I have stayed in Daiichi Takimotokan six years ago and this time I choose Mahobora.

Comparison:

Price -- Yen wise, I paid less for Mahoroba than I paid for Daiichi six years ago. But Mahoroba does not charge for hotel bus to and from Sapporo while Daiichi charges 500 Yen per trip.

Food -- Mahobora offers 3 kinds of crab leg: King, Snow and Hairy. The King Crab legs, though frozen, are fresher than those from Alaska. Daiichi offered less varieties.

Onsen -- Daiichi has an open onsen that faces the Hell Valley while Mahoroba does not. But Daiichi just has one waterfall-like onsen which can massage your back while Mahoroba has six.

Arrival time -- Mahoroba's bus arrives at the hotel at 3 pm while Daiichi arrives at 4 pm. I can use that extra hour to hike the Hell Valley (By 4 pm it is almost dark in winter in Noboribetsu).

So I prefer Mahoroba over Daiichi. The best bargain is book thru the JAPANESE webpage (English/Chinese webpage offers slightly higher rate) of the hotel. The rate can be as low as 7,850 Yen pp.

We stayed one night here as part of a packaged tour. The tatami room was adequete albeit rather small, but the onsen was really great. When we first went to the onsen, thought it smelled, but later realized its just the sulphur pool. The pools at basement 1 and 2 alternate for men and women. The night we were there, the B2 pools were for women and it was fantastic. The outdoor pools were really nice (even though it was a freezing -10 degrees C outside) and there was even slides for adults and children. They switch pools at 4am in the morning, and my sis in law went to check out the B1 pool to find it way smaller, and not as fun. If you only have one night there, and did not get the chance to check out the pools at B2, suggest that you wake up earlier the next day to try out the pools there. The dinner buffet was nice with a good variety, but not particularly wow'ed. A must try is the noodles.

There are several ot spring hotels in Noboribetsu. Chose Mahoroba because of: 1. convenient location (accessible to shopping street), 2. Japanese styled rooms came with attached bathrooms 3. availability of outdoor hot springs. We booked two Japanese styled rooms for our group of 7. Paid 8,300 yen per pax per night (inclusive of breakfast and eat-all-you-can dinner with crabs). Quality of the food is reasonable. The hotel also provided us with complimentary bus service to Sapporo (just remember to inform the staff at the time of reservation). Overall it's a good deal.