Tomamu The Tower by Hoshino Resorts — Hotel in Shimukappu

My family was here for a 5-day white Xmas vacation. The resort complex has so much to offer and absolutely is one of the best ski resort locations!

You’ll never miss the four stunning tall towers in the middle of nowhere two hours on the way from Chitose international airport. We stayed in Tomamu towers where the skiing academy is located and next to GOA outdoor center. Though Tomamu Tower has been for a few decades, the room is very clean, well maintained and of reasonable size. All staff complies with the Japanese high standard of patience and thoroughness.

The resort management has excellent shuttle bus service running among various restaurants, indoor beach, gondola station and the relatively newer Risonare Towers at the hill.

The Snow Academy is a very comprehensive skiing school with various levels of ski and snowboarding lessons catered for different needs. Good conditioned ski equipments like boots, jackets, helmets, goggles are all available for rental. Our Cantonese speaking instructor Siu San and his assistants Kuma and Sora San were excellent coaches in teaching my family. We all enjoyed our first ever skiing experience very much.

The GAO Outdoor Centre offers a variety of outdoor activities at very reasonable costs and usually does not require advance reservation. We had wonderful time with the Banana boat ride and snowmobile. We also went for the ice river fishing in one afternoon and our hungry tummies were all well rewarded by the our own trophies: grilled saffron cod fish. My daughter loved her Xmas cookies baking the most as she could enjoy her own baked cookies!

The Ice Village was also amazing with a long ice slides and igloos. Ice bar is one of the major attractions but my daughter would put her big thumb up for the roasted marsh mallow! After a day of subzero outdoor activities, weather, the famous indoor Mina Mina Beach was the most relaxing family fun! Unfortunately we did not try its outdoor onsen and definitely will try next time.

Don’t miss the hill top! The glass bottom walkway might feel scary but it is unforgettably scenic!

The last attraction was Chapel on the Water, a creation by the famous Japanese architecture master Tadao Ando. My 8-year old daughter surprisingly seems to understand A do’s concept of integrating nature and divinity! Regardless you are a Christian or not, this is highly recommended!

Tummy is unquestionably important! Every restaurant we visited has its own delicacy to please our palate: Hal for our daily breakfast, Afuri Ramen, Genghis Khan BBQ, The Forest buffet dinner and the Kanemaru seafood hotpot. Tips: Long advanced online booking for restaurants and skiing lessons. We made this mistake of not making advanced reservation and therefore, could only sign up one skiing lesson and not experience the most said high value shabu shabu and Hal buffet. Having said this, we still had very memorable fun!

We already plan to come back...

This review may be biased because of the unacceptable danger placed on my wife and our unborn child and downright bad/rude service received during our stay.

The Basics = Terrible

1. Room: Hot/Torture/Prison: Cannot open window or control room temperature so had to leave the door open Written notice to keep the shade closed(because the sunlight will heat up the room....)

2. Bed/Furniture: Uncomfortable/Barely Tolerable (after a few drinks to help) -Bed Springs are the worst I’ve experienced since off-highway motels back in the 1990s + overall furniture need refurbishing

3. Bathroom: Loud/Tolerable -Loud noises from the sink/shower/toilet with squeaky bathtub floors and cracked walls

The Details = Dangerous It’s frigid and my pregnant wife is in tears because she is in pain and cannot stand up. The help that arrives is not the stretcher or golf-cart to help her down the dark unlit hill but a staff of 3, carrying a blanket. I’m relieved for a second, mistakenly believing that the blanket is to keep her warm…

To my horror, they say we’re going to carry her down Aladdin carpet style while my 7-month pregnant wife clings to the sides. I still remember one of the female staff’s wrists shaking to maintain her grip on the blanket, the only thing preventing my wife and unborn child from falling down the hill. (I believe the staff was genuinely trying to help/acting in good faith, and they have my gratitude for that…)

Looking back, I should have said no. My pregnant wife, with our unborn child, had been shivering on the dark outdoor steps for 20 minutes, but I still should have said no and that is on me….

“Why was the path to their only event so dark and without any staff insight?” “Why was the emergency response for my pregnant wife falling down the outdoors stairs on hotel grounds, a staff of 3 and a blanket to carry her?”

Some of the questions I wanted to ask management but was unable to because my request for an English-speaking staff was acknowledged then forgotten.

We were able to communicate our frustration/pain(wife speaks fluent Japanese) in the morning and the assistant-manager apologized very formally but was very clear on the hotel policies which I now understand as “you’re on your own.”

Not only was there no compensation, there was no support or empathy of any kind from management which adds insult to anger.

Our vacation was obviously ruined but more importantly, my wife can still barely walk(over a month of rehab/acupuncture) because we decided to try their outdoor event at night, because we decided to stay at Tomamu.

Strongly...

Stayed a night at the Tower I. The room: ordinary, not luxury. Rather a small bath. A bad thing was that the room temperature cannot be controlled. As it was too hot and not finding a temperature controller, I contacted the front but to learn that it is centrally controlled. I was brought a circulator which helped but not much. Food: There are many food stalls which visitors can enjoy. Quite a distance so that it might not fit for the elderly. Be prepared for the long queue time. Only limited number of restaurants serve breakfast, and we had to wait for 50 minutes to be served. We were instructed to wear disposable gloves and masks and use trays to take food at the buffet corner. I did as instructed (I was quite wary of the coronavirus infection) but there were several visitors who were taking food without any gloves, mask, and trays. They were also talking loud while walking through the passages next to dining tables (I do wish the staff instructed the guests not to do so). Fine dining probably at only one restaurant, the dinner course menu of which is fixed. I wanted to enjoy fine dining but the menu was not friendly for a vegetarian. Several other food menus were also not vegetarian-friendly (It seems the only reservation option for me was "Tofu shabu-shabu"). The park: Really nice. The ice cream was also very good. Golf carts can be rent at 3000 Yen/ hour -- good for a drive around the park. The artificial beach: Nice as well. 3-4 guards are standing-by, so it seems it would be safe. Many people despite the coronavirus season. I just refrained from using this facility. The gondola ride: Nice, and 0-15 minutes waiting time. It was really, really hot at the Unkai terrace (one might not expect so from the descriptions at the HP). I checked the cloud condition at 5 am, which said "to enjoy the scenery" . Leaving my roommate who just wanted to see the clouds, I went for the ride. The clouds (the so-called "Unkai") were there!! Later, I noticed the HP post was updated (it seems it was updated every 15-25 min). Hotel staff: nice. Many of them were Chinese. We were sometimes spoken in Chinese. Perhaps they weren't just unsure if we speak Chinese (I would suggest they wear badges that mention the languages they speak). Overall: I was able to stay at a cheaper price thanks to the "go to travel" campaign. The offers (free gondola ride and the beach access) and facilities were nice considering the price. If to pay at the usual price, I would rank only * or ** to the room and dining facilities. Nice for leisure, but...