Every time we plan a trip to Hokkaido, our household ends up debating where to stay. This blog is mostly about travelling with a child, but this time — unusually — the two of us went to Lake Toya on our own.
We stayed at The Lake View TOYA Nonokaze Resort.
It is a hot-spring resort where every room has a lake view, and honestly we went in half-sceptical, thinking “buffets at ryokan are usually a bit mediocre, aren’t they?” … We were completely wrong. In the best way.
The buffet food is seriously good. The hot spring is huge with a spectacular view. And as a sauna lover, it may have been the best sauna experience of my life.
We have stayed at a great many hotels as keen travellers, and this one was in a class of its own. It is unquestionably in our top three ever.
Both of us scored it 5 out of 5. We will also be honest about the one thing that bothered us, so do read on.
What this article covers
- Our honest impressions of The Lake View TOYA Nonokaze Resort
- The quality and atmosphere of the buffet (Le Vent)
- The size of the hot spring and communal baths, and the views
- Details of the rooftop sauna and the Lake Toya view from the outdoor cooling area
- The one thing that bothered us (the stairs after the sauna)
The basics
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Hotel name | The Lake View TOYA Nonokaze Resort |
| Address | 29-1 Toyako Onsen, Toyako Town, Abuta District, Hokkaido |
| Tel | 0570-026571 (lines open 10:00–17:00) |
| Check-in | 15:00 |
| Check-out | 11:00 |
| Hot spring | Yes (natural hot spring) |
| Official website | nonokaze-resort.com |
Toyako Onsen is a lakeside hot-spring town in the central region of Hokkaido. Lake Toya is a caldera lake so clear it was chosen as one of Japan’s hundred finest landscapes, and the setting looks straight out at Mount Yotei, known as “Ezo Fuji”. Nonokaze Resort is a hot-spring resort hotel standing on the shore of that lake, operated by the Noguchi Kanko group.
It is about an hour and a half by car from Sapporo. There are also shuttle buses from Sapporo Station and New Chitose Airport, so you are fine without a car.
* We did not know this and took the train all the way to Toya.
Getting there from the nearest station
* There are also shuttle buses from Sapporo Station and New Chitose Airport.
Open in Google MapsCheck-in and the feel of the lobby
* This photo was taken outside, but you get the same sweeping view of Lake Toya from the lobby.
We checked in at 3pm. The lobby is pulled together in a Japanese-modern style, spacious yet with a calm atmosphere. The staff were attentive, and from the moment we arrived there was that reassuring sense of “we have come to a good place”.
Once we had checked in at the front desk, they carefully explained the room and the facilities: where the hot spring is, how the sauna works, dinner times at the restaurant. They confirm your buffet time slot here, which makes it easy to plan your evening.
The view of Lake Toya from the lobby is already superb, and before even putting our bags down the two of us stood by the window for a while, just staring. The stillness of the lake, and the silhouette of Nakajima Island in the distance. The scale of Hokkaido was already sinking in.
The room: “every room has a lake view” is not an idle boast
A hundred descriptions are worth less than one look, so please just watch.
We stayed in a twin room with a hot-spring view bath. The Lake Toya view from the room is magnificent.
The room is plenty big, with a sofa by the window so you can relax while looking out at the lake. The amenities left nothing to complain about: shampoo, conditioner, body wash and towels of course, plus yukata and a hairdryer.
At night, when we turned the lights off and looked out of the window, fireworks were going up. Watching fireworks up close from your own window is about as good as it gets.
Dinner: we did not know a buffet could be this good
Honestly, we had low expectations of buffets at ryokan and hotels. Our experience so far had been “plenty of quantity, ordinary flavour”.
* We forgot to take photos, unfortunately.
But the buffet at Nonokaze Resort was nothing like that.
Dinner is served at the lake-view buffet restaurant “Le Vent”. It is an open, airy space overlooking Lake Toya, lined with food-truck-style open kitchens. The live feel of chefs finishing dishes in front of you is simply fun.
What characterises the food is an absolute commitment to local Hokkaido produce. The quality of the ingredients comes through in every dish, and you keep having the same reaction: “hang on, this is restaurant level, isn’t it?”
The seafood was especially good. There is a strong range of dishes using fresh Hokkaido fish and shellfish, and we went back for more repeatedly. The dessert counter is well stocked too — the wife, who loves sweet things, said she would come back just for the desserts.
A buffet is normally somewhere you go to eat a lot, isn’t it. But this was somewhere you go to eat well. Both of us scored the food full marks without hesitation.
We were told the menu changes with the seasons, making the most of whatever is in season. It left us wanting to come back at a different time of year.
Breakfast: a lavish buffet looking out at Lake Toya from first thing
Breakfast is also a buffet at Le Vent. The range is as wide as at dinner, with a full spread of both Japanese and Western dishes. Hokkaido dairy and vegetables are used generously, and you end up overeating first thing in the morning.
Outside the window, morning mist drifts across Lake Toya. Eating breakfast while watching the lake wear a completely different face from the evening was a luxury you simply do not get in everyday life.
We recommend going early, right at opening, before it fills up. The lake-view window seats go first, so get there early if you care about that.
The hot spring and communal baths: superb in both scale and view
Nonokaze Resort has several hot springs and bathing areas.
