Gold Medal Getaway: Club Wyndham Expands in Japan with New Ski Lodge in the Heart of Nagano Olympic Ski Resort

NOVEMBER 7, 2024 (NAGANO, JAPAN) – Club Wyndham, part of Travel + Leisure Co., the leading global vacation ownership and travel membership company, has acquired Shirakabaso Resort in the ski area of Shiga Kogen, a destination celebrated worldwide as the host location of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. The 32-room ski-in, ski-out resort will be rebranded to Club Wyndham Shirakabaso Shiga Kogen and become the first international resort located within the Joshin‘etsu Kogen National Park.

Club Wyndham Shirakabaso Shiga Kogen is the second Club Wyndham property in Japan, and the twentieth property in the country managed by Travel + Leisure Co., as the global leisure travel leader expands its footprint across the region. The acquisition is intended to provide an additional travel option in regional Japan to members of Club Wyndham’s Asia Pacific clubs.

This acquisition comes as the Japanese government revitalises its national parks using private sector investment, raised through the addition of at least one luxury resort in each of its 35 national parks by 2031.

Situated in Shiga Kogen, Asia’s largest ski field, Club Wyndham Shirakabaso Shiga Kogen provides guests with access to 70 ski lifts via gondola or by short distance cross-country ski. The resort will also offer ski and snowboarding equipment rentals, as well as repair services for personal gear. When they’re done hitting the slopes, resort guests can enjoy a variety of amenities including six indoor and outdoor onsen hot springs, a sauna, restaurant and private dining room, a whisky bar, lobby café, gift shop and rooftop terrace.

“Japan is one of the world’s leading tourist destinations and is a market of opportunity and growth for us. The Japanese government’s commitment to encourage development opportunities in regional areas and revitalise its national parks will expand the experiences travellers can enjoy,” said Barry Robinson, President and Managing Director, International Operations, Travel + Leisure Co. “As Club Wyndham Shirakabaso Shiga Kogen helps introduce guests to the unforgettable outdoor adventures Japan has to offer, we will see the potential of areas like Shiga Kogen begin to be realised.”

As part of the resort’s rebranding, the company will upgrade its 32 guest suites, refresh its public spaces, rework the existing deck into a family-friendly outdoor space, and add a new pizza restaurant.

An all-season destination, the surrounding Joshin‘etsu Kogen National Park boasts pristine hikes with breathtaking woodlands, sweeping vistas, blue-green lakes and dynamic volcanic formations, as well as regular sightings of golden eagles, black bears, Japanese stoats and snow monkeys. Club Wyndham Shirakabaso is within driving distance of the region’s top attractions, including the Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park, the samurai-era town of Narai Juku, Zenkoji Temple, the Matsushiro Samurai School and the sacred Togakushi Okusha Shrine and Forest Reserve.

Shiga Kogen is the closest of Japan’s major ski areas to the capital Tokyo, with the journey by bus to Nagano station and bullet train taking an average of about three hours and twenty minutes.

Travel + Leisure Co. oversees approximately 90 properties in Asia Pacific and beyond and develops three shared ownership clubs with more than 100,000 members: Club Wyndham South Pacific, Club Wyndham Asia and Accor Vacation Club.