Pension Shadow Classe

The building feels old, and all the rooms are smoking rooms, so the place generally smells. In-room showers have old-style two-handle taps, and it’s hard to get the water temperature right. There’s no shower toilet either. The dinner steak is filling, though the fatty parts make it feel a bit much. The taste is okay. In summer, frogs gather in the balcony-like space just outside the room, and their chorus gets really loud.

The location means you need a car to find places to eat outside the Classe Hotel, so keep that in mind. The stay itself is cheap and has the basics, and I had no problems. I assumed it was part of the Classe Hotel group because of the name and the baths next door, which guests can use, but apparently it isn't. Payment is cash only, with no cards or PayPay. These days, it would be nice if they accepted at least one cashless option.

I was there on New Year's Eve, and dinner was a hearty, tasty steak. Maybe they only serve it that night. It could be too rich for anyone with a small appetite or who doesn't do well with oily food. Rice is self-serve, and you can ask for more. The room has its own bathroom, plus you get a voucher for the large public bath at the hotel next door. There's just one vending machine, by the entrance, but the shared area has free self-serve tea and coffee and a microwave. The room's air purifier with humidifier came in handy in the dry winter weather. As of December 2020, the room toilet was Western-style but had no washlet, and the seat was cold.

The room had a few things that bothered me: little stains on the carpet, wear on the wooden bed, a fridge that hadn't been cleaned properly, and tea bags that were several months old. That's why I took off two stars. Still, it's quite inexpensive for Otaru, and I liked getting a free hot spring ticket for the hotel next door. Remember to take your pension key along, since you need to show it at the hotel to use the bath. Probably a better fit if small imperfections don't bother you.