Zaborin

Zaborin is where you go when you want every powder day to end in silence. Architect Makoto Nakayama set fifteen villas into the birch and pine a few minutes' drive below Hanazono, and the ryokan's private spring fills an indoor bath and a covered outdoor tub in each of them. You can slide into the outdoor one at two in the morning with snow coming off the eaves and see nobody at all.

Chef Yoshihiro Seno cooks an eleven-course Kita Kaiseki each night from what local foragers and fishing boats bring in, and the menu moves with the harvest. Ask for a window table so you can watch the forest while you eat. Breakfast leans on vegetables picked that morning and grilled fish. After dinner the candlelit library pours Hokkaido wine and sake from the cellar, and the minibar in your villa carries Nikka whisky.

Plan on a car or the hotel's driver for the short run up to Hanazono, since the villas sit deep in the trees well away from any lift. Staff collect guests from JR Kutchan Station at no charge. The Michelin Guide gives Zaborin two Keys, and in January 2024 a villa for two with dinner cost about ¥236,000 a night.