Hotel Route - Inn Sapporo Chuo

I was left uncomfortable by the interaction with staff, and communication was difficult because they didn't seem very accommodating to guests who don't speak Japanese. I also wouldn't personally recommend this hotel for solo female travellers. Most guests seemed to be men, and the elevators were often crowded, which didn't feel very comfortable. I stayed three nights with breakfast included. One morning, I poured water into my bottle using a cup, without the bottle touching the machine. Two staff members stopped me and told me to get water in my room instead. They pointed to a sign saying, “Neither food nor equipment can be taken home,” which made it sound as if I'd done something wrong. That felt disproportionate to me since I was only using the provided cup and wasn't taking hotel property. There was no bottled water in the room either. They told me to use bathroom tap water, which I found surprising and inconvenient. The stay didn't meet my expectations for hospitality.

I stayed at this hotel for one week. The morning breakfast was delicious, and the business area is about 10 minutes from the station. I think it's a good place to stay when visiting Hokkaido.

The hotel is right in the middle of Susukino, with lots of restaurants nearby, and just a three-minute walk from Susukino station. You can get to the station faster using the entrance and exit by the parking lot. Lawson is connected to the hotel too. I had a pleasant stay and would book here again if I return to Sapporo. My solo room looked big enough for two. It was clean, came with pajamas, and the bathroom had all the toiletries I'd need for travel. I booked seven days, and they cleaned the room every three days. For daily towel and garbage pickup, you can choose whether staff enter the room or leave things at your door. Breakfast runs from 6:30-9:30 AM. It gets quite busy around 7AM, but there are enough single tables if you're on your own. The buffet had a good range, from usual breakfast dishes to salads, cereals, bread and soup. I didn't try the big bath because the bathroom in my room was enough for me. In winter, you can't control your room temperature because the cooling and heating are central.

The route was affordable and worked perfectly. When I arrived late in the evening, I saw the drunken atmosphere in Suskino and the Statue of Pink Liberty across from the hotel, and worried it would be noisy. But my barrier-free room was on the same floor as the check-in counter, and it was quieter than I expected. The rooms also seemed much more barrier-free than those in other route-in hotels.