I found the Green Leaf Hotel to be okay, adequate for my needs, but not as good as I expected. The place was disappointing in several ways that were not huge but were significant. Cleanliness in my room was not what I expected of a Japanese hotel – I’d say the cleanliness level was more Australian than Japanese (in my experience, Australian hotels have a very low standard of cleanliness). My room at the Green Leaf had sticky food residue and coffee cup rings on tables left by previous occupants, and the toilet seat had some disturbing spots or dry residue. I felt the need to wipe down the room with a damp towel. The furniture in my room looked a bit battered and tired, room carpet and fabrics looked stained and dirty. The bathroom was dimly lit, and the bath/shower waste outlet was slow to empty. The toilet roll holders were inexplicable: the toilet roll was impaled on a spindle which was then inserted into a toilet roll holder on the wall, a conventional design. However, the spindle did not fit the toilet roll holder. It was a waste of time using the toilet roll holder; every time I tried to pull toilet paper from the holder, the toilet roll and spindle just fell out of it. Therefore, I just left the toilet roll on the floor. However, every day, the cleaner would precariously re-insert the toilet roll on its spindle back into the holder, from where it would fall out again the first time I tried to pull toilet paper from it. Very strange, and not what I expected from a culture based on perfection. Also, if your bedside tables are like mine, beware. They will not be screwed to the wall, and they have drawers that, if you open them, tilt the table forwards, throwing your mobile phone or Rolex to the floor, or neatly emptying your cup of tea and pot noodle into the drawer and its contents. Again, inexplicably bad design, not what I expected of Japan. Another oddity that happens in many a hotel. My wardrobe had a long hanger rail, but I was provided with only five coat hangers. Why do hotels do that – provide a big wardrobe but only a few coat hangers? It makes no sense at all. However, I was provided with more hangers after I asked twice for them. One morning, water from the hot tap came out brown rather than clear. I reported it and it didn’t happen again. So, several significant areas of disappointment. However, the hotel was good in many key ways. My bed looked clean and was comfortable. The staff were great, as was the onsen. Breakfast was good. The hotel restaurant only serves one type of dinner, but it is very good. The hotel is ski in/ski out, and has a good boot room. I had a great time skiing from The Green Leaf Niseko Village for six nights. However, I’m not sure I’d recommend it, and if I go to Niseko again, I’ll go to a different hotel, probably one in Grand Hirafu. Why Grand Hirafu? One might say that Niseko Village is oddly named. The one thing it isn’t is a village. It has ski lifts, a ski area, at least two hotels, so
We went to the hotel just for the onsen experience (so I can’t comment on the rest of the hotel). We used the mixed gender onsen so my husband and I could go together. They supplied us with yuami to wear (shorts for me and a strapless towel dress for women) at a small cost. The outdoor onsen was beautiful - surrounded by rocks and snow. The water temperature was SO hot so it took us awhile to get used to it, but we loved the experience. We walked there from the Niseko United shuttle drop off at the entrance to Annupuri.