I get this isn’t luxury nor is it a 3 star hotel (or any hotel for that matter). That being said, hygiene, cleanliness and keeping the property updated are the bare minimum that I would expect from any establishment charging guests to stay. The bedding has brown stains on, there’s cobwebs hanging from the ceiling, random things under the beds, bugs in the light fittings, no heating other than gas burners in room (with no ventilation or monoxide alarms). Plus… booking.com got the price wrong so we were forced to pay 50% more by the owners on arrival and looked at as though we were criminals trying to rip them off. The 1970 stands for when it opened and it hasn’t been touched since then. Avoid like the plague.

The location is excellent, easy walking distance to the chairlift at Happo, next door to Rhythm ski shop and the bus stop. The couple who run this place are adorable which is what makes it difficult to rate it appropriately.

It is quite cold, could be a tad cleaner however, the lady does her best to do everything herself including running the restaurant which is admirable considering her age. Rooms do have heaters though. We had both an ensuite room and a non ensuite room during our stay due to having to move rooms as ours was a last minute booking, I would recommend booking an ensuite room as the shared facilities may not suit everyone’s expectations. The restaurant though is lovely, authentic, home made Japanese cuisine, always delicious! We had been to the restaurant many times before, but this was our first time staying in the accommodation.

The couple running Pension Hakuba 70 are wonderful and incredibly hospitable. They were very clear with the arrangements and put on an exceptional dinner one evening for us. They also helped us with organising taxis when we needed to get back to town and were overall a delight to meet.

New mattresses and duvets would be a worthy investment.

Good location close to the Kokusai slope. Breakfast is good and reasonably priced (1000 yen). Property run by a kind couple.

The facilities are a bit outdated. Even though it is supposed to take credit as payment, I had to pay in cash because the machine had a connection issue. Corridors are not heated up. Room had some dust to the point my friend couldn't sleep due to sneezing. We were not offered shuttle from station (which is a practice by other pensions in the region). And the price charged to us was more expensive than other options on near dates (this was the only option in the Happo One region within our budget for our dates). All these are somewhat a pity as the pension is a traditional house in the region and has great potential of becoming a symbol of good hospitality. I wish they are able to improve on cleanliness and facilities so that I would give them a second chance.