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Lotte Arai Resort resort snow
Lat Long: 36.99° N 138.18° E
Ski Japan - Niigata

Lotte Arai Resort Resort Reviews

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Issued: 8 pm 06 May 2026 (local time)

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Visitor reviews for Lotte Arai Resort Ski Resort

Lotte Arai Resort Ratings

Overall: 3.4. Based on 6 votes and 4 reviews.

Snowsure: 4.2

  • Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
  • Is often closed due to a lack of snow
  • Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
  • Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
  • Lotte Arai Resort is snowsure even in the poorest seasons

Variety of pistes: 3.7

  • The ski runs are featureless and unvaried
  • The ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week
  • Lotte Arai Resort has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain

Off-piste: 3.0

  • No off-piste worth mentioning
  • Off piste is out-of-bounds
  • Some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days
  • A vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days

Scenery: 4.5

  • An ugly resort in a bland setting
  • Average mountain views and resort
  • A spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town

Access: 2.8

  • At least one overnight stop
  • Requires a whole day
  • Requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns
  • Arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon
  • There is a main airport within an hour of Lotte Arai Resort

Public Transport: 3.7

  • There are no buses or taxis to Lotte Arai Resort
  • There are slow or infrequent buses / trains available
  • Getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections

Accommodation: 3.5

  • No places to stay in/near Lotte Arai Resort
  • A few places to stay in the resort
  • A wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets

Cheap Rooms: 2.2

  • No budget accommodation available
  • Just one or two hostels so book ahead
  • Several cheap hostels and pensions available

Luxury Hotels: 4.5

  • No luxury accommodation available
  • Just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead
  • Several up-market hotels in Lotte Arai Resort

Ski in/Ski out: 4.0

  • The ski area is located far from any accommodation
  • A free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip
  • Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available

Childcare: 3.3

  • There are no child care facilities at Lotte Arai Resort
  • The resort has limited child-care facilities
  • the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche

Snowmaking: 1.5

  • Lotte Arai Resort relies entirely on natural snow
  • There are just a few snow cannons
  • There are snowmaking facilities on all pistes

Snow Grooming: 3.8

  • There are no snow groomers at Lotte Arai Resort
  • Occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state
  • All the runs at Lotte Arai Resort are groomed daily

Shelter: 2.5

  • There is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut
  • There are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close
  • Lotte Arai Resort is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close

Nearby options: 3.3

  • If snow conditions are poor at Lotte Arai Resort, it will be poor everywhere nearby
  • There are good alternatives within an hours drive
  • Other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions

Regional rating: 3.7

  • Lotte Arai Resort usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region
  • Has average conditions for the region
  • Usually has the best snow conditions in the region

Lift Staff: 4.3

  • The staff at Lotte Arai Resort are rude or unhelpful
  • Lift staff at Lotte Arai Resort are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help

Crowds/Queues: 3.4

  • The resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues
  • It is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays
  • It is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare

Ski Schools: 3.0

  • No ski schools available
  • One or two ski schools but local language only
  • A few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors
  • Plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available
  • Excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors

Hire and Repairs: 4.0

  • Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex
  • There are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance
  • Good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible

Beginners: 2.7

  • Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard
  • A few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week
  • Vast areas of gentle terrain

Intermediates: 3.3

  • No intermediate terrain at Lotte Arai Resort
  • Intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days
  • Vast areas of cruising runs

Advanced: 4.7

  • Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders
  • Enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste
  • Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week

Snow Park: 2.2

  • Not even a kicker at Lotte Arai Resort
  • Average sized park quite well looked after
  • Huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails

Cross-country: 1.7

  • There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Lotte Arai Resort
  • There are some cross country trails available
  • The area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails

Luge/Toboggan: 1.5

  • No designated luge or toboggan runs
  • There are toboggan runs that open quite often
  • Lotte Arai Resort has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages

Mountain Dining: 4.2

  • Nowhere to buy food by the pistes
  • Some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive
  • There is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets

Eating: 4.2

  • Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop
  • There are a few places to eat in the resort but nothing special
  • A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants

Apres-Ski: 3.8

  • Nothing to do, not even a bar
  • There are a few bars in the resort but nothing special
  • Clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere

Other Sports: 4.3

  • No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts
  • Resort has just a small public swimming pool
  • Resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool

Entertainment: 4.2

  • Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here
  • The non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week
  • The resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports

Winter Walks: 3.0

  • Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails
  • A couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails
  • Extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities

Ski Pass Value: 3.8

  • A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available
  • The ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts
  • Ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area

Value (National): 3.7

  • Overall, Lotte Arai Resort is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money
  • Overall represents average value for money
  • Overall offers the best value resort in the country

Value (Global): 4.2

  • Overall, Lotte Arai Resort is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world
  • Overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries
  • Internationally the resort offers excellent value for money

Show all 35 ratings

January 28, 2019
Goofy TreeHugger
Visited January 2019. A major storm system moved in, we had about 1.5m of fresh powder in 2 days. Words do not do justice to the the amazing slack country available direct from the lifts. Arai is a little low, so it can get wet at the base. But the good riding is all from the top, above a normal freeze line. I did not get into the back country due to avalanche risk. Lotte Arai is expensive compared to Nozawa, Akakura, Madarao, Tangram etc. At 7000Yen a day including a returnable deposit, there is a big difference to the other local resorts. Facilities are amazing. There is only 1 hotel: Lotte Arai, with around 350 rooms, so the mountain gets a max of 1000 people on it. That may sound a lot but facilities cope very well. There is no easily accessible town (a shuttle bus to Arai Town) so you are stuck in the resort. Myoko Snow Sports run a ski school there. So there are English speaking instructors. There are good facilities for children and the hotel offers daycare. Summary: expensive but good.
September 05, 2018
Al Cochrane
Hit this joint in January 2018 when it was 1 month old. As expected, all the infrastructure was brand spanking. Resort and on-mountain eating are very upmarket. Our one day there was sent from the heavens: deep, deep powder and bluebird for most of the day. Words cannot do the day justice; probably the best single day's skiing of my life and I've been skiing since 1969!! Wow!! Just wow!!
December 09, 2017
mag from Ski USA - California USA - California
This place is to reopen Dec 2017. There is Shin-kansen bullet train and it takes 2 hours from Tokyo.
August 03, 2006
Nic from Ski Japan - Nagano Japan - Nagano
Unfortunately this resort has closed as at 10 July 2006. Hopefully will open under new ownership. All great resorts in this area anyway - see www.klarbooks.com/guides/myoko