Ｍ HOTEL — Hotel in Kutchan

This is quite a new establishment and, if it were in a quiet street, it would be pretty perfect for short or long stay . . . standard rooms are clean and roomy enough, however the beds are very hard and there’s only one chair in the rooms.|||| Pillows are scarce, so only 2 in a room (for king sized bed) except for the 3 suites which each have 4.||||The staff are mostly young people. They are lovely but a bit lax in anticipating what needs to be done. For example, breakfast set up and food standard and variety is good, but restocking when there’s a crowd or a very busy session is often overlooked. Cleaning of rooms is done by an amazing crew of women . . . common areas, however, are overlooked or neglected.||||When we arrived at the Welcome Centre, almost a km away, and at 7.30 at night, we dragged our suitcases, backpacks, a ski bag and a snowboard bag down hill to the motel. Upon check in we were told we could have had the motel van come and get us. This wasn’t communicated before our visit, and we booked way in advance. Consequently, because it isn’t easy dragging bags down hill or for a km in the snow and ice, I hurt my back and my husband badly bruised his arm. Had we known a lift was available, we could have arrived at the hotel in better shape.||||The room we’d been allocated was the first out of the lift on the 3rd floor. I had specifically asked for a room AWAY from lifts, stairs and public spaces (this was in print on my booking docs). . . again, this had been overlooked by hotel staff and I had to bring it to their attention.||||The staff were helpful in relocating us after the first night but this time gave us a room on the street which was ‘supposedly’ quieter, well what a nightmare of a night that was!! Little did we know, and I was pretty diligent in doing my homework around location, that 2 doors away is a smokehouse,bar, saloon called Freddie’s that’s open from 6pm until 2am every night of the week!!||||We like to ski all day and sleep well at night so that we can get up and do the same thing again and again. Well this bar attracts all the young visitors to Niseko and boy do they play up. They get so intoxicated. So, if you choose to stay here, accept that there will be NO sleeping between the hours of say 8pm and 3am because these drunken young people spill into the street in front of the hotel and DO NOT move on. Instead they get louder and louder, yell over one another, pick fights, throw ice at cars coming down the street, and each other, use the snow on the side of the street as a toilet, litter the street with bottles, cans and plastic cups and hang around. Nothing is done about this and it happens every night!! It seems to be worse on Thurs, Fri and Saturday nights. When you are trying to sleep and this is happening night after night, this gets quite debilitating and takes the polish of a well planned and much anticipated trip.||||After a night in a standard room on the street we again requested a change to a room off the street. Again, this was arranged and we then spent 13 nights in a room a little further off the street but the noise still kept us awake!||||Because this was our first trip back to Niseko since Covid, we came for 26 days which meant we were captives here, we’d paid in full and had committed to 26 days in the one place - not our regular choice of accommodation, but by all accounts, a good location. We have a history of staying a while when we travel so invest a fair amount of time checking things out,||||I had arranged an upgrade for the last 10 days to a suite, at considerable extra cost, as I knew we’d have cabin fever by then. So that meant we’d have more room to spread out, a lounge room, bedroom, walk in robe and a bath so we could soak away our skiing aches and pains . . . little did I know that the suites are on the front downhill corner with two windows at front and two at the side, the bed is under one of the front windows. So now we might as well be sleeping on the street where all the action at Freddie's nightclub/bar happens from 6pm-2am!!!||||Instead of skiing all day and sleeping all night, we have had to ski in the mornings, come back for a sleep early afternoon because there is NO sleeping at night, then get ready, psych ourselves for the onslaught of drunken mayhem and noise again that night!!||||After speaking to the owner’s assistant and negotiating another room change, we are finishing our stay in a room as far from the street as is possible here. ||||NO compensation was offered for us giving up the suite we’d paid extra for to return to a standard room! Would have been a nice gesture and a great show of goodwill, seeing as how we stayed for 26 days/nights. A substantial investment!!||||My recommendation, should you find yourself staying here is to ask for rooms 3, 6, 8 or 2, 5, 7 on any of the 3 floors. (ie 103, 106, 108 or 102, 105, 107, then 203, 206, etc) The 02 rooms are beside the stairs, so wouldn’t be my first choice. People clomp up and down at all hours in ski boots!!||||If you are after a quiet place to rest your head at night, this is definitely NOT it!!