Hotel Grand Terrace Obihiro

For a budget night in Obihiro, I think this place is fine, especially at about 3000¥ per person. The room was small and nothing special, but it worked for the night. It was good to have an onsen at that price, though the men’s one felt a little small to me. We hadn’t booked breakfast, so the free morning coffee by reception was great.

It’s handy for the station, restaurants, and other places, but the wifi was painfully slow, and the connection kept dropping, so online meetings weren’t possible. The hallway carpeting had gone stiff with age, and some requests I made at the front desk weren’t passed on to other staff. The stay was hardly comfortable.

The central location meant izakayas filled up in the evening, even though the holiday made the city feel like a ghost town during the day. Some places have English menus, though not the famous roasted pork bowl place at the train station. The room was tiny, like one in Tokyo, and my wife and I had to turn sideways to pass each other. The central area feels cramped for a city with so much land, and several hotels shared parking, including the attempted automated car park. After driving for hours from Kushiro, I found the parking a nightmare. Traffic had been easy, but there was no attendant, the signs were only in Japanese, and I couldn’t work out the automated system with my toddler level of Japanese. Check-in was frustrating too. The receptionist spoke way too fast even after I asked her to slow down, couldn’t find our reservation until my wife showed the confirmation, and kept putting the credit card into the machine the wrong way, without inserting the chip. She said it didn’t work, and I had to point out the mistake. She also made it clear she didn’t care that we were struggling to understand. That was a pity, especially when the Japanese government wants people to explore beyond the usual tourist spots. The hotels in Nemuro and Sounkyo had printed instructions in different languages with pictures, which I’m sure both staff and guests would appreciate.

Breakfast was surprisingly good, but the rest of the stay was poor. The hotel is old, and both the room and toilet were small and cramped. The front desk couldn’t really speak English. I called from our room to ask for a clothes hanger, but the staff didn’t understand and didn’t try to; there was just silence at the other end.