Nishi Hoppo Onsen Hotel

The panoramic bath looks straight out at the Northern Alps, filled with hot spring water that runs fresh from the source (kakenagashi). It usually runs hot, is faintly sulfurous, and carries flecks of yu-no-hana (湯の花), mineral flakes that form naturally in the spring; both the heat and the flakes shift a little from one day to the next. The hotel stands on the slopes of Mt. Nishidate, right in the middle of Shiga Kogen, Japan's largest ski resort, with direct access onto the runs, and it has been open since 1962. The hot spring here is said to be the oldest in Shiga Kogen, a rare steam-vented onsen said to take its name from the hissing 'hoppo hoppo' sound the steam makes escaping the ground. Rooms come in Japanese-style and Japanese-Western layouts with the same alpine views, meals come from a chef working with local ingredients, and the lounge serves cool spring water alongside house-made plum juice. Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park is a 30-minute drive away, and the hotel can arrange transport there.