AYA Niseko — Hotel in Kutchan

First time at Aya during early March and it was a wonderful stay! I very much appreciated the convenience of the shuttle to/from Kutchan station and to the different Hirafu gondolas. They also have a partnership with Rhythm Rental so you could just return your skis in the hotel. Staff are all around very friendly. Didn't notice the non-asian/asian staff having different attitudes during my stay so that's an improvement from previous reviews. The aussie ladies at ski valet have the best, cheerful attitude and they really brightened up our vacation. Thank you and forgot to ask for their names.

There have been several reviews around lack of soundproofing. We're blessed that we didn't have this problem. It could be that we're not in peak season anymore and we're not close to an expensive suite. I too would be very frustrated and disappointed if staff decided to cater to more expensive rooms. Luckily, that didn't happen and was able to enjoy.

Onsens are very refreshing and very small. For a large hotel like this, I've been in small Japanese hotels with larger public baths so it was a little bit disappointing. I have been very lucky for most of my onsen days except for one where the changing area was filthy. Hair was all over the sinks (rude guests) and towels overfilling. It was a Monday night too, so I'm not sure what happened. Too many came on Monday night or the staff was out sick.

Hot breakfast buffet was nice treat. It's fairly standard. I'd take this over a continental breakfast anytime because there was hot soup, rice, meat (switches between korean), selection of fried foods, omelette/sunny-side egg, cold vegetable side dishes, bread and cheese platter. I quite appreciate the fruit platter, especially grapefruit for that Vitamin C because it seemed like every other guest was coughing so I needed that.

As for the room itself, our 1.5 apartment was gorgeous, spacious, and very clean. It seemed like there was some hardwater surfaces in the shower area though so it looked less new. Our dishwasher had problems and they swiftly helped us with what looked like an on-staff technician. There are improvements that could be made. The couch looks nice but was very hard to sit on. There were times my bum was extremely uncomfortable, so it would be great if they could switch out the couches. There is no in-unit AC/heating so the rooms were very warm. Luckily, I have experience with sleeping in high heat but it was not that comfortable and something could be done about the...

The room is huge and fantastic as we have the 1.5 room, we didnt know there was a double bed at living room. We could have just stay in normal 1 bedroom is sufficient for us. The location is great near to many shuttle bus and also near to Seico Super market and eateries and ski rental shop. The onsen is great too. But there is 2 main issue with AYA that really put me off and I will serious consider not to return to this resort.

first is the daily breakfast almost everyday the same with same salad, same cold dish and hard bread. Wish they can do something simple inexpensive but still nice to have like simple fried egg, omelette or just cereal or fruit.

Second is the Ski rental shop named Wow Niseko rental. We had terrible experience which I have a separate review on Wow Niseko so that not to affect AYA rating as overall it is still a nice resort.

We prebook and fully paid for our ski equipment few month before we arrive. we do the fitting one day before the lesson start. They indicate close at 8pm but they never say their last fitting is 7.15pm and keep saying that they need to work overtime because we are late for fitting. After fitting for the kids they said no time to fit for adult, fine.

Next day morning when we want to retrieve rental equipment, they said they dont have kids snowboard equipment and adult. after 1 hour of arguement (can you imagine spend your first day of holiday fighting with people from 8am to 9am. They then bring out equipment for adult. Apparently due to misscommunication they only lack of kids equipment.

So we have to walk across the street to rent from another company as we were already late for the private ski lesson. althought Eventually they give full refund for the ski equipment that they cant provide / provided wrong size. But the Manager in charge from wow niseko did not apologise and yet he claimed that because we have a big group that coming to take ski rental at the same time that why they cannot handle (the fact is still they dont have for kids snow board equipment)

There is something really wrong with the management of WOW niseko. I will not want to come here again for another horrible experience. Also if you make payment better use credit card instead of paynow.

For the refund if credit card they just refund to same card. but for payment they need us provide proof of payment with bank detail which is another painful process...

When we first arrived we were blown away by how spacious and lovely the room was (1.5 Bedroom room). And of course the amazing location right by the base of the family lift. There were so many things to love about this place - |- the kitchen was spacious and well equipped (dishwasher included!) |- the main bed was large and comfortable (second double sofa bed available) |- ski valet was convenient|- all our package deliveries were brought straight up to our room when they arrived ||But as we got into our week-long stay here, we noticed there was some room for improvement - |- during the daily mini cleans (towels and bins), our waters were topped up, but not our coffee pods. We had to write a note to request more each time|- the restaurant was wasted potential. It is in such a great location but is always empty for lunch and dinner. There's also no room service, or any sort of food delivery available|- no drying facilities in the room ||We were picked up from the Welcome Centre by Aya. When we arrived at the hotel, check in was quick and smooth. And when we got to our room our bags were already there from the shuttle bus along with our suitcases we sent via TA-Q-BIN earlier. ||We used the private onsen and the public one during our stay. I much preferred the public one. The private was ¥3000 for 1h and they say the onsen is meant to be for 3 but can easily fit 4. The public one had a large indoor bath and 2 smaller outdoor ones, one warm and one cold. The kids loved that novelty, and also having snow fall on you in the onsen is pretty special. The temperature of the public ones were a bit cooler and more comfortable too (only tried the women's).||I found it a bit odd that at checkout I wasn't asked how our stay was, but maybe the staff weren't too into small talk. All staff were very kind and polite throughout our stay though. And they were very quick to load our bags onto the shuttle bus back to the Welcome Centre. They also waited for our Chuo bus with us and then brought our suitcases to the bus for us too.||While I enjoyed our stay, I probably wouldn't stay here again, mainly because I'd rather stay near the King Gondola. Aya does offer a shuttle service over there, but it means you won't get there when the Gondola opens. But if you're happy with the Ace Family, this place is lovely. And close to...