Booking a hotel during prime ski season in Niseko can be so incredibly pricey, especially when you're also factoring in the cost of flying to Japan, eating out and paying for the lift ticket. My husband and I usually stay at nicer places, but we trying to save money and this place appeared to have decent reviews, so we went ahead and booked at the Niseko Grand for three nights. ||Overall, I have to say that the hotel itself is a little worn down and tired. However, I do think that there are definitely some perks to staying here. ||To break it down simply:||Pros: free breakfast buffet (it was primarily Japanese and Chinese food, and there was a large variety of options that I think would appeal to most guests), the onsite onsen was very large and allowed for co-ed bathing, the onsen was open all night, the proximity of the hotel to Annipuri was relatively close (5-7 minutes on the shuttle), there is a small gift shop in the lobby for snacks and any last minute ski gear that you may have forgotten and lastly, the hotel had a quaint, Japanese-type feel to it that was endearing. Oh, and the price. Compared to other hotels in Niseko, the price for the Niseko Grand wasn't too bad, especially when you factor in the free breakfast.||Con: the shuttles, although comfortable, were not very frequent and stopped early in the evening (the last one leaving Hirafu was 8pm-ish...a cab from Hirafu to Niseko Grand at night cost me about 35 bucks), the beds in the room were hilariously small (if you want some intimacy with your partner, I hope for your sake that you're both either thin/very small), there is very strange music that plays in the hallways at around 8am (when you factor in the strange music and the long, desolate hallways, I got the feeling I was in the movie The Shining) and lastly, the hotel was just drab and tired overall. ||My final thoughts for the Niseko Grand is that without the onsen, it would probably be a 1.5 star hotel. But, the onsen really adds great value to the hotel, and even though the place was so drab, I would actually stay here again if I was on a budget and trying to cut costs.