Hoshino Resorts Aomoriya

Hiking Through the Misty Forests and Seaside Vistas of Tohoku, Japan | Condé Nast Traveler

"By the time I arrived at Hoshino Resorts Aomoriya the flakes were coming down hard, and the cavernous ground floor—full of families in blue samue under apple-shaped paper lanterns—felt like a cozy, playful refuge: it houses a lacquerware gallery, a tank where guests can fish out scallops for prizes, a late-night izakaya serving fried chicken and sake, and a tree-shaped faucet dispensing complimentary local apple juice, while the floor below stages traditional matsuri festival scenes. I passed under a magnificent two-story tower gate, crunched past horse stables where a black pony stood motionless in the flurries, admired hand-painted frog deities along a lakeside promenade and a crimson wooden bridge, soaked my cold feet at the footbath onsen pavilion, and then indulged in a dinner of amberjack sashimi, maitake mushroom tempura, seven kinds of roe and chestnut ice cream before using the indoor hiba bathtub and the heated outdoor infinity pool as fat flakes melted on my head." - Adam H. Graham