Higashiyama Niseko Village, A Ritz-Carlton Reserve

During my 10-day trip to Hokkaido, the highlight was our stay at the Ritz Carlton Reserve in Niseko for my partner's birthday. The service was impeccable; staff greeted us promptly, assisted with luggage, and offered valet parking. Check-in was comfortable, with attentive staff who spoke fluent English. Upon entering our room, we were welcomed with a towel sculpture birthday cake and a stunning view. The mini bar was well-stocked with complimentary drinks, including a bottle of wine and local cookies from Furuta Farm. The bathroom featured a large bathtub with a nice view, but it was not a hot spring, and cleanliness could be improved in some areas. For dinner, we enjoyed delicious fusion cuisine at Yukibana, where the staff surprised us with a birthday cake. As titanium members, we received a discount, making the meal great value. The hotel offers both indoor and outdoor hot springs, which were relaxing, especially since I had the public one to myself. The direct access to the ski slopes via the hotel gondola was a major perk, and we had a fantastic time snowmobiling, arranged by the hotel. Overall, I was very satisfied with our stay. While there were minor cleanliness issues, the exceptional service and amenities made it a memorable experience.

This hotel is the biggest dissappointment ever! It is not a fine hotel and resort in fact, it is a motel. I have stayed in many Ritz Carltons and even thoguh they are not an OMAN or Four Seasons, they still have the amvience, gym, spa, and overall quality of a 5 star hotel. I was wanred not to stay here and to stay at the PARK Hyatt but did not listen because a RITZ is much better than a Hyatt....NOT! This hotel is absolutely monet thrown away. There is no bar area, nmo music, only one restaurant, etc.....absolutely awful! The staff do go out of their way to please and whenI keeop saying wow this is not a RITZ and they say yes we know we have heard this from meny guests. BUT I paid RITZ prices....outrageious! This hotel is not cheap in fact, I paid over 14K for four nights for nothing. Don't waste your money even coming here...I let AMEX know mmediately and of course there is no cancelation so I would lose all my money. I actually called AMEX and said just put us at the Park Hyatt I will lose my money, but everything sold out there.

This hotel experience is out of this world. Of course the hotel itself is flawless, the rooms are modern, large, and beautiful. The location can’t be beat, literally ski right up to the door and there’s a lift barely 25m away. Make sure to check out Sushi Nagi - the chef and food is phenomenal but so is Sena! Sena is attentive to every need and often brings you what you want without even needing to ask. Her English is flawless and she has a super friendly personality. She would always greet me by name and say hi any time she saw me in the property! She noticed I was trying to learn Japanese and when she would interact with me she’d help teach me new words and phrases. And get a massage from Emi! I did the Sakura Ritual and she is a master! She’s friendly and extremely talented, after all long day of skiing it’s exactly what you need to recover. She also went the extra mile with communication and helped me practice my Japanese during the massage (there was also plenty of quiet relaxation time). This hotel is an amazing experience made even better by the wonderful people who work there.

第一次在日本見到這麼不衛生的酒店。房間內地氈上的餅乾碎兩天也沒有清潔。溫泉裏水龍頭旁的垃圾三天都還在。眼見大部份員工都不是日本人，所以整體衛生情況都不是日本嘅水平。連壽司師傅都冇戴口罩喺度咳同埋打噴嚏之後都冇洗手。 服務質素都不是五星級酒店應有嘅水平。叫早餐時兩樣嘢兩樣都錯。大堂/泊車職員要叫三次先熄咗我架車我架車白白咁樣着咗引擎半個鐘。酒店卡不停壞。連租滑雪用具嘅職員都亂咁噏同我哋講話啲lift開咗，但其實係未開。 整體質素不知所謂。同Park Hyatt 冇得鬥。 Japanese people are known for their cleanliness but somehow the Ritz Carlton Reserve in Niseko was anything but clean. Their proportion of Japanese staff was very low and the majority of staff we saw from housekeeping to the manager appeared to be from Southeast Asia - this showed in the substandard cleaning standard. We were told our room should be cleaned daily which includes vacuuming the carpet, and there is daily turndown service when there's a light cleaning again. The public onsen should be cleaned daily too. However, there were the same biscuit crumbs over the carpet in the middle of the room for 2 days and the same garbage discarded in the public onsen for 3 days in a row. Clearly there is a general culture of being sloppy and negligent. The sushi chef was also coughing and sneezing while handling raw fish without wearing a mask or washing his hands after he did so. Even the disposable napkins had disgusting stains on the packaging. Many of the staff were not properly trained and required repeated prompts. We had to ask the valet/reception staff THREE TIMES to switch off our car because we were still having breakfast and not ready to leave yet - they just kept our car engine running for over half an hour. Breakfast orders were repeatedly wrong. All the key cards they gave us on checking in did not work and had to be redone... Then 3 days later all the cards did not work again - the reception told us the cards "expired"?! Two separate staff who checked us in and showed us around were clueless we already had a booking in the hotel restaurant and kept giving us instructions to book it. Even the in-house ski rental staff wrongly told us the Niseko Village - Hirafu pass was open and we got tricked into paying for the All Mountain Pass. When we complained the manager just said the ski rental is third party and not their problem. Overall, definitely not up to any luxury hotel standard and an embarrassment to the Ritz Carlton brand. Definitely better off staying at Park Hyatt instead.

Fantastic location, staff so friendly and Rio who checked us in was great. The rooms are lovely and large, dinner was amazing and the decor of the hotel is so relaxing. Well worth a stay and it even snowed when we were there. I want to go back to ski soon