MUWA NISEKO — Hotel in Kutchan

Stayed in the King, Ski in/out room with my husband and 10-year old son for 5 nights for our very first family ski trip. I would say I’m extremely grateful that I had chosen Muwa as the hotel for this unforgettable family trip!||Once we stepped into the hotel, we were amazed by the chic design of the lobby and the friendly faces of all of their staff at the Front Desk. All of their staff at the front desk, restaurants, and onsen speak fluent or nearly fluent English. They are always very welcoming and helpful, and trying their best to make our stay perfect.||The room was extremely spacious for 2 adults and 1 child. Having a washing machine in the room is absolutely convenient especially if we were staying for 5 nights. Full kitchen was useful as I could make some hot snacks for my child after a day’s snowboarding. However, having the cups and plates stored in the top cabinet was not a good choice even though they did provide a small ladder to reach for them. Hangers in the closets are very limited. Given that the room should be able to accommodate 4 people, the amount of hangers were only enough for one person. Last but not least, the room is way too dark even if we turned on all of the lights. Everyday after housekeeping, the staff would turn off all of the lights in the room, so when we were going into our room, it’s complete darkness. I had to use my torch on my phone to find the light switch.||As for restaurants, we had breakfast everyday at HITO, as well as a few days’ lunch and dinner when we didn’t feel like going out after a day’s skiing. I would say all the staff in HITO deserve a round of applause as they always strived to serve us the best they could, and at the same time making us feel like home. There’s one time they even helped me with correcting a wrong appointment that I had received for my onsen. ||As for food from HITO, I’d tried almost every dish there for lunch and dinner. I would say almost all of the dishes tasted superb, especially bakery was super delicious. However, the presentation of the dishes could be improved given the prices they charge. I also realised that the food from the grill kitchen was always too salty, like steaks and burgers. Lastly, the variety of food could be improved for breakfast, perhaps more hot dish choices.||We’d only had dinner once at Hiyama, their sukiyaki restaurant, and immediately felt disappointed. Let alone the fact that they are extremely overpriced, the food was just average. Other than sukiyaki set, they do not provide any other choices. Appetisers, sashimi, were just average. Again, presentation could have been improved. The tofu in the sukiyaki was overcooked making them really hard, soup and sukiyaki sauce was too salty. The only good quality was the beef. However, the staff took 20 minutes cooking next to us, making us very uncomfortable as we are not used to eat in front of a stranger standing next to us. So at the end, the beef became cold. I would definitely not recommend Hiyama.||Lastly, we also rented snowboarding gears (helmets, boots, and snowboards) at Hanazono which is located right inside Muwa. Convenience is the only advantage that I could think of. Once we reached there, the shop was completely empty. Then one staff came out and helped my husband to fill out a rental form as he decided to rent at the last minute. After another minute, a few staff rushed me and my son to pick up our gears. There were like 3-4 staff working on us at the same time, but we didn’t feel comfortable as they were like rushing us to find our right sizes. They were polite but they did not even show us how to work the boots until we asked. We paid for the premium package which should include the step-on boards, but when I asked if we could have them, the staff only answered No without any explanation. Once they “thought” that we had everything fitted, all the staff just disappeared, while my son still had one boot on and nobody cared to help him take it out.||As for the gears, the boots were extremely heavy and uncomfortable even with the right size, I could barely walk with them on. Helmets looked very cheap, and the snowboard styles seemed outdated. Next time I would rather rent from other shops nearby than at Hanazono. I rate them 1 out of 10.||Overall I would give this stay 8 out of 10, given the experience at Hanazono. Also, I would not recommend the ski in/out room except that it’s very spacious and you could store your gear inside your room. The reason is that you wouldn’t be able to use the ski in/out much if you want to use the Ace Gondola and the Family Quad Lift, which is like a 5-8 minute walk from the hotel and having to go through a car park. The ski in/out function would be useful if you only stick with the...

Smelly room and shockingly awful front desk, housekeeping and restaurant services.

Muwa has been marketed as a high end, luxury accommodation in Niseko, and its price point certainly reflects the exclusivity it is trying to sell. For close to USD$1,000 per night at their deluxe room (which is the lower end room in Muwa), and up to USD$3,000+ for bigger rooms, I certainly did not expect the constant daily miscommunications and appalling services during my 7-night stay here.

Room - Our room has a small kitchen galley, and every time we walk pass the kitchen basin, there is a fishy smell that came out from the sink. Having paid close to USD$1,000 per night for the room, it was just unsettling that the small room had this issue. They sent housekeeping to try to get rid of the smell to no avail. In the end, we had to repack our bags and move to another room.

Restaurant - I ordered soft boiled eggs for breakfast, and over the next 15 minutes, the waitress came to me 4 times to ask what soft-boiled eggs are. In the end, they could not do soft-boiled eggs, and suggested that I go for hard-boiled eggs instead.

We were told that breakfast ends at 9:30am. This morning, we got in at 9:10am and ordered from the menu. 10 minutes later, we were told that the kitchen closes at 9am and they could not cook the salmon which is the only thing in the menu my daughter, who is gluten intolerant, can eat. The waitress then went into a tirade about how the buffet will be cleared at 9:30am, and the chef stops cooking at 9am. They should perhaps make that information clear to all guests upon check-in. In the end, my daughter ended up with no breakfast at this luxury Niseko accommodation.

