Rooms were modern and shuttle bus into town was handy when I didn't want to walk. Laundry facilities in the hotel were also useful.

-When we arrived at about 4:45pm, we still had to wait 1 hour to check into our room as it was not ready. All we were offered was a "is there anything you want to do in the meantime ?" from staff. Given that we had travelled about 24 hours to get to the hotel and it was cold and dark outside, the answer was No. So we sat on a wooden bench in the lobby and waited. Given that check in is 3pm, we shouldn't have to wait and be charged an entire day's rate. A seat in the reastaurant, which was closed, out of the busy lobby and an offer of a coffee after a long day would have gone a long way. -Restaurant is open daily for breakfast, but sporadically for dinner. This is different than the website information. -Staff seem young and untrained. Many did not know what was happenng and we often got conflicting information from them. -Kettle in room was chained to the wall, so it took a while to fill it with water using a small coffe cup that was in the room. - We bought our own coffee and milk as there was only green tea bags in the room.

modern and clean. practical facilities. helpful shuttle bus driver

too far from centre, nothing around the hotel. zero convenience store. restaurant not open for dinner.

The Good: Disclaimer: stayed here for 8 nights over the New Years period and thus paid 3-4x the usual nightly rates. We used a twin bed configuration on the ground floor Hot water - Good hot water in the shower, good hot water pressure. Heating - Good heater in the room TV - Good sized modern smart flat screen in the room, able to get Netflix and YouTube The shuttle bus - It was really nice being able to pick up our skis from the gear room and put them directly on the bus to be dropped at either the Hirafu welcome centre or the Hirafu Gondola. Very friendly bus drivers, Ben was great Gear return to the rhythm gear hire company - doesn't need a whole room though The breakfast - breakfast was buffet style and a solid 8/10, friendly staff, tasty food with bacon eggs, a variety of different types of Japanese food and lots of black coffee The vending machine - with the challenges in finding food in niseko, the vending machine was a life saver The location is good enough you can walk when the shuttle bus times don't work for you. It is near the Kabayama Kita bus stop which can be used for the Niseko United shuttle or a local bus into Kutchan

The Bad: I suspect most of my complaints are related to Niseko-wide understaffing. The communication - Before arrival I received multiple automated emails but when I reached out to ask about gear hire and getting a shuttle from the airport I never got a response. I messaged again 48 hours before arrival and also got nothing. We were forced to make other plans. There was no drying room.... There was a large room immediately adjacent to the gear room which was warm but instead of having hangers it had a rhythm ski rental check in terminal.... With the lack of a drying room, the lack of hanging space in the room - the only hanging space we had was a 30 cm deep clothes hanger and 5 wall hooks. There would have been space in the room to add a freestanding clothes rack, this would have made our life much easier. The washing machine - there are 3 heat pump washer/dryers. They are coin operated and use their own internal washing liquid. We were unable to check if it was wool safe but just had to risk our merino thermals since they were getting stinky. Unfortunately the machine tore one of our new merino thermal tops... For the remainder of our clothes we ran the drying cycle 3 times and still had to dry them in our room since they were still so wet. House keeping - This property is advertised as having daily housekeeping. Upon arrival we were told it would be 2nd daily with a 4th daily linen change, we had to prompt on our third day as no one had emptied our garbage. You are provided with cups and glasses but no dishwashing liquid. This would be fine if housekeeping were daily.... The restaurant being closed for dinner - the Elements restaurant is meant to be open for 3 meals a day. Unfortunately during our stay they only ran breakfast and lunch. The lunch was actually awesome and very good value, it was just a pity it only made sense to eat there on a rest day.

great shuttle service and great breakfast buffet! facilities are modern and clean!

The Yotei suit was amazing and it was large enough for a 3 people group or family. nice view of mount Yotei though the large windows on clear days and you have a large space for relax and have a really good time while your stay. breakfast was also good and the staff is english speaking and some of them are originally English. it’s a ski-in/ski-out kind a resort since Niseko Grand Hirafu is just 5 minutes drive away. all other Niseko united ski resorts are easily accessible from this hotel. they have a ski gear rental on the ground floor which we didn’t use this time but anyone wish to rent stuff can arrange from here. if you book this Yotei suit you can have a free private parking in front of the hotel otherwise you have to pay a little fee.

Nothing in particular except suit doesn’t have a intercom or telephone to reach the reception or staff in case you need any help.

The comforter is warm enough which we even don’t need to open the heater

Not enough shuttle bus! The last one back to hotel ended at 16:40! If you don’t have a car, you will have to walk back to the hotel at night under heavy snowing.

Great stay. The staff made this place. I had a delay in travel plans and the staff did everything possible to get me from the airport. Once I arrived at Always Niseko, they took care of booking all of my taxis to restaurants as well as gear. They had all the answers. I will be staying there again.

Modern, clean-cut hotel with incredibly helpful & friendly staff. Bathroom was modern and clean. And the shampoo and shower gel smelled amazing. Shuttle service to one of Hirafu‘s resort entrances ‚Welcome Center‘ (Unfortunately- but understandably - the hotel shuttle did not cover the night skiing times but they offered to pick us up if we gave prior notice, which speaks again to the amazing staff).

No shared bathing facility (Onsen) - which I sort of consider a must for any winter sport location. A few more places to hang and dry ski wear in the room would have helped. 10-minute walk to Hirafu center, which we didn’t mind but some people would find a bit annoying. Also, Shuttle only covers the Welcome Center Hirafu resort entrance, not the Grand Hirafu entrance with the gondola. We went over New Years so the price was very steep. Normally better value for money 😉

excellent staff / services - helped us with all the bookings and extras.

the room was quite cold and small.