We really enjoyed our stay at the Green Leaf Niseko – everything was all just too easy and we were pretty shattered from skiing, so we didn’t feel like we needed the vibrancy of Hirafu’s nightlife.

Our hotel room was rather small, which is very common in Japan, but the window was massive and it was delightfully serene looking out across a few trees towards the slopes.

The onsen was very nice although much busier than we were used to (from onsens in Tohoku etc). The outdoor onsen was a little cool for my liking (but probably rather westerner friendly) and the outlook lovely onto the bamboo fencing and snow. The indoor bath was hotter and much better for “cooking” the fatigued muscles.

We enjoyed doing some peaceful socialising in the lounge bar with its lovely couches, ottomans and fire feature. Niseko prices were applied, with 800 yen (twice the price at home) for a café latte. And unless you paid cash, it was a bit of a process to pay for drinks.

We enjoyed exploring some of the restaurants in The Village and at the Hilton Hotel, and it was really easy to catch the 2 gondolas to get between the Hilton and the Green Leaf.

Pros:
- Most of the staff were Japanese yet spoke good English, and high levels of service were provided.
- Perfectly ski in ski out & the slopeside ski hub has lockers, rentals, and lift ticket sales.
- Many of the hotel rooms offer nice views.
- The breakfast buffet had a huge selection of food.
- Not many Niseko hotels have an onsen, and the Green Leaf potentially has the loveliest.

Cons:
- Not many dining options on-site.
- Expect to pay a fair bit for food and drinks.
See our video here

Our stay at the Green Leaf was delightful and we’re considering staying there again. Although a little pricey, we found it provided very good quality and good value for money accommodation (considering some of the other Niseko accommodation prices).

Some would say that the location is a disadvantage, being away from the main Hirafu Village of Niseko, and not close to all the shops, restaurants and bars. But we picked the location purposefully as we wanted to largely stay away from the busy and bogan Hirafu, and we were mostly there to ski and relax. The ski-in ski-out location was incredibly convenient for us, although for the first few days we had to walk the kids to the novice slope near the Hilton Hotel, a few minutes away. We later found out they have a free shuttle bus which was great to get the kids to the ski school just in front of the Hilton. We caught a free bus to Hirafu a couple of nights, which was rather packed, and we really enjoyed catching a bus into the town of Kutchan for dinner to get a little more meal variety.

Niseko Village is very quiet and doesn’t provide many options for shopping or dining. I’m not actually sure why they call it a “village”. The slopes of Niseko Village are rather dull for experienced skiers, but they provided very easy access to the rest of the mountain, and the local slopes were perfect for the kids learning.

The breakfast buffet was very good with a combo of western and Japanese food to choose from. Dinner was also a buffet which we couldn’t do every night.

Our two rooms were a little on the small side (which is rather true of many Japanese hotels) particularly when we all tried to congregate in the one room (wifi was good in the room). We enjoyed going to the lounge bar for a relaxing drink.

The onsen was one of the highlights of the hotel and we’d heard that not many Niseko hotels have onsens. The outdoor onsen was very beautiful. The other hotel facilities were good including the ski lockers and it was convenient having the ski rental on-site, although some of the gear didn’t look very modern but I don’t think it mattered for the kids.

It was a very easy place for us to stay and plenty of the staff spoke English and they were very helpful.
See our video here