OMO5 Otaru by Hoshino Resorts

Loved this hotel. The rooms are quite well laid out with everything you could want. (Plus you can rent sleeping clothes at the front desk and get bathroom necessities for free.) Super clean, modern look. Tons of hot water. Linens were fresh. Laundry facilities. The front desk personnel were personable and easy to communicate with. I would definitely stay here again. The included breakfast was rich and varied. The buildings are really cool — one modern and clean lines, the other older but restored lovingly. Some people complained that it's far from the JR Station, but a cab got me there in about 3 minutes. Shopping very close by and tons of restaurants. Yeah, don't hesitate. The only con is that there is only one elevator and when everyone is going out to ski or coming back, you might have to wait a few minutes.

First, this is a great smaller hotel. Loved everything from the cleanliness, to the helpful staff (except one aggressive employee in the breakfast room), the washer/dryers, ski/snowboard storage room, the water pressure.|Second, the location is great. 2 minute cab ride from the JR Station, 10 minute walk. Tons of restaurants and shops nearby. also so quiet.|the only negative about this hotel is that there is only 1 elevator for 6 or 7 stories and when everyone is getting out the door to go ski or coming back, the waits can be long -- there are stairs on the outside of the building if you want a quick exit.|I'd definitely stay here again.

Basic but comfortable room. Very strange design that there are zero hooks to hang towels after a shower - front desk said that was the design. Only one elevator for all the floors. No power adaptors at reception. Staff, neither at reception nor restaurant, were so friendly. Breakfast was actually very good. Somewhat disappointing for a Hoshino property.

I have stayed at other OMO hotels before and I like their room designs, so I also chose to stay at OMO this time when visiting Otaru. I don’t prefer to have room service to tidy up room every day, but I appreciate the change of towels and the emptying of the garbage each day. ||So for this trip, I arrived at Chitose Airport and picked up my rental car from Budget. After driving for over an hour in the dark snowy conditions, I parked my rental car and realised I couldn’t lock the door because a problem light was showing on the dashboard. This was a true dilemma for me as I was travelling alone with my child. A very kind staff named Shinya from the hotel helped me call the number on the car rental booklet, and communicated with the tow truck staff. He went out of his way to help me find out the arrangements the next day as I did not speak Japanese. Actually he didn't speak much English either, but he was very patient with me while we had to communicate with typing every sentence in goggle translate. ||I am a frequent traveller, and I have stayed at many 5 star hotels around the world, but this staff really amazed me how caring he was, and how he was happy to help, even though it was cold outside and also quite late. His performance and his professionalism truly amazed me and I would like him to be recognised. His actions and his devotion to hotel hospitality was truly outstanding, the best service I have ever had from staying at a hotel.

Beware if you plan to send your luggage, ski or snowboard equipment to airport from this hotel. This hotel insisted on "Cash on Delivery" option. So guests could not send them to airport because TaQBin service at airport would need "Payment at Origin" arrangement. Was told by Front Desk to send via convenient store or post office instead. But convenient store would not accept ski/snowboard equipment and big luggage either. As many guests at this hotel are skiers and snowboarders, why can't it accept "Payment at Origin" option and force its guests to drag those heavy items through snow to look for alternatives ? By the way, strange enough, OMO3 at Susukino accepted "Payment at Origin".

The check in policy is lacking basic common sense and completely misses the mark for Japanese hospitality. They’ll fill the waiting area with people before thinking about efficient procedures. Not at all what I’ve experienced through out this wonderful country. One can only hope that they are able to change their policies in time.

We stayed in premium deluxe room. A very unique hotel renovated from a history bank building. Enjoyed the interesting hotel experience merging of modern use of amenities and management in an old setting. There are two towers. We stayed in premium double in the old building. It kept the bank wall and door deco in dark brown and white. The room is not bad in size, very big kind size bad and clean overall. The bathroom is big with separate toilet, a comfy tub and big shower space right on the side. Water power is good. Would be nice to have a stool. Just a little slower in draining for the tub after my hot tub. And a little mold around a few tiles but I think it is acceptable since it is an old building. Overall the whole room is not rusty, but well kept and clean, with good ventilation. Face care amenities need to pay while other bathroom amenities and tea are free to take.||Premium room with club access adds on my interesting experience to the night lounge which is decorated with lots of classical oil lamps and music boxes. You can even bring one music box you like to your room to listen and return when check out.||The girl staff (forgot her exact full name but it started with Tam….) at reception on our check in time between 4:80-5:15 pm on 9/7. She was comparatively ok to communicate in English. She was so friendly, helpful and patiently explained & recommended about tourist attractions and spent a long time to help us book a boat ride tour for the next day.||The breakfast buffet is worth to have. Good tasre and varieties..

Very spacious rooms but can we talk about how they sneakily advertised themselves having a carpark but it’s actually referring to the paid carpark operated by TIMES beside the hotel. The hotel only has six carpark slots that could be considered theirs and you wouldn’t be able to get a spot with the high number of guests every night 😇