KASARA NISEKO VILLAGE TOWNHOUSE

While the Kasara unit itself is an incredible place for a group (3 bedrooms & bathrooms, a full kitchen, living room, boot room and garage), the logistical issues surrounding the property tend to overshadow the benefits of the unit itself. There are no grocery stores nearby, so stocking this kitchen will require a car, or a 25min bus ride to Hirafu. Given the buses only run hourly, this will inevitably turn into a long trip. The hotel does offer an on demand driver, but only between the other properties in its portfolio in the immediate vicinity. Unfortunately this means that if you want to rely on this driver for access to restaurants, you’ll be limited to the very sub par to downright bad offerings of the Hilton, Green Leaf, or Niseko village. We tried one of them (Yang Shu Ten) one night and it was legitimately one of the worst restaurant experiences I’ve ever had. We asked if the driver could take us legitimately 6 minutes down the road to another restaurant and the answer was a firm “no”. Given taxis are few and far between, we were told several times not to rely on them, so the only solution was to rely on the Niseko United shuttle bus. For dinner, this meant getting a ~5:20p bus (which will really mess with any post-ski onsen ambitions) to either Hirafu or Annipuri and having a rushed one hour window for dinner before the returning bus, or a long 2 hour window instead. The 8pm bus is the last of the night, which you better not miss. These timing gymnastics also means you better get your schedule and reservations lined up well in advance, for which the concierge can help with, but don’t expect helpful recommendations from them (do your own research - they’ll continue to push the on-site garbage), and anticipate a lot of challenges securing reservations given how small and busy the restaurants in the area are. It all ends up being a ton of homework and all quite disruptive to what should be a leisurely holiday schedule. Much of this can be remedied with your own car, but good luck navigating the very snowy roads in the region. On another note, the breakfast offerings (at the Green Leaf) are surprisingly diverse, yet all grim. Dramatically undercooked bacon, boiled hot dogs, questionable egg slop, pasta, malfunctioning bitter coffee machines are some of the highlights. Again something I would have happily cooked myself in our own kitchen (if we had easy access to groceries). If you’re not going to rent a car, stay in Hirafu. The time and energy you’ll save getting around will pay huge dividends.