Name: Nature Cottage Akabeko
Address: 1092-38 Onogawahara, Aizuwakamatsu, Aizuwakamatsu, Aizuwakamatsu, 969-2701, Japan
Rating: 7

Air conditioning

Heating

Garden

Terrace

Reception desk

General

Fridge

Family room

Hairdryer

Flat-screen TV

Shower/Bathtub

Bathtub

Linens

Slippers

Toiletries

Rooms

Laundry

Services and amenities

Vending machine

Microwave oven

Kettle

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

English

Japanese

Languages Spoken

Parking

Beach/pool towels

Pool and beach

Family/Kid Friendly

Kids

Pets allowed

Pets

Location

At the cottage

Room amenities

Fukushima Airport

Nature Cottage Akabeko

Aizuwakamatsu

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

20-beds

21-beds

22-beds

23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

27-beds

28-beds

29-beds

3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

34-beds

35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

The location is amazing. Akabeko borders on the national park, you are very much surrounded by forest.

The layout of the place is that there is a lodge at the top of the hill, where you check in and that also houses a restaurant. 
Sloping down the hill behind the lodge are a few dozen cottages, some stand alone, and some seem to be chalet or apartment type.

If you are traveling with dogs, and most guests seemed to be, then the dog run is down at the bottom of the hill and is a good sized area, about the size of two tennis courts.

We traveled with two dogs and the cottage could have easily accommodated a whole family, there is a kitchen, a second floor bedroom, and a tatami room with a kotatsu. We didn't even use the upstairs bedroom as there are futon, blankets and pillows in the tatami room. If you are skiing or boarding at the nearby resorts, the living room is spacious and the heaters are powerful enough to dry anything overnight.  Many windows with views in all directions allow natural light throughout the day.

I really loved having a kitchen to prepare food for the dogs and ourselves, and while you can choose to eat up at the lodge restaurant, we opted to have dinner in the cottage, the warm, and friendly staff delivered a set to make sukiyaki, and on the second night, seafood nabe. This was the winter menu, I believe the warmer months offer a BBQ.  Both meals were delicious, and the volume was more than enough for the both of us. 

There is free parking right outside every cottage, if you are traveling in winter, the staff plow the access road every morning. 

We , I guess, unusually, traveled by train, the nearest station being Inawashiro, it's about 16km away from Akabeko, and the staff very kindly came to pick us up. I'm not sure if it's a shuttle service they regularly offer, I think they were just being kind. 
They also dropped us off back there after we checked out. This all being done on icy, mountain roads too. I couldn't have been more impressed and grateful.

The alternative would be to take a bus up to the top of the mountain, or a taxi. 

I never expect anything fancy when I travel with the dogs, I'm just so happy that we can take a holiday together, so I'm not bothered if the place we stay at has anything but basic facilities, but this place , for the location, and the price is far and away the best place we have stayed together. We all had a great time there.

My partner, and I both wished we could have stayed longer, and are looking forward to going back in the Spring.

A wonderful place to travel with your dogs.

This place is deep in the Urabandai mountains, an absolutely beautiful area. Never mind the fact that it's in Fukushima. This is western Fukushima, shielded from the disaster area by a whole bunch of mountains, radiation here is the same as in Tokyo.  If you like lakes, mountains, whitewater streams and clear air, this is it. Within 3-4 hours drive of Tokyo there isn;t anything that is as nice as this. Certainly not Nagano or Niigata. Summer nights you can sleep without aircon here, it gets that cold (end of August, it dropped to 18 C every night I was there for a week). The resort consists of three dozen cottages. Some of them are standalone and meant to take a family of 4-5. Some are really condominiums with three or four units, and these are smaller. The place was built in the early 1990s and it shows.. The units are a bit worn, insulation isn't very good (which is only an issue in winter), they aren't barrier-free, the layout a bit weird. But at least you can sleep in your own cottage if you get one of the standalone ones, and the kitchens are adequately equipped for self-catering. The showers are good enough, aircons work fine (even though you will only need aircon on the hottest days during day time), so does the heating. I do have to say that by Japanese standards, cleanliness is not exemplary but not so bad that it puts you off. The larger cottages have western style beds which are very good: large, comfortable with just the right firmness (for me). There are also Japanese style beds (futons). All in all, not luxurious but good enough and appropriate for the price. The restaurant is equally "OK" but nothing worth mentioning.There are some better restaurants in the area but I prefer cooking myself so I can't recommend any specific ones. 
Hotel staff are very nice, by the way. No English though,  I guess, or very little in any case. Pets are allowed in many of the units so there are always people with their dogs around. Very nice. 
Always slept well here, never had any noise issues. Japanese behave themselves. Dogs are indoors so even if they bark, you don't hear them. 
You don't come here to sit around in the cottage, obviously. You come here for the great outdoors and there is plenty of that. And there isn't anything else, by the way. There is nothing here except a few hotels, a convenience store and a post office. But there are plenty of hiking trails, and you can swim and cycle to your heart's content. The camping site at the north end of Lake Hibara has great beach access and allows day camping. They also allow fires on the beach! Would also recommend taking the Grandeco gondola and go for a hike up there. Incredible views and a serious workout if you want one.

Nature Cottage Akabeko

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