Onsen Hostel K's House Hokkaido Asahidake — Hotel in Higashikawa

I stayed at this lodging for 3 nights in October, 2024. What a good find!

The location is great: next to the bus stop of the onsen entrance, close to the ropeway station for the hike in the mountains, and quiet. This is a great place as a home base to enjoy what this national park could offer.

It’s a hybrid of hotel and hostel. I chose to have my private room with the toilet. The public bath/onsen was excellent for taking a bath or relax after a hike in the mountains. The staff kept this place VERY clean. The choices for meals in this town were limited - bring your own food or the lodging does offer some simple choices like instant noodle. The kitchen was so clean that I enjoyed preparing my meals there (instant noodle, fruits, and some pastries that I brought with me). The dining area was nice to enjoy the food and unwind with a up of tea.

Some clarifications: 1) I saw a review of complaining about making his/her own bed. Seriously, why is that a problem? The bedding was clean and comfortable. Again, clean is the character of this lodging. Also, the room with the toilet is exactly what it says - just a toilet/sink. The public bath is the way to go in Japan anyway. Don’t know why some people complained about it. 😑 2) the kitchen was well equipped and again, very clean. Watching how the staff cleaned it every day tells you how serious they are to keep it tidy. 3) the onsen, the tatami room next to the onsen, or the boot dryers are all fantastic utilities at this lodging. I hike during the rain and snow. Putting my hiking boots in the dryer when I was back to the hotel was wonderful!

It’s truly a home away from home. I would stay there again if I am back to the area. Finally, the staff there were wonderful: helpful with suggesting the activities with the safety in mind, courteous, and hard working. The two managers (one from Taiwan and one is Japanese) were so nice, as well as other staff. Enjoy staying here if you have a chance...

Service aside, this place is great. Amazing, spacious kitchen facilities, huge common space with lots of comfortable places to eat or work or hangout, Japanese style room was nice, and an onsen which you get a discount to if you stay there.

The ONLY thing that cancels out all these positives is the old Japanese man at the reception with the beard. Twice I've come here and it's been the same experience, and my friends said the same when they interacted with him individually. Once I came after touring Asahidake for the day and we stopped by to see if they had any available rooms for the night. It's not like we walked in demanding a room, yet his response sure seemed like it. He sneered at us and responded sarcastically "tonight?". There indeed was a room available which we took, but even if there wasn't, this kind of response is not at all warranted.

Another time I just came to use the onsen and then made dinner with my friend (who was a guest) in the common facilities, which I asked beforehand and the staff said it was ok. He checked on us THREE times as if I had forgotten and threatened to call the police on me as we were finishing making dinner. Like??

Funny thing is, I saw him conversing very politely to a Japanese guest, so I have a feeling he dislikes foreigners. I get it, I worked in hospitality for 5 years, foreign tourists can be annoying to deal with, but it's strange to be working in a hostel since that's probably the largest clientele demographic. If you don't care about guest service, it would be in the best interest of both the hostel and the guests for you to work...

We arrived yesterday, and the receptionist was very impatient with us. The rooms are small and feel very old leaning toward neglect.

The onsen's pipes were broken. They offered us to use the onsen in a nearby hotel in very inconvenient hours, and they didn't offer any price reduction or any other compensation for the aggravation.

3 After we got organized, we wanted to use the laundry facility. The light in the room was very low. when I asked if we could have some light to see what we are doing, he said that he had already switched it off. Then when he saw my face he relacten he switched it on, but after a while the light was swithed off again and he was gone . It was only 20;00 when we started the laundry. I would expect a guest house to allow more light hours in the public areas. To tell you the truth - I don't understand the behavior of the staff.

3 I must say that the only favor they did for us is switching the room from a room without a bathroom to a room with one. They didn't ask for extra charge. But the beds were not done, and we had to do it ourselves.

If you have another option, stay away from...