Pension & Restaurant Bistare Kana

The owner “Yama sang” and staff are so polite and nice. Yama sang would drop you off at ski resorts and major hotels and attractions if you need a ride. Breakfast is included although the stay is very reasonable. Breakfasts were excellent. I had problems coming back home since I couldn’t make bus reservations. Yama sang called bus company for us and successfully made a bus reservation for us. Although google may say “temporarily closed”, they are open. Their restaurant business is closed from OUTSIDE customers while they are open for hotel business. I highly recommend this hotel. One thing to know Is the fact that bathrooms are shared by all 2nd floor customers.

A lovely husband and wife duo run the place. Very local and relaxed vibe in their lovely wooden accommodation. Semi structured stay with breakfast prepared individually for everyone with communal eating from 0800, wonderful Nepalese food. They also do dinner for an extra charge. If he is free Yamasan will also drop you up to the skifield. Great stay, would come back

We did enjoy our stay here and the owner, Yamason, is very kind. The rooms are a good size with space to hang all your gear. In the main entrance, there is a drying room but the heat does get turned off at some point during the night, so bring up your liners to dry in your room to avoid having wet/cold feet in the morning. Breakfast is made every morning at 8 am (which is awesome) but if you have any dietary restrictions, let Yamason know, as it’s not specified what you’ll be eating. Close to the bus stop but the public transit was limited. I’d suggest a car if you’re staying here as the bus ride was 38min—ish to town, only came every hour and stopped running at 8 pm. Taxis are available but they are expensive. However, Yamason does drive you to Annapuri base or Moiwa base between 8:30 -10am and the walk back from either is 20 minutes. Unfortunately, we did have one incident during our stay. One afternoon, my partner went to lift the duvet to remake the bed and one of the seams in the square quilt tore perfectly, about 15”. We immediately went to Yamason to tell him so we could have it fixed. He said we would have to pay 20,000 YEN ($200 CAD), because the duvet had to be sent away to be fixed. We understand it was us who had ripped the sheet (a genuine accident) but were quite shocked at the cost as it was one small seam, that we assumed could be fixed by a seamstress in town. Yamason explained that the seam was unrepairable in town and had to be completely remade.

Low cost pension so set your expectations accordingly. Clean, very helpful owner, good experience overall. Things to note: Despite what other reviews say, this isn’t ski-in,ski-out. I was told the forest route to return is too difficult to find, no other help offered so it just wasn’t an option. Taking the bus back is not hard but the bus is crowded, you get off after one stop, and hike about 100m. In the morning I had to ask a favor for the owner to take me in his car because I had lessons signed up, so you may have to take the bus which is 100m hike. Although breakfast was served each day, all 3 nights I was there the restaurant was announced as “closed.” Given there are only 2 eating places within walking distance, it’s a big inconvenience to have no dinner in the pension. A bus ride to town means you have to be watching time tables and not pleasant if it snows hard (which is often at niseko). The closest onsen (bath) place is about 5-7 min walk. Not super pleasant if it’s snowing. The accommodations are basic but ok. I wish the mattress was softer and there is a choice in pillows, some people may have a bigger issue. The main complaint is the small space heater doesn’t work in temperature control, even though it’s supposed to. So it gets super hot at night and you have to get up to turn it off. The washlet in the men’s room doesn’t work. Yama San is super helpful. Provide drop off and pickup, plus dinner (paid ok), then it’s perfect!

This place is great if you are looking for some peace and quiet close to An’nupuri in Niseko so that you can ski hard. Good meals provided (breakfast was free). Dinner menu available on most nights. Walking distance to the gondola. The owners are very sweet and helpful. Laundry and shower room on site. And reasonably priced. Thanks Yama san!!

Very quaint place

This is such a great place to stay. Yama-San, the owner, is a very friendly guy and will go out of his way to help you out. The breakfasts every day were delicious and varied, including different salads, yogurts and home made jams. You can be given discount vouchers for the adjacent hot spring which is great quality and Yama-San is full of advice about the day's conditions and which areas would be good to ski. It is possible to ski right back to the hotel as well, along a path through the forest which Yama-san showed me. We used the route several times in order to get back rather than wait for the shuttle bus or walk (though it is a bit harder on a heavy powder day). The bathrooms are not connected to the rooms so it helped to have some pyjamas or something easy to throw on if you need to get up in the middle of the night. There is a storage space in the entrance with a heater to dry your skis or boots, though you can also bring your boots to the room and dry them there. They provide large indoor slippers as well in case you have big feet. Would love to stay here again.

This was a great hotel for good value, and Yama-san was an excellent host giving us rides whenever we needed it. The breakfasts were good quality and size to fill us up for the ski days. Would definitely recommend staying here.

We really enjoyed our stay, Yama- San is a brilliant host, we would definitely come back.

The host was amazing , not only very helpful and friendly , but truly always happy!! Plus who could beat a ski report every morning Thank you

The property is clean and quiet. Food is excellent and Yamason goes out of his way to ensure guests have a great stay. Rooms are average size but have everything you need. Shared bathrooms are kept very clean. A few onsens close by. Hirafu is a 15min drive but that’s a good thing in my book. Annapurni ski hill is a short drive/walk up the road.

Owner is friendly and helpful . Will try his best to help you . Near to a bus stop and have some parking space if u r driving

Great location- close to Annupuri ski resort. Can definitely walk but host is amazing at pickup/ drop offs when needed. Facilities and room are clean and comfortable. Breakfasts were incredible- can't pick what is served so best to let host know well in advance of any dietary/ allergy requirements. Fantastic stay; definitely well worth the money spent.

The staff were amazing and went out of their way to make our trip easy and enjoyable. Every morning the owner would make an amazing breakfast and drive everyone to the snow whenever they where ready. They brief you in the morning on the snow conditions and wind and are always keen to have a chat. The breakfast are always filling and provide a variety of choice with different meals almost everyday. The bedrooms are quite small but they are perfect for two people and great at the snow. Rooms are cleaned often, and towels are replaced. Amazing place to stay.

First time come to Niseko and first time skiing. Greeted by friendly host,Yamano-san. He help us a lot and we cannot thank him enough for the kindness he showed. Hopefully can come here one more time.

Staff is super nice and friendly. The hotel is a bit further than walking distance and he drove us to annupuri to snowboard. He also woke us up for breakfast when we were late.

Yamo-san (the host and owner) is a gem. Very knowledgeable about the skiing and conditions at Annupuri and Moiwa. Huge breakfast at 8 am every morning. Yamo-san reviews the conditions on the mountains and recommends where the snow will be the best. Even drives you to the base of Annupuri! Wood fire in the fireplace when you return at the end of the day, perfect for relaxing with a cold beer. Yamo-san also makes delicious Nepalese curry, each night from 5:30 to 7:30. The inn is very comfortable. Lots of places to hang ski clothes at the end of the day, and plenty of warm ski and boot storage. A perfect family-run inn in a quiet location.

Nice hotel with friendly environment. The personnel are very helpful for all kind of issues even not related to the accommodation.

Yamason was amazing. He went above and beyond to make sure our stay with him was nothing short of fantastic. Would stay here again in a heartbeat.

Could not recommend this place more. The host is one of the nicest and most accommodating people we have ever met. The house is clean and simple with great breakfasts. We left feeling like we had a genuine Hokkaido experience. Thanks Yamasan have a great winter