Not a bad place to stay at all but didn’t feel special in any way which was a surprise given the reputation. Staff not particularly friendly, breakfast poor and bedroom tired. Onsen baths not impressive. Sadly never any view of the lake due to the clouds - but that wasn’t the hotel’s fault! May suit others but I wouldn’t choose to stay here again.

I rarely do bad review and when I do, I have a good reason. Do NOT stay at this hotel!

Just check into this esteemed hotel and had to endure EXCEEDINGLY POOR service.
We have reserved a normal NON SMOKING room (we have nose allergy) and the check in staff decided to give us a Smoking room instead.

They have Non Smoking rooms available but they refused to give it to us without charging extra for the "lake view".
The Manager, Mr Sasaki, was unapologetic and unhelpful, he tried to blame us and when we showed him proof that our hotel voucher stated Non Smoking, he then tried to blame the travel agent.

I have never met such an awfully unhelpful hotel reception manager. It is not as if they do not have any Non Smoking room available, they just refused to solve the problem. Despite us suffering from nose allergy, they still try to insist us paying extra for the lake view.

We do not need a lake view room, we just want a non smoking room and I do not see why we should pay more when it is their fault (or as they claim, the agent's fault, which is also false as the booking voucher clearly stated non smoking).

After much wrangling, they have offered 1 night of smoking room and then change room the following nights.

The smoking room stinks of smoke. I have never been to a Hotel which had such blatant disregard for guests.

Needless to say, we are very disappointed. This level of service is unacceptable.
The manager could have done much better in handling this situation with grace and courtesy, instead of arguing with hotel guests at the reception for over 30minutes.

Finally the hotel claimed they managed to swap smoking room with other guest's non smoking room and after 1.5hours and much anxiety.

Do NOT stay at this hotel!

I love this hotel.

It isn't like another that I have ever stayed in. It's sat on the top of a mountain, and as we drove up to the hotel in the snow and fog, you could see the hotel lights flickering through the mist. The hotel looked like a cruise ship was sat at the top of the mountain!

As we arrived, staff efficiently removed our baggage and took our car to be valet parked. We were escorted into the hotel through the large wooden doors, which separated the cold December night from the interior of the hotel.

We had booked a room on a 'premier plan' which meant we could access a small club lounge (known as the Premier Salon) on the ground floor, this was modest in what it offered, but there was always a sparkling wine, hot drinks available, as well as some small canapés. The concierge in the Premier Salon helped us to book restaurants - including a fantastic meal in the Out of Africa Restaurant. Noriko was the concierge that helped us with our restaurant reservations and she was so helpful, and efficient.

We stayed for just two nights and enjoyed the pool (hats required - but helpfully available from the staff at the pool. Breakfast was served at Gilligan's Island Restaurant, breakfast was rather formal, but the best bit is the view from the tables by the window, we were fortunate to watch the sunrise from one of these tables.

Our room was large and comfortable with excellent views, but the room was a little dated.

Overall I'd recommend this hotel, it such a unique place, with views to take your breath away, this combined with some of the best restaurants in Hokkaido.