Oku Jozankei Onsen Kasho Gyoen — Hotel in Sapporo

We had an excellent and very comfortable stay at this ryokan. The service was truly top-notch, and the staff were incredibly friendly, polite, and attentive to all of our needs. We stayed for 2 nights, and each moment of our stay was memorable, with the highlight being the onsen experience with a beautiful snow view – absolutely stunning! The room is cleaned, the hotel is modern and spacious.

However, a few small suggestions for improvement: On one occasion, we called reception to request water bottles, but after 10 minutes, they still hadn’t arrived. My husband decided to walk to reception to ask for them himself, and when he did, the staff seemed unaware of our request, possibly due to a language barrier. While this didn’t detract from the overall experience, it was a bit of a delay.

In the evenings, they light a wood fire in the lobby, which is a lovely touch, but we did notice a strong charcoal smell in our room (2nd floor) on the first night. It was quite overwhelming when breathing, and we could smell it strongly in the hallways as well. We didn’t make a complaint at the time, assuming it would improve, and thankfully, by the second night, the smell had lessened. Perhaps there is a way to contain the charcoal smell within the lobby area to avoid discomfort for some guests?

Another small thing we noticed was that whilst our room was cleaned according to our preferences, the bed was not made. The staff asked for our cleaning preferences, and we opted not to change the sheets for eco-friendly reasons, but we were hoping the housekeeping staff would tidy our bed during the cleaning. Perhaps adding an option to simply tidy the bed without the full sheet change might be a good idea?

The food here was absolutely incredible. We enjoyed the Italian dinner course and Japanese breakfast, and everything was delicious – truly outstanding! We also greatly appreciated that the staff accommodated our last-minute lunch request. However, the only available option was udon, which, though tasty, was a bit carb-heavy (with onigiri rice and udon with a bit of chicken) and lacked more protein and vegetables. Given how amazing the dinner and breakfast were, we were expecting something a bit more balanced for lunch, but it was still a pleasant meal.

Overall, our honeymoon experience at this ryokan was unforgettable, and we would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a relaxing and top-tier stay. A huge thank you to all the wonderful staff for making our time...

This ryokan is off of Sapporo and is about 1 hour out from the core of the city. ||Situated on the side of the freeway, you’ll enter through a heated driveway into an unexpected property that is unassuming, unnoticeable and unpretentious. ||The foyer has an indoor freestanding chimney with a large seating area that serves onigiri (rice balls), miso soup, Burdock tea, sweet potato, and other snacks from dinner to late in the evening. ||Meals are served in the one restaurant on the property that serves traditional kaiseki breakfasts, and fusion Italian Japanese dinners. Attentive staff is eager to please with a large open kitchen and glass walls to look out into the property garden. The fusion is daring and pairing is well thought out, and when they decide to choose higher quality ingredients, will the dinners start receiving higher reviews. ||Rooms each have a private onsen, living room and bedroom. Quite spacious compared to many other ryokan’s with generous amenities provided such as free drinks, pop, juice, water, coffee, etc. ||Overall a great place to stay and while their food is a little high on sodium, and their staff need a bit more training, you have to give this property some time considering it opened in mid-2018. Great value and very caring...

This ryokan is off of Sapporo and is about 1 hour out from the core of the city. ||Situated on the side of the freeway, you’ll enter through a heated driveway into an unexpected property that is unassuming, unnoticeable and unpretentious. ||The foyer has an indoor freestanding chimney with a large seating area that serves onigiri (rice balls), miso soup, Burdock tea, sweet potato, and other snacks from dinner to late in the evening. ||Meals are served in the one restaurant on the property that serves traditional kaiseki breakfasts, and fusion Italian Japanese dinners. Attentive staff is eager to please with a large open kitchen and glass walls to look out into the property garden. The fusion is daring and pairing is well thought out, and when they decide to choose higher quality ingredients, will the dinners start receiving higher reviews. ||Rooms each have a private onsen, living room and bedroom. Quite spacious compared to many other ryokan’s with generous amenities provided such as free drinks, pop, juice, water, coffee, etc. ||Overall a great place to stay and while their food is a little high on sodium, and their staff need a bit more training, you have to give this property some time considering it opened in mid-2018. Great value and very caring...