C'est La Vie
unscored · Jalan 5.0 / 5no first-hand write-up in the thread
A quirky antique-furnished inn in northern Saitama that KI-NRT flags as effectively the region's only luxury option, known for reportedly incredible food, stellar service, and a station pickup in a rare Toyota Classic sedan. Nobody in the thread has stayed, and KI-NRT only relays guest feedback, but Jalan guests back the reputation, averaging 5.0 across 532 reviews and praising a homey small-hotel feel, bathing among greenery and local-ingredient kaiseki.
Scores
Food
Nobody in the thread has eaten here. KI-NRT passes on only that the food is supposedly incredible from guest feedback. Jalan guests give both dinner and breakfast full marks and describe local-ingredient kaiseki that leans on vegetables and sansai, with seasonal menus and plating and tableware praised as often as the cooking itself.
Bath
Nobody in the thread has written about the bathing here. The rooms have their own open-air bath set among greenery, and Jalan guests give the bath full marks, though none of them says whether the water is hot-spring.
Service
KI-NRT relays that service is stellar, though only from guest feedback, and that they collect you at the station in a rare retro Toyota sedan, the Toyota Classic, of which only 100 were made. Jalan guests give service full marks and describe attentive staff from check-in to check-out.
Room
Rooms are on the small side and quirky, furnished with antiques, by the reputation KI-NRT relays, and nobody in the thread has slept in one. The rooms are where Jalan guests are least effusive (4.6 where everything else is at or near 5.0), though they still describe calm, lovely furniture and an open-air bath in the room, and they put cleanliness at 4.8.
Place
C'est La Vie is a tiny hotel in northern Saitama, quite a bit north of Kawagoe and close to the Gunma border, and KI-NRT points out that when you are talking luxury in Saitama the pickings are slim. Jalan guests describe a homey small-hotel atmosphere with greenery around the bath and interiors dressed for the season.
Getting there
- Tokyo — ~2h50, 2 transfers (estimated). JR to Kumagaya then Chichibu Railway to Nogami ~2.3h, then ~20 min shuttle to Nagatoro.
- Omiya — ~1h50, 1 transfer (estimated). JR to Kumagaya + Chichibu Railway to Nogami ~1.5h, then ~20 min shuttle.
Sources
Jalan 5.00 / 5 · #259 (thread mentions)