

8/10 Good

SSSman, Nagoya, JP

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
I liked the bathroom in the room the most. Very big and clean. It was very nice to be able to take a nice & relaxed bath in my own room after snowboarding all day. Washers and dryers were a little dirty. I think hotel stuff should check them more often.
Stayed 6 nights in Dec 2018
Response from Xplore by Active Life on 14 Jan 2019
Dear SSSman, Thank you for your feedback. Big, clean and comfortable is what we were going for when installing the new toilets. We have taken your feedback into account and have trained out staff to check the dryers & washers more regularly.

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Stayed 5 nights in Dec 2018

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
I enjoyed the overall feel of the hotel and the staff was wonderful. It is really close to other restaurants and only a 3 minute walk to Madarao Ski Resort which was really convenient.
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2018
Response from Xplore by Active Life on 14 Jan 2019
Thank you for your positive feedback, I hope that you enjoyed your experience at Madarao as much as I did when I first visited.

10/10 Excellent

Joshua

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Moderao ski area
We had an amazing time there! The hotel was ran by a couple young Australian people who were great!! It was so nice to go to a hotel in japan and have people who spoke English easily! The food was westernized, which was amazing!!! The Onsen doesn’t fallow Japanese rules, they allow tattoos and you have to wear swimwear! 11/10. Totally recommend
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2018

4/10 Poor

Ka ho

Travelled with family
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Worst accommodation in japan ever
Room is very very small, when I made the booking I saw 2 double bed in the pictures and I have booked for 2 adults and 1 child. However once we checked in we found out there is only a queen size bed avail in the room. The worst thing is you have to share one male and one female toilet with 12 other rooms. That’s insane. Dry room is useless there is no heat at all during my stay, the heater has no oil at all . Breakfast is included but allow yourself a hour for breakfast , there is only 2 staff serving 50-100 guest per day and you have to wait for your breakfast at leat half a hour
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2020

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities
Super close to the ski lift ticket office, standard Japanese room with a sink is good but there is only 1 female and 1 male toilet on the floor, would be too busy if full house as about 10 rooms are sharing . Big drying room on the basement, free breakfast and shuttle to/from Ilyama station. Big TV in room with only youtube anf Neflix. A kettle and a heater in room. Separated Public bath (onsen) for men and women, strange that 7-9pm is the "communal" time on men's side (i.e. female can get in the men's bath during the period that means all have to be in swim suits). Better to have a bin inside the room, for the public bath area, it would be great if put a tissue box there and a clock ((guess it has no battery), also replacing the old hairdryer which is too weak. Staff are all very friendly and the common area has a great mountain view.
Stayed 4 nights in Feb 2020
Response from Lisa on 18 Feb 2020
Thank you for your review. We appreciate you comments and will definitely act on those issues, Hope to see you next season. Regards, Lisa

10/10 Excellent

Kwok-yan

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
超高性價比的西式酒店！
這家酒店是由一班澳洲人向本地人購買了舊式日本滑雪酒店再翻新而成的。保留了舊式日式酒店的硬件，例如客房、洗衣房、浴場等，以西式營運方法管理。服務員態度親切，亦樂意提供一切協助。早餐是西式的，出餐時間稍長，如果想每天趕頭班吊車上山的話，就要早點去吃早餐了。 這裡洗衣是免費的，前台會提供免費洗衣球。乾衣則是100日圓15分鐘，全自助形式。 客房的電視除了基本本地電視台外，還有Netflix看！超贊！客房不提供每日清潔及執房服務，垃圾要自行清理放出走廊外。 最後一提，如客人連續住四晚或以上，可免費參加酒店提供的滑雪課程，由專業外藉教練執教！ 酒店位置亦接近滑雪場，只是酒店推介的那家雪具租用店Miyuki的雪具質素一般，不建議在那裡租用，反而Miyuki側邊的那家雪具店可試試。
Stayed 5 nights in Feb 2020
Response from Lisa on 18 Feb 2020
Thank you so much for your review. We hope to see you next season when we hope there will be more snow. Warm regards Lisa

6/10 Okay

CHIEN PING

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
幾乎全部都是澳洲人，從早餐、大眾池時間的安排上都是給西方人設計的。 例如早餐是單點的一份吐司、燻鮭魚/培根、其他配菜、蛋，不是日式，沒有自助吧。而且一份一份做，所以要等待一段時間 大眾池只有到晚上七點前，7-9點是男女混浴，要穿泳褲。
Stayed 4 nights in Jan 2020
Response from Lisa on 18 Feb 2020
Thank you for your review. We hope to see you next season. Warm regards, Lisa

10/10 Excellent

Yutaka

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
This hotel is very near from ski area, and all staffs are really kind and helpful.We were really satisfied with this hotel. This hotel is also near from Malu restaurant. This is also nice. We want to use this hotel again.
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2020
Response from Lisa Xplore on 23 Jan 2020
Thank you so much for your review. We look forward to welcoming you back again next season. Warm regards, Lisa

8/10 Good

Tsz Kit

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 4 nights in Jan 2020
Response from Lisa on 23 Jan 2020
Thank you for reviewing us. We hope to see you next year on the slopes. Kind regards, Lisa

10/10 Excellent

Marco

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great place for ski holiday!
Great place near ski lifts. Restaurants and bars all walking distance. Super friendly staff. Run by Australians. If you are looking for Japanese culture don’t go here. I would definitely recommend. For kids also great, lots of activities in the hotel. Small bar with good (western) food. Wifi is pretty bad! Super soft comfy beds. Bathrooms are not Japanese superclean, but acceptable. They have a shuttle bus to take you from station Nagano and back.
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2020
Response from lisa on 8 Jan 2020
Thank you so much Marco for your review. We really enjoyed having you stay with us and do hope we will see you again next year. Kindest regards, Lisa Dawes Manager Xplore

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
請準備充足下 ，才再營業吧！
酒店只是剛接手 ， 整體性表現極度勉強，傢私、員工也未到位 ，相信只是趕著雪季開店，有想轉酒店的衝動，可惜不能退錢，而員工也在能力下努力表現出友善 ， 所以在體諒上會接受。
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2019
Response from Regan on 14 Jan 2019
Thank you for your feedback. We have had some teething problems with the hotel during its opening. Most of the furniture for the lobby area, restaurant and sports bar were missing due to being stuck at customs, causing a delay in our delivery.