||||There is a free shuttle to the upper Hirafu gondola all day every day for the skiing season from the top corner of the street. It runs about every 20 mins from 8am except for between 11am and 12.20pm each day. It also returns you to the same stop, or any on it’s run, once you’ve had enough time on the slopes.||||There’s a well stocked supermarket located at the top of the street (and over the main road), it sells alcohol as well if needed. Another is a short walk away, Lawsons, same stock pretty much.||||It’s a short walk to cafes, restaurants, the pharmacy, the physio, etc.||||There are plenty of food trucks in clusters scattered about. So lots of food choices on the street.||||If Freddie’s Nightclub/bar was not on the same street as M Hotel it would be quite a lovely position for anyone capable of walking about.||||There’s a Raman restaurant & bar opposite which takes bookings. No noise emanates from there.||||The best kept secret in Niseko is the ‘Hidden Stand Coffee and baked goods shop’ run by Kai and Meg just 2 doors downhill from the hotel and on the opposite side of the street. Kai makes the best coffee and Meg cooks the tantalising treats they have on offer daily. They also run a food truck nearby of an evening. I can only imagine they’d do a great job of that also. We intend to try it but haven’t yet.||||There is a fabulously popular cafe, Green Farm Cafe, and restaurant combo at Charium on the main street. Hard to get a seat or a table but if you can luck it it...

This is quite a new establishment and, if it were in a quiet street, it would be pretty perfect for short or long stay . . . standard rooms are clean and roomy enough, however the beds are very hard and there’s only one chair in the rooms.|||| Pillows are scarce, so only 2 in a room (for king sized bed) except for the 3 suites which each have 4.||||The staff are mostly young people. They are lovely but a bit lax in anticipating what needs to be done. For example, breakfast set up and food standard and variety is good, but restocking when there’s a crowd or a very busy session is often overlooked. Cleaning of rooms is done by an amazing crew of women . . . common areas, however, are overlooked or neglected.||||When we arrived at the Welcome Centre, almost a km away, and at 7.30 at night, we dragged our suitcases, backpacks, a ski bag and a snowboard bag down hill to the motel. Upon check in we were told we could have had the motel van come and get us. This wasn’t communicated before our visit, and we booked way in advance. Consequently, because it isn’t easy dragging bags down hill or for a km in the snow and ice, I hurt my back and my husband badly bruised his arm. Had we known a lift was available, we could have arrived at the hotel in better shape.||||The room we’d been allocated was the first out of the lift on the 3rd floor. I had specifically asked for a room AWAY from lifts, stairs and public spaces (this was in print on my booking docs). . . again, this had been overlooked by hotel staff and I had to bring it to their attention.||||The staff were helpful in relocating us after the first night but this time gave us a room on the street which was ‘supposedly’ quieter, well what a nightmare of a night that was!! Little did we know, and I was pretty diligent in doing my homework around location, that 2 doors away is a smokehouse,bar, saloon called Freddie’s that’s open from 6pm until 2am every night of the week!!||||We like to ski all day and sleep well at night so that we can get up and do the same thing again and again. Well this bar attracts all the young visitors to Niseko and boy do they play up. They get so intoxicated. So, if you choose to stay here, accept that there will be NO sleeping between the hours of say 8pm and 3am because these drunken young people spill into the street in front of the hotel and DO NOT move on. Instead they get louder and louder, yell over one another, pick fights, throw ice at cars coming down the street, and each other, use the snow on the side of the street as a toilet, litter the street with bottles, cans and plastic cups and hang around. Nothing is done about this and it happens every night!! It seems to be worse on Thurs, Fri and Saturday nights. When you are trying to sleep and this is happening night after night, this gets quite debilitating and takes the polish of a well planned and much anticipated trip.||||After a night in a standard room on the street we again requested a change to a room off the street. Again, this was arranged and we then spent 13 nights in a room a little further off the street but the noise still kept us awake!