The Windsor Hotel, Hokkaido: G8 Summit Venue

James Bond film location or posh hotel? In July of 2008 the heads of the G8 nations and their entourage will descend upon Toya in South Western Hokkaido for their annual get-together. Approaching the Windsor Hotel there, the venue for the Summit, it is easy to understand why it was chosen.

Sitting on a low mountain overlooking Lake Toya and Uchiura Bay, the Windsor Hotel looks at first glance a bit like the set of a James Bond movie; slab-like, with echoes of Eastern Bloc brutalist architecture, perched atop a sheer wall of mountainside and in acres of empty countryside. I half expected to witness agents abseiling from helicopters or scaling the cliff walls. Any G8 protestor is going to have a hard time getting anywhere near this place and would probably have to be tooled up like James Bond to do so.

The Windor’s brochure speaks of “quiet sophistication” and a “resort culture” and there is doubt that the location is stunning, with views one side towards the Pacific Ocean and to the other side across the breathtaking Lake Toya - a flooded caldera complete with island peaks, presumably the tops of the volcanic cone that once sat there.

Inside the views are no less awe-inspiring. The reception area, if it can be called that, would probably easily swallow five decent sized suburban British homes. Marble flooring, high ceilings and vast pillars give way to a glass wall at one end with spectacular views out onto the surrounding, and when we visited snowy, parkland.

Upstairs we were shown some of the rooms that the G8 delegates will be using. At 110,000Yen a night, they are not cheap. But boy, are they well appointed: flatscreen TVs, immaculate furnishings, that view again. I felt like I was standing in a photoshoot for Wallpaper Magazine.

Restaurants and bars populate the vast majority of one floor, including the impecably turned-out French restaurant of the Michelin-starred chef Michel Bras. Bras is a man who loves his cuisine and loves nature. One can easily see why he has put his name and expertise to a restaurant at the Windsor.

The weather and tight schedule precluded touring the grounds of the Windsor but in less snowy times one could enjoy mountain biking, canoeing or the charms of the 71Par, 12,000 Yard golf course. Not sure Gordon Brown or George Bush will have to play a round, but if they did then the Windsor’s course - from the photos we saw - looks world class.

Lastly, and probably perfect for soaking away the worries and stresses of life as a world leader, there is the Windsor Hotel’s “Sansen Hot Spring”. No shortage of volcanically heated water in these parts, the local volcano erupted as recently as 2000 and large swathes of the surrounding countryside still bear the scars of that eruption.

Let’s hope that it chooses July 2008 to keep quiet. One thing the security experts will be hoping for as well I am sure.

The Windsor Hotel Toya, Shimizu Toyakocho, Abutagun, Hokkaido

Tel: 0142-73-1111

http://www.windsor-hotels.co.jp