Heiseikan Shiosaitei Hanatsuki

The sea view was excellent, but the rest of my stay was disappointing. I’d suggest looking elsewhere. The rooms feel very dated, with a TV model from 2009, and the lounge doesn’t provide free drinks, not even bottled water. After the two pots of water in the room are gone, you have to buy more from the hotel’s convenience store or somewhere else. Central heating was terrible. Even on ‘weak,’ it was far too hot to leave running while I slept. At dinner, water, tea, and coffee were free, but no soft drinks were included. I expected alcohol to cost extra, but not soft drinks.

Avoid this place. We paid $500 for a “premium” room, but there was nothing luxurious about the experience. The shower was a disaster: you have to keep pressing a button for the water to run, so it’s impossible to stay warm or wash comfortably. A basic shower that runs continuously should come with this price. Dinner was worse. The buffet was loud and chaotic, overrun with tour groups, and every hot dish was already cold. The sashimi wasn’t fresh, and I had diarrhea immediately after dinner. The view is nice, but service is poor. Save your money and stay elsewhere.

The Japanese-style room had tatami and a lovely private onsen, and there are sea views all around the hotel. The lobby lounge was great, too. Breakfast is a large buffet with lots of variety, definitely worth trying. The public onsens don’t allow tattos, as stated on the website, so I expected that. It’s a bit out of the way for exploring Hakodate, though it’s close enough to bus and tram stations. If you’re okay staying farther from the city centre, it’s a must try.

Dinner was amazing, with a good selection of high quality seafood. We had a really good stay. The door man who welcomed us on 15Feb was so kind and inviting, and directed us to the carpark.