Rusutsu with a baby in Winter

Thinking of travelling to Rusutsu resort in Hokkaido for some famous pow pow? We had a fabulous time! 

Here are some tips and info for travelling with your baby. Our bub turned 7 month old on this trip (Jan 2024). I found it was difficult finding baby friendly info before getting here so hope this might help a few of you! 

Getting here 

We took a bus from Chitose airport, there are several companies and we went with Big Run which was organised by the hotel. Once we arrived at the meeting spot on the first floor we were able to leave our bags and explore food and shops on the third floor. 

There are HEAPS of shops and restaurants so watch out for your timing. We expected to find a good court but ended up being in a large complex. 

Make sure you take the same elevator (we had our travel pram for bub) next to the meeting point as the building where the shops are is not connected on all floors. 

The bus ride was 2 hours long (worth noting if you are hiring gear offsite, like we were). There was a rest stop 15 minutes from the resort itself, a bit unnecessary and the bus driver was extremely stressed about the timing. It was meant to be a toilet stop but basically everyone went to the shop next door as well to pick up snacks. 

Bub was asleep at this point so I didn't check out the facilities. 

Rusutsu hotel

There are currently 3 types of accommodation at Rusutsu hotel - the hotel and convention centre in the north wing, the Westin and a new apart-hotel called the Vale. There are other accom options nearby but this post only covers Rusutsu hotel. 

The room

We stayed at the hotel and convention centre, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Hubby described the hotel as like being on a cruiseship which is quite on point. 

The rooms are clean but dated. The configuration is rather odd - 2 king singles essentially in each room. Not quite big enough for 2 adults in one bed. Bub bed shared with me and we were able to organise a bedrail (free) with the hotel. You need to pre-book the bedrail.

Note that there's a charge for cots and for some reason the hotel seemed rather stressed about not bringing your own cot. We would have brought one but bub started cosleeping a few months ago so we didn't bother. 

There is no microwave in the room, there is a hot water urn which boils water and keeps it hot if you leave it plugged in. There is a small bar fridge with a small freezer section. 

I suggest bringing your own dishwashing detergent.

The bathroom sink would probably be big enough for your baby if under 7 months old. There is a bathtub. We brought a collapsible bathtub for bub. 

There were no shelves in the wardrobe and only one drawer, probably a shoe drawer that was very low and not very convenient. I suggest having some sort of system as there's not a lot of floor space for multiple suitcases. 

I saw a few tatami rooms in the south wing which might suit some families.

Laundry

There is a basic laundry at the hotel for a fee.

I handwashed our clothes as well as Bub's clothes. I'll write another post about my new found hack on this trip.

I found that clothes dried quickly in the room as they keep the rooms really hot here. 

Rooms at the Vale had their own washing machines!

Temperature

Brings me to my next quick point - the rooms are hot - too hot for babies. We had the balcony door cracked open the whole week we were here, including overnight. It's currently -9 degrees (Celsius) outside and our room is sitting at 22 degrees. It's not possible to adjust the temperature in the room, these buttons didn't seem to do anything

Power points 

Bring your Japanese adaptor. There is a small powerboard for 2 USB cords on the nightstand.

Microwave 

There is a microwave in the convenience shop called "colorful", one level below the north wing reception. Take the elevator in thr lobby and you will find it on the right. I was told we were able to use this microwave during shop hours. Hubby found another "hidden" microwave behind Daniel's deli.

Childcare

Bub was too young to go into care (for a fee-check the website). The only comment I'll make is that I met parents who told me childcare books out 12 months in advance so get in quick if you need this service. 

Ski school

The kids ski school took kids from 4 years and up. 

Pram

We found it useful to bring our travel pram, as bub is not quite sitting independently but a bit too big to want to carried around all the time. The resort has plenty of elevators and lifts. It is a big place and not all levels are connected so we found it very handy to have our own.

High chair

My biggest regret was leaving our very compact and handy high chair at home. The high chairs at the restaurants were useless for babies - no harness and no bucket seat. I saw other toddlers sitting in them comfortably though so just depends on the age of your baby. 

Onsen

There were family friendly bathing/shower areas and nappy bins in both the womens and mens baths. Although we couldn't work out how that might have worked (water is too hot for babies anyway) if one of us was skiing and the other wanted to onsen. We will be back once bub is older!

Other activities

There's a wave pool here although we didn't have time to use it. 

There a light show in the evenings which can be enjoyed from inside the building.

We took bub on the carousel which runs for about 90 seconds and a bit of fun. 

There's an area where you can go tubing/tobogganing - again for a fee.

One of the green runs (family run, West mountain) takes you to a small enclosure with miniature ponies and sheep near the bottom of the run. Bit cute. 

Bathrooms and breastfeeding 

Bathrooms had spacious changing facilities and some had private BF cubicles at the main hotel. I still fed on demand and had a cover with me just in case I needed it. 

Restaurants, dietary requirements and restrictions 

Breakfast buffets had some good options for little ones if there are no dietary restrictions. 

If you or your little one has dietary restrictions - each dish has allergens marked EXCEPT for soy, which was a big problem for us, you kind of just have to guess and good luck asking any of the staff members to prep any alternatives or explain whether dishes contain soy. I asked the hotel before getting here for a list of dishes and allergens, they were unable to provide this.

You will also find that most dishes have dairy marked as an allergen - even dishes you wouldn't expect normally, such as bacon. 

Other items such as cucumbers at the salad bar as an example are not cut to appropriate BLW portions. I was able to give bub orange slices, avo (mashed it myself) and broccoli and that was about it. 

You will definitely need to byo if your babe needs more food - don't rely on what they have here.

That's it from me, despite some challenges discussed above, it was a truly special week for us!! If we are lucky enough to come back with our little one I would book in at the Vale, it is further from the ski lockers but has more in room facilities for families (microwave, bigger fridge and washing machine). Happy travels!