2 Best Hotels in Abashiri, Hokkaido

Creature comforts await you at this downtown hotel, which seems a world away from the rugged outback seaport city of Abashiri. Western-style rooms done up in shades of yellows and blues, spacious Japanese rooms, and combination rooms overlook a main road out front or a parking lot out back. Fish from the local icy waters are a specialty of the Grand Glacier restaurant, which serves Japanese, Chinese, and French fare. English speakers are on staff.

Waterbirds drift by the windows of the big but friendly hotel on the shore of Lake Abashiri, a few miles from town. It has the usual noise of Japanese resort hotels—game corners, tour groups, and karaoke rooms. But beyond the doors you can enjoy the peace of a lakeside walk, enjoy a soak in the hot spring, and finally retire to your room and relax over a multicourse crab dinner. The combination rooms have raised beds and tatami sitting areas. The hotel has everything you can imagine, even a barbershop for dogs.