THE APARTMENT
Our stay at The Vale Rusutsu was exceptional! We stayed in a corner 2 bedroom condo with an uber luxurious living area that was colossal. The massive floor to ceiling windows across the living area made it feel even larger, and it was beautiful to relax and watch the snowstorm outside.

The bathrooms were also monstrous sized and included beautiful rain shower heads. The beds were super comfortable and were made up with lovely linen. There were excellent storage amenities in the bedrooms and entrance way, so it would have been ideal for a long stay.

The condo was so lovely that we had to really rack our brains to find any fault with it, and the limitations were very minor. For example, it would have been nice to have yukatas to wear to the onsen but not essential, and there was minimal lighting in the master bedroom so we often relied on keeping the sliding doors to the living area open. The upside of this was that we could lie on the bed and watch it snowing outside.

The kitchen was very understated in size and appearance compared to the magnificence of the rest of the condo, which might be why The Vale Rusutsu calls it a “suite” rather than a “condo” or “apartment”. The kitchen was still very functional, and the designers probably assumed that few people would be cooking chef inspired meals considering the choice of restaurants in the area.

FACILITIES
The Vale Rusutsu itself didn’t have that many facilities but it’s interconnected with the large Rusutsu Resort Hotel that has an abundance of amenities. Whilst the walk to the facilities in the evening seemed reasonable, it felt like a rather long walk to go for breakfast at a time of the day when chasing powder was on our minds.

Oktoberfest Restaurant offered an array of Asian and western buffet fare, so there was a great choice of food, yet it was a rather frenetic place. We preferred breakfast at the Japanese restaurant where we had lovely set-menu Japanese food, along with excellent service levels and a serene setting.

For dinner, we headed across the road from the Rusutsu Resort Hotel to the izakayas.

The onsen part of the Rusutsu Resort Hotel was directly adjacent to The Vale, and whilst rather popular, the onsen baths were exquisite. The snow banks were too high to facilitate views, yet it was lovely to sit outside in the onsen and the reclining area was particularly relaxing.

Back at The Vale Rusutsu, the café didn’t seem to be open, although it’s possible that it was open during hours when we were out skiing.

The locker room was impressive and we felt the storage systems inside the large lockers were well thought out for skis and boots.

ACCESS
The Vale Rusutsu is ski-in ski-out to the fabulous Rusutsu Ski Resort, although the convenience of this depended on where you wanted to go. The Vale provides nice ski-in ski-out access for beginners.

For a powder day we couldn’t get over to East Mountain quickly as it required a lot of poling to get to the West No. 2 Quad before skiing down to the East No. 1 Gondola, but at least we got some fresh lines in the West Mountain trees before heading over to East Mountain. Those keen to chase powder on East Mountain would want to walk (about 10 minutes) over to get the first ride on the East No. 1 Gondola, as this opened 10 minutes prior to the lifts on West Mountain.

To ski back into the Vale Rusutsu, access for upper intermediate/advanced skiers was easy via a long traverse off the West No. 2 Quad. Otherwise those heading back from East Mountain would need to take a couple of lifts to return to The Vale.

OVERALL
We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at our uber-luxe condo at The Vale Rusutsu. It was great that we could walk indoors to the amenities and all the craziness of the Rusutsu Resort Hotel, yet could retreat back to the serenity of The Vale.

Whether you’re there to ski/ride Rusutsu Resort or go heli skiing, we can highly recommend The Vale.
See our video here