Tomamu

I recently had the pleasure of staying at Hoshino Resorts Tomamu, and we mostly enjoyed this stay We loved the ice village and access for kids (and kidult activities such as sledding) We’re a family with kids and there were plenty of time to do with kids. For the skier family you might need a bit more time to get organised What we liked - From the moment we arrived, the staff were warm, welcoming, and attentive to our every need. - The resort itself is beautifully designed, lots of enclosed walk ways making it easy to navigate the reaper facilities ave restaurant. - Room: Our room was spacious, comfortable, and had a stunning view of the surrounding mountains. And importantly some bay window space that you can try some laundry on - Skiing - great! fairly short runs but when there is powder this resort really transforms. - Food: good but prepare yourself for average 3500-5000 yen per person for dinner. Lunch OSS around 1500-2000 depending on what you choose. That days serving sizes are generous. - The snow- so fluffy and we were lucky to have hit a snow week so lots of powder skiing - Indoor pool- I mean heated pool in snow under cover - amazing - Childcare - really loving and caring teacher who accommodated the need for our kid to have lunch but still cost around ¥3500 per hour Didn’t like: - Food options were centralised between the towers ands risonaire so every dinner requires a walk in the walkways- which is lovely unless you have young tired kids which makes them feel longer than needed - Ski lessons- limited English slots and only my for 2 hours so you’re popping around the resort to meet pick up times - Daycare- expensive but generally available. Really kind teachers. About 3500 yen per hour as at Jan 2025 - not linked to the ski school so you have to do the pick up drop off yourself - Dinner wait times- for the cheaper options really long wait queues - esp if you have a kid asking when it’s our turn - Ski hire- limited information on the ski hire - in summary as at 2025 - for normal carve skis it’s about ¥3000 per day - really cheap but also really heavy which makes skiing on powder a lot of work. If you want higher spec skis go to the Tomamu resort centre (a 5 mins resort bus away) - where ski rental double to 6000+ per day but you’ll get proper powder skis / all mountain skis- this was not quite available on the site to read - Onsen - off site to have to take a bus to get there and though the buses run frequently it’s annoying to wear full snow gear after skiing to catch a bus - that said it is nice and quiet most of the time for this same reason - Limited on piste dining- really interesting spot in the it’s the first mountain I’ve been on where on piste dining was limited - most dining options were at the bottom of runs which make it really family friendly if you have non skier but also lines were long All in all a really great ski trip as there are mainly new skiers on the mountain so if you like the more advanced routes it’s usually quite free. Might not go back til the kids can ski independently though as the lessons time are a killer for pick up and drop off