Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU The Tower Review: Are the Bad Reviews True?

This time I stayed at Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU The Tower, about a 90-minute drive on the highway from New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido, so I’ll share my review.

In this article, I’ll share my impressions and review after actually staying at Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU The Tower.

I’ll also dig into whether the negative reviews you see on travel sites actually hold up.

This article is written for anyone who’s “curious what it’s like to stay at Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU The Tower,” “concerned about the negative reviews out there,” or “looking for a hotel connected directly to the slopes” — please read all the way through.

Who Is Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU The Tower a Good Fit For?

Hokkaido has plenty of ski resorts, but Tomamu is a world-renowned ski area known for its powder snow.

The area around the Tomamu ski resort, operated by Hoshino Resorts, has been developed into a full resort, and when it comes to staying in Tomamu, there are really only two options: Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU The Tower, and Hoshino Resorts RISONARE Tomamu.

This time, since my goal was snowboarding at Tomamu, I chose Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU The Tower, and after actually staying there, here’s who I think it’s best suited for:

• Someone who wants a hotel connected directly to the Tomamu ski resort
• Someone who wants to enjoy a proper hotel stay
• Someone who wants a reasonably priced yet luxurious hotel

Let me explain each point in order.

First: someone who wants a hotel connected directly to the Tomamu ski resort.

If you’re already considering staying in Tomamu, this one’s almost a given, but Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU The Tower connects directly to the ski resort, letting you hop on the lift right away — ideal if you don’t want the hassle of commuting between your hotel and the slopes.

I’ll show photos later, but with the “leave the room type to us” booking option, the room I stayed in ended up being on the 22nd floor.

Second: someone who wants to enjoy a proper hotel stay.

Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU The Tower is a resort hotel with more than 20 shops including restaurants, cafes, and ski-gear stores, plus a heated indoor pool and a hot spring & sauna.

It’s the perfect hotel for anyone who wants to enjoy skiing and snowboarding, but also wants to enjoy the hotel stay itself.

Lastly: someone who wants a reasonably priced yet luxurious hotel.

If you’ve read this far, you’ve probably guessed that, as a resort hotel run by Hoshino Resorts, room rates are set on the higher side year-round.

Still, it’s several tens of thousands of yen cheaper per night than the other option, Hoshino Resorts RISONARE Tomamu. The Tower starts around ¥40,000 per room per night, while RISONARE Tomamu typically runs from around ¥90,000.

This time, I decided to stay here because I wanted to get to the hotel quickly after snowboarding and enjoy meals within the hotel itself.

Access to Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU The Tower

Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU The Tower is about 100 minutes by car from New Chitose Airport, about 100 minutes by limited express from Sapporo Station, and just 5 minutes by free shuttle bus from Tomamu Station — a mountain resort hotel in Shimukappu Village, Yufutsu District, Hokkaido, operated by Hoshino Resorts.

It consists of two 36-story towers above ground, and from your room you can enjoy views of the Tomamu forest and the ski slopes. The hotel also has restaurants, cafes, and a spa & sauna (free for guests).

The hotel has a wide range of attached restaurants covering Japanese, Western, and Chinese cuisine, so you’ll have no trouble finding something to eat.

Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU The Tower’s Plans and Rates

A resort hotel run by Hoshino Resorts! The price is naturally what everyone wants to know.

This time, I booked the room plan “TOMAMU The Tower 1 | Standard Forth TOMAMU The Tower | Special 2-Nights-or-More Offer (breakfast included)” and stayed with 4 people in one room.

The total rate for 4 people in one room came to ¥219,600, working out to ¥54,900 per person for 2 nights. This was during the first 3-day weekend of January.

Overview of Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU The Tower

Now let me walk through the details of my stay at Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU The Tower.

I rented a car at New Chitose Airport and drove about 90 minutes from the Chitose-higashi IC on the Doto Expressway to the Tomamu IC, then about 5 more minutes on surface roads to reach the hotel.

From the highway, you can see all 4 tower hotels rising up on the left side, so there’s almost no chance of getting lost.

I parked at the T1 lot, the closest one to the hotel, and headed to the main entrance. If you arrive via the shuttle bus from New Chitose Airport or the free shuttle from Tomamu Station, you’ll be dropped off at the spot shown in this photo.

Check-In

Walking through the main entrance, wooden fox figures and other animal decorations greeted me right away.

The front desk is immediately on the left, and being a tower hotel, it’s spacious enough to handle 5 parties at once.

That said, I arrived at 12:30pm on the first day of a 3-day weekend, and it was already extremely crowded. The check-in line was moving slowly, with a wait of over 30 minutes.

The whole area was packed with people waiting in the check-in line, along with their companions watching over suitcases and ski delivery luggage.

I finally checked in after 30 minutes. Check-in time is officially 3pm, but since the room was already available, it effectively became an early check-in. What a pleasant surprise!! The wait was worth it.

The Room

My room this time was room 2115 on the 21st floor of TOMAMU The Tower 1 — a nice, fairly high floor, lucky me.

Walking into the room, a 3-seat sofa, table, and cushioned chairs were arranged right in front.

