We had a cozy two-night stay at Hotel Nidom, with excellent food and attentive service.

I’m surprised Hotel Nidom is 3-star ryokan. While I do agree that some of the cabin amenities were old, I’d give the service 5 stars.

Of all of the places we stayed in Hokkaido, I was most happy with the professional and coordinated service we received at Hotel Nidom Tomakomai.

We’re lucky that we got upgraded to a room with a lake view.

I wonder if it’s because the resort was so empty when we visited in May. The whole resort, along with amenities like restaurants and the onsen, were empty when we visited. This made the stay very tranquil and comfortable, although it felt eerily empty at times.

We enjoyed the door-to-door shuttle concierge service and ended up keeping our car rental in the free parking. By the second day though, we started walking the short 5-minute distance between our cabin and the hotel facilities.

In this Hotel Nidom review, I’ll go over the cottage facilities, hotel restaurant, onsen and golf course in depth!

The Service at Hotel Nidom

The service was out of this world! We always had someone hand-holding, which made our stay comfortable and luxurious.

Throughout the whole stay, we interacted with multiple staff members, but they all seemed to be in sync. I wonder if this was especially the case since we were one of the very few people staying at the resort, but I have a sense that this attention to detail is present even during more peak travel times in the winter and summer.

We had private yet free shuttle service, and we ended up keeping our rental at the car park our whole stay. Every day, one main staff member drove us in and out of the cottage, helped us move our golf clubs and other luggage to and from our rental car, and asked us if we planned to eat at the hotel for our next meal.

The whole concierge experience was weaved, logical, helpful and cohesive. The chauffeur was in sync with the front desk staff, who also helped us book our meals, as well as golf tee times at the Nidom Classic golf course. Our waiter at the hotel restaurant also asked us about our next meal.

While we sometimes had a slight language barrier, I think English-speaking international visitors (like us) shouldn’t have any major issues, as most of the staff were comfortable speaking English. Hotel Nidom, like other hotels and ryokans in Hokkaido, also seems to have hired international English-speaking hospitality staff.

The Cottage at Hotel Nidom

The Setup

We stayed at the 2 bed and 1.5 bath cottage 536, which had a beautiful view of the deep blue river.

I know they call it a lake, it looked like a pretty stream to me. 

Top Floor: Living Area

Our cottage was two floors. The entrance takes you to the living area, from which you can take a spiral staircase down to the sleeping area, which has two rooms and two bathrooms.

Both floors have decks looking out to the river.

Outdoor Patio

The outdoor patio is large – it’s the same width as the whole cottage. There are two wooden tables on each end of the patio, each table with 4 wooden seats.

From the patio, you can look down onto the blue river, and on the left you could see the other cottages, which looked very pretty in succession.

Lounging & Dining Area

The indoor living area had a TV lounging area with seating for 5 people and a dining table with 6 chairs.

There was also a real fireplace with wood and a fire starter, which we used both nights. While it looked pretty, I don’t think the fireplace actually really kept us warm. Heat wasn’t an issue at all, and we were comfortable our whole stay.

Kitchen

The cottage has a small kitchen with a single hot plate and a fridge that includes a hotel-style mini bar available at incidental charges. Do note that if you plan to cook, I didn’t see any amenities, so you might want to bring your own pots, pans and cutlery.

There wasn’t a microwave or coffee, but there was an electronic hot water jug, a kettle and some darjeeling tea bags.

Lower Floor: Rooms & Bathrooms

From the top floor, you can go down a spiral staircase in order to get to the sleeping quarters. The spiral staircase was unstable and shook as I descended, which was a bit jarring.

Bedrooms

There are two bedrooms, each with two single-sized beds. Each of the bedrooms had a door that directly connected out to another outdoor deck, which looked out onto the river.

I got a really, really good night’s sleep. I think it has to do with how quiet and peaceful the cottage and its surrounding forest is – but I also do credit it to the curtains, which truly blacked out the room so well.

There are also two bathrooms, but they are not connected to the rooms. It would have been extra special if the bathrooms were en suite, but it of course wasn’t the end of the world exiting the bedroom to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

By the way, you can request extra beds, and the extra-person charges are 8,800 JPY (56 USD) per bed. 

Bathrooms

There were two bathrooms, but only one had a shower. Both of our bathrooms were not en-suite, to my mom’s disappointment.

The truth is, the bathtub was quite yellow, but it didn’t really matter because all of us used the onsen facilities to bathe and therefore we never ended up showering in the cottage.

There were plenty of free toiletries, like shampoos, soaps as well as amenities like toothbrushes and combs.

Cleanliness & Amenities

The cottage was very clean and well-maintained, but the amenities were old.

Throughout my trip in Hokkaido, I noticed that this was a common thread among older venues – and it made the cozy cottage stay feel even more natural.

The Onsen & Sauna Facilities at Hotel Nidom

The ryokan features two hot spring bath facilities, but we only used the one in the basement of the building with hotel facilities, because we were told that it was better than the one at the golf clubhouse.

My mom was disappointed by the rather humble state of the onsen during our first visit. But upon our second visit, both of our attitudes changed, and we were more focused on the fact that the onsen hot tub had great water from hot springs 1430m below the ground (4691ft).

There was a small to medium sized indoor pool that was drained and not in use. I’m guessing it’s probably in use during the summer and maybe during the busier winter months. It seemed like the perfect size for families with younger kids, especially given that the pool didn’t look deep.

As is typical, the onsen is separated by male and female facilities, and includes a public bath, a wooden sauna, as well as public showers.

