Review: Park Hyatt Niseko Hanazono, Japan (Stellar Ski Resort!)

For the main destination of our winter trip to Tokyo & Niseko, we spent five nights at the Park Hyatt Niseko with friends. This is a property that has been on my radar for a long time — I like Park Hyatts, I love Japan, and we’re always looking for different ski destinations. While I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, I walked away thoroughly impressed.

Admittedly this isn’t a boutique property. Quite to the contrary, it’s a massive compound, with 100 hotel rooms (28 of which are suites) and 113 residences. Despite that, I found this to be a beautiful and well run property, especially given the challenging reality of running a ski resort (and seasonal labor).

The Park Hyatt Niseko has gorgeous interior design that exceeded my expectations, and impressive amenities, from a huge indoor pool, to an onsen, to two gyms, to karaoke rooms. The hotel also has a huge selection of dining outlets, which we found to be very good.

I’d return in a heartbeat, and would highly recommend a trip here, whether you’re looking for a ski adventure in winter, or just want a base for exploring Hokkaido and the region in summer.

Booking the Park Hyatt Niseko

As you’d expect, rates at the Park Hyatt Niseko vary massively throughout the year. For guest rooms, rates range from $250 or so in spring or fall, to over $2,000 per night in the peak of winter. While Niseko has a long ski season, rates are by far the most expensive in January and February, when the ski conditions are the best.

If redeeming points, the Park Hyatt Niseko is a Category 8 World of Hyatt property, meaning a free night redemption costs anywhere from 35,000 to 45,000 points per night. That can be a good deal in winter, but is less of a good deal in summer.

We visited in early March, which seemed to be a bit of a sweet spot. Rates were way less than in January and February (if you can even find availability), but conditions are still good, and you get a bit more daylight as well.

We actually decided to book a two bedroom residence. We did this both because it was a better deal than booking two guest rooms, and also because it would be fun to have a shared space, since we were traveling with friends. Our two bedroom residence cost $1,300 per night including breakfast. Obviously that’s not cheap, but it’s also quite a good deal compared to what you’d pay for many properties elsewhere.

Best of all, we were starting during World of Hyatt’s Bonus Journeys promotion, so as a Globalist member paying with a co-branded credit card, I was earning 15.5x points per dollar spent, which I value at a roughly 23% incremental return.

If you’re paying cash for your stay, I’d recommend booking through the Hyatt Privé program, which offers extra perks. That can be used for both the hotel and residences.

If you’re trying to decide between the residences and hotel, it’s worth understanding that the entire property is three buildings that are connected via interior hallways. All guests get access to the same amenities, the same breakfast, etc. So you don’t have to worry that a residence will give you access to more limited amenities, or something like that.

Park Hyatt Niseko location & transportation

The Park Hyatt Niseko is located on the island of Hokkaido. If you’re flying to the region, you’re best off arriving at New Chitose Airport (CTS) near Sapporo, which has quite a bit of air connectivity.

Conveniently, the Park Hyatt Niseko runs a daily bus service between the airport and the hotel, though of course you have to time your flights accordingly. The bus is complimentary for Globalist members, and costs 12,650 JPY (~90 USD) roundtrip per person for others. The bus is quite luxurious, with seats in a 1-2 configuration, and significant recline.

The drive takes a little under 2.5 hours, and that includes a 20-minute stop along the way to use bathrooms. This is also a big store selling everything from snacks to alcohol, should you want to stock up on things before going to the hotel.

Note that if your flight timing doesn’t coincide with when the shuttle service runs, there are other shuttles running between Niseko and airport, though not directly from the hotel. Alternatively, you can expect that a private transfer between the airport and hotel will cost somewhere around 50,000 JPY (~350 USD)

The Park Hyatt Niseko is located in the Hanazono area of Niseko, and it’s pretty secluded, so there aren’t many places you can walk. Fortunately during ski season, a free shuttle is operated every 20 minutes over select hours to Hirafu, and there you’ll find lots of shopping, bars, restaurants, and more. Otherwise you can of course arrange private transfers — I’ve seen a lot of reports online about very limited taxi availability, but we had good luck with Japan’s “GO” taxi app.

Park Hyatt Niseko lobby, & check-in

The Park Hyatt Niseko has two separate lobbies, with one being for the residences, and one being for the hotel. The second I walked into the hotel, my expectations were exceeded. The hotel looked nice in pictures, but it was even more elegant and luxurious-feeling than I was expecting, especially for a ski resort. The design is breathtaking, and almost reminded me of the Park Hyatt Kyoto, in some ways (which is quite a compliment).

