Sansui Niseko
Ski-in, ski-out hotel on Hirafu's main street, built in board-formed concrete around a stone garden, with a Michelin Key, a sushi restaurant, a spa and an onsen.
- Neighbourhood
- Hirafu, Niseko, Hokkaido
- Status
- Open
- Design
- nA Nakayama Architects (Makoto Nakayama)
Why we recommend it
Sansui is the architect’s hotel among Niseko’s ski-in, ski-out addresses. It is a quiet, grey, deliberately spare building, organised around a void, and its makers describe it as an architecture of silence. Guests who care how a place is made will notice it from the reception desk onwards.
It is also convenient. The village’s main street is at the front door, the piste at the back, and the ski lockers and rental shop in the basement lead straight onto the snow. The suites have kitchens and washing machines, which suits families and longer stays, while the onsen, spa and restaurants make it a hotel and not simply a set of apartments. The wider choice of bases is set out in our guide to where to stay in Niseko, from Hirafu to Hanazono and Niseko Village.
Rooms & Suites
The categories are Studio, One Bedroom Suite, Deluxe One Bedroom, Two Bedroom Suite, Deluxe Two Bedroom and Three Bedroom Suite. Studios have a kitchenette and a washer-dryer; the suites have full kitchens. The deluxe categories are corner suites, the one-bedroom looking to Mount Yotei and the Hirafu slopes, the two-bedroom to Mount Yotei and woodland, with separate dining, living and kitchen areas. In the three-bedroom suites each bedroom has its own bathroom.
According to the architects, each guest room has its own layout and finishes, within a muted grey palette. Windows and furniture are kept low, and the kitchens, beds, sofas, tables, lighting and rugs were custom made for the building.
Dining
Sushi Shin by Miyakawa is the hotel’s sushi restaurant, and Sansui Dining its main dining room, cooking with fresh local ingredients. The Market and Toshiro’s Bar complete the list. The restaurants are on the first floor, beside the double-height lobby and the courtyard.
Elsewhere in the area, OKYTO’s pages include Kamimura in Niseko and Rakuichi Soba in Annupuri.
Design
The hotel was designed by nA Nakayama Architects, the practice of Makoto Nakayama, for the developer Hirafu Capital, and completed in June 2020. It is a reinforced-concrete building with one basement and six floors above ground, stepped in staggered levels to follow the slope. The exterior is board-formed concrete with accents of pigment and tile. The site lies within a national park, and the Natural Parks Law limits glazing to less than half of each elevation, a constraint that suits the building’s reticence.
At its centre a void rises through all six floors above a courtyard stone garden. The architects trace it to the client’s feng shui advice and to the Japanese idea that richness resides in empty space. The reception counter is cut from large blocks of schist brought from Portugal. The plan is simple: ski lockers and rental in the basement, with direct access to the slopes; lobby, restaurants and onsen on the first floor, around the courtyard; gym and spa on the second; guest rooms above. The hotel also has an art gallery.
Wellness & Spa
The onsen is on the first floor, beside the courtyard, and the hotel also offers private onsen. Sansui Spa and a fully equipped gym are on the second floor. There is a playroom for children.
Location
Sansui stands on Hirafu-zaka, the main street of Hirafu, with the Grand Hirafu slopes directly behind it and the Hirafu chairlifts alongside. Among its neighbours are Setsu Niseko, the residence-style hotel in Hirafu, and, also in Hirafu, Skye Niseko and Muwa Niseko. For the area as a whole, see our page on Niseko as a destination.
- Address
- 5-32, 1-jo 4-chome, Niseko Hirafu, Kutchan-cho, Abuta-gun, Hokkaido 044-0080, Japan
- Website
- Official website
