Rooms are spacious, relatively new and kept very clean. We slept well – beds are comfortable and room had good sound proofing. Shampoo, conditioner, hair brush, shaver, toothbrush and paste, are all provided, including a kettle for hot green tea, hair dryer, etc. The room we had was on the 9th floor and offered a beautiful view of Furano town blanketed in snow. TV offered mostly Japanese channels and one Chinese channel, with pay tv available for movies, etc. There was free (LAN) internet in rooms, though one could pay to use the internet at the lobby for Y100/10 minutes.

There is a ‘hot spring’ (not a real, natural hot spring but an area to have a bath Japanese style) – it was slightly too crowded for my taste, though the outdoor ‘hot spring’ was lovely in the cold. There are several restaurants offering either lunch or dinner, and while the selection and food are good, they are slightly pricey, as obviously prices are marked up (e.g. lowest set dinner at the Japanese restaurant is Y3700). This thread became obvious – the hotel is obviously attempting to keep their guests within the hotel such that they spend all the money within the compound. Buses from the hotel to Furano town are limited and do not run as often as we’d thought, and it was rather confusing – there is a Furano town bus (Lavender Express) that costs Y250 to get to the Furano Train station (and vice versa), and there is another that is apparently run by the hotel, costing Y200. There are also other shuttles that cost Y160. Most confusing. Do note that timings are also sporadic - but the hotel shuttle (Y200) runs almost hourly from 5.30pm I believe, such that we could hop onto bus to Furano town, grab dinner and shop in the supermarkets, and back by 9+pm.

That said, the hotel has done a commendable job keeping guests entertained. There is also a bakery at the basement, and further on a cluster of charming wooden cabins (called Ningle Terrace)– two cafes, and the rest shops, offering knick knacks for sale (wooden carvings, handmade postcards, snow flake silver jewellery). They were especially pretty when lit up in the snow. There is also a charming alpine style bar further in the woods called Soh’s Bar. All in all, the après ski scene is very good at New Prince Hotel. It also seems livelier and larger than the older Prince Hotel.

There are two ski schools within the hotel, with a large locker area (free lockers for hotel guests), and immediately stepping out was the first ski chair lift. The gondola (apparently the fastest in Japan) was also just beyond the hotel. It was very convenient, but also clear that New Prince Hotel owned the ski area and ski lifts! Hence, the monopoly. There are no other hotels in the area (though there are several clustered in Kitanome, the other ski lift area, including the older Prince Hotel).

The point of staying at New Furano Prince Hotel was the skiing – and admittedly the snow was beautiful: soft, powder, and in abundance. The ski area was not as large as, e.g. Shiga Kogen, but it was good for beginners and intermediate skiiers and boarders. The best bit was how relatively uncrowded it was! We once tried night skiing (from 5 – 8pm) and very often had the entire slope to ourselves! In the day, the slopes never got crowded. Even when the gondola was packed, once the skiiers fanned out, there was ample space. There were times when I too had the slope to myself at 12 noon. The crowds only began on Christmas Eve (also a Saturday). But even that could be avoided - there were queues only around 11am and post lunch at 1pm.

All in all, a good hotel, and if I could find as good a deal as I had, which includes buffet breakfast (very good spread - especially loved the local Furano milk and yoghurt in bottles, the grated yam - sticky - with raw salmon) and two adult ski pass all for Y15,000 a night, I would stay here again. Prices vary markedly depending on the weekend or holidays (e.g. Christmas), so for the last two days we moved to another hotel, which cannot compare to New Prince in terms of the convenience and après ski scene. However, do note that Kitanomine has a faster ski chair lift than at the Prince Romance area (New Prince Hotel).

My son decided on a change from Niseko for this years ski trip. He selected Furano on the basis that it was renowned for it's wide runs and superb grooming which he felt would suit the old man. We took a package with SkiJapan and stayed at the New Furano Prince Hotel.
My impression of Niseko, apart from the snow quality we could have been anywhere in the western world. English speaking receptionists, barmen, waitresses and ski shop staff. I didn't feel that I experienced real Japan. Not so Furano. It's rural Japan all the way. Go to Niseko to ski among Australians, go to Furano for a cultural skiing experience. The hotel is as close as you can get "ski in-ski-out" with the lifts only metres from the excellent locker room. Adjacent to the locker room is a very good ski rental store. These guys were great, we arrived late in the afternoon and they arranged for our own skis to be waxed ready for first runs the next morning. The rooms were quite spacious and the beds, while firm were large and very comfortable. Our room on the 11th floor had fantastic views over the wide flat valley with Furano township in the foreground and Mt Asahi in the distance. There are several restaurants within the hotel complex with breakfast each morning in the huge banquet room. Breakfast consists of a European and a Japanese buffet, be a bit brave and go for the Japanese. The rooms are serviced daily but if you wish you can trade this off for a discount on your bill. The area immediately around the hotel has several items of interest including Soh's Bar. Great whisky. But don't stay all the time in the hotel go to downtown Furano and eat where the locals eat, make an attempt at a few Japanese phrases and they will make you most welcome. The only short-coming is the bus service into town which does not operate in the afternoon, read the timetable very carefully or you could, as I did, find yourself in town for a lot longer than planned. This resort is probably not for the "extreme" end of the market but it's heaven on a stick for old guys like me. I'll be back and I'll stay at new Furano Prince.

