Hotel WELLIES

an incredible experience. The entire British atmosphere including the meals make you feel like you are in a little England. The kindness and good humor of the entire team is contagious. I felt so good and relaxed. the rooms are super comfortable and clean, the shower has excellent pressure. The English breakfast is delicious and very well prepared, next time I will try dinner too. Thanks for the Wellies team, see you again.

It’s been a great journey in Wellis. 10mins car drive/bus from JR station. There is parking, great for visitors who have car. I like the vintage and classy British style decorations. it’s clean, welcoming and homey. The food was great! Cannot forget the smoked salmon and afternoon tea. Most of all, Chris ,Judy and Bradley took care of me very well, super nice and warm people! Must visit again!

Chris and his team have a home run!
Staying at Hotel Wellies for 3 nights was such a lovely way to spend the Christmas holidays.

The food (breakfast and dinner) were fantastic and adds a unique offering to the local food scene.

The renovations are tasteful and creates such a warm, inviting space. Fantastic job to the student staff as well for their hospitality, it really feels like a tight-knit, international community. It truly felt like we were at an English countryside inn!

Thank you Team Wellies for a memorable time. We look forward to visiting soon.

Best,
Inoue-Belmans Family

We stayed at Hotel Wellies this summer and loved it. The rooms were very comfortable and roomy - and meticulously clean. Chris and the staff were very hospitable and made us feel very welcome - from picking us up at the train station, to helping us with local activities and food options, and even giving our kids small gifts at our departure. We also had dinner at the hotel one night, and it was delicious - they took great care to ask what we wanted and cater the experience around our preferences.

I highly recommend Hotel Wellies for anyone going to visit the Karuizawa area, and especially for folks who are visiting from abroad!

Loved our stay here. The room was lovely and quiet, the shower had great water pressure, the grounds were serene and peaceful. Chris and Judy were amazing hosts and I loved chatted with them. As a side note, I have never enjoyed a salad course more than I did here (curry coleslaw?? Smoked olive oil?! Totally amazing!!) I recommend renting a bike or driving unless you want to walk a few kilometers to most of the area attractions but then again, the walks were beautiful so you'll have to decide that for yourself.

If we make it back to Karuizawa, we will definitely stay here again. :)

What to say. Above all else, we know we must stay here again.

Chris and Judy went above and beyond to make sure we had a fantastic trip. After 3 nights, it felt more like we were leaving a new home rather than a hotel.

Don’t pass up the opportunity to visit this place.

Our stay at Welles was incredible! Chris was very friendly and very informative about the local area. He also went above and beyond by offering us a ride to and from the train station.

Dining at Welles was very welcoming and reminded of home as if I were visiting family. The chef is very talented and the food never disappointed. We tried all of the breakfast options and they all were great but my favorite was the beef stew and pudding!

My initial expectation was that the hotel would be mostly Japanese amenities but I was surprised to find that the rooms were spacious and western style.

We will definitely stay here again to visit Chris and his staff in the future!

Chris drove us to an onsen the evening of our stay and to the train station the following morning; this gave us enough time to enjoy the hotel restaurant's Full English breakfast before our time-sensitive plans. Our brief stop in Karuizawa became one of the highlights of the trip, thanks to Hotel WELLIES.

Chris, the owner and Judy, the manager are very kind to us. We feel like at home. We had great breakfast and Chris brought us to Stone Church, a beautiful place to visit.
We highly recommend Hotel Wellies and we are grateful for their support and kindness.

Great location with a mountain view near Nakakaruizawa station. Owner was super friendly and welcoming, and the decor was fitting. The food was well prepared and the home-made mint gin and tonic was very interesting. Highly recommended if you're looking for something in the area that's not a typical hotel.

AMAZING! Everything about our stay was wonderful. Check-in was very smooth, and everyone on staff here was so friendly and nice.
We felt so welcomed and comfortable.
Our room was really nice and fairly large.
We ate dinner here one night and breakfast one morning of our stay. Both meals were delicious, but we still talk about the beef stew from dinner!
We stayed for two nights, but I would have loved to stay longer. I was sad to leave.
If you go to this area, I highly recommend staying here!

I stayed at Hotel Wellies in mid-January. I love traveling to Japan, but moved to the US from the UK as a child, so I was intrigued by the place, and cancelled my reservation at another hotel to stay at Wellies. It was a great decision to do so. Everything was amazing.

