Akan Tsuruga Besso Hinanoza

After a long drive, we arrived at the hotel and immediately felt comfortable and welcomed. The staff were consistently friendly, attentive, and always had the right answer to any question.||Having stayed in many hotels and ryokans across Japan, I would personally rank Akan Tsuruga Bessou HINA no ZA as a very close No. 2 on my list—just behind my No. 1, the Kaho in Tsukioka Onsen. But truly, it’s a photo finish!||The dining experience was absolutely fantastic, and the spacious rooms are equipped with everything one could wish for. What really sets excellent hotels apart from merely good ones are the little details. Here, every detail has been thought of—for example, the coffee machine already filled with water, a small but meaningful touch. Even my shoes were cleaned during my stay, something I did not expect.||These thoughtful touches show that everything in this hotel is perfectly cared for. We are deeply grateful to the staff for such a wonderful stay. If our travels bring us back to the area, we will certainly return.

This was my first time staying at a Ryokan and experiencing a lot of traditional Japanese inn culture. The experience really starts on arrival, with a car valet taking care of things and then delivered to a grand entrance hall and lobby. We said goodbye to our shoes for a while and completed the very smooth check in process.||We were escorted to our room by a lovely member of staff who explained the inner workings of our room to complete the check in.||The room:|Big, traditional and warm are the best adjectives. The entrance hall had the toilet and a separate soundproofed door to provide more privacy. The tatami room followed, with a great space, dining table, tv and wardrobe. The other room was the bedroom, containing a sink and a fantastic massage chair. The shower room was in between the bedroom and balcony, that had an outdoor onsen and seating area.||We had twin beds that were super comfy and warm and we both slept well. The onsen was really special as the cold weather was complementing the hotness of the onsen and we really enjoyed it.||However: some recommendations / considerations for the hotel.||The room was, in a way, quite complicated. It felt like a mix of modern and traditional, with the modern parts interfering with the traditional. There’s no usable power sockets near the bed and for some reason the only ones free were by the sink?? The provided stereo is a good idea but our room had the instructions to a different stereo and therefore we couldn’t connect to it - but that might have interrupted the experience somewhat. The shower room wasn’t that private and because of the design of the shower next to the balcony, there was no blackout possible and sunlight poured in at sunrise. There were too many controls located around the room for various functions and this made things a little confusing. I personally feel that the beds needed to switch places with the tatami room, so that there’s better sleep quality and more functional layout. Lastly, we struggled a bit regulating the room temperature as it was a battle of too much heat versus the cold outside.||The hotel:|Ideally located right next to lake Akan, this is a beautiful hotel that exudes character, history and charm. There’s staff were all wonderful and so helpful. The food was also spectacular and the dining kaiseki experience was truly unforgettable. We also had a drink at the bar and really enjoyed the end to our evening.||Overall, a wonderful experience at the lake Akan area that I would fully recommend.

Amazing staff. Really nice hotel with outdoor hotspring. Walking distance to the night walk (discount if you buy tickets from the hotel) and the bokke (mud volcano). Both dinner and breakfast that are inclusive are also very good.

My two-night stay at Akan Tsuruga Bessou HINANOZA in early March was the best hotel experience I’ve had so far! The food was absolutely impeccable, and the service was exceptionally thoughtful. Soaking in the hot spring while enjoying the fireworks over Lake Akan, gazing at the starry night sky, and watching the sunrise, everything was simply perfect. Will definitely visit again—I absolutely loved it!

We stayed 3 nights. The first 2 were on the second floor, but they moved us to a bigger suite with a separate bedroom/beds on the 3rd floor because the staff found our room too cold (heater not fully working). The first two nights' Kaiseki were in room and the third was in the restaurant at our request. All three dinners and breakfasts were wonderful with different ingredients and cooking styles. Our menus were bilingual although the Japanese side was more descriptive. The in-room covered open air (facing Lake Akan) hot bath was great. We were able to watch the fireworks in the bath. The temperature at 42°C (adjustable) was just right for the winter. The in-room massage chair was spot on after a long day of snow activities. We had a marvelous dedicated and very professional staff who took care of our meals and set up the room for tatami after dinner on the first 2 nights. She was the one who noticed our cold room. We communicated mainly thru Google Translate and hand gestures.

Stayed at the hotel for three nights. The lake was fine should weather permit, but lacks adventurous activities. Can’t swim in it, drive any boat by yourself and even canoe rentals have to be accompanied… We went on a guided speedboat twice which was cheap and fun.||The service at the hotel isn’t great across the board. Most of the local employees were cold and aloof, like they were doing us a favor by letting us stay here, spoke no English and didn’t try. One said “I don’t know” in Japanese and no then hung up the phone. Some ladies at the front desk were very kind and always remembered our room number.||Foreign staff were amateur and ignored/misunderstood many of my requests. For example, saying that there were no canoe rentals on the lake which turned out there was and being overly intrusive at dinner. Stayed at about 10+ just this year and the service here sits in the bottom. One Southeast Asian waitress that unfortunately served most of our meals mafe us feel very uncomfortable. She spoke poor english, talked way too much and was quite rude.||Food was initially supurb, but kept declining night after night. Still extremely innovative within the constraints of Kaiseki cuisine. Breakfast had free flowing portions of salmon roe which is great if you like it. Very generous too with all kinds of alcohol free at dinner and later at the lobby lounge.||Onsen facilities were excellent with a unique stone sauna where you put on a towel dress and lay on the stone on another towel and never crowded.||The town was depressing and only one main street long, everything except souvenior shops was closed during our time and restaurants all seemed like cafeterias. We never had lunch.||Rooms, albeit standard was spacious and very well-maintained and designed. Had very nice stereo tower speakers connected to a CD player, with jazz CDs beside it.||Three nights, which I booked is too lengthy even for the lake. There’s only a short path to walk along the lake and a small unpleasant forest trail. Not to mention we arrived from on a propeller powered plane which was the scariest flight of my life and I love to fly. A car is a must here if you don’t want to pay the $100+ cab ride from/to Kushiro airport.||What’s interesting is that service magically improved on the third day of my stay. I’ve had employees gawk/stare at me before and especially male ones never smiled.

Easily one of the less than a hand full hotels I ever stayed. The entire building is impeccably clean . The room is extremely well equipped. Not only there's a Japanese Ryokan style room for perfect esthetics, there's also a western style room for comfort, equipped with stereo equipment, wine fridge and wine fridge. The drinks at the hotel bar are all free of charge, including the alcohol drinks. How cool is that!!

This is the most beautiful place on all Japan trip in Hokkaido and I feel so luckily that we stayed here. People and place are a truly Japanese tradition with high quality of food and beverage. Bath room amenities are so good and they also offer free minibar. |View from our room is so nice with full lake view, we stayed at 5th floor. Huge room with plenty space for you to enjoy here and there. Private onsen is so good and I love doing that every morning and evening.