Kasara Niseko Village Townhouse — Hotel in Niseko

Kasara townhouses are fabulous and the service simply amazing. |Any issue we had was dealt with efficiently and quickly. And our personal concierges were available between 8am and 8pm daily. We simply had to what’s app him/ her and transport/ restaurant bookings or anything we needed was arranged timeously. We had a problem with the downstairs toilet smelling and it was fixed in a jiffy. |The townhouse is reasonably well appointed though the kitchen poorly lit and not well kitted out for westerners. |They only give you a set of 8 plates and cutlery so, you run out of things quickly if you eat dinner at home and then want to make breakfast. There is no dishwasher so you have to wash up but there is a wine fridge!|There’s also no space for groceries. |Apart from this though, which is minor, the houses are lovely and beds enormously comfortable with crisp clean sheets and wonderful feather pillows and duvets. |The houses are true quality and the kids got a huge buzz out of the toilets which have a movement sensor to open when you enter, and close and flush when you leave. |Water pressure could be improved but the water is hot and the bathrooms beautiful with l’occitane amenities and a wonderful alpine tub. |The Apple TV was a hit with the kids after a long day skiing. |Skiing was superb and easy with deep powder which is great for beginners as well as runs for intermediate and advanced skiers. Something for everyone. |Staying at Kasara gives you the option to use Green Leaf and Hilton facilities. |We used the spa at Green Leaf and all had the best Shiatsu massages ever. Mina was the masseur and she has healing hands. If I’d known she was so amazing, I would’ve gone earlier and had many more treatments. All of us went to her and she fixed muscles and old injuries with her wonderful firm hands. |The a la carte lunch at the Green Leaf was well worth it and we ate there on many days. |The town of Hirafu is about 10 minutes away and you can get supplies or go to restaurants. |There is a regular shuttle bus to hirafu and kutchen which we used a lot but you can also get a taxi. |After landing in Sapporo, and before our transfer to Niseko, we bought quite a few supplies from a huge supermarket in Chitose / Sapporo which is close to New Chitose Airport and is mind blowing with what they offer. It’s cheaper than buying supplies in Hirafu and the range is huge and they have their own bakery. Give yourself time to shop as it’s big and you have to decipher the Japanese writing on certain things. |And it’s popular so very busy. |Worth it though. |We cooked dinner 3 times and the rest of the time went out. It was great having food available though, as we have teenagers who are hungry most of the time. So they could pop back from skiing and raid the fridge. ||All in all a simply wonderful trip with helpful and efficient staff in a luxurious and (mostly) well appointed townhouse. |I would definitely like to come back. |Well done to all and thank you for a lovely...

Kasara townhouses are fabulous and the service simply amazing. |Any issue we had was dealt with efficiently and quickly. And our personal concierges were available between 8am and 8pm daily. We simply had to what’s app him/ her and transport/ restaurant bookings or anything we needed was arranged timeously. We had a problem with the downstairs toilet smelling and it was fixed in a jiffy. |The townhouse is reasonably well appointed though the kitchen poorly lit and not well kitted out for westerners. |They only give you a set of 8 plates and cutlery so, you run out of things quickly if you eat dinner at home and then want to make breakfast. There is no dishwasher so you have to wash up but there is a wine fridge!|There’s also no space for groceries. |Apart from this though, which is minor, the houses are lovely and beds enormously comfortable with crisp clean sheets and wonderful feather pillows and duvets. |The houses are true quality and the kids got a huge buzz out of the toilets which have a movement sensor to open when you enter, and close and flush when you leave. |Water pressure could be improved but the water is hot and the bathrooms beautiful with l’occitane amenities and a wonderful alpine tub. |The Apple TV was a hit with the kids after a long day skiing. |Skiing was superb and easy with deep powder which is great for beginners as well as runs for intermediate and advanced skiers. Something for everyone. |Staying at Kasara gives you the option to use Green Leaf and Hilton facilities. |We used the spa at Green Leaf and all had the best Shiatsu massages ever. Mina was the masseur and she has healing hands. If I’d known she was so amazing, I would’ve gone earlier and had many more treatments. All of us went to her and she fixed muscles and old injuries with her wonderful firm hands. |The a la carte lunch at the Green Leaf was well worth it and we ate there on many days. |The town of Hirafu is about 10 minutes away and you can get supplies or go to restaurants. |There is a regular shuttle bus to hirafu and kutchen which we used a lot but you can also get a taxi. |After landing in Sapporo, and before our transfer to Niseko, we bought quite a few supplies from a huge supermarket in Chitose / Sapporo which is close to New Chitose Airport and is mind blowing with what they offer. It’s cheaper than buying supplies in Hirafu and the range is huge and they have their own bakery. Give yourself time to shop as it’s big and you have to decipher the Japanese writing on certain things. |And it’s popular so very busy. |Worth it though. |We cooked dinner 3 times and the rest of the time went out. It was great having food available though, as we have teenagers who are hungry most of the time. So they could pop back from skiing and raid the fridge. ||All in all a simply wonderful trip with helpful and efficient staff in a luxurious and (mostly) well appointed townhouse. |I would definitely like to come back. |Well done to all and thank you for a lovely...

While the Kasara unit itself is an incredible place for a group (3 bedrooms & bathrooms, a full kitchen, living room, boot room and garage), the logistical issues surrounding the property tend to overshadow the benefits of the unit itself. There are no grocery stores nearby, so stocking this kitchen will require a car, or a 25min bus ride to Hirafu. Given the buses only run hourly, this will inevitably turn into a long trip. The hotel does offer an on demand driver, but only between the other properties in its portfolio in the immediate vicinity. Unfortunately this means that if you want to rely on this driver for access to restaurants, you’ll be limited to the very sub par to downright bad offerings of the Hilton, Green Leaf, or Niseko village. We tried one of them (Yang Shu Ten) one night and it was legitimately one of the worst restaurant experiences I’ve ever had. We asked if the driver could take us legitimately 6 minutes down the road to another restaurant and the answer was a firm “no”. Given taxis are few and far between, we were told several times not to rely on them, so the only solution was to rely on the Niseko United shuttle bus. For dinner, this meant getting a ~5:20p bus (which will really mess with any post-ski onsen ambitions) to either Hirafu or Annipuri and having a rushed one hour window for dinner before the returning bus, or a long 2 hour window instead. The 8pm bus is the last of the night, which you better not miss. These timing gymnastics also means you better get your schedule and reservations lined up well in advance, for which the concierge can help with, but don’t expect helpful recommendations from them (do your own research - they’ll continue to push the on-site garbage), and anticipate a lot of challenges securing reservations given how small and busy the restaurants in the area are. |It all ends up being a ton of homework and all quite disruptive to what should be a leisurely holiday schedule. Much of this can be remedied with your own car, but good luck navigating the very snowy roads in the region. |On another note, the breakfast offerings (at the Green Leaf) are surprisingly diverse, yet all grim. Dramatically undercooked bacon, boiled hot dogs, questionable egg slop, pasta, malfunctioning bitter coffee machines are some of the highlights. Again something I would have happily cooked myself in our own kitchen (if we had easy access to groceries). |If you’re not going to rent a car, stay in Hirafu. The time and energy you’ll save getting around will pay...