Clearly the emperor of hotels in Furano, New Prince has a proud position at the base of the furano ski fields.

If you have the chance and the cash I highly recommend staying here.

To give context for the first night I stayed at the more modest Pension Furanoi which while nice, had a few quirks that for me had me looking for a nicer hotel. Please see my previous review for this hotel.

First of all I have to give credit to Scott Tovey, the sole Gaijin working at the Furano Prince hotels who was able to facilitate my change of hotels. He was efficient, caring and when I had an emergency he was able to help me organize getting back to Tokyo.
If you are thinking of booking @ this hotel, be sure to get in contact with Scott. He is in charge of room sales so should be able to help sort you out without too much Japanese bureaucracy.

Now to the hotel.

I would rate this hotel a solid 4.5 stars.
The staff were helpful for simple tasks however given limited english complex requests were difficult and frustrating at times. I have learnt that patience and persistence seem to go a long way when it comes to getting things sorted.

This is a “ski in, ski out” hotel so there is no hassles when it comes to lugging gear to and fro your days skiing. Each room is assigned a locker downstairs so you do not need to bring wet clothing, ski’s or boots upstairs.
There is also ski hire and two ski schools represented so if your sole pleasure is skiing, you are set.

The hotel’s position on the slope does have one issue tho, it’s a little far away from town and non hotel shops, unlike it’s sister hotel the Prince @ Kitanomine.
Taxi to Kito is about 900 Yen, or town 2,000 yen. There are lavender express busses that can take you to town (250 yen) and an evening bus system during ski season (200 yen) with many stops.

That being said the restaurants are adequate at the hotel tho a little expensive when compared to the prices in town.

Rooms are spacious and of a high standard when compared to a western hotel.
Most rooms have a view of either the mountains or the ski fields, my room looked towards the city.

There is a fridge, and tea and coffee making facilities. There is no mini bar or room service. There are about eight television stations, no english stations, and pay tv is available and you can buy cards to pay for this by the lifts on every floor.

Internet is available however you need to pick up a modem from the front desk and connect it to the TV. This costs 1,000 yen per day.
There is free wifi in the bar on the top floor and free wired internet in the bottom floor.

Breakfast was included in my room price, it was a buffet or “all you can eat” at the bakery.
There was a good selection of western and japanese fare. I loved the grilled salmon the best.
For a hotel the coffee was actually decent! Beware that it seems to be very busy around 8-9am.

An onsen is connected to the hotel via an underground tunnel and is certainly worth the visit.
Three different soaking tubs with two outside. I quite enjoyed soaking as the snow fell into the water. There is also a sauna but I did not test this on my stay.

There is a convenience store and also gift’s from the local area are for sale.

Overall I really enjoyed my stay, I just wish that I had not injured my knee that brought my ski holiday to an abrupt stop.

A special note for those that are disabled. This hotel is set up quite well if you are mobility restricted. There are plenty of ramps and lifts, I was able to avoid stairs while getting around on my crutches.
Sadly tho the staff were not proactive when it came to help when I needed it. I was left with the feeling they were somewhat embarrassed to see an injured person and really did not know how to deal with my requests. I often felt ignored, even when waving and calling for help.

Thankfully I met with a few other Australian’s and they were very accommodating, especially with things like navigating the breakfast room with one crutch and one free hand.

Overall impression is that this is a very nice hotel and worth the extra cash for your ski holiday.
If you are not intending on skiing tho, you would be better to stay at the Kitanomine area as you will feel a little isolated here.
Overall a great stay, despite my injury and I would happily stay again when I return to Furano for a ski holiday.

Stayed here for one night in Sep. We stayed here after driving around Furano. Whilst we were parking the rental car we had a small collision with another car. Beware that even though there is no damage to either vehicle the Japanese will call the police who will come to take statements. It took us 1.5 hours to complete the formalities & the other driver even apologized to us at the end for taking up so much time even though it wasn't really his fault. Luckily one of the hotel managers is from New Zealand and helped us with the language barrier even though he wasn't always sure what was going one. He was so helpful, stayed the whole time and helped us with our bags and to our room. Kudos to him for his excellent service!

Our room was large and plesant although the decor is a bit tired but it is clean and comfortable. The view was lovely and no complaints. The hotel does have a bath where you can soak, although it is not a natural spring. It was better than we expected with an indoor and outdoor bath - very relaxing. It was very nice, clean and modern and we enjoyed the soak a lot. We didn't have dinner in the hotel and walked around Ningle Terrace which was nice but nothing really worth picking up as a souvenir.

Breakfast was good - lots of vegetables as well as the usual bacon, eggs and sausages. They also serve individual milk and yoghut in glass bottle / pots which we loved.

We also had tickets to the ropeway which we took in the morning. It was a nice ride and we enjoyed seeing the view of the clouds float ing like the sea. Nothing much to see at the top though.

A car is definitely recommended as the hotel is away from the town and there is not much to do close by. There is a shop in the lobby of the hotel where you can pick up some gifts and food i.e. pot noodles, drink, snacks if you don't want to dine in the hotel.

Before leaving Furano check out the Bestom Super Center about 15 mins drive from the hotel - it is a large hypermarket with lots of food and other supplies to stock up on.