The Powder of Love
Addicted to the fluffy white stuff? Hinode Hills has the perfect, healthy option.
Japan as a popular destination for skiing enthusiasts just got a little more accommodating with
the opening of Hinode Hills.
WHAT DO YOU do when you’re building a hotel and you realise that guests will want to spend as little time as possible in it?
It’s a conundrum. There are those who could be forgiven for making it as basic as possible. Alternatively, you could design a property that is so good, people never want to leave. The recently opened Hinode Hills in Hokkaido, Japan – the latest jewel in YTL Hotels’ crown – has, somehow, done an almost perfect job of straddling the two and satisfying the prerequisites of both.
Functionally brutalist on the outside, as is often the case in Japan’s ski resorts, Hinode Hills is calm and welcoming on the inside, with a crisp, understated elegance that is at once cool and warm. It’s new, so will ease its way into a personality in due course, and this will be informed by a clientele who will surely want to spend as much of their time as possible on the slopes, but require an oasis in the desert of whiteness to come home to. Skiers want to ski, but they also have needs when they’re not skiing, and Hinode Hills seems to have thought of pretty much everything.
The skiing around Niseko Village (and snowboarding, I suppose, if you have to) is among the best in the world. Snow is almost guaranteed (unlike a few European destinations these days) and of extraordinary quality – for both serious skiers (sometimes known as ‘powder monkeys’ – can’t think why) and trainees alike. Visitors flock from near and far to indulge in the kind of conditions that are only available in a very few places on Earth. Niseko has been on the map for years, and is recognised as a haven for dedicated skiers who will never get piste off at the lack of off-piste options, but YTL Hotels put the area seriously ‘on the map’ as a tourist destination some 10 years ago, when it took over properties and put its own inimitable stamp on the area.
And there are further plans afoot, with a RitzCarlton Reserve – one of only a handful in the world – coming online at the end of 2020, and a couple of other accommodation options to ensure that there will be something appropriate for everyone. While Niseko has long been a destination of choice for winter sports aficionados in the region, prior to YTL’s intervention, options were limited. We will soon be able to choose a venue to match our budget, while enjoying the delights of truly exceptional powder skiing.
The ‘ski-in ski-out’ philosophy is now very much de
rigueur among the world’s pukka resorts, and Hinode Hills has this covered – almost literally, with a ‘magic carpet’ to take you from the hotel itself to the first gondola, from which you can access the slopes. OK, it’s a ‘travellator’ by any other name, but it gets the job done, and lights up spectacularly at night to create a pleasing winter wonderland aesthetic.
Hinode Hills has everything you could possibly need; from the well-appointed rooms that nod to Japanese architectural styles with clean lines and a slightly utilitarian angularity, to a food and beverage outlet that promises some rewarding culinary experiences once it hits its stride. Most of the produce is locally sourced, and suppliers are very protective of their brand. So, whatever’s on the menu is going to be high quality.
And then there’s the staff, for whom no request is too strange or too much to accomplish without a friendly smile. There’s a peace and tranquillity to the place that puts guests at ease, and they are very much welcome after a long day falling headfirst into snowdrifts – to say nothing of the ambient temperature control mechanism that seems to be telepathic. Just perfect, at all times, wherever you find yourself inside Hinode Hills’ portals.
You get the impression that everything about the resort is designed to facilitate the experience of taking to the hills and enjoying some of the best snow and conditions this world has to offer.
How good are they? Suffice it to say that the Sapporo City government – Niseko Village is about 90km from the international airport in Sapporo itself – has selected it as a candidate venue for the Winter Olympics in 2030. New, unskied courses will be developed for the downhill and super-giant slalom, while existing runs have already been deemed good enough by the International Ski Federation to accommodate the slalom and giant slalom events.
Nevertheless, Niseko Village is a place where average skiers and potential world champions can sit side by side on a chair lift and recount tales of spectacular wipeouts (generally other people’s), and now that Hinode Hills is up and running, the powder junkies will have somewhere with warmth – both in terms of temperature and hospitality – to get back to when they return to base.