Kuriyasuizan — Hotel in Sapporo

Stayed for two nights in the first week of May 2018. It's a new and small ryokan (if I'm not wrong, 14 rooms) in Jozankei, about 45 minutes bus ride from Sapporo. The ryokan provided complimentary bus shuttle from Sapporo but prior reservation was necessary.||||Ryota Hayashi-san checked us in with great courtesy and asked us for our preferred time for breakfast and dinner. He offered a welcome drink and some cookies.||||The room was spotless and furnished nicely in traditional Japanese décor - tatami throughout the rooms for sitting and dining (doubled as a sleeping area in the evening), low table and two legless chairs, two arm chairs faced the large glass window with views of the creek and a few sakura trees (not blossoming fully yet!). There was a toilet with bidet (but no shower), basin, coffee/tea making facilities, complimentary cookies and a fridge with complimentary non-alcoholic drinks and beer.||||Breakfast was held in the first floor dining room. Seating was arranged along three sides of a square with the chefs in the centre cooking in full view of guests, all dressed in yukata. The breakfast was Japanese fare - grilled fish, sashimi, sushi, eggs, many types of pickels, sausage, chawanmushi, miso soup, rice and green tea. ||||Dinner was held in the same place as for breakfast. It was an elaborate affair of fine dining (wow!), taking more than one and a half hours. It's an eleven course dinner! The chefs cooked one dish at a time. The waitresses explained the ingredients in detail. Some of the dishes were grilled fish, beef, beef tongue, sashimi, sushi, chawanmushi, yakitori, young bamboo shoots, sea urchins, snail, tempura prawns and vegetables, grilled asparagus, roe, mushrooms, fresh vegetables from the nearby hills, miso soup, rice and green tea.||||The onsen was on the basement floor. Adherence to strict Japanese bathing etiquette was required. Two separate entrances for men and women. Inside was a large bath with hot water from geothermally heated springs. Adjoining this indoor bath room was an outdoor bath - cold air (about 10 C) and soaking in hot water! Take your bath here as there was no shower in the room. At the exit, mineral water and fresh milk from the famous Sapporo cows were offered.||||The second floor had a resting area where complimentary fruits, cakes, coffee, tea and non-alcoholic drinks were provided from 3.30pm to 8.30pm, after which free alcoholic drinks were available - sake, plum wine and beer. Savoured all these with light classical music.||||Jozankei is a small town with lots of hotels and ryokans catering to onsen lovers. A walk along the main street is essential to burn off the breakfast. There are two or three convenience and gift shops, a café serving delicious ice cream and apple pie, restaurants and a ramen shop. Do not miss the soba lunch on the second floor of Daichi Hotel Suizantei - freshly made soba in piping hot soup and cold soba. ||||A stroll along Toyohira River was refreshing in the cold mountain air and a necessary preparatory ritual before the sumptuous dinner in the ryokan. If you feel like trekking more, there's the Jozankei Dam. To get there, walk along the road towards the Fire Station and cross the Shigure Bridge.||||There was nothing much to do after dinner as it was dark and very cold outside. But this is just what a stay in a ryokan is all about. Good food, onsen, relax in the resting area, more onsen and then retire to the futon...

We chose this hotel for our 1-night first stay at Jokanzei as we couldn’t book their sister hotel in the first place. Besides, the hotel looks nice on the website. ||We were sceptical before arrival as there was no reply to my 2 emails sent to hotel in both English and Japanese at least 1 month ago regarding their shuttle bus. However, we only received their Confirmation of booking 1 day before arrival although we have already arrived in Hokkaido and made our transport arrangements. ||Upon arrival by bus near hotel, it was a good 2nd impression when a Helpful male staff saw us asking the bus driver on the direction to the hotel and he then told us that he could drive us from bus stop to hotel with assistance on our luggage in the cold and snowy weather. ||Then, Ms Okubo at reception speaks good English and was very helpful and professional. ||The hotel offers free drinks, afternoon sweets, cocktails and supper rice balls at the lounge. ||The suite that we booked was spacious and comfortable with Free minibar, Good amenities and outdoor Onsen. ||Breakfast and dinner were nice and of high quality ingredients and presentation yet can be more tasty. ||Overall, a good hotel to stay for 1-2 nights within the...

If you are looking for completely traditional onsen hotel, this is not exactly it. The food they serve is excellent, but it is mixed with modern and western cuisine. |1. Hotel Quality is excellent, service is excellent. |2. Onsen area is very clean and tidy, which I like |3. I have requested to sit next to the Kitchen to overlook at what's cooking, but this was ignored and given a table instead, I have asked them again on the night, and my request was refused, although the seats next to the kitchen was avaliable for the whole morning and night, and this is the reason I cannot give 5 star. I hope that being a hotel, they should at least hire someone that can speak fluent english to understand exactly what customer want. I want to sit next to the kitchen. its a very simple request, having spend so much money, my request was never answered. |4. food. - I was expecting traditional Japanese 懷石料理, but then it was a mix of western and japanese food. Food is nice, but could put more thought to the menu. |5. Outdoor onsen is excellent. |6. Lack of private group onsen for hire could be an issue. ||I have been to better onsen hotel . But this worth a 4...