There are a lot of hotels right in the heart of Sapporo, and most of them are close to public transport. We wanted one within walking distance from the Sapporo TV Tower though, so we picked the Hotel WBF Sapporo Chuo / Hotel WBF Art Stay and booked a Superior Double Non-Smoking room. In addition to the excellent location, it also has high guest ratings on HôtelsCombinés and has car parking available for a decent price, something that can be in short supply around the heart of the city. It’s a little confusing when comparing prices because the hotel has recently changed its name from Hotel WBF Sapporo Chuo to Hotel WBF Art Stay. On some booking sites and Google Maps, it is still going by the old name.
A quick question
If you’ve stayed here as well, either in a deluxe twin room, or another room category, I’d love to hear what you thought about it. I’d also like to know what your favourite things to do in the area are. Let me know in the comments after this article!
Disclaimer:
This article is all our own experience. Our booking was paid for by us, and no part of it was free or subsidised. That said, many of the links below are affiliate links, which means that I get a small commission if you click it and make a booking or purchase. I hope that you’ll use these links anytime you need to book a place to stay or activity! These small commissions help me to keep travelling so I can write and film more travel guides for you. I would never recommend anything I don’t or would not personally use!
Why we chose to stay at the Hotel WBF Sapporo Chuo / Art Stay
Our primary reason for selecting this hotel is the location. It is right in the heart of Sapporo, but more importantly, it’s in easy walking distance to the Tour de télévision de Sapporo and Odori Park. Being right here is important because we were travelling by car and didn’t want to have to pay for parking both at the tower and at the hotel.
Our secondary reasons for this choice were:
- Car parking is available on-site at a reasonable rate.
- The high average ratings by guests. It gets an average overall rating above 8 according to HôtelsCombinés reviews.
- The rate included breakfast.
- We liked the look of the room in the photos; it looked modern and comfortable.
- Everywhere was expensive during Obon Festival when we visited, but this was one of the cheaper options that met our criteria.
[the_ad id=”5736″]
About Hotel WBF Sapporo Chuo / Art Stay and the Superior Double Room
This hotel is extremely well located in the heart of Sapporo and holds a three-star rating. In spite of a big sign, it’s a little bit inconspicuous from outside with a partially hidden entry-way, but inside there are some neat little surprises. Reception is open late but is not 24 hours, so make sure to confirm your check-in time with them in advance, and carry your keycard when you leave just in case. You need it to get back into the building at night. Opposite the reception desk is a nice little surprise. Free drinks and snacks in the hotel lounge!!!
Besides the obligatory coffee that you can expect pretty much anywhere in Japon, the free drinks include orange juice, wine, iced tea, Appletiser, mineral water, and assorted teas. Snacks include mixed nuts and other small finger foods. I found the nibblies quickly disappeared each time more were brought out.
The lounge itself is a surprisingly quiet, relaxing space. Even though it’s located at the front of the hotel and right next to reception, the area is relatively peaceful, and the lounges are comfortable. We had too much to do to spend a lot of time here, but it’s great that it is available to chill in during check-in and out or while you are waiting for a taxi.
Check-in
I was surprised actually at how little English the front desk staff knew. I don’t expect anyone to speak English in Japon, but I’d read that hotels in Sapporo typically have someone on all the time that knows some English due to its popularity with Australian tourists in snow season. So just keep in mind that you might need to do some charades. That said, the check-in process itself was very straightforward. As is usual for foreign travellers in Japon, they have to take a photocopy of the passports of all guests, and they have English paperwork available for everything else.
The only thing that presented a bit of a challenge with the language barrier was organising parking for our louer une voiture. We had to communicate how big it was so they could determine if it would fit. Fortunately, we were parked near their side window so I could point to it. Then they had to communicate how the multi-story carpark worked and what we had to do to get in and out. So, here’s a quick rundown on how it works:
- Drive into the car park entrance behind the reception area.
- Get your bags out of the car as well as anything else you will need for the night.
- Wait for hotel staff to come out if they aren’t already there.
- Once staff open the doors to the car lift, they will direct you to drive in.
- Hop out carefully as the surfaces are uneven, and head on out.
- They will give you a ticket that indicates what number you are as well as a receipt that assigns your ticket number to your room number. The ticket is required to get your car out.
