Higashiyama Niseko Village — a Ritz-Carlton Reserve

The Ritz-Carlton Reserve brand occupies a distinct tier above the standard Ritz-Carlton: a small, globally limited collection of properties in extraordinary natural settings, each with severely limited room counts, profoundly high staff-to-guest ratios, and experiential programming that goes far beyond what conventional luxury resort operations provide. Higashiyama Niseko Village — the brand's first Reserve in Japan, which opened in 2020 — brings this philosophy to Niseko's Higashiyama ski area, where Hokkaido's legendary champagne powder falls in depths that have attracted skiers from around the world for decades.

The Reserve's position in Niseko Village gives it ski-in, ski-out access to Higashiyama's slopes while maintaining the physical separation from the resort town's commercial concentration that the brand's privacy standards require. Natural onsen bathing from Niseko's geothermal springs is integrated into the wellness offering, connecting the property to the volcanic landscape that produces both the winter snowfall conditions and the thermal waters. The combination of skiing and onsen — Japan's most celebrated winter experience — is provided here at a level of quality and privacy that the standard Niseko hotel market cannot match.

The Reserve's design draws on Hokkaido's natural material palette: timber, stone, and the kind of crafted minimalism that reflects the island's character rather than applying a generic ski-resort aesthetic. The guest population at any given time is small enough that the service team can understand and respond to individual preferences with an accuracy more associated with private hospitality than with hotel operations.

For those for whom Niseko represents a regular winter commitment — skiers who return year after year to the area's reliable powder season — and who want the most private and precisely serviced version of that commitment, Higashiyama Niseko Village represents the answer that the market was missing until 2020.