established in 1999

Kazuo Yokota built Freedom Inn in 1999 following an inspired visit to a bed and breakfast near Niagara Falls in Ontario after 25 years of operating Pension Freedom in Hirafu. Signaling a desire to retire, Yokota-san sold the Inn to Eastern Mountain Planning, Inc., helmed by Cliff Bernstein who fell in love with the Hanazono area and had stayed at the Inn in 2002.

Freedom Inn operates on the principal that hospitality can be professionally expressed with the warm feeling of family and that an intimate, cozy environment enables a uniquely rewarding holiday, particularly for travelers coming from far lands. We are dedicated to providing a great experience not just at the Inn, but also at the resort and our most wonderful part of Hokkaido.

As Hanazono prepares to move into a new phase in its history, with exciting new developments such as the Park Hyatt opening in 2019, the Shinkansen arriving in Kutchan in 2026 and new lift infrastructure added to connect Hanazono with the Weisshorn some time in between, Freedom Inn also looks forward to adding new features and services for its guests to have full enjoyment of both new facilities and the timeless natural attributes that has made Niseko famous around the globe.

We look forward to your stay.

Cliff Bernstein, Proprietor

niseko united

The Niseko United ski resort is Asia’s most famous ski resort, renown historically for its incomparable powder snow and more recently for its broad selection of fine dining and increasingly luxurious lodging options. The Niseko United resort consists of 4 interconnected lifts systems and base areas: Hanazono, Grand Hirafu, Niseko Village and Annupuri Kokusai. The Hanazono section, home to Niseko Freedom Inn, is the newest of the areas and, with the opening of the Park Hyatt in 2020, the part of the mountain poised to become the luxury center of the resort. All parts of the resort are connected both by ski lifts on the mountain and buses along the base.