The Sapporo Prince Hotel is a 587-room hotel located in central Sapporo, Hokkaido. The hotel opened in 1987 and occupies a 107-metre tall, 28-floor building boasting 360-degree views of the city. As its name suggests, the Sapporo Prince belongs to the Prince Hotel Group, a major chain with over 50 hotels in Japan. Prince Hotels is itself owned by the Seibu Railway Group.

Booking Sapporo Prince Hotel

I booked my stay at the Sapporo Prince Hotel via Agoda.com for a nightly rate of JPY8600 (£52), which I thought was a very good price. Most city centre hotels were charging a few thousand yen over the Prince, so I was quite happy with the rate. Granted, April isn’t the most ideal time to visit Sapporo, which perhaps further reflects the pricing of the hotel. However, for this rate, I was booked into a Superior Floor room, which features newly renovated rooms located on a higher floor. This frankly only sweetened the deal for me!

Location

The Sapporo Prince Hotel is located in the western section of central Sapporo, close to the popular nightlife and entertainment district of Susukino. Whilst there isn’t really anything right outside the hotel, a section of Odori Park is less than 300 metres away, where you’d also find the nearest subway station. The west end of Tanukikoji Shopping Arcade is around 500 metres away from the hotel, making it a convenient pedestrian thoroughfare between the hotel and Susukino.

Arrival and Check-in

Following my phenomenal flight on JAL First Class, I travelled to the hotel via the New Chitose Limousine Bus, which stopped right in front of the hotel. Unbeknownst to me, however, the ride took nearly 2 hours and had a lot of stops. To make things worse, an automated announcement in Japanese, English, Korean, and Chinese is played before every stop. Oh, dear…

I arrived at the hotel at around 18.00, which was a lot later than I was initially expecting. I headed straight to the reception desks, where I was promptly registered. The reception associate was friendly and spoke decent English (which up to this point was my first conversation in English that day!). Interestingly, however, I was specifically requested to fill in the details of my previous hotel on the check-in form, which was a first for me… Regardless, I got my keys soon after and headed straight up via the hotel’s cool glass lifts. Just as I was heading to the lifts, a lobby porter caught sight of me and pressed the lift button for my floor. Nice detail!

Superior Twin Room

Ascending up the hotel’s atrium on a glass lift certainly brought back fond memories of my childhood. It’s really such a pity these incredible hotel atriums aren’t as common anymore nowadays!

I booked a room on the Superior Floors, which occupies the middle floors of the hotel. In such a sense, these rooms do offer panoramic views of the city skyline. Interestingly, the rooms on the Superior Floor are also differentiated with a unique design from the entry-level Standard Floor rooms. I was assigned a twin room on the 18th floor, featuring a beautiful panorama of downtown Sapporo and its nearby snow-capped mountains.

Bedroom

At only 21 sqm, the room definitely wasn’t the most spacious out there, but it looked very nice for what is it. Despite the hotel’s old age, the room looked very new and all the upholstery still felt very plush! Whilst I was travelling alone, all standard rooms featured only twin beds at this hotel, which I didn’t mind.

The room features a thoughtfully designed vanity table/desk combination, as well as a pair of chairs by the window. A small minibar is available under the vanity desk, in addition to the kettle and coffee and tea provisions in the cabinet under the television.

I appreciated that a master control panel of the room’s lighting is placed on the headboard, as well as the provision of a pair of nifty reading lights by the side of each bed. Much like the rest of the room, the bedding looked plush, complementing the mattress, which wasn’t too firm. Pyjamas are already prepared on the beds, as is standard in most Japanese hotels.

Accounting for the small size of the room, there isn’t a wardrobe by the foyer. In its place is a set of coat hooks and hangers on both sides of the wall, which honestly denotes that the hotel is most suitable for short stays. there is a small console on one side of the wall, housing a minuscule safety deposit box.

Bathroom

Near the entrance is the small, granite-floored bathroom, which I found to be exceptionally clean and well-kept. Despite its size, it still nicely features a bathtub-shower combination, alongside a bidet-equipped toilet. The bathtub is deep and has great water pressure. This was surely a great way to alleviate exhaustion after a long night out in Susukino! 😀

The toiletries come in large refillable bottles and are Aroma Ess Gold from POLA. This is a very common brand at other Japanese hotels like Hotel Okura, and I likewise found it to be relatively good quality.

Furthermore, a complete set of toiletries was provisioned on the sink top, including sachets of various skincare items like moisturiser and cleansing milk. A Prince Hotel-branded face and hand cleanser foam is also available, which suspiciously looked very similar to the one at Yokohama Royal Park Hotel. 😉

Amenities

Hot Spring Bath

On the top floor of the hotel is an open-air hot spring bath featuring water enriched with calcium chloride. This hot spring bath is open only for hotel guests. Despite that, a JPY1000 (~£6) charge is levied upon each visit. I thought this charge was quite high, but it is understandable.

Dousan Market

Next to the lift area in the hotel lobby is a small shop selling food souvenirs of Hokkaido. Whilst I didn’t go in, I saw that they sold various products associated with Sapporo, like Ishiya’s Shiroikoibito and Jyaga(!) Pokkuru. Additionally, I don’t know if there is a price markup, but I doubt the premium is high should there be one.

Sapporo Station Shuttle

Having disliked the 2-hour bus ride from the airport, I decided to take the train back to New Chitose Airport, after my three-night stay. The hotel thoughtfully offers a shuttle bus to Sapporo Station, which while complimentary interestingly requires a reservation. I really appreciated this, since it allows for a more seamless connection to those arriving or departing by train. The bus leaves every 30 minutes, although sometimes arrives late due to traffic. After the 5-minute ride, it drops you off at the bus lot behind Sapporo Station.

Service

I thought the service was about what I had expected from a 4-star hotel of a Japanese chain. I found that the hotel functioned very well, in that I always came back to find my room spotlessly clean. Whilst the reception staff spoke varying levels of English, which was fair, they were also very polite and courteous. In addition, the staff members aren’t shy to greet guests at the lobby every time I left or returned to the hotel. In general, they had nice service although nothing unexpected from a chain like Prince!

Overall

Given the plush rooms, nice views, courteous service, and good pricing, I had a pleasant stay at the Sapporo Prince Hotel. Due to that, I thought this hotel was frankly the epitome of what an upper-midscale to upscale hotel should be like. Whilst I’d probably find a hotel right in the centre of Sapporo on my next visit, I wouldn’t hesitate to stay here again, either!

Read more from this trip here!