Name: Hotel Iwai
Address: 27 Karurusu, Noboribetsu, Noboribetsu, Noboribetsu, 059-0553, Japan
Rating: 8

Elevator/lift

Smoking areas

Reception desk

General

Laundry

Services and amenities

Restaurant

Meals

Free parking

Parking

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Personal protection equipment for staff

Extra decontamination measures

Personal protection equipment for guests

Additional measures against COVID-19

Health and Safety Measures

Location

At the hotel

New Chitose Airport

Hotel Iwai

Noboribetsu

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

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king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

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not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

This is in the grey area between a minshuku and a ryokan, but definitely minshuku prices, and for pretty good minshuku quality.  The onsen is pretty good, as was the food.  It is in the middle of nowhere, but isn't that why you come to an onsen - to take multiple dips, eat good food, and relax in your room?  

Good for the price 

The main problem with the hotel is that it is far away from
everything, several miles from the JR station. The booking.com site
says the hotel picks guests up at the bus terminal but when I called
them from the JR train station, the only words the receptionist could
say in English were 'No speak English please.'  We ended up taking a
3,500Yen taxi cab.  This was annoying but the problem was not a lack
of goodwill by the hotel staff but simply that they could not
understand us, and of course vice-versa, we speak no Japanese. In
fact, once we were at the hotel, we found one staff member who spoke
some English and when we asked how we could go back to the JR station,
he offered that the hotel would get us there. Indeed, on the day of
departure their van drove us directly to the station, no charge.

During our whole stay, staff was always friendly though communication
was limited by our essentially non-existent Japanese language skills.

This seems to be essentially a ski resort that is open also in the
summer. It is located in the Hasukuru onsen area, NOT in the
Noboribetsu onsen area where Hell Valley (and the rest of the action)
is. To get there from the hotel, you have to take a bus (440 each way,
take a ticket when you enter and pay the driver when you exit). It
runs once or twice an hour. 

When we visited, only a few rooms were occupied (none by
Westerners). The hotel is a 4 story building from the 1960s, and the
lobby and hallways were original 60s decor, with some repairs to the
(probably original) Linoleum. Bu it was clean.  

Our room was Japanese style, with Tatami etc. It was nice and clean it
must have been renovated recently. There was an ash tray in the room
but no smell of smoke. My wife who is more eagle-eyed for such things
than I am, pointed out that the wooden accents on the wall and doors
as well as the Tatami were actually plastic, not wood or rice straw,
respectively. I liked it nevertheless.  Sleeping arrangements were the
usual futons on tatami, prepared by another attendant. You'd better
like sleeping very hard (which I do).

Meals (breakfast and dinner) were served in the room, Ryokan style, by
a friendly attendant. She understood and spoke very simple English,
about as much as we speak Japanese (in both cases, Yes, No, somewhat
shaky knowledge of the numbers till ten, that's about it). Otherwise
it was communication-by-gesticulation. Food was good and ample but not
exceptional. If you don't take the meals at the hotel, you have to
bring your own, there is no restaurant or place to buy anything in
either the hotel nor, as far as we can tell, in any of the other three
or four hotels close by (the hotel gift shop sells snacks, like dried
fruit, in addition to plastic trinkets etc). Everything is a bus or
car ride away.

The hotel has a nice onsen with one outside basin and two
inside. Temperature of the hottest was listed as 43C, must be about
110F. Hot!!

The environment was beautiful and serene, all trees and mountains. The
only sounds were from the rushing creek right next to the hotel and the
bird calls.

There is really nothing to do in the 'neighborhood' which consists of
another few equally deserted (or completely closed-for-season) hotels,
other than walking along the road. There is a small shrine of little
interest. There is a nature trail connecting to the Noboritseku onsen
area which is supposed to take 3 hours. We did not walk it.

No Wifi or wired internet, and no cellular signal whatsoever. I doubt
that the hotel itself is connected to the internet, our reservation
apparently came by fax. The room has a TV which has 5 Japanese
channels. Bring a good book!

This is not a bad hotel but there is really no reason to come here
except for solitude and quiet (and probably skiing in the
winter). Maybe there are backpacking possibilities but you sure would
have to bring everything you need, including all equipment, food and
maps. I strongly recommend to have a rental car, this is the one area
in Japan where we found public transportation a bit lacking.

Hotel Iwai

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