On either side of the sofa area are twin beds. You can see the ski slopes right from the window!

The other set of twin beds. There’s an adjustable light in the middle you can angle however you like, plus two outlets.

The bed frame has a small space just big enough to hold a 500ml PET bottle.

From the room window, you get a full view of the ski slopes. It was sunny and dazzlingly bright!
RISONARE Tomamu also stands out prominently in the view.

In the center is a TV stand with a TV. The placement felt a little odd at first, but with 4 beds in the room, I suppose it’s unavoidable. The TV is around 30 inches.

You can freely move the TV’s position on top of the stand.

Below the TV stand is an electric kettle, cups, UCC instant coffee, and tea bags.

The fridge was empty, so I used it to store drinks I’d picked up along the way. It’s fairly small for 4 people…

I left drinks in overnight, but for some reason they weren’t cold at all?! The power switch is in the upper left inside the fridge, so don’t forget to turn it on. Lesson learned.

It would’ve been nice to have a complimentary mineral water service, but unfortunately there wasn’t one.

Next to the TV: alcohol hand sanitizer, a tissue box, a notepad, and an in-room phone. Pretty standard stuff.

On the sofa table was a handbook describing the hotel’s 107-year history, and below it, a guide to the hotel’s facilities.

The curtains are open here for photos, but at check-in they were closed — apparently to prevent the room from heating up in direct sunlight.

There are 2 closets. The one near the door had 8 hangers bundled together.

Separate from the closets, there are 4 wall hooks for hanging ski wear.

Bathroom, Toilet, and Sink

The bathroom, toilet, and sink are combined, and the room has two of these units — one bathroom had face towels and bath towels for the full number of guests.

It’s basically a slightly larger version of what you’d find at a business hotel — a bit underwhelming.

At the sink: 4 cups. With two separate bathroom units, I wish they’d split the cups between them.

Amenity goods are available near the 1st-floor front desk: hair ties, cotton swabs, a toothbrush, a hairbrush, and a razor.

Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU The Tower’s Lounge

Toward the back right of the 1st floor of TOMAMU The Tower 1, there’s a lounge reserved for guests.

There’s no particular check for whether you’re a guest — you can come and go freely.

Toward the back of the lounge, there’s a free drink service.

Drinks available include sparkling wine, coffee, black tea, cocoa, apple juice, and mineral water.

It’s open from 10:00am to 10:00pm, so if you want a drink, it’s worth stopping by the lounge.

Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU The Tower’s Indoor Pool & Baths

About a 5-minute bus ride from TOMAMU The Tower is Minamina Beach, one of Japan’s largest indoor wave pools at 30m x 80m.

At Minamina Beach, there’s also an open-air bath (Kirin no Yu) where you can soak while taking in a snowy landscape by day, or a dreamlike, starlit atmosphere at night. In winter, the water runs at a hot 43°C or so.

Guests are given admission tickets for their full party, usable as many times as you like during your stay.

I’ve covered this facility in more detail in a separate article, so take a look if you’re interested.

Breakfast at Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU The Tower

If you book a plan that includes breakfast, you’ll receive a breakfast voucher at check-in.

Breakfast buffets are available at 3 locations in The Tower: Mikaku, the buffet restaurant hal, and Ninnu Nupuri.

This time, I used Mikaku on the first night and hal on the second.

I’ve covered the details in a separate article, so take a look if you’re interested.

The Tower Mikaku

Mikaku is the closest breakfast restaurant to The Tower 1, located on the 1st floor of The Tower 1.

It’s a buffet centered on Japanese cuisine, with Western options available too.

The tamagoyaki grilled right in front of you, and the miso soup with tororo kombu, were both delicious!

Buffet Dining hal

A 5-minute walk west from The Tower 1, passing through The Tower 2, gets you to hal.

hal’s buffet features a mix of Japanese and Western menu items, with roast beef rice bowl made with mountain wasabi and French toast as the signature dishes — a wide variety across both styles.

Here’s a breakfast piled impressively high. The roast beef was tender, and once mixed with the sauce, it made the rice absolutely fly!

There was a long line in front of the roast beef station.

Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU The Tower’s Negative Reviews

Hoshino Resorts is known for its carefully crafted spaces and high-quality service, but how does Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU The Tower actually rate?

Checking the rating on Rakuten Travel, Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU The Tower sits at 3.78 (as of January 2023).

That’s a pretty low score for a resort hotel.

Let me pull out a few of the negative reviews.

Overall, I was very disappointed with facilities and amenities that didn’t match the price.
The path to the parking lot is a staircase — you have to carry your suitcase down it.
The elevators aren’t split between high floors and low floors, so during busy times it’s hard to even get on one.
Amenities are available in the 1st-floor corridor, but they’re lower quality than what you’d find at a business hotel.
The towels in the room are the lowest tier in terms of feel — business hotels use better ones.
The room lighting over the bed in the bedroom is shockingly bright, basically like a bare bulb.
The restaurants are expensive too.
The staff worked hard and were genuinely pleasant, but beyond that, this was a disappointing hotel that didn’t feel like real hospitality.