My impression of the check-in experience was less positive. When the hotel’s own bus is arriving at the hotel, you’d think the front desk would be well staffed, and they’d have welcome drinks (or something) ready. Instead, we arrived only to find one person at check-in, with multiple parties arriving at the same time. Fortunately this was one of the few service failures during our stay.

With keys in hand, we proceeded down the hallway to the elevators, and up to our residence.

In the interest of being thorough, below are some pictures of what the hotel side of the property’s lobby looks like.

Park Hyatt Niseko two bedroom residence

We were assigned room A309, a two bedroom residence located on the third floor (the building we were in had nine floors).

The residence was a great size, and measured 140 square meters (1,507 square feet). The main part of the residence was a living area, with a kitchen, a dining table with a couch and three chairs, and a sitting area by the windows, with a couch and chair.

The kitchen was large, and had a fridge, a microwave, an oven, etc. There were a variety of drinks and snacks for purchase, plus complimentary Nespresso coffee and TWG tea. There were also some sweets and fruit as a welcome amenity.

Off the living room was a washer and dryer, which sure is a handy feature to have when traveling.

The living room area also had a full bathroom with a sink, toilet, and walk-in shower, meaning the residence had three full bathrooms… wow!

On one side of the living room was the primary bedroom, separated by two sliding doors, with a comfortable king size bed.

Past the bedroom was a closet area…

…and past that was the bathroom, with double sinks, a toilet, and a shower “compound” with both a walk-in shower and a soaking tub.

Toiletries were from Le Labo, in individual bottles.

Also off the primary bedroom was an onsen, which we used multiple times a day… what a treat to have this amenity, especially with a view like this!

The other bedroom was on the opposite side of the living room, and had twin beds, plus a sitting area by the window. Unfortunately all the two bedroom residences have one bedroom with twin beds. I get that’s useful for families, but it’s not ideal for couples traveling together.

The second bedroom also had double sinks, a walk-in shower, and a toilet.

It even had a wet bar of sorts.

The entire residence overlooked the ski slopes, plus Mount Yotei in the distance.

Honestly, the residence exceeded my expectations in terms of its size and design. When traveling with friends, it’s so much better to have a common space you can share, rather than just having two hotel rooms.

Park Hyatt Niseko spa & onsen

The Park Hyatt Niseko has an onsen, open daily from 6AM until 10PM, and it’s in the middle of the property, between the hotel and residences. Technically reservations are required, in order to limit capacity.

The facility is gender segregated, and the onsen for men had two baths.

The hotel also had a steam room and sauna.

I imagine the onsen gets quite busy in the afternoons once people return from skiing. For the most part we just used our own private onsen, so I can’t speak much to the vibe, or how strictly people adhere to the nudity requirement.

The Park Hyatt Niseko has a spa, with six treatment rooms, including two treatment rooms for couples, with private onsens. I didn’t end up getting any treatments, though you can find the treatment menu here.

Park Hyatt Niseko indoor pool

The Park Hyatt Niseko has an impressive 25-meter indoor pool, also open daily from 6AM until 10PM. This has to be one of the prettiest pools I’ve seen at a ski property, and it also has four hot tubs with jets next to it.

Park Hyatt Niseko gyms

The Park Hyatt Niseko has two gyms, with one being in the hotel wing, and the other being in the residences wing. We used one gym or the other every day, and they were never crowded, and had an excellent selection of both cardio and strength training equipment.

Below is what the gym on the hotel side looks like…

…and below is what the gym on the residences side looks like.

Park Hyatt Niseko restaurants & bars

The Park Hyatt Niseko is an absolute food & beverage powerhouse, and I don’t remember the last time I’ve stayed at a hotel with so many different concepts (I mean, I suppose Las Vegas hotels might be able to compete, but… that requires going to Las Vegas).

For one, the variety of dining options is absolutely massive, with so many distinct concepts, from Japanese, to Chinese, to Italian, to French, to coffee shops, to grab & go counters. Here’s the hotel’s dining webpage, which also includes links to all the menus. Furthermore, given the weakness of the JPY, all the meals are really well priced (at least by US standards), much more affordable than you’d find at comparable luxury ski resorts back home.

If you’re visiting in peak season, you’ll want to be sure that you make reservations in advance, as is common in Japan, or you may be left with few options. The restaurants aren’t just popular with hotel guests, but also with outsiders, and the people watching was amazing at times. While I’ll talk more about breakfast in the next section, let’s cover the rest of the food and drink situation here.

Many of the hotel’s restaurants are located along a central “food hall” of sorts, connecting the residence and hotel portion of the property.

As you enter this area, there’s a Pierre Hermé shop, with everything from coffee, to tea, to fresh pastries.

Past that is a grab & go area, with everything from soft drinks and wine, to packaged snacks.

