Lodge Romulus — Hotel in Rusutsu

We were in Niseko at the beginning of 2012 and wanted to try a new resort out. Originally we planned on staying in Furano but read online that they didn't allow Off Piste skiing/snowboarding. As I am an advanced snowboarder, this wasn't acceptable! ;-) We decided to go back to Niseko again but wanted to try Rusutsu out a couple days.||||We tried booking a hotel room at the Rusutsu Resort as their room prices included free lift tickets (4 hour lift ticket for 4000 Yen or 5300 Yen for a full day... very expensive if you aren't staying at the resort) but as it was New Years week, and all rooms were fully booked.||||From our research we found a couple pensions that had availability: Hotel Romulus and Lilla Huset. Unfortunately for us, Hotel Romulus responded first, so we agreed to stay with them at 8000 Yen per person with 3 of us crammed into the room. Wish we chose Lilla Huset instead (it was cheaper also) as their reviews on Trip Advisor was definitely better!||||The host that greeted us spoke English. Her name is Anna and she is from Eastern Europe (sorry Anna, I forget which country you are from). We were picked up by Anna from the Rusutsu resort after the White Liner bus dropped us off at the Rusutsu Resort lobby at noon. We were told in advance that we weren't able to go into our bedroom until the late afternoon but we were allowed to drop off our bags and change into our ski outfits so we could have an afternoon of riding.||||The pension (they shouldn't call it a hotel) is pretty run down and showing its age. They definitely need to remodel the place as 8000 per person is way too much compared to other higher end pensions that charge less. We were assigned the only room available for that night. 3 of us stayed in one room but each of us got a small bed. I believe each room has an individual oil monitor (heater) in it. Our room also had a small bathroom in it.||||Their checkout time is 10am, which is pretty early in my books. They have a sign in their living room that states that you must move out your stuff out by 10am. No exceptions. Luckily for us, Anna made an exception and allowed us to leave our luggage in their van as she was picking up some guests from the resort at 4pm. This worked out great for us as we were able to have a day of skiing before meeting up with Anna at 4pm to get our bags and head out for Otaru. Thanks Anna!||||If I were to compare their included breakfast with other pensions in Niseko, Pension Brook would get 5 stars, Milky House would get 3.5 stars, and Romulus here would get 1 star. Milky House is rated 3.5 because my wife is a huge dairy fan and they offer fresh milk from their own cow every morning. If it was only me, I'd probably give Milky House 2.5 stars for their free breakfast as they charge extra for a cup of coffee!||||With two half days of riding in Rusutsu, I'd say Niseko is still better. If you are coming to Rusutsu and am an advanced rider, ride the mountain on the left side of the map (sorry, I forget the name of...

We booked a room for 4 nights last minute at Romulus and had a great stay. ||For what you pay this accommodation is good value. We took the 1000 breakfast option each morning which was good as far as breakfasts in Japan go. The hosts Anna, Miki and her husband are lovely and can't do enough to help. ||We were given a lift in the mornings and a pick up in the afternoons (it is close enough to walk in snowboard-maybe not ski boots- so we walked back a few days too)||We opted to eat dinner 3 out of the 4 nights at Pirateman which is a restaurant run by the same group as Romulus. This restaurant is definitely...

Very simple lodge walking distance to the mountain. They are good communicators and are very friendly and kind. Best way to get there is to take a bus from the New Chitose Airport. Book this at least a week in advance to get the time you want. It takes 90 minutes to get there in good weather. They will drop you off at the resort at the mountain. The Lodge will arrange for a ride to pick you up. All very easy. You can arrange a breakfast one day in advance. It’s a great breakfast for a good price. As long as you don’t mind a simple, clean place - Lodge Romulus is an...