하코다 호텔

The service here is impeccable, and the location is fantastic for hiking. There are a bunch of peaks that are easily day hikeable. The food is amazing, they have both French and traditional Japanese dinner options, as well as Western or Japanese breakfast. Had probably the best roast beef of my life in one of the Japanese dinners. Some things to note: like it says on their website (which is only in Japanese), you need to reserve a bus from Aomori station to the hotel. This requires a phone call which thankfully I had a Japanese friend available to help with. I speak intermediate Japanese, but phone calls where the staff talk in formal language are still beyond me. The hotel itself has some English brochures and stuff they can give you, but it really does require an intermediate Japanese level for a comfortable stay I think. The staff are very attentive, and you will need to be able to communicate with them around what and when you want to eat, room cleaning, etc... The hiking has been great, if a bit wet at the beginning of October. I dinged 1 star on cleanliness just because using carpet in a hiking/ski area hotel probably wasn't the best choice. Don't get me wrong though, the hotel is kept in really good shape. If I'm ever in the Aomori area again, I'd love to come back.