Kyukamura Shikotsuko

Stayed here for two nights and very happy with experience. I was arriving from Furano and arrived at 3pm for check in. English is kind of sparse in the hotel, which seems to be the norm, even in hospitality in Japan. But check in was fine. I had the breakfast/dinner deal here. I stayed on the third floor of the annex and the western room was fine. The bed was great except for the pillows, although there were other pillows available to loan at reception. The hotel location is great for the lake and I took a few walks around the grounds and near the bird watching part. There were also deer walking around the park. As a vegetarian, the dinner and breakfast were fine as it was a buffet. But some more labelling might have been good. If you want to have a drink in your room or any other supplies, be sure to buy in Chitose before you come to Lake Shikotsuko, because there are no convenience stores nearby. I used the spa/sauna twice a day and it was great. The water felt much more different to other spas I've been to, but in a good way. I used the laundry too, which was straight forward. As for activities, you can walk around the lake and see the birds of prey flying around. I drove up to Lake Okotampe to get a picture which was very nice and then I drove around the lake. The favourite part for me was hiking up Mount Tarumae and seeing the views at the top, which were breath-taking. So vast were the forests around the mountain, which is smoke billowing volcano. No bears seen though. After I checked-out, I drove down to Noboribetsu (about one hour) and visited Hell's Valley and went to Lake Kuttara. Lovely natural area to visit.

You can take a bus from New Chitose Airport or JR Chitose Station to the Shikotsuko bus stop (about 45-1 hours), but as it is a regular daily bus, you may not be able to sit there (especially from Chitose Station). It can be hard to have a suitcase or something big. People like the vacation village of Kazawa come to pick me up from the same distance by a special shuttle bus.

The hot spring was thick and beautiful. I go to various hot springs, but I feel like the best hot spring for my skin. It was my first time to eat Nanatsuboshi brand rice, but it was delicious with my favorite flavor. I had it with seafood bowl & broth. I was lucky to be close to Lake Shikotsu because I was able to get there by stairs.