I believe Rusutsu Resort is an exceptionally value-for-money hotel during the summer. For the price of a standard small hotel, you get a full luxury resort experience. There are plenty of paid summer activities to choose from, including outdoor options like fishing, hot air ballooning, and golf. If you prefer staying indoors, there are also wool-crafting workshops available.
Starting with the indoor facilities—as soon as you step into the lobby, you're greeted by a magnificent two-story carousel that kids can ride for free. Opposite the carousel is a claw machine arcade, similar to what you’d find in a regular shopping mall, with about 20 machines. The hot springs (onsen) were another wonderful surprise. There are three bathhouses in total: two located in the North and South Wings, and another at The Westin. The resort itself feels almost integrated into a shopping complex, featuring around four to six restaurants and a convenience store, all with decent food quality.
While there are numerous paid summer activities, most require advance booking at the activity center. The highlight for me was definitely the hot air balloon ride; soaring into the sky to admire the entire Rusutsu view was an unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime experience. The fishing tour was also fantastic. The guide drove us to a nearby stream, provided basic rods, baited the hooks for us, and patiently gave step-by-step instructions on how to catch small fish.
We stayed here for three days. Right before coming here, we spent a day at Hoshino Resorts Tomamu in Furano. After the trip, my family and I unanimously agreed that Rusutsu Resort completely blows Hoshino out of the water in terms of value. Hoshino’s rooms were quite outdated, and the facilities were far too spread out, meaning we spent a lot of time just navigating around. In contrast, Rusutsu is substantially cheaper while still delivering a resort experience on par with Hoshino.
It was very overpriced for very average rooms with a very low level of service. That's not a reflection of the staff; they were very attentive. It's just for that price I expect a luxurious treatment with room service and lots of inclusions and it was very basic and dated.
I think the price is due to the fact that it's ski in, ski out.
There is a lot to do at the resort, loads of food options and convenience stores.
I would like to comment that the Daniel Street mechanical puppet performance is dated and needs to be either updated or removed. It contains "yo mama" fat jokes which are completely inappropriate for children and unacceptable in this era.
This is a destination Hotel, skiing in the winter, golf in the summer. Plus many other activities like tramping/backpacking, sightseeing, Onsen etc. The hotel is in Las Vagas style. So its efficient. There is a ride patk near by. Liie walking distance.
I went for a week and loved the ski in ski out. I had a package with lift tickets and breakfast daily. Breakfast was ok with a lot of variety but definitely geared to meat eaters, and only one option if you pay for the package, despite many restaurants with a buffet at the same price. Fried eggs pre-prepared in the mornings where cold, had to ask for ones that the person cooking at the time to ensure hot. The buffet was very busy on the weekends. The toaster ovens appear broken with no way of adjusting the temp as the dial just goes around, toast takes FOREVER to cook. This needs to be fixed!
The room was okay, nothing super exciting, a twin room was good room for one person and luggage, would not be good for 2 people. Pillows are TERRIBLE and unsupportive, I had a sore neck many nights and only worked out that putting a carfully folded towel inside the case helped. The pillows are smaller in size than any regular pillow. Coffee maker in room with drip pods, a kettle, but no tea, no sugar and no creamer. I asked and was told they don't supply. For what you pay here that should 100% be included. The rooms are cleaned, mostly daily, but sheets only every 4th day I think? If you want extra full service you have to pay another $50 aud each time.
You cant store your skis and boots in the room, it must be stored downstairs in a locker, which is okay but ZERO security. The lockers in the area are locked with a code. Anyone though can come and go through this area even if they are not guests. There at a minimum should be a door that you scan your room key to get into. As a result I lost a very expensive pair of googles that inadvertently fell of my helmet in this area. Staff where not helpful when I asked about said lost googles, such as taking my name or reviewing any security footage, which I suspect there is none. So in hindsight do not treat this place like anywhere else in Japan where you would expect to get anything lost returned. There are a lot of international tourists here, and a lot of day trippers using the lockers which are very close to the guests unsecured locker area.
The runs are very good, and does not feel crowded, although during peak season i imagine it would be very busy, and runs skied out within and hour.
Would I go again, probably, if above issues where improved and fixed it would definitely be closer to 5 star experience.
Great time here for summer with the family! Food was delicious, theme park was great with hardly any wait for the rides, and loads of stuff to do via the activity desk!
