We stayed in Jozankei Onsen for a couple of nights to visit Sapporo Kokusai and Fu’s, and enjoyed wandering around the town to look at the little souvenir shops, the foot baths, and temples.

We stayed at the very lovely Jozankei Daiichi Hotel Suizantei, which was a large but aesthetically appealing hotel with a large range of rooms, including some with private onsen.
We stayed in a nice washitsu tatami room that had thick comfortable futons. It had a private toilet, whilst we bathed in the onsen. It had 2 main onsen baths that alternated between the gents and ladies each day, plus a more traditional annexe onsen, which was small and cute and included a lovely little outdoor bath.

It seemed that some half board packages included meals at the ryokan, whilst we had our included meals at a nearby restaurant. This felt like a small detractor because we like to get our full Japanese on and wear our yukata to dinner, and we weren’t going to head to the shuttle bus without being dressed warmly. The deep snow outside didn’t stop a few others from wearing their yukata though!
The meals were absolutely magnificent. Dinner incorporated 7 to 8 courses of delicately prepared dishes. Breakfast had a half buffet plus some special set menu items. The food was an absolute highlight, and dinner included lovely drinks as well so we enjoyed plenty of sake. Luckily we didn’t go to the lounge for the pre-dinner complimentary beer or the after dinner whiskeys!

It didn’t impact us at all, but breakfast was a fraction late for powder chasing because it’s an experience that you want to enjoy slowly. If you’re serious about first lifts, you might be better off just reserving dinner and getting a convenience store breakfast instead. Or try to request an early breakfast.
See our video here