When you need to get the car out in the morning, just give them your ticket at reception, and they will get your car ready for you. Once it’s all ready, someone will come and get you, and you are all good to go!
The Superior Double Room
The superior double room is quite small. We were in 602, which is at the end of a hallway.
The small size seems prominent because it has an enormous king size bed squeezed into it, which is fantastic! In spite of the cosy size, it does have everything that you need in it.
The decor is simple with an earthy colour scheme and floral patterns. It’s quite elegant and feels very upmarket.
The room includes the typical things you might expect, including a TV, fridge, work desk and air purifier. You’ll also find an ice bucket, shoe horn and polisher, and slippers.
You may have noticed there is also a tall window at the end of the room. It opens, however, it falls into the room about 10cm from the top, meaning you have to push the weight of the window back up to close it, and you can’t see much outside. What you can see is just the wall of another building about 1-2 metres away.
There is free wifi included with the room rate, and while the speed wasn’t brilliant, it was sufficient.
The bathroom
The bathroom is small, pretty similar to most Japanese pod bathrooms. However, that also means it has identical inclusions, such as a bidet toilet, and a little bath with overhead shower. It’s entirely sufficient for two people passing through but could start to feel a bit claustrophobic for an extended stay.
How did we sleep?
The bed is quite firm, but not hard. We found it quite comfortable as stomach sleepers. It is firmer than most hotel beds in Australie, but we got a great sleep. Not to mention, being a king size bed, you hardly even notice you are sharing it. Now, it isn’t a real king. It is two mattresses pushed together to make a king, so you do have that join down the middle. That said, the join wasn’t particularly prominent like it can sometimes be.
How was breakfast?
Breakfast was buffet style in the hotel restaurant, Tapio Sweets Garden.
The atmosphere here is serene. It is located on level three of the hotel and features a variety of both real and artificial plants and vines. These plants serve both to freshen the space and block out some of the city buildings across the road.
The tables look like they belong in an outdoor setting so combined with the plants you almost forget you are inside.
The food itself is decent and contains a lot of the typical breakfast buffet items you will find at most hotels around Hokkaido. The options include miso soup, salad items, fried food, steamed vegetables, rice, pickled vegetables, bread and bread rolls, teas and of course, coffee. A couple of the unique items we found here are Hokkaido Stew, a local dish, and kiwi jam, something I’ve never encountered before. If you are vegan, there are stacks of options here to enjoy!
Pros
- Central location.
- Close to public transport.
- Comfortable, big bed.
- The lounge is great.
- On-site parking available.
- The room is quiet.
- Buffet breakfast available with plenty of options.
- Recently updated rooms.
- Free wifi.
Cons
- Insufficient space for bags and suitcases even when we just had a small carry-on size suitcase each and a backpack.
- Expensive around holidays and festivals.
Overall
We personally really enjoyed this hotel. The room was modern and comfortable, though definitely on the small side. The location was excellent with a MosBurger just around the corner for dinner and a short 5-minute walk to Tour de télévision de Sapporo and Odori Park. The lounge downstairs was a pleasant surprise, and we enjoyed the overall hotel atmosphere. Breakfast was excellent with a wide selection of vegetarian and vegan-friendly choices. There was also plenty of English around the hotel with all of the hotel and breakfast information available in English as well as Japanese. For a 3-star hotel, we thought it was excellent and probably deserves a rating more like 3.5 stars.
Attractions near Hotel WBF Sapporo Chuo
[the_ad id=”5740″] [the_ad id=”5743″] [the_ad id=”5746″]
Getting to Hotel WBF Sapporo Chuo / Hotel WBF Art Stay
Si vous volez dans Sapporo, vous pouvez être assuré que l'aéroport principal est loin du CBD de la ville, il est techniquement dans une ville complètement différente, Chitose. Donc, pour vous rendre à l'hôtel, vous voudrez soit prendre un train, un bus limousine, un taxi ou louer une voiture.
L'adresse est:
1-2-2, Minami2-jonishi,
Chuo-ku Sapporo-Shi,
Hokkaido, 060-0062
Train
Si vous voyagez en train, la gare la plus proche est la gare d'Odori via la ligne de métro Nanboku. De là, c'est une courte marche. Si vous le poussez, vous pouvez le faire en 3 à 5 minutes. Si vous prenez un rythme plus tranquille, il vous faudra environ 5 à 10 minutes de marche.
