Kasara Niseko Village Townhouse

We went on a ski holiday and the location of these townhouses is excellent. If there is a lot of snow (and there usually is) it is technically possible to "ski-in" but not "ski-out", however, it's ont an issue at all because it's such a short walk to the Greenleaf (lockers available to stores skis etc) and that's beside the closest gondola. It is amazingly easy to access all 4 ski field areas (go up the top - no need to use the shuttle). The townhouse is luxurious and has excellent facilities. It has an internal garage and we had hired a car so that was a real plus. The toiletries provided are L'Occitane, which is really nice. There is heaps of space and it's very well equipped. The only slight negatives for us were that the lighting in the kitchen is very dim - it really needs more light! Also the hot water took an extremely long time to get hot - so long that I would turn on the shower and then go and get my ski gear ready and turn the jug on for a cup of tea and it would then finally be hot. The concierge service was great, although we were so self-sufficient that we only used it for information. A heated towel rail in the master bathroom would be really good or at the very least some hooks or more places to hang towels! The wooden bath was great I had a soak each night after skiing. Overall a fabulous place to stay.

My friends and I did not enjoy the stay at Kasara. Few things we wanted to point out, the cleanliness is not good enough that we saw a lot of dusts around the house, counter tops and shelfs. ||||Secondly, there is NO hot water available for every member of the house. We have gotten a maintenance to come over during the stay to try to fix it, but it did not improve as the maintenance guy said it is the fixed equipment that only allowing 2 person to shower at once. After which, it will stop spiting hot water. This is detrimental to a house that supposed to house 6 people comfortably during winter. There may be onsen in green leaf, but it does not make sense that we cannot shower in the accommodation we are staying in, and need to go across the road, bearing the coldness to go onsen to shower. ||||Thirdly, excess to Hirafu is very bad from Niseko village. As there were very limited restaurants in Niseko village due to closure, we had to go to Hirafu for dining. However, the transportation is so limited and runs till latest 935pm only. This means we cannot have a meaningful dinner and drinks, where we have to rush to come back to hotel. The concierge was not even helpful to help us get a taxi, where it is utterly an failure, not functioning as a concierge.||||At the price point they are asking, all these does not make sense, where there are other accommodation with better amenities and services with lower prices. ||||Therefore, it is very very difficult to recommend this accommodation to any one, we will be actively avoiding Niseko village as a whole, and will actively convince friends and family not to stay in Niseko village when there are in Niseko.

We had a great time for 3 nights at this townhouse, enough to sleep up to 6 comfortably. It can also hold another 2 at the dinning room. It totally give you the home experience and I can stay without the need to go out of the house. The bathtub at the master bedroom was interesting n I will post a picture of it in a few days.||The staff there was very thoughtful. They actually bought us cream puff from the popular milk store, Milk Kobo n put in the fridge at the start of our stay. Their service was prompt when we message them. Truly top level!||The skiing area was not very big for beginners but at least I was able to get a lesson for my boy unlike some other resort.||Overall, this place is top notch. Thanks.|

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.

We loved staying in the Kasaro Niseko Village Townhouse, a short walk from the Greenleaf Hotel, but fully self contained. The townhouse is very comfortable with all mod cons, full kitchen, laundry and wet/drying room, 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. It was beautiful to wake up to the snowscape outside our windows and the view of Mt Yotei. We particularly liked not being in the hotel, but having access to the hotel facilities, such as the onsen (heaven), bar, spa, restaurant, lockers for skis etc and a gondola right at the door. Not that staying in the hotel would be bad by any means! Definitely ski-in ski-out from the hotel, then a short walk back to the townhouse. The concierge service around the village was also extremely helpful. Niseko Village is a small resort area about 15 mins drive from Hirafu which gives it a lovely quiet country feel, but there are regular shuttle buses to the main village of Hirafu and other areas giving many extra options for skiing, dining and bars, so the best of both worlds. The snow was perfect too. We would love to stay here again and highly recommend it.

