Top 10 West Port Hotels

We spent two nights at this property earlier this month, as Akanko (i.e. Lake Akan) has a variety of things to do and we wanted to make the most of our time there. The Lake Akan area of Eastern Hokkaido is blessed with some of the country's most incredible natural environments including old-growth forests, a pristine lake, scenic mountains, mud volcanoes and the Marimo, a unique and unusual freshwater green algae that is shaped like a green ball and which can grow to about the size of a volleyball. There is also a cultural element to the area, as Ainu Kotan is one of Hokkaido's largest Ainu (indigenous people) settlements with roughly 130 individuals calling the place home. Aino Kotan has a main ***** that has a variety of stores selling Ainu handicrafts as well as restaurants serving traditional Ainu cuisine. There is also a museum and a performing arts center, giving visitors the opportunity to enjoy a variety of Ainu performing arts. You can also reserve a private guided tour with an Ainu descendent who you will follow through a pretty forest while he/she explains how the Ainu used to live. Akan Tsuruga Besso Hinanoza (that's its full name) is a luxury ryokan established in 2004 by the Tsuruga Group, and is just steps away from the lake shore. It's ideally situated - almost everything we wanted to experience (Ainu Village, Lake cruise, hiking, shopping) is within short walking distance from the ryokan. That said, the entire town is clustered in a small area along the South shore of the lake, so wherever you stay, it's going to be convenient. The property is in a nondescript 7-story building, although it's in pretty good shape from the outside (which is not the case with many older ryokans of this type.) Inside, in the common areas there are a variety of wood carvings that are on display; the indigenous Ainu are renowned for their woodworking skills, the displays are a wonderful tribute to the local Ainu artisans. Of the 25 rooms at Hinanoza, 4 of them are Tokubetsu-****su (”Special”) units that are 110m² in size, and are denoted as Ama no Za Suite. Our Tokubetsu-****su was on the 6th floor (the highest floor among guest rooms), and was named the Hina no Za (#601.) As is the case with most suites at top ryokans, it featured a living room, a tatami room and a separate bedroom. The decor and furnishings were Japanese-contemporary and of high quality - the hard product was fantastic overall. The Onsen bath is located on the deck, and is free-flowing and not recirculated... perfect. As was the case with Sanyoan, our Special room had two toilets in different areas of the Suite, although - curiously - featured only one sink. Mrs. KI-NRT would take that trade-off any day of the week. Hinanoza does have the obligatory Daiyokujo (gender-segregated communal Onsen bath), but given that every room here has en-suite Onsen, the vast majority of guests will never leave the comforts of their room. It was empty every time we took a peak in the Daiyokujo. All

This is a Kyoritsu Resort hotel along the Akan River. From the beautiful lobby lounge, you can see the fresh green mountain stream of the Akan River, and you have already gotten excited while drinking coffee in the lounge. There were chairs where you could see the greenery from each corridor, and when I sat and looked at it, there was a deer. The room was on the mountain (forest) side, but this side is in front of the bicycle parking lot. It was a modern and nice room in twin bed room, living area. All rooms have a bath (view bath) with a view of the outside, but I didn't use it because the parking lot was in front of me. I used the relationship. In front of the large communal bath is a mountain stream of the Akan River, and deer have been eating grass all the time near the open-air bath. It was the first time I encountered a deer in the open-air bath. There are bear-avoiding bells down from the top in two open-air baths, which may also be a deer shelter. There are ３ private baths, and you can use them at any time if they are available (only enter, no shampoo, etc.). Supper was served at a large counter seat along the mountain stream. On YouTube, it was introduced as a seat where you can see deer, but deer did not appear. As for the content of the dinner, there were many items to choose from, it was unique, and the breakfast was good. The hotel had a concept, and the hot springs, meals, rooms and hospitality were satisfactory. It is a hotel that I want to visit again in different seasons.

We loved the entrance to our room. Modern yet traditional wooden framing. Felt like entering a high end Japanese restaurant. The check in was very welcoming. Everything was explained well an the front desk could speak good English. There were many shops in the hotel and the sister hotel beside it. We could use both onsens. The onsen was like a water park, so many different pools to check out. One night was definitely not enough here. Dinner was a great show! So much great quality food. You would never be able to try everything. The seafood was so fresh. Breakfast was super good as well. Highly recommended!

