Club Med Sahoro - Hokkaido — Hotel in Shintoku

Let’s start with the only 2 positives about this place- the food and the ski instructors. There was a good variety of food for lunch and dinner daily which hit the spot most of the time. Some ski instructors we encountered were really professional and caring as well.

Otherwise, the staff communication was terrible from the get go. Neither the check in nor ski shop staff passed on proper information about how and when to rent ski equipment, causing me to waste money on ski rentals that we did not use. There should be proper information listed about how to go about renting and the cost of ski equipment, especially since a lot of the staff speak poor English and could not give proper explanations when asked. We had to figure out everything ourselves from piecing together bits of info and asking other guests, many whom by the way encountered the same issues.

We were encouraged to leave our kids at the mini club and were assured they would be taken care of by the ‘experienced’ staff there. We happened to pop by and visit during their lunch and noticed that my boy was completely not touching his food nor drink. A staff sitting next to him was completely ignoring him and seemed more concerned with clapping and singing to other kids around the table. We checked him out of the kids club to feed him ourselves and made the mistake of sending him back in again for the afternoon activities, only finding out later that he was miserable and crying throughout and developed a fever and bad cough soon after. We are not expecting the staff to be caregivers but please have the common sense and decency to contact their parents if they appear unwell and are refusing all food/water!

Despite all this, I was not going to bother leaving a review until what happened right before we left which really takes the cake. Because we had to depart on a 7am bus to the airport, the reception staff promised that breakfast packs would be passed to us. I actually double checked with a different staff before I left the reception counter the night before departure. The next morning, nothing was prepared for us on check out and upon questioning, the staff said the food was on the way. He repeated this 2 more times when asked till when it was past 7am and he finally apologised saying that it looked like they did not have enough time to prepare the food. We were asked to go to the restaurant ourselves and pack what we could. This happened to at least 4 different families all departing on the same bus and we were left scrambling around in the restaurant grabbing what we could like we were in the amazing race or something. They did not even have ready takeout boxes for us and we had to ask different restaurant staff for them. Absolutely ridiculous! There was nobody that seemed to be in charge and no information was being passed on from one team to another.

We finally managed to depart at 7.20am and hopefully nobody missed their flight because of this incident. We are truly disappointed in the level of service especially for the amount we have paid for this holiday. Please spend more time training your staff instead of just encouraging them to mingle and chit chat with guests, looking to make a connection to garner good reviews.

We were looking forward to this holiday for the whole year and were considering trying out different clubmeds if it turned out well. You can be sure we will not be...

Subject: Urgent: Billing Discrepancy and Service Issues during My Stay at Club Med Japan

Hi Club Med Japan leaders,

I hope this message finds you well. I am reaching out to address several issues I encountered during my recent visit to Club Med Japan, specifically related to a billing discrepancy and service concerns. I believe there are crucial aspects of your service system, especially regarding team communication and information updates, that need immediate attention.

To provide a detailed account of the situation:

Day 1 (Friday, December 8, 2023): I rented ski equipment for four individuals at the shop after checking in.

Day 2 (Saturday, December 9, 2023): Due to heavy rainfall, the ski resort experienced melting and freezing conditions. In light of this, I sought to return the ski equipment for a refund. I received assurance from the first Club Med staff (a lady), and upon confirmation from the shop, was told that the adjustment would be made during check-out. I explained that my younger daughter would still use her equipment for a ski lesson, but the rest needed to be returned due to the adverse weather conditions.

Day 3 (Sunday, December 10, 2023): I received notification that all ski activities were closed in the entire resort due to the adverse weather conditions, causing the ski field to melt and freeze. I promptly returned all the ski equipment to the shop, and they assured me it was refundable.

Day 4 (Monday, December 11, 2023): During the settlement of my bill, I discovered charges for two days of ski equipment rental (December 9 and 10). The front desk only granted a refund for one day and directed me to resolve the issue with the shop directly. This is where the most disheartening experience occurred.

When I approached the shop staff (a man) and requested assistance in processing the refund, I was met with an unexpected and inappropriate response. The staff member attempted to educate me with a metaphor seemingly designed for a child, saying, "You rent a car and put the car in the car park without driving it, that doesn't mean you don't need to pay for it." I found this comparison highly unprofessional and was shocked by such an interaction at a five-star resort.

Due to the urgency of catching my flight, I reluctantly paid the incorrect bill and left, feeling frustrated and disappointed by the overall experience.

I kindly urge you to thoroughly investigate this matter and address the underlying issues to ensure such incidents do not recur. This will not only preserve the reputation of Club Med but also contribute to a more positive experience for future guests.

Your prompt attention to this matter is greatly...

This was a very memorable holiday for me which I really enjoyed. The people at the Club Med Sahoro really made this holiday for me. Shout out to Lance head of entertainment and Loki Head of sound and lighting, Kaede in the ski hire shop and Enes from the restaurant team (apologies if I got the titles wrong). They really made the trip for us.

The mountain:

For a quick frame of reference, I've been skiing since I was 2 and a ski instructor in Canada. At first glance I thought this mountain was very small and not able to provide much in terms of challenges.... until I swapped skis and started finding all the tree runs that the mountain has to offer. Just wow. 1 foot of snow every night and a million paths through the tress for fresh tracks every time. This coupled with no lift lines and the mountain pretty much yours for the weekdays with minor to small lift cues on Sat and Sun. Another shout out for Loki coming skiing with me on his day off. Absolute legend.

The resort:

The food... holy hell the food.... calling it a buffet doesn't do it justice. Technically it is but in reality, it's your own cooking kitchen stations with great chefs individually cooking the meals in front of you as you ask for it. They're happy to go rogue with your requests and give you almost anything you want. Enes from the restaurant staff set us our own personal table and was just amazing. He helped us celebrate my mums 68th birthday in style.

Outdoor snow hot tub... enough said.

The indoor hot springs, cold plunge and sauna was just perfect after a heavy day of skiing and so so so close to all the rooms. This was one of my favorite parts of the holiday, spending time in the hot spring water and cold plunge pool at the end of the day.

Gym has everything you need from free dumbbells, cables and standard machines but good quality ones. Plenty of room to stretch and decompress with yoga mats and rollers.

Nightlife. I'm not a big partier anymore but it was there if you wanted it. Loki, JuJu and Lance did an amazing job of this and made everyone feel welcome and part of the fun. Advice to club med: Do not let Lance go under any circumstances he's a one of a kind.

Ski hire. We brought our own boots and gear but always hire skis due to varying conditions. Kaede helped us with all our ski gear and was super helpful with changing skis. Great service and a really nice person.

Just an amazing trip. Definitely will go back. Once again thankyou to Lance, Loki, Enes and...