There’s a locker room across from the actual onsen, which was kind of confusing, especially because there were no towels or robes in the locker room. I am guessing during the peak season, they probably have robes in this area, because you need to physically exit the locker room in order to get to the onsen.

We were told that we didn’t need to bring anything to the onsen, so we ended up needing to change in the onsen facilities instead. The second night, we ended up bringing our robes, which made the whole process easier.

The Food at Hotel Nidom

The food was a fantastic and elegant experience. I was very happy with all of the food we had, from our wonderful dinner courses, to our breakfasts and even our lunch at the golf clubhouse.

Although Hotel Nidom offers room service, we ended up eating at the main restaurant for all of our meals! The restaurant has wooden decor, and feels old-fashioned but majestic. The ceilings are very high, and there’s good views of the Nidom forest.

During our stay, we overlapped with one group of ladies who were dining next to us. They were pretty quiet the whole time – but given the spaciousness of the venue, I would say that it was a family-friendly restaurant.

Breakfast

I opted for the Japanese style breakfast both mornings, and I loved it. There was rice, sashimi, fermented fish, pickled plum and it was delicious. Even the mini salad was delicious.

My dad had the Western breakfast, but didn’t think it was anything super special. I think part of the reason is that we mistakenly asked for a plain omelet. Nonetheless, I would highly recommend the Japanese breakfast, as I think it’s of better value, a unique experience and tasty.

Dinner

I feel very lucky that we had dinner two nights at the restaurant: the French course and the Japanese course.

I think the French course was more tasty, but I was more allured by the Japanese course because it felt like an experience I couldn’t really get outside of Hokkaido and Japan. Both tasting menus change by the day, depending on what fresh produce is available.

Japanese Tasting Menu

From the Japanese course, I loved the fermented fish and the octopus sashimi, which both tasted very fresh.

The octopus sashimi was slightly chewy but somehow dissolved in my mouth.

The most memorable dish was the simmered young bamboo, mostly because it was my first time. I loved the clear jelly around the bamboo.

The tastiest dish was the grilled atka mackerel, not only because the fish was excellent, but because the fresh plant / herb sauce was unlike anything I’ve tried before. I felt like I was tasting the freshness of grass in the mosty pleasant way possible. The sauce was so earthy in all the right ways and paired excellently with the mackerel.

French Tasting Menu

Even though the tasting menu was French, the NATURE course included many locally grown ingredients, such as mushrooms from the Nidom forest itself (!!) and cheese from Hokkaido.

My favorite dish was the onion soup with sea urchin and made using jellied consommé madrilène (clarified beef broth). I was shocked that the onion soup was cold. I loved softly munching through the consommé jelly pieces, and made sure to savor the sea urchin. This dish was such a refreshing twist on onion soup that delivered!

Activities at Hotel Nidom

The Golf Course at Hotel Nidom

We played golf at Nidom Classic’s Ikoro Course. The first 9 holes we played on Ashiri and for the last 9 holes we did Pirika.

The course was beautiful and the grass was well maintained. We got lucky with a beautiful blue sky day.

The restaurant in the clubhouse, accessible after the 9 hole, was spacious and like the rest of Hotel Nidom, woody and old-fashioned. The server was very nice and our food was delicious.

The kariage udon in particular was delicious. The savory broth was quenching and soothing, and the kariage was chewy albeit imbued with broth.

Bicycle Rental at Hotel Nidom

Since cars aren’t allowed on the huge resort, bikes are a great way to explore the huge, leafy resort. Rental bicycles are available to rent for 1,100 JPY (7 USD) for adults and 550 JPY for children (3.50 USD).

Birdwatching at Lake Utonai Sanctuary

Hotel Nidom is just a 10-minute drive from Lake Utonai, a major migration hub for birds home to over 260 bird species. Birdwatching tours by the Wild Bird Society of Japan are available for 18,000 JPY (115 USD), and need to be booked three days in advance.

Getting to Hotel Nidom

Where is Hotel Nidom?

Hotel Nidom is in Tomakomai, which is a 20 min drive from New Chitose Airport (18 km / 11 mi) and an hour outside of Sapporo (50 km / 31 mi).

Sapporo Chitose is the nearest airport; Sapporo Okadama Airport is a 43 min drive from Hotel Nidom.

Free Shuttle Service by Hotel Nidom

The property’s free airport shuttle has scheduled pickups at New Chitose Airport, from the ANA Side Bus Stop No. 30, and the JAL Side (South) Authorized Vehicle Pickup/Dropoff. The pickup times are a little limited, so it’s best to check the shuttle’s schedule times online as you plan your flights.

Check In & Check Out

Standard check-in time is at 2pm and the check-out time is 11am.

Booking Hotel Nidom

Average Price of Hotel Nidom

The average nightly price of Hotel Nidom is around $250.

Contact Information

You can call Hotel Nidom at 81-144-55-8000, or submit your questions on their form.

Would I go back again?

To be honest, probably not. I had a wonderful time at this Tomakomai hotel and was very impressed by the service and food. I wish I had spent more quality time enjoying the peaceful cabin (we were busy playing golf) and I do wonder if my opinion would be different had we taken a full day to chill there.

However, I do think that sans the service and food – I could probably find a similar cabin in the United States.

If I went back, I would still opt to come around the same time (maybe when it’s slightly warmer) and spend tons of time on the patio. I would also definitely check out one of the tasting menus as well.

Thanks so much for checking out my Hotel Nidom review!

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