Housekeeping - It was like a game of how to annoy their guests on a daily basis. Used bathrobes were taken away and not replaced. Non-decaf Nespresso capsules were not replaced. My daughter’s pyjamas were bundled up and thrown on the floor. No housekeeping was done on the second day although the Need for Service tag was placed at the door. The following day, we got back after skiing and it was still not done.

Infinity Onsen - what a joke of a private onsen. Aside from shower facilities and a hand wash and hairdryer, there was no body and face lotion and the usual skincare products you expect at an onsen. The onsen was just hot tap water. We left after 30 minutes.

Front desk - We arrived late at night, tired from hours of driving, and were told that we can order dinner through room service. However when I called from the room to order, I was instead told room service is not possible. Another misinformation from front desk was that ski rental shop closes at 5pm for ski fit out. As our ski lessons start at 9am the next day, that meant that we had to be prepared earlier to do our fit-out. Surprisingly, when we went to the ski lockers to check it out, we were told by the staff there that they actually close at 8:30pm. It is just strange that front desk staff are so untrained and did not know the workings of their hotel. I was also told that it is a 24-hour reception, however, despite calling a few times at 9pm to make a dinner booking for the next day, my call was not answered. So much for 24-hour service.

Upon giving our feedback on the appalling experience we had so far to the hotel manager, he simply presented me with a survey form, and asked me to fill it out so that he can show that to the management. He also told me, unlike hotels in Tokyo, hotels in Niseko only provide housekeeping service every other day. That was just one of many, many defensive responses I got from staff across all levels at Muwa. If that is the case, why have the NEED FOR SERVICE tag, and MAKEUP ROOM lights available? Why were we not told about this information upon checking in, just like why were we not told that the kitchen closes at 9am for breakfast?

All staff seem to have been trained to respond in a defensive manner. At this price point, you are better off staying at other luxury boutique hotels in Hirafu. Just awful. I still have 2 nights and...

Came across Muwa’s opening about a year ago, and was dead set and real excited on visiting her this winter - the architecture and interior design is just simply amazing and comparable to none.

The infinity onsen was also a highlight - I felt it was worth booking both day and night slots to experience the onsen differently.

The breakfast buffet was also excellent, with a good variety of Western and Japanese dishes - it was clear that they used high quality ingredients and they were well executed.

Rooms were amazing, spacious and in my view, should feature prominently in one of the best hotel rooms in Japan.

What I was really disappointed with, was the service. For a room that charges around USD 1850 a night (I paid around 700/800 usd as I booked early), I would have expected service commensurate with the prestige and branding they are selling.

Don’t get me wrong, all the staff were polite, kind and nice. There was no rudeness, but I feel that they lacked the polish expected what is supposed to be a refined hospitality brand.

Example 1: Called reception and asked for help on how to select a laundry option that dispenses laundry liquid. Was told that she is not housekeeping, and was told to just try.

My take: As advertised, housekeeping services are offered up till 1700 hours, but was expecting someone to able offer me some advice on what to press.

Example 2: Dec 15 was the one year anniversary and I saw that guests were given a bear to celebrate the occasion. I checked in on Dec 16 and decided to try my luck and see if I could get it. Wouldn’t be an issue if I didn’t get it.

What was amusing is that the reception staff went to check with whom I presume was the supervisor or manager, and I overheard him saying is the guest here.

My take: At that moment, I knew I was going to get it but hey, no worries - I didn’t come to stay for a free gift, but for the excitement of staying in a new hotel property I was really keen on. Also, I felt that the lack of extending goodwill to guests was also lacking. Clearly, my issue here is with the lack of gesture/tactfulness, rather than being denied a ‘free gift’. I would have expected this from a property that charges USD 200 a night, but not at the current price point.

Overall impression: It’s one of the most beautiful/if not most beautiful property in Niseko. I would definitely think it’s worth staying once, to immerse yourself in the decor. But the next time I’m back in Niseko, I would probably try out other places - unless the service is raised to a level that befits the price one pays for/that advertises itself as such. (I’m halfway through my trip and I’ve already made up my mind)

Update after check out: Upon seeing my review, the general manager (Peter) reached out promptly to discuss my concerns. A point that I did not raise in my earlier review (review was too long) was to acknowledge the challenges with training staff as per the house brand guidelines, given that the tourism industry is seasonal - which could also potentially be an industry-wide challenge as well.

Peter was keen to assure me that the house staff would be guided to respond to guests accordingly as per example 1.

Additionally, he also took a personal interest in facilitating my check out while also providing a memorable souvenir for my stay.

While I cannot offer any definitive answer on service standards to be 100% refined - as stated above the challenges do appear to be industry wide and tourism is seasonal in nature (also let me state for the record I am I no way suggesting that the service standards are terrible or bad at all), I would like to acknowledge the management’s commitment to service recovery and to deliver the best possible experience for all guests.

As a result, have amended...