It’s rare that I’ve thought this strongly that I should have checked other people’s reviews and ratings beforehand.

I can’t confidently recommend it.

With centralized AC control plus direct sunlight through the windows, the room gets unbearably hot. Honestly, you can’t open the curtains.
Since restaurants don’t take reservations, waiting over 30 minutes for both dinner and breakfast is just the norm. Why not use a rotation or reservation system?

The layout makes it impossible to tell from outside how many people are already in a shop, so I actually walked in only to be told by staff “please don’t come in” — that’s unacceptable. I’m never going back.

It’s not just meals — everything here is inconveniently far from everything else. Do they expect you to walk around in full snow boots and snow gear? It’s below -10°C outside, and somehow you’re supposed to take a bus just to reach the large communal bath?

It’s technically a tower with more than 35 floors, but there are only 3 painfully slow elevators. Every one of them gets a huge line, and they keep letting people pile in until they’re packed solid. And this is supposedly part of their pandemic precautions?

Rather than pouring staff into mandatory temperature checks at the parking lot entrance and thermal-camera checks at the building entrance for pandemic measures, why not put more staff on restaurant service or directing elevator traffic instead?
And honestly, what’s the point of a non-contact temperature check on someone who’s been standing outside in -10°C and is chilled to the bone? (laughs)

We stayed in a Family Forth room in Tower 2.
At over ¥100,000, and given it’s Hoshino Resorts, I had high expectations, but it was just an ordinary room, and the bathroom was a unit bath like you’d find at a business hotel — cramped and awkward to bathe in with a child.
I wish they’d clearly noted “unit bath” next to the “bath and toilet included” listing, or included a photo. I never imagined it would be a unit bath for this price, and I was disappointed.

That said, the older staff member who helped us at checkout the next morning was genuinely wonderful — their hospitality and thoughtfulness really impressed me.

These are some of the more extreme reviews I pulled out.

Having actually stayed there myself, and weighing these reviews against my own experience, I’d say: “yes, these are largely accurate.”

Let me summarize.

Bad Point #1: Long Waits for Breakfast and Elevators

For breakfast on my second night’s stay, I went to hal — arriving a bit after 8:30am, there were 8 groups ahead of me and I waited over 30 minutes. There just don’t seem to be enough breakfast restaurants for the total number of rooms. Expect a wait for breakfast on weekends and holidays.

Next, the elevator wait.

Especially between 4 and 5pm, a line forms in the elevator hall from guests returning from skiing/snowboarding mixed with guests who’ve just checked in.

With 36 floors and only 3 elevators that run the full 1st-to-36th-floor range, each holding 11 people, congestion is almost guaranteed.

If your room is on a lower floor, waiting for a down elevator is genuinely stressful.

With so many guests boarding from the upper floors, I repeatedly saw guests on the 20th floor and below unable to get on and having to wait for the next one…

On top of that, at checkout time around 10am, long lines also form at the cloakroom for dropping off luggage.

Bad Point #2: Some Room Amenities Feel Like a Business Hotel

Depending on the plan, but for the standard room type, the bathroom in particular felt about on par with a business hotel.

It’s not especially spacious, and felt a bit dated.

The in-room minibar is also pretty minimal — to give a clear example, there was unfortunately no complimentary mineral water service.

Bad Point #3: Access to the Baths Isn’t Great

While the whole area is a resort, getting from your room at TOMAMU The Tower to the open-air bath & sauna isn’t very convenient.

You take a bus that runs every 15 minutes, ride for about 5 minutes to Minamina Beach, then walk past the edge of the indoor heated pool — in total, it takes about 20 minutes from your room just to reach the bath.

It can’t really be helped since it’s attached to the pool, but because it’s an indoor pool, there’s a chlorine smell and high humidity that makes the air feel thick and muggy.

The men’s bath is toward the back, so you have to walk along a path where the footing can get slippery.

Even after a nice soak, it’s a shame that the overall experience doesn’t leave you feeling as refreshed as it should.

My Overall Impressions After Staying at Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU The Tower

This time, I used this hotel as my base for a snowboarding trip to Tomamu!

Given how much this Hoshino Resorts property gets featured across various media and YouTube, my expectations were high going in, but considering the price, I’d say it fell a bit short.

Since it’s a resort area, meals and the baths involve a fair amount of distance and tend to get crowded, so you need to plan your movements more deliberately than you would at a typical hotel stay.

That said, it’s not all negative — the food quality at every restaurant, whether for breakfast or dinner, was consistently good, genuinely enjoyable, and above all, access to the slopes was excellent, letting me enjoy snowboarding comfortably!

It doesn’t quite measure up to Aya Niseko in Niseko, but Tomamu has its own strengths, so I’d pick my accommodation based on what I’m there to do.

Check rates and availability for Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU The Tower:

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About the author

Joe

I love hotels, hot springs, and saunas across the whole country!!
I’ve made it to 40 prefectures so far.
Around 100 hotel stays and 50+ saunas visited, and the count keeps climbing.
My hobbies are travel, golf, snowboarding, saunas, and the gym.

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