Niseko Park Hotel — Hotel in Kutchan

I spent 10 days staying at the Niseko Park Hotel.||The hotel is an older hotel. I would give it a mixed review - strengths and weaknesses.||The positives were the helpful staff, and the excellent breakfast buffet. Also it’s proximity to supermarkets and great dining options - especially a Ramon restaurant across the road which always has a line but has a ticketing system meaning you can get your ticket and go back to the hotel for 10-30 mins then head back over. We went there three nights in a row it’s so good.||It is close to the ski hill if you are happy to make your first lift a beginners quad off to the side of the resort. Unfortunately on a powder day the lines get pretty big for the chairs in Hirafu and so you will either want to walk 100-200 metres up the hill (the pavement is heated) early or waste a lot of time on that first chair. To that end for powder I think hotels in Hanazono or Annupuri have an advantage but the hotels location is still favourable compared to many others.||The TV was older and only had three channels, one wasn’t tuned.||The beds were uncomfortable to our expectations but we were able to request an extra futon/mattress to go on top of them which helped considerably.||The bathroom was very small. There is a bath but it’s small. The shower had issues where it would blast hot and cold water at random for a half second within your shower. ||The hotel does not allow in room massage. I didn’t know this until the therapist arrived and was refused entry. Given the staff at the massage places located over the road (literally) seemed to be battling a virus and were coughing and sniffing during their expensive massages, I found this annoying. ||The wifi was unreliable. Given I experienced 250mb up and down in the Hanazono lunch centre, this is clearly not the capacity in the area and my enquiries with the staff made me assume it was just a lack of bandwidth relative to the number of users.||The breakfast was excellent but started at 7:30 - not giving any time to line up early on a powder day. There was often a line for breakfast but it moved quickly.||I am not really into onsens I prefer a hot tub but I think if you like onsens you would be happy with this one.||The hotel had a large room full of couches with an open wood fire which was nice, I only found it half way through the stay and only because I looked in a brochure!||Since we were two friends staying in the same room with different schedules we requested a second key. Not possible. This would be the only time I’ve had that but perhaps it’s culturally normal in Japan. They did operate a key box system in reception so you could leave and recollect your key. Not a normal solution but not the end of the world either.||There was a good international mix of guests at the hotel so if you want to chat with other riders there were good opportunities.||I had a great trip to Japan but most likely would stay in a hotel located in Hanazono or Annupuri and not Hirafu if I went to Niseko again. As to Niseko since I was there last time no money has been put into the lifts or resort except for accomodation and dining and so as the crowds grow each year it’s more of a reason to try...

I spent 10 days staying at the Niseko Park Hotel.||The hotel is an older hotel. I would give it a mixed review - strengths and weaknesses.||The positives were the helpful staff, and the excellent breakfast buffet. Also it’s proximity to supermarkets and great dining options - especially a Ramon restaurant across the road which always has a line but has a ticketing system meaning you can get your ticket and go back to the hotel for 10-30 mins then head back over. We went there three nights in a row it’s so good.||It is close to the ski hill if you are happy to make your first lift a beginners quad off to the side of the resort. Unfortunately on a powder day the lines get pretty big for the chairs in Hirafu and so you will either want to walk 100-200 metres up the hill (the pavement is heated) early or waste a lot of time on that first chair. To that end for powder I think hotels in Hanazono or Annupuri have an advantage but the hotels location is still favourable compared to many others.||The TV was older and only had three channels, one wasn’t tuned.||The beds were uncomfortable to our expectations but we were able to request an extra futon/mattress to go on top of them which helped considerably.||The bathroom was very small. There is a bath but it’s small. The shower had issues where it would blast hot and cold water at random for a half second within your shower. ||The hotel does not allow in room massage. I didn’t know this until the therapist arrived and was refused entry. Given the staff at the massage places located over the road (literally) seemed to be battling a virus and were coughing and sniffing during their expensive massages, I found this annoying. ||The wifi was unreliable. Given I experienced 250mb up and down in the Hanazono lunch centre, this is clearly not the capacity in the area and my enquiries with the staff made me assume it was just a lack of bandwidth relative to the number of users.||The breakfast was excellent but started at 7:30 - not giving any time to line up early on a powder day. There was often a line for breakfast but it moved quickly.||I am not really into onsens I prefer a hot tub but I think if you like onsens you would be happy with this one.||The hotel had a large room full of couches with an open wood fire which was nice, I only found it half way through the stay and only because I looked in a brochure!||Since we were two friends staying in the same room with different schedules we requested a second key. Not possible. This would be the only time I’ve had that but perhaps it’s culturally normal in Japan. They did operate a key box system in reception so you could leave and recollect your key. Not a normal solution but not the end of the world either.||There was a good international mix of guests at the hotel so if you want to chat with other riders there were good opportunities.||I had a great trip to Japan but most likely would stay in a hotel located in Hanazono or Annupuri and not Hirafu if I went to Niseko again. As to Niseko since I was there last time no money has been put into the lifts or resort except for accomodation and dining and so as the crowds grow each year it’s more of a reason to try...

This has to be the least value of all the Japanese hotels I've experienced. Considering the price point, the condition of the hotel and the attitude of the staff are disappointing. We were late in booking and left with very little choice. If you have better options, go somewhere else.

the reception staff: they are not helpful, cold, and indifferent. This is the 1st time I've experienced such a lack of interest or enthusiasm from a service personnel in Japan. Everything you ask of them, they do not make an effort and tell you they do not have the best information, and please find out yourself. Even our luggage, we were worried as our luggage did not arrive and they simply pointed us to the next building coldly. We brave the blizzard, search high and low, go up and down, and finally see 4 kanji (chinese characters) in a small run-down corner that says "received luggages." If we do not understand chinese, we would not have found the storage place. Well, the luggage was not there, but we got the point - "Do not ask me anything, you are not getting any information from me." Both reception staff we dealt with gave us the same attitude.

activities: we were looking forward to checking with the hotel what we could do if we were not skiing. We are thinking of trying snow shoeing, snow mobil. etc. But nope, we got the "do not ask me anything" attitude with the standard answer - "i do not have the best information." We feel rather stranded.

breakfast starts only at 730am, and ends quickly at 9 am.

we paid extras for a room with a toilet, on top of the already pricey rate, and guess what, please set up your own futon bed. And we get to see how old and dirty the futon mattress and blankets are.

The hotel is old, dated, and very poorly maintained. And both rooms we have that are not near to each other have an unpleasant smell in the air. The only saving grace is that it is still relatively clean, and the location is good.

Across the road is a popular ramen restaurant - Tozanken. The hotel is also next to Bang Bang, a restaurant that is extremely popular and has few seats. There is also Arabica coffee opposite the hotel. Rhythm further down also serves up good coffee.

A helpful tip we've got at kutchan Stn is to alight at the last stop - hirafu welcome centre, when u take the bus into hirafu. It is easier to push your luggage down from the hirafu welcome centre, then to push the luggage uphill from the earlier bus stop at the...