Donc, si vous venez de l'aéroport de Chitose en train, vous prendrez d'abord le JR Rapid Airport Liner pour Sapporo Station puis changer pour la ligne de métro Nanboku. Recherchez la sortie 35 car c'est la sortie la plus proche de l'hôtel. Au total, cela vous prendra environ 60 à 70 minutes de l'aéroport.
Autobus limousine
Si vous prenez le bus limousine depuis l'aéroport, il vous faudra environ 70 minutes pour vous rendre en ville. L'arrêt que vous voulez est l'arrêt de bus Susukino. Descendre ici vous laisse à environ sept pâtés de maisons de l'hôtel, soit 600 mètres, vous devez donc compter environ 10 minutes de marche.
Taxi
Il est à environ 30 minutes en voiture de la ville, mais cela varie en fonction du trafic. Cela peut être mouvementé autour de l'aéroport et sur l'autoroute vers la ville, donc si vous arrivez aux heures de pointe le matin et l'après-midi, cela peut coûter cher et le train peut être plus rapide.
Hire Car
Les prix varient beaucoup en fonction de l'entreprise avec laquelle vous partez et de la durée de votre location. Nous réservons généralement avec Avis, mais vérifiez toujours les sites de comparaison de réservation, en particulier dans Japon où les fournisseurs multinationaux ne sont pas aussi répandus. Dans ce cas, nous avons réservé avec Orix via un Hokkaidoagent de voyages basé sur Shiretoko Tourist Co., Ltd utilisant leur Site de réservation de Kakuyasu Rent-A-Car. Les dépôts de l'aéroport sont très utiles et disposent d'un personnel dédié aux clients de langue étrangère, mais vous pouvez toujours vous attendre à passer un temps décent à transférer en bus jusqu'au voiture de location dépôts, puis en passant par toute la paperasse. Une fois que vous êtes sur la route, comme un taxi, vous pouvez vous attendre à ce que le trajet dure environ 30 minutes tant que vous n'êtes pas dans la circulation dense.
Hotel WBF Sapporo Chuo dispose de 30 places de stationnement disponibles dans un parking à plusieurs étages (ou comme j'aime l'appeler, un ascenseur de voiture). Vous ne pouvez pas pré-réserver, donc s'ils manquent de place, vous devrez vous garer dans un autre parking. Il y en a plusieurs dans les environs.
Rates and other costs
Nous avons recherché des hôtels en utilisant HôtelsCombinés et finalement réservé avec Agoda pour $237,27 AUD pour une nuit, petit-déjeuner buffet compris. Le prix que nous avons obtenu était avec un 10% Agoda coupon. Nous étions ici pendant le festival d'Obon, ce qui rendait l'hébergement cher. Éloignez-vous des festivals pour économiser de l'argent ici. La chambre que nous avons réservée coûte normalement environ AUD $90 - $100 par nuit en dehors des festivals et des jours fériés.
Si vous avez besoin de vous garer, le tarif actuel de leur parking à plusieurs étages est de 1200 yens par nuit. Vous pouvez vous attendre à payer un peu plus dans certains des parkings à proximité.
Assurez-vous de comparer les prix, car les meilleurs tarifs varient et certains incluent le petit-déjeuner, d'autres non.
[the_ad id=’5734′]
Opening hours
L'enregistrement s'effectue à partir de 15h00 et le départ avant 11h00. La réception est ouverte de 5h00 à 2h00. Cependant, la porte d'entrée peut être verrouillée pendant la nuit, alors assurez-vous de leur informer de votre heure d'enregistrement prévue.
Links:
- Informations officielles d'accès à l'hôtel - Anglais
- Activités à proximité sur Klook - Anglais
- Choses à faire à proximité sur Viator par TripAdvisor - Anglais
- Choses à faire à proximité le KKday - Anglais
Don’t forget!
Si vous avez également séjourné dans cet hôtel, que ce soit dans une chambre double deluxe ou dans une autre catégorie de chambre, j'aimerais savoir ce que vous en avez pensé. J'aimerais aussi savoir quelles sont vos activités préférées dans la région. Faites-le moi savoir dans les commentaires après cet article! Mon préféré est Chocolaterie Ishiya et parc Shiroi Koibito.
Vous aimez cet article? Épinglez-le pour plus tard!
