Ohisama House — Hotel in Rusutsu

Judging by the other reviews, times must have changed.

We were very excited to be staying in a local guest house. Having visited Hokkaido a few times before I've had some wonderful experiences staying in local guest houses.

It was a little odd when we first arrived - early evening - that other guests were in their rooms when there was a lovely open fire blazing downstairs. However, it soon became apparent that the owners, Yoko and and her husband Kazia, watched TV all evening and the downstairs was their space to drink and enjoy their evening.

This in itself would not be a problem if the cost per night was significantly lower than USD180 (EUR150/AUD270) per night. At this kind of rate you'd absolutely expect the house to be for guests to enjoy as well, rather than a below par level of service comparable to that of a cheap AirBNB private room.

Breakfast is not included; you cannot use the cooking facilities and have to pay cash for breakfast in addition to the above price.

There are no double rooms as advertised. Rooms have single beds pushed together. But rooms are spacious if you're comparing to Japanese urban accommodation standards.

If you have booked, the shared bathroom bedroom has the best views - you only share the bathroom with the owners.

Contrary to another review I saw, the drying room is quite spacious.

Owners pick you up and drop you off at the Rusutsu Resort and there are two 8:30/9:00am drop offs in the morning. It's also just a 10 minute stroll to the gondola (or longer hobble in ski boots).

Because we opted not to pay the extra cash for the breakfast, we were made to feel quite uncomfortable. Honestly, even if you do have money to burn there are MUCH better places to stay; find a discounted rate for Rusutsu Resort, hire a car and stay at a wonderful local lodge away from the slopes. There's free parking at all of the ski lifts. If you're in a small group hire a lodge through StayRusutu.

Given previous positive reviews and the cost per night you would expect SO much more from...

Judging by the other reviews, times must have changed.||||We were very excited to be staying in a local guest house. Having visited Hokkaido a few times before I've had some wonderful experiences staying in local guest houses. ||||It was a little odd when we first arrived - early evening - that other guests were in their rooms when there was a lovely open fire blazing downstairs. However, it soon became apparent that the owners, Yoko and and her husband Kazia, watched TV all evening and the downstairs was their space to drink and enjoy their evening.||||This in itself is not a problem at all but when you're paying USD180 (EUR150/AUD270) per night you'd absolutely expect the house to be for guests to enjoy as well, rather than a sub par level of service comparable to that of a cheap AirBNB private room.||||Breakfast is not included; you cannot use the cooking facilities and have to pay cash for breakfast in addition to the above price.||||There are no double rooms, as advertised, and all rooms have single beds pushed together.||||If you're booking, the shared bathroom bedroom has the best views, over the two rooms with private bathrooms and you're only sharing with the owners' bathroom downstairs. Towels are changed daily. ||||Contrary to another review I saw, the drying room is quite spacious. The owners will pick you up and drop you off at the Rusutsu Resort long with a choice of 8:30 or 9:00am drop offs in the morning. It's also just a 10 minute stroll to the gondola (or longer hobble in ski boots!). ||||Because we opted not to pay the extra cash for the breakfast, we were made to feel quite uncomfortable. Honestly, even if you've got money to burn there are MUCH better places to stay; find a discount rate at the Rusutsu Resort, hire a car and stay at one of the other wonderful local lodges nearby. If you've got a small group hire a lodge through StayRusutsu. For the price, Ohisama House does not come recommended...

I stayed at Ohisama House with my five year old daughter in mid-January 2019. We had a terrific stay and found the accommodation to be perfect for our needs. ||||Yoko, our host, was warm and friendly and spoke good English. She also taught my daughter many Japanese words and even went to the trouble of writing out some translations (with pictures!) for my daughter to take home. ||||We had a downstairs room with a double bed and it was warm and cosy with beautiful forest views which were draped in a deep layer of snow for the duration. The shared bathroom was spotlessly clean every time we used it and the shower had good pressure and lots of hot water. Despite the house being full with guests we didn't have to wait to use the bathroom once during our stay - I have a feeling that many of the other rooms have their own bathroom but we chose a room with the shared bathroom.||||The breakfast was delicious with a cooked breakfast, toast and also some fruit and yoghurt. It varied slightly each day and Yoko went out of her way to make sure my daughter had something suitable to eat and drink at breakfast time.||||The snow was amazing - as you'd expect in January in Hokkaido - and the skiing was phenomenal. There is a walk from the lodge to the ski runs and you can ski down some of it on the way there and walk the rest fairly easily. I did this in ski boots without a problem each day.||||Overall we had a wonderful stay and would definitely go back. Yoko is a terrific host who runs a warm and cosy house and we felt very welcome. We would love to return another year...