Noboribetsu Hotels with Bars

Everything was lovely. The grand bath was an eye opener and I love it. The breakfast spread was good too! We had ramen at one of the restaurants in the hotel at around 830pm after watching the demon show. We stayed there for 2 nights and did not utilise the grand bath on the 2nd night. I was charged the osen for 2 nights. My friend was not charged for the 2 nights as he did not utilize the onsen. The staff should have asked me before requesting payment of the 2 nights. - Carrine

This is a belated post. I stayed 1 night in this hotel in May 2018 and it was unforgettable. Each room is as big as an apartment, complete with lounge and private onsen in the bathroom. But I must warn that the bathroom windows have no shades and it looks out to the car park and forest (depending on which side of the hotel your room is). Overall, the rooms are big, beds are comfortable and bathrooms are luxurious. The breakfast is also delicious!

Noboribetsu, Hokkaido Prefecture. Filled with the mists of the North Pacific Ocean deep in the forrest valley lies the home of the thermal volcanic “hell valley”, all-natural hot springs, lakes, and the cuddly Bear Mountain Park. This is a tourist’s escape from whatever burdens them in the city, into the natural wonderland of mountains, hot spring streams, and warm local hospitality. The Noboribetsu Grand Hotel was opened in 1938. What was the Noboribetsu Guest House now revolutionized and expanded into a 300 plus room hotel with a finished off with a hot spring spa. Now a popular holiday getaway for the tourists both from Japan and abroad, this hotel packs itself to the brim both during the hot summers and the freezing winters. As part of our adventures down and around Hokkaido, we experienced this hotel and here’s our honest review of the Noboribetsu Grand Hotel: Our stay occurred from July 22nd to 23rd, this was our first night in Hokkaido after a long flight from Shanghai. A long hour drive from the highly trafficked New Chitose Airport would lead you to the Grand Hotel. Upon driving up, you would see how old the hotel is with its grey tiled walls and white drive up area. Greeting us at the hotel were the bellmen bowing as they would in the Japanese-style etiquette as you enter the lobby filled with one of Noboribetsu’s gift shop, monster figures, and marbled front desk area. None of the staff members spoke much English, so our lovely tour guide helped us in translation. Our check-in agent guided us through the specific details of the hotel facilities, breakfast facilities, and tatami installation times. We were given a 4-person Japanese-style “VIP” room, which consists of an at most 30 SQM space with a tatami floored living/bedroom space combination, a sitting room, a toilet room, a sink area, and a compact bathroom with separate shower & bathtub facilities. During the daytimes, living room acts a place for dining and seating with tatami chairs and a table. The TV stands at a corner. At around 7PM, the room attendants would turnover the tatami beds by moving the tables and chairs into the closet space and setting up the tatami beds. The tatami beds were rather inconvenient for us because of the size of the pillows that made of the tatami rather hard to sleep on. Don’t get us wrong, tatami beds are an efficient sleeping beds for families, but a single small sized pillow per bed makes the difference between authentic Japanese comfort and discomfort. Much of the challenge during the sleeping process was making sure your body stayed on the mattress when getting used to the firm yet small bean-filled pillow. I would recommend rooms that they provide that caters to a more westernized style with full beds. The tatami issue is a situation the hotel needs to revamp on. If they can start providing extra pillows in the closet or thicker sized pillows, it would be a great turnaround. The Japanese Hot Spring SPA concept is quite bizarre. Unlike mos

Front desk attendant was very friendly and polite - please be aware that you may have to knock on the glass front door if you do not yet have your access PIN as it is often locked. Small lockers for luggage (backpack size) are available free of charge - you will either require a small padlock or purchase one for just 100yen in the machine next to the lockers. In accordance with its price, the room furnishings are of simple wooden construction but very spacious inside and have a nice natural scent of pine as you sleep 😌. Plenty of shared access amenities such as guest fridge, freezer, microwave, etc. Location is ideal as it is next to JR noboribetsu station, from which you can pay roughly ¥650 for a round trip (12 minutes each way) bus ticket to Hell valley (jigokudani). Incredible alternative to a stay in the large hotels up there for travellers on a budget, particularly as most hotels will sell access to their onsens to non-guests for around ¥2,000!