The hotel staff were very welcoming, and the dinner and breakfast were plentiful. I visited both the private and public hot springs. The private hot springs were very popular; they were almost fully booked by 6 PM. Experiencing an open-air hot spring on a snowy day was quite an experience.
The space is very large. It is more than enough to live in a family. Plus the kitchen can cook by yourself. It is quite cost-effective for this price.
I lived quite satisfied two years ago and came back again. There are some changes. The kitchen no longer provides simple seasonings. You need to bring your own.
A word of advice to Chinese travelers: Before booking, always check if your hotel room has air conditioning! Otherwise, checking in during the scorching heat and being assigned a non-AC room can be incredibly frustrating. Thanks to the Ctrip agent who constantly communicated with the hotel front desk, and despite insisting I didn't see the ”no air conditioning” notice, they finally upgraded me to a private Japanese-style room with a private bathroom and mountain views. This unexpectedly made my 3-day, 2-night trip to the Shiretoko Five Lakes a delight.