The Knot Sapporo

We stayed during the Sapporo Snow Festival, and being able to walk underground all the way to Odori Park kept us sheltered from the weather. The Knot Sapporo has direct access to the underground mall, with escalators, stairs, and elevators up to street level. It's a lovely boutique hotel in central Sapporo, within a few minutes' walk of Odori Park, the TV tower, Niju Market, Ramen Alley, and the Nikka sign. There's a SeicoMart convenience store next door too. The staff were very friendly and helpful. The only odd part was the in-house Les Bois Cafe schedule. When my wife and I returned from lunch nearby on Saturday at about 2:45 p.m., we wanted coffee but were told it was closing in 15 minutes and couldn't serve us. We came back Sunday morning and got coffee then.

We heard some reviews mention complaints about the staff, but luckily our experience was good, and they were quite helpful. The room was reasonably spacious and had a nice fusion style. We stayed three nights in a perfect spot in the main Susukino area, with direct access to the underground shopping street and MRT station.

The location is prime, which makes the housekeeping especially disappointing. When I returned, the room had barely been serviced. They changed the towels, took out the trash, and laid the blanket over the bed, covering clothes I'd left there, but didn't even straighten the pillows. Almost everything else was untouched. As someone who travels often, this was the first time I'd rather have had no housekeeping, thinking perhaps the room was missed, than come back to such incomplete, careless service. I hope management acts quickly and decisively to improve the standard.

It's a great value for casual travelers, and the location is close to everything. Our deluxe room looked out onto the street and was fairly spacious. The crew were very friendly. The one major problem was the WiFi, which was so slow that even a YouTube clip kept pausing every few minutes. For someone like me who needs to edit and upload to social media after a long day, that could be a deal breaker. It was really horrible. I hope the hotel fixes it and takes this feedback on board. Otherwise, it's a perfect hotel for the price.