Always Niseko — Hotel in Kutchan

I have been coming to Niseko every December and February to enjoy snowboarding and the Japanese culture. It's my first time back since Covid and was really excited.

On our second day after boarding all morning and afternoon we came back to our room to find that the light wouldn't turn on in the shower booth. I went down to the front desk and explained the issue to the receptionist. This was 5 pm and we were tired and hungry, so we decided to go into town and grab something to eat instead of waiting for the issue to be resolved. When we got back I asked if the problem was fixed and the same lady I reported it to said not yet. We went up to our room and waited. At 8 pm I went down to ask for an update. The same lady told me that she can't speak Japanese so she can't communicate with the maintenance team and that they were very busy and didn't know when the issue would be fixed. So I asked her would it be fixed by tonight. She replied by saying, " What response are you looking for? I already told you that I informed the receptionist that speaks Japanese and that we are really busy". I was taken back when I heard this. Without saying anything I went back up to my room and waited. At 9 pm a gentleman came and changed the light buld and apologized for the delay. I never told my wife what the receptionist said as I felt that everyone has a bad day and it's the holidays so I let it be.

As our stay continued everytime we left and returned to the hotel I felt this uncomfortable feeling. After the 4th day my wife asked if there was a problem with the receptionist. I asked her why and she told me that everytime we come and go the receptionist glares at us. I reassured her that it was nothing.

On our 5th day as we were entering the lobby the same receptionist opened the desk gate right as my wife was passing by and ran into it. The receptionist just smiled and said, "Oh, are you okay?", in a very sarcastic manner.

I really hope that no one experiences or feels what we did during our stay here at Always Niseko. This property is operated by a large group called Nisade and it was a shame to see this level of customer service.

Sorry forgot to take picture before we unpacked. Was too excited to go...

Always Niseko is a great place to stay and ski Grand Hirafu at Niseko. The hotel is not in the main village, but a 10-15 minute walk away. There is a shuttle or two that drives between the edge of the main village, the welcome center, and the gondola. We found that this was a great option for us but may not be ideal for large groups. The hotel offers a small laundry room that is coin operated on the second floor. There are preset settings and detergent. The units are combined washer and dryer and cycles often take longer than you would expect. Additionally, I would recommend using smaller loads than listed as the dryer has a hard time drying thicker and water holding materials. The restaurant provides an included breakfast that is substantial. We found that the variety was sufficient for our needs but having an understanding of what is offered in advance might help you make decisions on whether or not to plan on eating there. Most mornings included some form of curry, rice, and fish. OFten there was a fried option like fried chicken or fish as well. A pork/venison meat was often provided along side scrambled eggs with cheese. Sometimes the meat was bacon, baked ham, and sausage. There was always a variety of bread and bulk bread items like thicker/non-french croissants. Usually, there was a lot of fruit available pre-cut. Yogurt was available and often next to a fruit medley. We also found three different types of cereal, milk, orange juice, and hot water for tea or coffee. The bar made coffee drinks to order.

At night, the dinner option was usually a buffet and often had some appetizer to order. We ate at the restaurant our first night due to a late arrival and it was ok, but we choose not to eat there again. The cost for buffet was roughly 2,000yen per person.

We found the staff and ski storage room to be great. These things exceeded expectations.

The hotel room we had was bigger than any we had found in Japan. The bathroom was large, the room had a lot of storage for clothing and equipment, and it was modern with an HDMI cable available to connect to a laptop or device.

We would stay here again as a couple, but may not if returning with a...

First of all, we were suppose to catch our flight on the 27th of Dec from Hong Kong, and due to the poor management of Cathay Pacific, most of the flights got cancelled due to the poor weather. Long story short, I tried to email the hotel explaining the situation, telling them there might be a chance that our flight is going to delay, BUT NO! No one replied! The only thing they kept on doing was sending me these emails/ attachments asking when are we arriving, please provide them our flight info...etc which we have done a few weeks prior our arrival. ANYWAYS, someone finally called me after I emailed and complained through the email.

Secondly, this hotel barely provide any customer services, how on earth can you call yourself a Hotel when there is NO PHONE IN THE ROOM?!?! If you want the business to do well and keep a name for yourself, please....please put a god dam phone in your guests' rooms. This is one of the basics you must have if you want to be in the service provider business. The TV!!!!!!Where you can only play youtube or netflix, and thats it! If you don't have a netflix account, go on the 30 days trial. Smart eh? Basically they are saying "all our rooms provide you a computer screen, so f* off, dont come and bother us.

Last but not least, please look at the photos I have attached within the post. Worse HOUSEKEEPING Service ever!!!! They don't clean my room!!!! Fine we like to sleep in from time to time, but most of the time we were always ready to leave by noon. One time I went outside and tell them that I will be ready shortly, OMG, one of the housekeers were so darn RUDE. She gave me that look and started to talked japanese with her other colleagues. I am pretty sure she was complaining about me. A few nights in a row our bed was poorly made, and for my case , i have eczema, so I like to have my pillow case changed almost everyday. Well, i usually take them off and let the housekeeping change it, but no!!!! they barely made my bed ....and did nothing to my pillow case (please look at the photos for your reference)

I am hugely disappointed, I WILL NEVER come back here ever...