Jozankei Tsuruga Resort Spa MORI no UTA

The location was inconvenient, away from the main onsen street and attractions. The buffet dinner included with the room was the worst I've had at a Hokkaido hotel, with little variety and very average quality. I plan to skip it tomorrow and find a restaurant outside. We booked a private onsen duplex in Rinouta, but the room felt old and poorly maintained for a high-grade hotel. The amenities weren't arranged thoughtfully. There was just one box of tissues for the entire 700 sq ft room, no rubbish bin in the powder room, and the refrigerator door wouldn't stay shut, popping open by itself. Hot water took 5 minutes to reach the shower after turning on the tap, which wastes water and isn't environmentally friendly. For three people in a private onsen room that wasn't cheap, we got only two bottles of water each day. Onsen bathing can dehydrate you, so drinking water matters, and that amount for three guests felt unreasonable. Many other hotel brands provide unlimited drinking water, including hikarinouta, the same brand's hotel in Toya where I stayed for three days. Service was terrible. Staff first asked my wife to check herself in on the computer. What kind of service is that? The staff also spoke poor English, which made communication difficult. I assumed this was an international hotel brand and expected better.

Soaking in the open-air hot spring while snow fell was fantastic. It was almost a perfect hotel.

The standout for us was the service. Every staff member was friendly and welcoming. We had a room with a private onsen, called a “villa,” though it was more like a townhouse setup with five rooms joined together. The bed was on a mezzanine, so you had to use the stairs, and the bathroom was outdoors, which was inconvenient in the cold. The wooden stairs also carried the sound of neighbors stomping and doing other things very clearly. Service: 10/10. Room: 7/10, poor soundproofing. Food: 7/10, average breakfast and dinner buffets.

The hotel is new, modern, clean, and comfortable, though it's not the most luxurious onsen stay. We spent two nights there. The price wasn't the highest, but it was definitely on the expensive side. Check-in went smoothly, and the staff were informative, though less warm than I'd expect at an onsen hotel. The dinner buffet was the biggest letdown. There was a good range of food, but the quality wasn't good. I came for the Japanese beef, which was about the only special dish I'd expect at a luxury onsen hotel with food as good as a traditional onsen dinner. The fruit selection was a joke. My four-star hotel in Sapporo had five or six kinds, while this place offered only grapes and melon jelly, not actual melon. I was really disappointed.