Then there’s a casual deli, where you can grab sandwiches, pizza, beer, and more.

My favorite meal at the hotel was probably at Teppan, a teppanyaki concept with Japanese and French inspiration (admittedly this is also the most expensive restaurant at the hotel).

We also enjoyed our dinner at Robata, serving local seafood and produce, with an awesome testing menu.

For a more casual dinner, China Kitchen was very good.

While we didn’t eat there, I also heard good things about the Italian restaurant, Olivio.

Many people also seem to enjoy Molière Montagne, the French restaurant.

The property also has two massive lobby lounges, serving drinks most of the day. The lobby lounge in the residence area is pretty, but was almost always empty. What a nice space from which to work, though!

The lobby lounge in the hotel area is also nice, and is a bit more lively, as breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served there. There’s even live music some nights, with a great performer.

If you ask me, the one thing missing from this hotel when it comes to dining is some sort of outdoor area. Admittedly it gets cold in Niseko, but at least in other parts of the world, it’s common for hotels to have large terraces where people often hang out for lunch or to apres ski. I think that could really add to the vibe of this place.

Park Hyatt Niseko breakfast

The Park Hyatt Niseko serves breakfast daily from 7AM until 10:30AM, in two venues. There’s a buffet in the “food hall” area, as I call it (where we ate breakfast each morning), and then there’s a buffet in the lobby lounge area of the hotel. The food selection is identical, so it’s just a function of what vibe you prefer.

Essentially the breakfast buffet is set up largely in the hall connecting restaurants, as well as at China Kitchen and Robata, and then you can move freely between these spaces.

As soon as you sit down, one of the servers comes by to take your drink order.

Across the board, I found the drinks to be excellent. For example, the cappuccinos were properly barista made, rather than being from a machine, which was a pleasant surprise, given how busy breakfast can get.

I also enjoyed the juices, iced lattes, and more.

Often at larger hotels you have to work hard to flag someone down to get you coffee, but here, the staff were on top of it, even with refills.

The rest of the breakfast concept is entirely from the buffet, with the exception of staff sometimes walking around offering freshly baked creations, like the below Pierre Hermé croissants, which we couldn’t resist.

The breakfast buffet had a large selection of Asian and Western options. Cold options included things like yogurt, fresh fruit, cake, pastries, croissants, cold cuts, cheese, cereal, and salad.

Hot options were all over the place, and included eggs prepared various ways, sausage, bacon, soup, fish, and more.

There was also a station where you could have eggs prepared to your liking, as well as a noodle station.

Park Hyatt Niseko skiing

The Park Hyatt Niseko is a ski-in ski-out property, and it has all the amenities that you’d expect, from ski rentals, to a ski concierge. One major advantage to skiing in Japan (vs. the United States) is just how much cheaper everything is, from the ski rentals, to the lift tickets. It’s a fraction of what you’d pay in Aspen or Park City, for example.

Niseko gets an unreal amount of snow, given how far north it is. I’m not a big skier, but our friend, Scott, basically lives on the slopes, so I asked for his take on the ski conditions. As he explained:

Great skiing conditions with consistent snowfall and plenty of coverage. It was a little heavier / wetter than I expected, but that’s probably a function of warmer spring temps.

While visiting in March was awesome as a non-skier, I guess I understand why the rates are so much higher in January and February, because apparently the skiing conditions are ridiculously good.

Park Hyatt Niseko service

Before our stay, I had heard mixed reviews of service at the Park Hyatt Niseko. Admittedly Japan has very high standards for service, and ski resorts often struggle with providing good service, given their reliance on seasonal labor.

With that in mind, service at the Park Hyatt Niseko exceeded my expectations. Staff at the hotel were a combination of Japanese and foreign (Filipino, Chinese, Australian, etc.), and across the board, everyone was professional, well intentioned, and attentive.

Admittedly this is a massive property with a lot of guests, so don’t expect that staff will remember exact preferences or names. But when you take that into account, I’d say service at the property was as good as one could hope.

Bottom line

I had been wanting to visit the Park Hyatt Niseko since it opened in 2020, and it sure didn’t disappoint. This is a top notch resort with gorgeous design, great accommodations, impressive amenities, endless dining options, and friendly service.

Admittedly this is sort of a mega resort, which has both its pros and cons. It’s great, because there’s no shortage of dining options and entertainment, and this is a destination in and of itself. But if you’re just looking for the world’s best ski resort experience, it doesn’t offer the intimate experience you’d get at Les Airelles Couchevel, for example, which is the most over-the-top ski resort I’ve visited.

I’d absolutely return to this resort, and would even consider doing so in summer, using it as a base for exploring Hokkaido, as the region has a lot to offer.

What do you make of the Park Hyatt Niseko?