- TENQOO (the sky open-air bath): a rooftop panoramic open-air bath. Lake Toya, Nakajima Island and Mount Yotei fill your field of view
- EZOFUJI (the view bath): a large communal bath where you can look out at Lake Toya
- Showa-no-yu: a bath in a retro public-bathhouse style
- Private-rental baths: private baths bookable for a fee
The sheer size of the EZOFUJI communal bath was a surprise. A generous indoor bath, plus an open-air bath facing Lake Toya. The water is soft, and left our skin feeling smooth.
The showstopper is the rooftop sky open-air bath, TENQOO. It is designed like an infinity pool, so the bath appears to run straight into Lake Toya. The lake spread out below, Mount Yotei rising in the distance, Nakajima Island floating in the water. Whichever way you look the view is vast, and we found ourselves unable to move for a long while.
At night you can bathe under the stars. There are few streetlights around Lake Toya and the air is clear, so the stars show beautifully. Soaking in a hot spring beneath a full sky of stars was a luxury nothing else replaces.
The sauna: the best sauna experience of my life
What stayed with me most from this trip was the sauna. I have been to a lot of saunas, and the one at Nonokaze Resort surpassed all of them.
A self-löyly sauna
First, the sauna room is properly hot. It is a serious setup where you can do self-löyly (ladling water onto the sauna stones yourself to raise steam), and the balance of humidity and temperature was exquisite. The cold bath is around 15°C. Filled with clear Hokkaido water, it has a softness that feels like your skin is dissolving into it, and the moment you get in you think, “ah, this is it.”
A rooftop cooling area with the whole of Lake Toya in front of you
And the single biggest thing is the outdoor cooling area. You leave the sauna, cool off in the cold bath, then head up to the rooftop cooling area. The view from there was so good it defeats description.
Lake Toya spreads out below you, with the mountains on the far shore reflected in the surface. The blue of the sky and the blue of the lake melt together, and the Hokkaido wind blows straight through. Your body is already sliding into that reset state from the sauna and the cold bath, and you take all of this in with every sense sharpened.
I had honestly never quite understood what people mean by “totonou” — that sauna reset — but this was the first time I thought, “ah, so that’s it.” The quality of the sauna itself, plus the location of the cooling area, plus the feel of the Hokkaido air, added up to far and away the best of every sauna I have experienced.
What bothered us: the stairs after the sauna are hard work
Nonokaze Resort was otherwise flawless, so here is the one honest gripe.
You have to climb stairs to get from the sauna to the outdoor cooling area.
The sauna and cold bath are inside the communal bath area, while the cooling area is on the roof above it (TENQOO). So, half-way into the reset after the cold bath, you have to climb a flight of steps.
And that is … honestly hard work. After a sauna your circulation has shifted, and moving suddenly can leave you a little light-headed. There was also the anxiety of “if I don’t hurry, the reset will wear off before I reach the cooling area”. Everything else, though, was perfect. Apart from this one point, it was a genuinely faultless sauna experience.
Our rating (out of 5)
At Kozure Tabi we score every property we have actually stayed at on the same five criteria, each out of 5. To keep the standard consistent from one property to the next, we always use the same five: travelling with kids, travelling with dogs, bath and sauna, food, and value. The overall score is the average of the applicable criteria. Criteria that do not apply are marked "Not applicable" and excluded from the overall score.
Facilities check for children and dogs
Here are the items we end up asking about every single time we choose a property with a child or a dog. The figures and yes/no answers are based on what is stated on the official website.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Cot / baby bed | Only one in the whole hotel. Must be requested in advance |
| Co-sleeping and child rates | Preschool children may co-sleep (Western-style rooms included). Free for ages 0 to under 3; for age 3 to under primary school there is a facility fee of 3,850 yen (incl. tax, no futon). If a futon is used the charge varies by plan |
| Baby food | No mention of it being served, but staff will warm it if you ask |
| Baby items for loan | Children’s yukata and smaller slippers (limited sizes and quantities) |
| Children in the baths | Not stated on the official website (ask the property) |
| Kids’ space | Not stated on the official website (ask the property) |
| Dogs | Not stated on the official website (ask the property) |
* Confirmed on 26 July 2026 on the official website of The Lake View TOYA Nonokaze Resort (FAQ) (Japanese). Facilities and rates are subject to change, so please always check the official website for the latest information before booking.
Summary: a superb property for a trip as a couple
For The Lake View TOYA Nonokaze Resort, our overall score is 5 out of 5 from both of us.
What makes Nonokaze Resort remarkable is not that one of the food, the hot spring or the sauna stands out, but that all of them are at a high level. The only thing that bothered us was the stairs after the sauna; beyond that we had no complaints at all. We would wholeheartedly recommend it to couples who want time to themselves.
| Item | Score | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Food (buffet) | ★★★★★ | Quality you would not believe from a buffet. The local-produce cooking is outstanding |
| Hot spring and baths | ★★★★★ | The view from the sky open-air bath is spectacular. Full marks for scale and water quality alike |
| Sauna | ★★★★★ | The best sauna experience of my life. The Lake Toya view from the rooftop cooling area is unbeatable |
| Room | ★★★★★ | Every room has a lake view. Lake Toya and Mount Yotei from the window |
| Staff | ★★★★★ | Attentive and reassuring |
| Value | ★★★★☆ | Not cheap by any means, but the price makes sense given the experience |
| Overall | ★★★★★ | A place we will definitely return to |
The one thing that bothered us: there are stairs between the sauna and the outdoor cooling area
