HOTEL Jogakura - Aomori

Great open air onsen surrounded by nature. Quiet environment

Great hotel, friendly and helpful staff, the spa is spotless clean and the breskfast has a lot of tasty choices.

An elegant victoria style building standing in the thick forest, great dinner and breakfast with unbeatable tast of Aomori scallop (Yes... the scallop, even in the breakfast) and a variety of Aomori special local foods and fruits. I wish I had one more stomach to eat them all! Great open air Onsen with super loving nature policy, the pool arounded by a nature environment with wild weed, I kept watching a big but harmless ant carrying the food near by the Onsen pool! It seems take me to an Ecology Lesson, really impressed me!

I spent my first night at Hotel Jogakura for my Tohoku trip back in early June. I made the room reservation directly from the hotel website and followed its instruction to arrange for courtesy pick up at Aomori Station 3 days prior to my stay there. The hotel is located in Mount Hakkoda area as such the car ride was about 1.5 hours. I have to say a big "thank you" to the driver as the route to the hotel passed by Towada-Hachimantai National Park. He stopped the car briefly and let me take photos! As it was not peak season, there were only 5 guests including me at the hotel. Dinner and breakfast were included in the package. Food was great and very filling. I believe I ate too much and got a bit sick at the end. I didn't have the opportunity to enjoy the breakfast. Hotel staff were very attentive even though they did not speak English much. I took the 9am courtesy car ride from hotel to Aomori Station and as front desk knew that I was not feeling well, he told the driver to drive slowly so I could rest in the car. I mentioned to front desk if it would be possible to drop me off at the hotel I would be staying instead of Aomori Station and he told me it could be done. I am sure Hotel Jogakura will be packed with guests during the winter time especially for those who love skiing. It's a lovely hotel and I will definitely come back and stay longer next time!

one of the best hotel I have been to in Japan. Was so lucky there was no Chinese (nothing can be better than no Chinese in a hotel you staying at). Great staff, heaps of snow, great dinner, onsen (sauna/steam room should get some nice wooden upgrade tho). Close to Hakkoda Ropeway, great escape from idiots of the world :)

Rooms are a bit small but the baths are nice and the dinner and breakfast are delicious. Prepare to be roasted if you enter the sauna.

I stayed here in the beginning of March 2016, and it was marvellous! The staff were all exceptionally helpful and unintrusive. I thoroughly enjoyed being on my own in the outdoor hot spring, where the snowdrifts had blanketed the forest backdrop. The food was delicious, classic onsen fare with local specialties. Facilities were all very up to date and being able to do laundry at any time in a separate building - wellies were provided to make the very short walk from the hotel to the outbuilding - was very convenient. Beds were comfortable, rooms were lovely. I'd love to stay here again!

Perfectly acceptable, and likely the better option in the area, but it does not live up to the standard of a hotel in its price range. If the hotel refurbished its bathrooms and public baths, I think it'd be a very special experience. As it stands, it does not have any particularly "excellent" features that other hotels of its range don't offer better. Personally, I wouldn't recommend staying here unless you book one of the suites with a private bath. Pros: - Stunning scenery. Nestled in a dense, beautiful forest about an hour outside of Aomori. Snowy wonderland during the winter. - Beautiful decor. This is a tastefully decorated resort. We enjoyed the furniture and the paintings. Lovely hardwood floors. The whole resort is decorated in a cozy, Swiss alpine lodge aesthetic. Elegant and kitschy but not over the top. - Convenient shuttle service. We appreciated the train station pickup. - Beds were tempurpedic type. Comfortable! Cons: - The standard-room bathrooms are the all-in-one, prefab types that typically get installed in cheap business hotels. These were from, perhaps, the mid-90's to early 2000's. Tiny, old, gross. The doors do not align with the frames, so the bathroom door is two inches above the floor of the room. - The men's outdoor onsen is shallow and cold. Not at all as grand as you see in the pictures. It was extremely cold outside, so heat evaporation was an issue, but a lot of hotels with outdoor baths know how to deal with this issue. The water was just barely lukewarm. Heating not strong enough. - The indoor baths are aging and in poor condition. There was was mold and rust spots all over the ceiling and mirrors. Tiles are yellowing. There was calcium scum all over the floors. Sitting in the cold bath (mizuburo), I could smell mold in the water; mold is probably growing underneath the tiles. The sauna is a steam-type (which is great!) but no one was wiping down the wet wooden benches. They were covered in noticeable patches of human hair. I left the Onsen after about ten minutes because it was so gross. I told the manager, who seemed only mildly concerned. - In terms of its facilities, the hotel is similar to others I've seen in Japan that probably got refurbished in the early 2000's and are about five years past due for another refurbishment. The workout equipment, massage chairs, banquet dining chairs, etc. are a bit old and no longer fashionable. So-so: - Food is fine. We really liked the fish. Breakfast buffet is tasty, not excellent. - Service was friendly.