Sobetsu Hotel Guide - Showa-shinzan hotels in Sobetsu, Japan.

"I was surprised how big the onsen area is. There are many bathes to choose. I enjoy a lot. The Kaiseki dinner was worth the money. But I wish the staffs could be more patient, less rushing."

"Luxuriously appointed hotel. Slightly aged but still well-maintained. The room felt decadently large after all the cramped rooms in the cities. Quite a few of the staff are able to speak decent English and there are Chinese speakers as well. The lake view is gorgeous and we were able to enjoy the nightly fireworks without braving the cold weather. The buffet breakfast and dinner had a good spread and is about the same every day. Have to say that the shower in the room is better than the ones in the onsen which are prone to have sudden fits of differing water temperature. But we are there for the onsen after all. "

"Quiet hotel which is far from toya station. Need to take bus from toya station to toyako onsen bus terminal and another bus to hotel. Room is big (quadruple room) and faces lake toya. Upon check out, receptionist recommended walking to toyako onsen bus terminal but due to heavy snow we were stranded halfway and has to take a taxi to toya station about 10 minutes away for 26000 yen. Lake toya is beautiful but unfortunately we booked the wrong hotel."

"This onsen hotel is not in the main area on the southern shore of Lake Toya. It is associate with a small sleepy village with limited tourist infrastructure support. But the hotel itself does pretty much everything and it seems very new (probably built or refitted and renovated well after 2010). They have a decent shuttle service between themselves, the main onsen area on the south side of Lake Toya, and the Lake Toya JR Hokkaido train station. Their included breakfast is pretty good and high quality. I actually didn’t try dinner there and realized I probably should have and it was the best option certainly for the area. The onsen area is quite modern with a nice outdoor pool looking out on to nature. In addition all room have an outdoor balcony hot tub. So in a way you really don’t need to go to the onsen. I went to the onsen around 6-7 am and I was the only one there. It seems like I was traveling during the off season and it seems like most tourists didn’t really know about this area of Lake Toya and the hotel. It was so serene being in the outdoor pool onsen as well as the balcony hot tub. Quiet sleepy village, few tourists, few cars making the trip around the lake. I can’t imagine it being better (or it must worse), in the busier onsen area or southern region of Lake Toya."