||||Because this was our first trip back to Niseko since Covid, we came for 26 days which meant we were captives here, we’d paid in full and had committed to 26 days in the one place - not our regular choice of accommodation, but by all accounts, a good location. We have a history of staying a while when we travel so invest a fair amount of time checking things out,||||I had arranged an upgrade for the last 10 days to a suite, at considerable extra cost, as I knew we’d have cabin fever by then. So that meant we’d have more room to spread out, a lounge room, bedroom, walk in robe and a bath so we could soak away our skiing aches and pains . . . little did I know that the suites are on the front downhill corner with two windows at front and two at the side, the bed is under one of the front windows. So now we might as well be sleeping on the street where all the action at Freddie's nightclub/bar happens from 6pm-2am!!!||||Instead of skiing all day and sleeping all night, we have had to ski in the mornings, come back for a sleep early afternoon because there is NO sleeping at night, then get ready, psych ourselves for the onslaught of drunken mayhem and noise again that night!!||||After speaking to the owner’s assistant and negotiating another room change, we are finishing our stay in a room as far from the street as is possible here. ||||NO compensation was offered for us giving up the suite we’d paid extra for to return to a standard room! Would have been a nice gesture and a great show of goodwill, seeing as how we stayed for 26 days/nights. A substantial investment!!||||My recommendation, should you find yourself staying here is to ask for rooms 3, 6, 8 or 2, 5, 7 on any of the 3 floors. (ie 103, 106, 108 or 102, 105, 107, then 203, 206, etc) The 02 rooms are beside the stairs, so wouldn’t be my first choice. People clomp up and down at all hours in ski boots!!||||If you are after a quiet place to rest your head at night, this is definitely NOT it!!||||There is a free shuttle to the upper Hirafu gondola all day every day for the skiing season from the top corner of the street. It runs about every 20 mins from 8am except for between 11am and 12.20pm each day. It also returns you to the same stop, or any on it’s run, once you’ve had enough time on the slopes.||||There’s a well stocked supermarket located at the top of the street (and over the main road), it sells alcohol as well if needed. Another is a short walk away, Lawsons, same stock pretty much.||||It’s a short walk to cafes, restaurants, the pharmacy, the physio, etc.||||There are plenty of food trucks in clusters scattered about. So lots of food choices on the street.||||If Freddie’s Nightclub/bar was not on the same street as M Hotel it would be quite a lovely position for anyone capable of walking about.||||There’s a Raman restaurant & bar opposite which takes bookings. No noise emanates from there.||||The best kept secret in Niseko is the ‘Hidden Stand Coffee and baked goods shop’ run by Kai and Meg just 2 doors downhill from the hotel and on the opposite side of the street. Kai makes the best coffee and Meg cooks the tantalising treats they have on offer daily. They also run a food truck nearby of an evening. I can only imagine they’d do a great job of that also. We intend to try it but haven’t yet.||||There is a fabulously popular cafe, Green Farm Cafe, and restaurant combo at Charium on the main street. Hard to get a seat or a table but if you can luck it it...

I would not return to this place if I had a choice.||For a ski holiday, one looks for a few things in a place to stay:|- location close to amenities. This place delivers, a very short walk to plenty of restaurants and supermarkets.|- location close to the slopes. It is right next to the shuttle bus stop.|- quiet rooms for a good rest. No quiet rooms here. I stayed in 201, the corridor for which ends at the back of Monty's pub next door. So you can clearly hear the crash of dishes all evening. Heavy footsteps up and down the stairs at all times of the evening and night either keep one awake, or wake one up.|- clean rooms. There is no daily room service, only once every 3 days.|- rooms in good repair. The blind in my room was broken so it could not be properly and tidily drawn up. The hanging wall mirror fell off the wall while I was in front of it, the frayed string holding it up finally broke.|- dark windows and the right temperature for the room. The window blind did not block out light completely, so the dawn light enters and prevents sleeping in on a rest day. The heater was temperamental and the room was always either too hot or too cool. There was no net curtain so the blind had to be down all the time.|- clean air in the room. Periodically, diesel fumes were sucked in through the ventilation fan, pervading my room.|- breakfast. This is additional and costs ¥1,800 each day at the M Hotel next door. This has hot and cold choices but disappointing that fruit that is still frozen is served, and the "strong" coffee keeps running out so you have to wait for it to be brewed again (not convenient for ski timings).|- ski storage. There is a separate locker for skis and poles at the entrance. For this, one gets a separate key from the room key, which means you have to juggle 2 different keys every morning.||So the only good thing about this place is the location and that it provides ski storage. It is only just large enough for luggage space for one person and the bathroom is wet (no shower cubicle).||It is not priced as budget accommodation and yet it is. Very...