Kasara townhouses are fabulous and the service simply amazing. |Any issue we had was dealt with efficiently and quickly. And our personal concierges were available between 8am and 8pm daily. We simply had to what’s app him/ her and transport/ restaurant bookings or anything we needed was arranged timeously. We had a problem with the downstairs toilet smelling and it was fixed in a jiffy. |The townhouse is reasonably well appointed though the kitchen poorly lit and not well kitted out for westerners. |They only give you a set of 8 plates and cutlery so, you run out of things quickly if you eat dinner at home and then want to make breakfast. There is no dishwasher so you have to wash up but there is a wine fridge!|There’s also no space for groceries. |Apart from this though, which is minor, the houses are lovely and beds enormously comfortable with crisp clean sheets and wonderful feather pillows and duvets. |The houses are true quality and the kids got a huge buzz out of the toilets which have a movement sensor to open when you enter, and close and flush when you leave. |Water pressure could be improved but the water is hot and the bathrooms beautiful with l’occitane amenities and a wonderful alpine tub. |The Apple TV was a hit with the kids after a long day skiing. |Skiing was superb and easy with deep powder which is great for beginners as well as runs for intermediate and advanced skiers. Something for everyone. |Staying at Kasara gives you the option to use Green Leaf and Hilton facilities. |We used the spa at Green Leaf and all had the best Shiatsu massages ever. Mina was the masseur and she has healing hands. If I’d known she was so amazing, I would’ve gone earlier and had many more treatments. All of us went to her and she fixed muscles and old injuries with her wonderful firm hands. |The a la carte lunch at the Green Leaf was well worth it and we ate there on many days. |The town of Hirafu is about 10 minutes away and you can get supplies or go to restaurants. |There is a regular shuttle bus to hirafu and kutchen which we used a lot but you can also get a taxi. |After landing in Sapporo, and before our transfer to Niseko, we bought quite a few supplies from a huge supermarket in Chitose / Sapporo which is close to New Chitose Airport and is mind blowing with what they offer. It’s cheaper than buying supplies in Hirafu and the range is huge and they have their own bakery. Give yourself time to shop as it’s big and you have to decipher the Japanese writing on certain things. |And it’s popular so very busy. |Worth it though. |We cooked dinner 3 times and the rest of the time went out. It was great having food available though, as we have teenagers who are hungry most of the time. So they could pop back from skiing and raid the fridge. ||All in all a simply wonderful trip with helpful and efficient staff in a luxurious and (mostly) well appointed townhouse. |I would definitely like to come back. |Well done to all and thank you for a lovely holiday. |||||

Kasara was our home for 8 wonderful days. The hospitality and warmth extended during our stay was exceptional. We stay at a corner unit and the master bedroom had spectacular view of Mt Yotei. The kitchen was fully equipped to whip up a feast and arrangement can be made to call in private chefs so that one can dine in comfort and privacy. A ten minute stroll away is Prativo, a nice little diner and Milk Kobo serving world famous cheese tarts, cream puffs and ice cream. We miss Niseko and really hope to make it back soon!

GOOD: ||- Location is great. Can walk to Milk Kobo.||- You get to use the amenities at Hilton AND Greenleaf Hotel. ||- appleTV||- Indoor garage||||BAD: ||- The townhouse is long and narrow, which significantly limits the amount of sunlight that comes in. ||- walls are thin, so every sound can be heard. ||- Kitchen is extremely poorly lit. My entire family complained about it. ||- The dining room is separate from the kitchen but both are on the ground floor. The living room is upstairs so the entire apt feels very cramped because each section is compartmentalized. ||- windows treatment didn't quite cover the windows entirely, so that sun is coming in really really early in the summer. ||- Concierge that picks up the phone doesn't speak English, so you need to get transferred to an english speaking concierge, which can take a while. ||- no view from any of the windows