luxury hotels and ryokan in hokkaido

Luxury Hotels and Ryokan in Hokkaido

The best luxury ryokan in Hokkaido, in our judgement, are Zaborin in Niseko, fifteen villas each with two onsen of the ryokan's own spring, and Ao no Za on Lake Shikotsu, where every suite is over a hundred square metres with an open-air onsen facing the lake. Takinoya at Noboribetsu draws four kinds of spring; Kuramure, above Otaru, gives every room an onsen of its own. Our Hokkaido tours stay at three of these four, and every hotel and ryokan we know on the island is set out below, area by area.

On this page
Eighteen hotels and ryokan, each with its own page
Our tours stay at
Fourteen of them, on four tours and Pure Hokkaido
Areas
Sapporo, Niseko, Otaru, the lakes, Hakodate, central Hokkaido and the east
See the list
The long indoor onsen of Kitakobushi Shiretoko behind a wall of glass, the Okhotsk Sea and a green headland beyond
The onsen hall of Kitakobushi Shiretoko, the Okhotsk Sea beyond the glass.
The low wooden wings of Mori no Ryotei Biei lit from within at blue hour among tall birch and spruce
Mori no Ryotei Biei in its forest of birch and spruce at blue hour.

Hokkaido's great ryokan stand where the island's volcanoes give them water: the caldera lakes of Shikotsu, Toya and Akan, the valley of Jigokudani at Noboribetsu, the slopes of Niseko Annupuri and the gorge of Jozankei. Distances are long, so the order of the nights matters more here than anywhere in Japan. A route that keeps to one side of the island, south-west in spring and summer, the east for the wild coast, gives every afternoon to the onsen rather than the road.

area by area

The luxury hotels and ryokan of Hokkaido

Every hotel and ryokan on the island we have written a page for, grouped by where it stands, each with the tours and journeys that stay there.

Where the hotels stand. A filled dot is a place where our tours stay.

Sapporo and Jozankei

The island's capital and the onsen gorge forty minutes from its centre.

Niseko

Powder in winter, Mount Yotei all year, and two ryokan of five and fifteen rooms in the birch forest of Hanazono.

  • Zaborin

    ryokan

    Fifteen villas in the birch forest of Hanazono, each with an onsen indoors and another outdoors, fed by the ryokan's own spring from about a thousand metres down, Mount Yotei across the pastures.

  • Shiguchi

    ryokan

    Five rooms in three farmhouses some 150 years old, taken down in Honshu and raised again in Hanazono, every room with an outdoor onsen of unfiltered, unheated spring water.

  • Hilton Niseko Village

    hotel

    At the south foot of Niseko Annupuri, beside the gondola, with skiing to and from the door and an open-air onsen beside a carp pond, Mount Yotei across the valley.

Otaru

The canal port west of Sapporo, and the Nikka distillery at Yoichi along the coast.

  • Kuramure

    ryokan · Asari

    A small ryokan in the hills of Asari above the port of Otaru, its rooms furnished with antiques, each with an onsen half open to the air, and a bar with Yoichi whisky open to every guest.

    Our tours stay hereThe Summer Tour of Hokkaido, Pure Hokkaido

Noboribetsu

Hokkaido's great onsen town, beside the steaming valley of Jigokudani.

Lake Toya and Lake Shikotsu

Two caldera lakes in Shikotsu-Toya National Park, each with ryokan whose suites carry their own onsen.

  • Hikari no Uta

    resort

    Forty-eight rooms on a hill of gardens above Lake Toya, the suites to 123 square metres with an open-air onsen, Mount Usu, Showa-Shinzan and Mount Yotei around it.

    Our tours stay hereThe Cherry Blossom Tour of Hokkaido

  • Konosumika

    hotel

    At the water's edge of Lake Toya, every room turned to the lake with an open-air onsen of its own, and a shared onsen built as an infinity pool high above the water.

    Our tours stay hereThe Summer Tour of Hokkaido

  • Ao no Za

    ryokan

    A ryokan of suites on the shore of Lake Shikotsu, an hour from New Chitose Airport, every suite over a hundred square metres with its own open-air onsen facing the lake and the volcano of Eniwa.

