“Such an awesome place to stay in such an awesome little ski town. Stayed 8 nights with my 18 yr old son and the friendly”

The location and great personal atmosphere

Super friendly host family - we felt very welcome. Great tipps on local activities. Great communication even before we checked in. Familiar and cosy atmosphere.

“Awesome stay at Matsuo House”

The place was cosy and well equipped. The hosts were all very hospitable. They checked that we are ok daily and gave us good recommendations on where to visit and have our meals. We were also given complementary coupon for the public onsen.

“Best place so far in three weeks of travelling.”

The hosts Oraphin, Taka and Yui are such a lovely family, making Matsuo House is such a homely place. Oraphin and Taka are generous with giving local advice on restaurants, walks and Onsen. There’s a lovely common eating/relaxing room, which can make the stay very social if you want it to be. Zao Onsen is a cute little town flowing with hot spring water. The Onsen themselves are petite and local-feeling, which I really enjoyed. There’s a variety of temperatures and settings to explore. If I am in the country again, I will make a beeline for Yamagata so I can stay here once more.

The hotel is near to the bus station, which is very convenient to go or leave. But most let me surprise is that the houser could speak Chinese, English and Japanese very frequently! There is no problem to have a communication. The room is very beautiful and clean. Only one thing let me sorry is the smell from the kerosene stove. You need to being used to it. In next season, I might go again and hopefully I could get the same room from this hotel~!

“Perfect for our stop between bandai and Dewa Sanzan”

the kindness of the ownner

Location: Very convenient. Less than 5 minute walk to the ski chair lift with all my gear on. About 10 minutes to walk from the bus terminal. The main roads and footpaths are heated so no ice/snow, easy walk to get to the accomodation. Convenience store was my "best friend" during the stay, which was opposite the ski lifts (5 minute walk). Home stay: Host family (Taka, Oraphin and 2-year-old Yui) was very accomodating. Taka works at the local equipment rental (can drop his name/"Matsuo house" for discounts) and Oraphin is extremely knowledgable about the area. Little Yui is very cute too. Host family speaks fluent Japanese, English, Chinese (Mandarin) and Chinese (Cantonese) so communication is no problem. Futon was very thick and clean. With the heater blasting I had no problem sleeping in below-zero weather. I went out every night to use the public onsens in the area so didn't use the showers at the accomodation. The onsen water is great and worth travelling here for. Zao onsen region: Didn't get to see fully formed snow monsters (half monsters?) this time because of the weather so I may come back again next year. Ski courses are long and fun. The flat land up near the middle zone is a confusing maze to get through so good luck.... Need 2-3 days to fully appreciate the entire ski resort. All the courses are very wide! Few red courses were icy probaby due to the cloudy/blizzard weather (no sun). The black course I wanted to try was closed due to avalanche risk. Wonderful Japow and soft snow everywhere else! ⛄ The tomato 🍅 themed restaurant up the mountain was interesting. The snow here is a bit sticky (hard to brush off equipment), so bring gear inside to melt snow near heater.

“Relaxing, skiing, onsen”

Taka and Oraphin are extremely professional, but also very warm, nice and available. There was a powerful heater in the bedroom, and the (large) living room is heated with a fireplace. Very calm at night. Can help yourself freely with coffee and tea. All the necessary informations about the village (convenience store, onsen, even the ski resort, etc.) are explained (very clearly) at your arrival by the host(s) (who can speak many different languages fluently, including but not limited to, English and Japanese, Chinese). About the village and the ski resort: there are many traditional onsen in the village, which can be experienced without charge. Overall, the ambiance in the village is very nice, there are many restaurants which are good (among one where the owner can speak French). The ski resort is quite huge, and very natural. We had the chance to see the famous snowy trees on the top of the mountains, for many days (so it's for real!). Very recommended.