ausi ski bum 1 Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 OK silly question but I have been invited to join someone for lunch at the Higashiyama Prince Hotel so I will ski down and join them but whats the protocol re boots jackets etc is there a room guests can drop them and do you then walk around in socks. I know really strange question but I don't want to look stupid when I arrive as its a few business associates I have never met before. Link to post Share on other sites
Markie 0 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 That is not a silly question at all. That you bother to ask shows you "give a damn about protocol" and that is something which will be appreciated in J-Land. You will not be allowed to walk about within the hotel in ski-boots. However, you can enter by the ski-locker room and ask the hotel staff to lend you a pair of shoes for walking about within the hotel. You won't be allowed to walk about in socks and even slippers are not allowed. I usually bring along a light pair of plimsolls for these occasions to avoid having to wear the hotel-loan-out shoes. BTW the Prince Higashiyama has the nicest ski-locker room I've ever seen. Spacious, bright and warm but well-ventilated. I wasn't too impressed by their restaurants though. Link to post Share on other sites
ausi ski bum 1 Posted January 4, 2007 Author Share Posted January 4, 2007 Thanks thats a big help I hate doing the wrong thing. Link to post Share on other sites
sunrise 0 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 I had lunch and a cuppa with someone at the Prince a couple of years ago (he's the head of all the Prince ski schools, so he's kinda 'protocol-ish'). I skied with him first and I don't recall needing to wear shoes, I think we just took boots off or maybe even kept them on..... I guess it depends on where you eat. Lots of people ski in for lunch, and I don't mean to the meatmarket restaurants. Still, if it's easy to carry some runners in a rucksack no big deal, eh? Link to post Share on other sites
Markie 0 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 Sunrise, I am very surprised at what you're saying. I haven't been to the Furano Prince but I imagine they're the same as the Higashiyama Prince and all the other Prince Hotels I've been to, and I definitely remember that they clearly had signs all over the Higashiyama Prince saying no boots and slippers in the hotel area. I guess mine is just the boring life, following rules and sticking to protocol. Can't compare with what you're used to, as a celebrity you can meet all kinds of interesting people and brush aside rules with impunity. Must be great fun. Link to post Share on other sites
sunrise 0 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 I honestly don't remember for sure Markie - you are more likely to be correct than me. I don't remember any hassle around whatever we had to do with our boots at any rate, that's why I wondered cos whatever it was it must have been simple in my memory. But maybe the restaurant where you can go in with boots was at Rusutsu, hmmmmm...... I guess I must have been more interested in the skiing than the boot situtation to be very focussed on it, that's typical of me, if there's nothing that seems unusual or a pain in the butt for details like that, I'm likely to forget it... Anyway, pffft to you, I'm no celebrity, wish I was ... though it's true I do get some very cool backstage passes and other kool quirks at times But I'm sure this guy would have done whatever was the protocol. Link to post Share on other sites
threep 0 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 At the Prince hotel in Yakebitai (Shiga Kogen) you can access the West Wing restaurant for lunch directly from the slopes, you just wander in without taking your boots off, just like most other lunchtime restaurants. Can't remember what the score is at Higashiyama. Link to post Share on other sites
Markie 0 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 Actually, what threep says makes good sense. Restaurants with direct access from the slopes will usually allow ski-boots even if they are part of a hotel. So if that restaurant in Furano Prince has direct access from the slopes then walking in with boots on would probably be no problem. But I remember that all the restaurants in the Higashiyama Prince are well inside the hotel so boots are a "no-no", unless there are some new restaurants since I was last there. This seems to be quite a contradiction, actually, for that hotel which has skiers and boarders the getting on and off Higashiyama gondola right at the hotel...i.e. the gondola base station is in the same building as the hotel. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 you can walk in from the slope into the cafe at the centre in boots. They will even serve you sandwiches at 800Yen a go. The other places like the sushi restaurant etc def don't allow boots. But hey if you gotta eat there, like I had to do when I arrived at about 8pm last time. Try the sushi restaurant, probabably the best there. Link to post Share on other sites
Markie 0 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 Ausi SB, take Thurs's word on this. He just got back from there so his info is the most accurate and update. So how was it, Thurs? Did you have a cracking time? Go ahead and rub my face in some dirt for choosing Hakuba this time. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 Oooh, Markie, I have been going on about it since July. I will always choose up North for Dec, Jan. Out of the 8 days I was up there, there were 3 days with pure blue skys and snow during the nightas. The other days were eaither snowing non-stop or snowing lightly in periods. Overall a satisfying amount. The top is still a bit under covered so getting across from the top is still a bit iffy. For the first time I've seen, there was a horrendous queue at Ace2 Quad. I mean it was a 10min queue to get on. It was like it all day. Link to post Share on other sites
Markie 0 Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 Yes, that was good judgement and planning by you. I must admit I was wrong this time. However, I got an unexpected bonus because my favourite person went to Hakuba during that weekend and we actually skied alone together for one full day. That made it all worthwhile and was the highlight of my trip.....and season....and year. So I'm really happy. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 Must've been a fairy tale Christmas for you. And I hope she felt the same. And I don't mean fairy as SJers interpret. Link to post Share on other sites
sunrise 0 Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 Guess that means the wedding really IS off! I thought you'd forgive me wait, maybe that was me not forgiving you! I've forgotten now, lol. Oh well, doesn't matter now, you're happy so that's great! Link to post Share on other sites
Markie 0 Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 Let's set the record straight, sunrise, whom I can't see in BCS's pic "sunrise in Hakuba", it was you who not forgiving me.(was it because I begged your parents to let me marry you without asking you first?) Also, let's not jump the gun. One-way street love doesn't work...except maybe in my dreams. As for "And I hope she felt the same." I think she just enjoyed hanging out with me for a day...that's all. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 'scuse me, I gotta baaaaarth. Link to post Share on other sites
sunrise 0 Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 you've got a better memory than I have Markie! lol don't even bother with it thursday.... Markie's a die-hard J-gal romantic and is addicted to unrequited love...... Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 no apologies for hijacking this to "what do you do with your kids". Markie, consider some sort of nanny service for the next mass trip you're doing. Say from the group of 30, there are say 3 or 4 kids (2 to 4 year olds for instance), then if you could provide a maid for the day creche, then charge say HK$3000 per child to cover the maid service, rather than each couple bringing their own maids or sunrise could help out. Link to post Share on other sites
sunrise 0 Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 You've gotta be kidding. Leaving a kid with me is a liability Let him hire YOU to look after them. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 thinking more of you singing them to sleep. Link to post Share on other sites
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