    Our tours stay hereThe Summer Tour of Hokkaido, The Wild North Tour of Hokkaido

  • Mizu no Uta

    resort

    Forty-nine rooms at Shikotsuko Onsen, forty minutes from New Chitose Airport, some of its rooms with an open-air onsen among the trees, all drawing on the soft spring water of Shikotsuko Onsen.

    Our tours stay hereThe Cherry Blossom Tour of Hokkaido

Hakodate and Onuma

The southern port, its night view from Mount Hakodate, and the lake country of Onuma to the north.

  • Bourou Noguchi Hakodate

    ryokan · Yunokawa Onsen

    A modern onsen ryokan at Yunokawa, Hakodate's hot-spring quarter, its top-floor onsen looking across the Tsugaru Strait, many rooms with a bath of their own by the window.

    Our tours stay hereThe Autumn Leaves Tour of Northern Japan

  • La Vista Hakodate Bay

    hotel

    On the harbour front of Hakodate, a minute from the red-brick warehouses, with an onsen on its top floor over the harbour and Mount Hakodate.

  • Epuy

    resort

    In the Onuma Quasi-National Park beneath the volcano Komagatake, half an hour from Hakodate, with a botanical garden of herbs and flowers, and rooms with an open-air onsen on a deck of their own.

    Our tours stay hereThe Cherry Blossom Tour of Hokkaido

Biei and Sounkyo

The patchwork hills of Biei and the gorge at the foot of Daisetsuzan.

  • Mori no Ryotei Biei

    ryokan · Shirogane Onsen

    Seventeen rooms in a forest of birch and spruce at Shirogane Onsen above Biei, each with its own open-air onsen, the Blue Pond a short drive away.

    Our tours stay hereThe Summer Tour of Hokkaido

  • Sounkyo Choyotei

    hotel

    At Sounkyo Onsen, at the foot of Daisetsuzan, its observation onsen on the seventh floor facing the columnar cliffs of the gorge through forty metres of glass.

    Our tours stay hereThe Wild North Tour of Hokkaido

Lake Akan and Shiretoko

The wild east: a caldera lake and its Ainu village, and the World Heritage peninsula on the Okhotsk Sea.

our tours

Hokkaido, with us

Four of our tours and one journey of The Private Collection stay at the hotels and ryokan on this page, and our Hokkaido tours page sets every tour and journey on the island side by side.

questions

Questions about Hokkaido's hotels

What is the best luxury ryokan in Hokkaido?

In our judgement, Zaborin in Niseko, fifteen villas each with two onsen of the ryokan's own spring, and Ao no Za on Lake Shikotsu, every suite over a hundred square metres with an open-air onsen facing the lake.

Which Hokkaido ryokan have an onsen in every room?

Zaborin, Shiguchi, Kuramure, Ao no Za, Konosumika, Mori no Ryotei Biei and Hinanoza all give every room an onsen of its own; at Takinoya, Hikari no Uta and Mizu no Uta the suites and some of the rooms have one.

Is there a luxury resort in Niseko?

Yes. Zaborin and Shiguchi are small ryokan in Hanazono, and Hilton Niseko Village has skiing from the door. Our private ski journeys to Niseko are set out on luxury ski Japan, and to ski it yourself, a Japan ski itinerary is written for your party, from $550.

Where should I stay in Sapporo?

Sapporo Grand Hotel, a few minutes on foot from Odori Park, or forty minutes away in the gorge of Jozankei at Jozankei Tsuruga Mori no Uta, whose cottages have their own onsen.

Which Hokkaido hotels do your tours stay in?

Fourteen of the eighteen on this page, from Sapporo Grand Hotel to Kitakobushi Shiretoko; each hotel above names its tours. Pure Hokkaido stays at Takinoya, Kuramure and Sapporo Grand Hotel on the dates you choose.

How many nights should I spend at a Hokkaido ryokan?

Two, wherever the route allows: the first evening is for arriving, the onsen and dinner, and the second day for the lake, the valley or the coast around it. Our tours spend two or three nights at most of their ryokan.

further reading

Before you choose

Hokkaido's ryokan, chosen for you.

Tell us when you would like to be in Hokkaido and what you would like to see, and we will tell you which ryokan we would choose for you, and in which order.

Every hotel and ryokan we know is set out region by region in luxury hotels and ryokan in Japan, and The Private Collection offers private tours of Japan on your own dates.