I had visited some friends in the countryside of Saitama, and was running late to check-in due to over-estimating my ability to navigate Japanese streets, and Chris (the owner) graciously held check-in and dinner for me until I could arrive un-fashionably late (I blame living in LA for the past twenty years.) It was worth it, because the combination of their highly-talented Australian chef, and the freshest locally-sourced ingredients made that meal the absolute best British cuisine I've ever experienced, including the Michelin-starred restaurants I've eaten at in London. Whatever you do, don't miss out on the tomatoes, trust me on this. The LP collection they have is a comprehensive list of the golden era of British rock, and listening to it in a dining room that brings to mind that of classic pubs mixed with a little of your English grandparent's parlor really sets the mood for a great meal. During the meal, Chris would often visit the table and recount amazing stories from both his life and that of people he knew. It was very interesting, and he was really fun to talk to.

After the meal I went to my spacious room that had a very english feel, with green-painted wood trim, and very cool wall-paper. The room had a cool view of the wooded mountain behind the hotel, and despite being relatively close to other buildings in the Japanese-style, it felt very secluded and peaceful. I was only there for one night and traveling alone, but the way the room is setup would make for a great basecamp for those traveling with family.

The next morning, I joined a friendly Taiwanese family for breakfast downstairs. The classic English breakfast was incredible. It was the perfect fusion of British cooking with Japanese sourced ingredients, and the quality really shone through. If you stay at Hotel Wellies, I highly recommend going for the full board, as both meals I've had there have been some of the best I've had in Japan.

In addition, I had a rental car, so the private parking lot was great to have.

From now on, whenever I'm staying in the Gunma or Nagano area, I'm definitely coming back to Hotel Wellies.

The best 🇬🇧 hotel in the world.The interior design and the decorations are charming, make people feel like home. In winter, the sofa around the stove is a place where friends and family chat and play board games. The owner of the hotel, Chris(from Endland), started to run this hotel in 2013. Chris is kind to everyonand you can chat with him when he isn't working. Judy is the manager of the hotel, she brings happiness to everyone around. The meals they offer are very delicious, and the homemade bacon, smoked salmon and smoked olive oil elevated the dishes to another level. The room I stayed in is clean and comfortable, with beautiful British decorations. Be sure to stay in this hotel if you visit Karuizawa.Thanks a lot to Chris and Judy for the nice stay🥰

I had a truly wonderful stay. Chris and the team went out of their way to make me feel welcome and comfortable. The food was fantastic (I’m a vegetarian) - my first time having pea soup, rhubarb crumble and pickled beetroot in Japan! I felt completely at home.

Everything about this Hotel is fantastic. The owner and the staff go over and beyond to help you. It is well located with beautiful views to Mount Asama.
The rooms were spacious , comfortable and very clean. The food is also exceptional , we were a little disappointed that we could not book one of the local restaurants. However after having dinner at Wellies our disappointment tuned to joy.
We wished we could have stayed longer.

Absolutely brilliant and just what I needed.
I had full English breakfast, which was delicious and the cup of tea that came with it was perfection. Dinner was fish and chips one night and coq au vin the next - served in a three course meal replete with a good old English dessert. Flambé banana one night and bread and butter pudding the next. The pudding was authentic. I asked for tea bags for my room - got a tea pot and Yorkshire tea. The room is spacious, like a Sherlock Holmes mini suite and I had a FULL view of the mountain. Chris the owner offered to drive me if I wanted to go somewhere. He put old fashioned vinyl records on after dinner. The vibe is on point, the Britishness; authentic. Now I’m writing postcards in front of the wood burner - postcards that they gave me at check out. I came here for a solo retreat - I chose not to book meals in advance as I wanted to go with my own schedule. But I just let them know the night before. It’s about 50 minutes walk into Karuizawa town - and they have non alcoholic beer! I’ll be back.

A few nights in Hotel Wellies was just what we needed! It was a really chilled few nights away and we loved every moment. I'm a life-long veggie and Chris went out his way to provide some brilliant meals. The veggie burger was amazing! The room was great, and really everything was perfect! Karuizawa is wonderful, and there is no better place to stay!

It is a wonderful and enjoyable boutique hotel. I went with my boyfriend and decide to stay in the hotel all day because Chris and Judy were so nice and lovable that make us feel totally relaxed and chill while staying. Freddie is adorable, all the other staffs are kind and sweet. Room and the dining room is relaxing, and the food is sooooooo delicious! We would very much want to visit again! Thank you once again for everything, we really enjoyed a lot!

I stayed overnight with my husband for our anniversary. The hotel was very clean, the decor was cool and stylish, and the meals were nicely presented and delicious! Chris was very wecoming and friendly too! Since we are dog lovers, we enjoyed Freddy's company very much. Thank you very much for a great experience!! We will definitely go again!

Chris is kind and friendly.First time I go to Japan for Bon Jovi, second time for Guns N Roses concert, third time I listen Deep Purple -Made in Japan records with Chris in Welles Hotel. It’s such an awesome experience in my life.All the DP songs,I like child in time most!! I also enjoy Queen here,I will absolutely be back no kidding❤