Yeah, a little too classy for my budget apparently.

Niseko - book early
 

I'd been torn btwn Hilton (Hhonors benefits) vs Tokyo Alpen Hirafu (ski-in/out for the part of the resort we'll be using... Hirafu/Hanazono).

As of Oct, Alpen was 200,000y for 3 nights in late Feb, Hilton 150,000y for 3 nights (quad occupancy)... these were refundable rates.
I just rechecked the rates. Alpen's completely sold out for almost all of Feb. Hilton's now 200,000y for 3 nights.
I generally don't book until I'm committed. Now I'm kicking myself. I'm doing the bus from Hilton, which I had to scramble to book at a much higher rate than what was originally available.

Similar deal with Kiroro this month. Both Sheraton (ski-in/out) and Tribute (requires bus ride) were available a few months ago. By the time I'd decided on Kiroro a few weeks ago, Sheraton was already sold out.

Lesson learned is to book your Hokkaido ski hotels early. Otherwise you might pay for it like I did.

When you say slow start to the season, you're talking about the lack of snow right?
I'm so glad I chose Kiroro over places down in Honshu. This year places in Niigata/Nagano that's below 800-900m altitude might struggle to open before Christmas. But at least Hokkaido resorts have got some snow.

I'm really surprised by the room situation at Niseko. We're talking late Feb. I don't know if there's some sort of holiday period down under, but it's certainly not a holiday period in Jpn, China or N.America as far as I know. I thought that'd be off-peak and that rooms would be abundantly available, but I guess there are no off-peak seasons in Niseko. I am now also considering Rusutsu for late Feb, since Alpen Hirafu is n/a and I really want ski-in/out (if Niseko, I think we'd be skiing almost entirely in Hirafu and Hanazono, so Hilton would not be ski-in/out).

Oh, you coming then? I'll probably be around, should catch up! Actually, you also got really unlucky in that there is a large-ish medical conference being held there Feb 23-Mar 2nd.

base snow depth update
 

Kiroro 70cm
Hirafu 90cm
Zao 35cm
Grandeco 60cm
NASPA 70cm
Gala 80cm
Nozawa Onsen 60cm
Happo-One 40cm

Yuzawa area got dumped on the last few days. Now NASPA's got as much snow as Kiroro! I'm a bit surprised that Kiroro does not top the above list.
My decision to essentially spend >$1k more to choose Kiroro over NASPA for late Dec was primarily due to my fear that there'd be no snow at NASPA.
I can't back out of Kiroro anymore since I'm past the cancellation deadline.
But the hotels are still available at fair prices at both NASPA and Kiroro. I guess the lesson learned is that I could've waited till mid-Dec to monitor the snow situation before making my decision. (Although I suppose it's possible Yuzawa goes into a snow drought over the next 10days and ends up losing half its current accumulation.)

Remember those numbers don't give a true indication of what is going on. Hirafu is not completely covered still, and not all lifts in Niseko are running. The numbers will drop after a dump due to compression, and compressed numbers are much better for a snow base. Kiroro is not a high snowfall resort- it's a long term snow resort where the snow lasts.
I don't know the situation at NASPA but I suspect you made the correct choice still.

Okay, you make excellent points Cynicor. Interesting point about Kiroro. And I like you telling me that I made the right choice!

Did Kiroro a week ago.
They kept all the lifts going (including the gondola) even though it was snowing a lot with very poor visibility, -15C with wind speed of 10m/s at the top. Good to know they do not have low threshold for shutting things down. [Hoping it's the same way at Rusutsu, which is where we're leaning towards going next.]
The most amazing powder ever! Probably the best I've ever had.
Downside is that the fresh powder really exposes Kiroro's drawback as a mountain with many flat portions. When I went this past spring, there was no fresh powder but I wasn't bothered by the almost flat areas. I didn't have to exert myself to get down the mountain and to the lift bases. With fresh powder, almost every course (including Yoichi 1-A & B and even Asari 2-A, let alone Asari Dynamic and Center) required a lot of pushing and skating. Only area where you were exempt from it was the upper Nagamine.

Yeah, it's flat. I was surprised when you didn't feel that last visit, but the difference in powder explains all of it! I've only ever been during mid winter and lots of powder. Got stuck in one area in neck deep powder!

Was at akakura onsen/kanko last week, just the right timing (there were like 2 50+cm days in the 5 days that we were there).

Compared to other Honsho resorts that we've been to, akakura has a huge amount of Aussies - possibly thanks to the myoko snowsports ski school which is owned & run by an aussie company. Pros and cons depending on your view, perhaps, but as the wife and I wanted to take lessons this time we really needed English group ski school.

Akakura onsen/kanko itself is also really small (especially as the onsen side is practically all green slopes), so after 1 or 2 days you'd need to shuttle bus to the other ski areas.

Anyway what I liked most about it is the 'beginner trees / powder' areas next to the main champion run where even newbies like me can go in and pretend to be champion tree skiiers :D

Hey thanks a lot for posting your review and also the cool video!

Can I ask you some questions?
- Is it very easy to get betwen Kanko and Onsen? Is it pretty seamless between the two resorts?
- Did you stay at Akakura Kanko Hotel? If so, how did you book them? In the past, I had checked rates there quite frequently, but gave up because they were usually sold out and crazy-expensive when occasionally available.
- Looking at the trail map, it seems like there's a fair number of decently-long intermediate runs (>1000m) between the two mountains: Hotel C, Hotel B, the one that comes down along Champion #3 Quad lift, and Panorama over on Onsen side. Even with all those choices, you still think it's too limited for more than 1-2 days?
- Which other resort did you shuttle over to? And is there some type of ski bus that makes rounds between nearby areas?
- Did they keep most lifts running the whole time you were there?

Sorry for the many questions. I'm determined to go try this place at some point, as there are not many places in Honshu that fit all my criteria: 1).4+ star hotel; 2).Ski in/out; 3).Majority high-speed lifts (hoods would be icing on the cake); 4).Onsen (not a requirement, but a huge bonus).

Tree skier here, but you need to be super careful. Even at slow speeds the physics between falling on a slope and sliding and hitting a tree and stopping instantaneously are totally different. Super easy way to kill yourself. Seriously.