Sapporo’S Secret Onsen Sanctuary Marukoma Onsen Ryokan

“Beautiful location, great onsen”

We thouroughly enjoyed our stay in this ryokan situated at the Shikotsu lake side. The service was friendly and welcoming and the location is really something else. The hotel is situated in the forest next to the lake. No other building in the neighbourhood. Which makes staying here quite a special… more

We thouroughly enjoyed our stay in this ryokan situated at the Shikotsu lake side. The service was friendly and welcoming and the location is really something else. The hotel is situated in the forest next to the lake. No other building in the neighbourhood. Which makes staying here quite a special experience. The hotel was founded in 1915 and they our proud of their history. The building could use some touching up here and there. But the harsh weather conditions must erode this building faster than normal. I really enjoyed the breakfast view on the lake. We got separate chairs and a small table juist big enough for our breakfast platter. The breakfast buffet is very good, but the dinner makes this stay unforgettable. We loved the traditional ryokan style dinner. Every evening was a feast for the senses. Loved the fact that they served their own saké. The hotel has its own shop and lots of vending machines, you can also heat up you own food. Lots of amenities are provided. Our room did not get cleaned during our stay, but fresh towels and home wear were available at the reception desk. The room was a classic style room with tatami mats. We slept on thick mattrasses on the tatami mats, which were very comfortable. Be warned though: the rooms are not equipped with a shower. You should use the communal onsen or book a private onsen. The onsen was the highlight of our stay here. It was a pleasure to enjoy the different baths, especially the outside bath with lake view. The original onsen at lake level are also still in use. The water is naturally filtered through the rock bottom. Those onsen are pretty, but the water is less warm than the more modern onsen. Loved the fact that the hotel made it possible to take pictures of the empty onsen every day between 9.10u en 9.30u. A unique opportunity to take the memories of our stay home with us.

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“Very beautiful scenery”

We chose to stay at Marukoma when we visited Shikotsuko because of their secret onsen (hitou) reputation. We were concerned if the place will be overly run down as a lot of the pictures were not promising. This ryokan has a history but it was not as bad as we feared. Our room was big and had a gre… more

We chose to stay at Marukoma when we visited Shikotsuko because of their secret onsen (hitou) reputation. We were concerned if the place will be overly run down as a lot of the pictures were not promising. This ryokan has a history but it was not as bad as we feared. Our room was big and had a great view. My favourite moment was sitting by the window watching the very tranquil sunrise from the horizon of the lake. The secret onsen has a great atmosphere as we made our way down the passage. The scenery was very beautiful. The food, both dinner and breakfast, though simple, were delicious. You can ask for a certificate for visiting the hitou onsen if you book directly with the hotel. We hope to be back. .

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“Not up to standard ”

I stayed here in July which is hot in Hokkaido, and was surprised there's no air-conditioning nor bath/shower inside the room. Dinner which is included are below standard, even the sashimi are not fresh enough! I appreciate it is a 109 years onsen hotel but with a room rate over USD 300 per nig… more

I stayed here in July which is hot in Hokkaido, and was surprised there's no air-conditioning nor bath/shower inside the room. Dinner which is included are below standard, even the sashimi are not fresh enough! I appreciate it is a 109 years onsen hotel but with a room rate over USD 300 per night, you can find much better hotel than this in Japan. I won't recommend for any traveller that already used to high Japanese standard to stay here.

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