Niseko Grandpapa Lodge / accommodation — Hotel in Kutchan

Grandpapa is the real deal Japanese ski lodge! The hotel (lodge) is currently run Kohei-san, who grew up in Niseko and is a former pro skier. He's incredible kind, very knowledgeable and super helpful - but also super busy during the winter months. ||||Location: the location of Grandpapa couldn't be better. It's a short walk to some of the best restaurants and bars in Niseko (like Fridge Bar!), and just a few minutes walk to a bus stop that comes frequently and drops you at the gondola. Really, the location is about as good as you can get in Niseko, unless you are ski in, ski out. ||||Vibe: the vibe is super chill! I normally stay at international luxury hotel chains, but Grandpapa was a welcomed change to this blandness. Every evening the staff lights a fire in the "living room" area, filling it with that fire place smell that makes any ski trip that much better. The living room has darts and board games. My friend and I cracked a bottle of wine and played Jenga. It was amazing. ||||Food: the breakfast at Grandpapa is a cool experience. Your room is assigned to a table, and breakfast starts at 8am every morning. It's fun to meet the other guests and chat about mountain conditions, etc. It's like the whole house is getting ready to go shred the mountain together. The breakfast dish changes daily. It was always fairly good, filling me up before hitting the slopes. ||||Rooms: Rooms are basic but cosy. When I was in the room, I enjoyed watching the snow fall from the window. It's worth noting that the walls are quite thin, and you can hear your neighbors pretty easily, but not the end of the world. ||||Overall: my most recent trip to Niseko was incredible, and I credit the location and the relaxed vibe of Grandpapa for making it so good. ||||This was the REAL Japanese ski...

Grandpapa is the real deal Japanese ski lodge! The hotel (lodge) is currently run Kohei-san, who grew up in Niseko and is a former pro skier. He's incredible kind, very knowledgeable and super helpful - but also super busy during the winter months. ||||Location: the location of Grandpapa couldn't be better. It's a short walk to some of the best restaurants and bars in Niseko (like Fridge Bar!), and just a few minutes walk to a bus stop that comes frequently and drops you at the gondola. Really, the location is about as good as you can get in Niseko, unless you are ski in, ski out. ||||Vibe: the vibe is super chill! I normally stay at international luxury hotel chains, but Grandpapa was a welcomed change to this blandness. Every evening the staff lights a fire in the "living room" area, filling it with that fire place smell that makes any ski trip that much better. The living room has darts and board games. My friend and I cracked a bottle of wine and played Jenga. It was amazing. ||||Food: the breakfast at Grandpapa is a cool experience. Your room is assigned to a table, and breakfast starts at 8am every morning. It's fun to meet the other guests and chat about mountain conditions, etc. It's like the whole house is getting ready to go shred the mountain together. The breakfast dish changes daily. It was always fairly good, filling me up before hitting the slopes. ||||Rooms: Rooms are basic but cosy. When I was in the room, I enjoyed watching the snow fall from the window. It's worth noting that the walls are quite thin, and you can hear your neighbors pretty easily, but not the end of the world. ||||Overall: my most recent trip to Niseko was incredible, and I credit the location and the relaxed vibe of Grandpapa for making it so good. ||||This was the REAL Japanese ski...

We just stayed with Kohie and his family, it's a great price as there were six of us|I was concerned ( being 50 ish!) that it was going to be a noisy young persons place but to my delight it was great!! Stayed with our kids and had a ball|Breakfast (hot dish and cereals juices, tea coffee, juices ) served every morning at 8 and coffee is very good ( real!!) |Kohie was really helpful and picked us up and dropped us off|It's a really homely type of place not five star but very clean and really lovely staff too they do anything to help |Chocolates, lollies,green teas and black teas supplied |The bus stop for the gondola is really close to grandpapa and the local free bus shuttle is often and reliable ( I usually hate buses!!!) |For the price location I could not fault grand papa Thanks Kohie and your team made our trip special!!!!! The Griffen...