katkat

Frommers seems to strongly recommend Odayo Kiyomizu-ya at Noboribetsu but I can't find any info on it online... Wonder if anyone has stayed there? How did you like it and how's its location re: from Sapporo, to ski slope and to the Hell Valley. We've booked a Japanese room.

(We want to do skiing and onsen, preferrably with some sightseeing and be reasonably close to Sapporo, and are debating between Noboribetsu and Jozankei.)

Thanks a bunch!
Kat

kappa

Hi katkat, I have never stayed at Kiyomizuya (nor been to Hokkaido since 30 years or so). The following is, however, what I found :

Access :
Train JR Sapporo - JR Noboribetsu (1hr) Bus JR Noboribetsu - Noboribetsu Onsen (25 min).
Then 10 minutes walk (or taxi) to Kiyomizuya. You can also reserve a free shuttle of the ryokan.

Jigoku-dani (hell valley) is 5 minutes walk from Kiyomizuya.

The ski station I mentioned on another thread (Sanlaiva?) is 10-15 minutes by car/taxi.

kappa

http://yado.tabite.net/103306/

And a couple of photos of Kiyomizu-ya

KimJapan

http://japaneseguesthouses.com/db/no...kiyomizuya.htm is a bit in English from the Japanese guesthouses booking site.

http://yado.tabite.net/103306/ is their own home page in Japanese. For better viewing, set your browser view to Japanese language for these pages if you see only code.

When are you going? You can check if you've gotten the best rate on their Japanese website. Click on the date of your stay and you'll see all the special rates on offer. http://search.tabite.net/hotel/h_roo...hotelid=103306 Looks like 15,900 yen/per person/per night dinner and breakfast included is the rate for most nights through March.

katkat

I was lost in the sea of all the Kiyomizu temples...

I would've never found their sites had it not been you, kappa and Kim!! Thank you sooo much.

It's good to know that I was quoted the same rate as online - I called them the other day and the manager spoke really good English!

Their site looks pretty nice. Think we'll give it a try! We'll be there in February, the busiest week of the Snow Festival. (and it's so hard to get rooms in Sapporo...)

Thanks a lot,
Kat

mrwunrfl

Will you be using JR to get around? If so, then when you check train schedules at hyperdia.com you can use "New Chitose Airport" as the airport station. The JR station is very convenient and fairly easy to find and make a quick connection. Basically, it is under the airport terminal building. At the station office next to the gates you can get an English language JR Hokkaido schedule.

The airport station is on a spur from the main line. Some trains go from the airport straight through to Sapporo but others require a connection at Minami Chitose station after a 3 minute ride from the airport. There is a fairly large enclosure on the platform where you can get out of the weather while making the connection. If you would be going from the airport to Noboribetsu on JR trains, then you will be making a connection there. There is an infrequent bus from the airport that goes to Noboribetsu (to Nobo town, I am sure, but maybe also up the hill to the onsen area). I can see if I can find the bus schedules, if you like.

On the website that kappa gave, if you click the middle navigation button at the top of the page then you will see a map of Noboribetsu Onsen.

See that your ryokan is located by a red star in a target box. It is on the wide white road. Click on the down button and you will see the whole town. The bus from JR Noboribetsu Station comes up the yellow road, from the bottom of the map. I guess the peace symbol is the bus station. After the bus station and post office is the main part of town. From the map scale, you can see that it is quite small.

On the right side of the yellow road, where it intersects with the white road of your ryokan, is the Daiichi Takimotokan. I would consider a visit to Noboribetsu Onsen to be incomplete without taking a bath there. There is an entrance on the side for the bath, but I recommend going in the main door of the hotel and asking for the bath, as it is more entertaining that way.

katkat

mrwunrfl, you're very helpful and detailed with your help! Your description gave me a good understanding of the area. Thanks a lot!

Have you tried taking the bus straight from the airport to Noboribetsu downtown? Do you know how far away the bus station is from luggage claim?
<http://www.donanbus.co.jp/bus/hayabusa/index.html>

Thanks a bunch,
Kat

mrwunrfl

Good. I see that you found the right bus company. You know, there is a website that you could go to, point it at that page, and the site will translate the page for you. I would make sure that the schedule info is for the correct season.

I looked into taking the bus but it was not convenient for my flights (the buses are infrequent). There is a good website for New Chitose Airport that has a good map.

There are escalators at the airport JR station and, I am pretty sure, an elevator. The transfer at Minami Chitose is just a few steps across the platform. The train arrives (I am 95% sure) at the platform in front of the station so it is just a couple of steps and you are in the station (if you are a skier then I suppose that you would be capable of carrying your bags up 20 steps, cross a bridge over the tracks, and down steps to get between the station and the other platform). The station is small, and you will be through it in seconds. The bus will be out front, having waited for the train.

katkat

Thanks a lot for the pointers, mrwunrfl. The Chitose site was helpful. Now I just need to know if that bus operates in winter! I'm trying to have the manager of my ryokan ask Donan Bus, if he understands what I'm talking about, that is.

(My flight from Narita doesn't get into Chitose until 8pm, which will leave me very few choices to get into Noboribetsu Onsen.)

If not I think we'll have to use JR with the connection, and we'll have your directions handy with us! Thanks a lot.

Kat