I booked a room at this hotel through Bookings.com, where rooms at their so-called 'Crystal Wing' were the only ones offered. The room cost me 28,000 yen a night but I decided to fork out the exorbitant price for a nice resort by the lake. However, as it turned out, the 'Crystal Wing' is actually an annex. It is originally a different hotel called the Crystal Hotel, which was acquired by the Hotel New Akan next door. The lobby and restaurant of this 'annex' were closed, so we assumed that only the rooms were used to accommodate guests. I don't have problems with annex rooms in other hotels, but for this one, I do. The Crystal Wing is so shabby and run down. The hallways are musty and smelly. It has its own small elevator with buttons so dirty that you don't want to put your finger on. The room looks like it does in the website picture. It looks clean. What is unseen though is the stale musty air! It was so awful to be breathing in the room. The windows cannot be opened, so you are forced to inhale the stale air from the old central AC. It’s really ironic because the fresh mountain air is just outside. What's worse is that the room smells of cigarettes even when it is supposed to be a non-smoking room. Also, the door does not close properly and has to be slammed to shut. The bed is reasonably comfortable, but the sheets do not have the scent of freshly laundered linen, and neither were the yukatas. This gives the impression that the room has not been used in a long time. The yukatas are so worn out, I did not feel like putting them on. The toilet, though very clean, faintly smelt of the sewer. We never saw any other guests on the same floor as us in the annex building. When we looked at the building from the outside during an evening stroll, our room was the only one lighted up. Coupled with the dark, uninhabited lower floors and the sealed-off lobby of this 'Crystal Wing', we felt like we booked a room at a ghost hotel! I complained to the hotel, but all they offered was a different room in the SAME annex building. I wrote a negative review on Bookings thinking it would help other unknowing guests. However, only positive reviews are being featured on the site. Bookings is still selling these Crystal Wing rooms on their website! (No rooms in the main building are available, so this misleads guests to think that the Crystal rooms are NOT the shabbier, older rooms in a different building) Selling these old run-down rooms in the dilapidated building next door for exorbitant prices is simply unscrupulous. Avoid these Crystal rooms at all costs if you want a good night sleep and no creepy, eerie feelings as a holiday memory!

This is our 2nd stay at this hotel. Stayed for a night on our drive while visiting north eastern Hokkaido between Rausu n Tsurui. Had a twin room with views of the ocean. Nice comfortable room with modern amenities. There is a charge for the carpark and did not have any meals at the hotel. Most stay around here if you want to visit Lake Akan district (still an hour drive as speed limit n single lane road most of it). Good hotel base if you want to visit Tsurui as it’s about 30mins drive and there are not much accommodation choices in Tsurui.

We used the Japanese style room on the lake side. The room was not new, but there was a wide cleanliness. Above all, the view of Lake Akan from the room is great!!! This alone is worth coming to Akan. The hot spring bathtub is two hot and warm types, but it was a luxurious and slick hot spring with a source hanging. Both meals and free drinks in the morning and evening buffet. The variety of dishes is also good, and fresh vegetables and sweets are delicious in the tempura of the spring mountain vegetables, etc.♡ The correspondence of the hotel 々 is also sincere, and the hand is shaken until the hotel is not seen at the time of return It was really 2 nights ３ days of great satisfaction. I would like to stay here when I come to Akan again.

We stayed on a tour of East Hokkaido. This old hotel is located beside the pleasure boat stop on the lakeside. It's the best location in the hot spring town and it doesn't take long to go to Ainu Kotan. You can see Lake Akan from the lobby, so you can expect a view from the room. The room is a Japanese-style room with a lake view, and it feels a little tired, but I didn't particularly care because it was used on a cheap tour. I had a meal at the banquet hall, but I was surprised to see a cup of big hairy crab. Other dishes were delicious. Breakfast was buffet, but this was normal. It was just the timing of winter gorgeous, so I was able to see fireworks launched from the lake. The theater Ikoro in Ainu Kotan was also close.