Werbung/Pressereise
The end of my trip to Japan had arrived. It was a spontaneous decision, but I decided to spend the last days in Hokkaido, more specific in Sapporo. For my last trip I was supported by the Mercure hotel Sapporo, which is a part of Accor hotel group..
I had a 3-night stay, but to sum it up, due to a late arrival and an early departure, I had only 2 full days, out of the 4 given ones, however, as the hotel is well situated in the city center I had everything needed just in front of my door. The first thing that I saw when entering the room was an amazing view above skyscrapers and colorful lights, out of the 14th floor, where I stayed in one of the priority rooms.
The room was wide spaced, with a king-size bed, an entertainment system so as a handy phone and a huge bathroom, including a shower and a bathtub. The main room had a couch and a desk to work, which is also very suitable for business travelers. The hotel is rated 3 stars, however, the internet says even up to five and honestly, I also think it´s an exceptional hotel.
Probably, I´m happy with the hotel, as more than half of the breakfast menu was either vegetarian or vegan. There was tofu, steamed vegetable, a huge salad bar and a lot of fruits as well. The restaurant opens also for a lunch buffet, which I didn´t join this time. For wine lovers there is also a winetasting. The breakfast opens every day from 6:00-10:00 AM.
The directions for the hotel are handy and pleasant. I arrived in the evening and used the airport shuttle, which stops almost in front of the hotel. It takes about one hour from the New Chitose airport to arrive at the hotel. The other option, which takes the same time, is to take the train with one transfer. The closest metro station is only 200m away from the hotel and takes two stops where one transfers to the JR trains for the limited airport express. Both options are about 1000 Yen each way, which would be something about 8€.
Coming to the most exciting part, that all of you might questioned: What to do in Sapporo? To be honest, I took it a little bit slow, as I was extremely tired of one month press trips with the tourism boards all through Japan. Even though this was also a press trip, I was flexible with my timings and things to do. On the first day I went out for a little walk to discover the neighborhood and take a few photos. I also scouted for the huge ferries wheel, that I could see from my room window. Moreover, the hotel is surrounded by countless of restaurants, activities and busses. One has plenty of options to stroll around the neighborhood, which is loaded with entertainment or make some excursions I however decided to stay in the neighborhood, enjoy my favorite kanpyo sushi, go again for a Japanese photo booth (it´s just too much fun), ride the ferries wheel and do a little shopping.
I can also recommend going for karaoke, but as I´m solo traveling, this wasn´t too much fun for me to go, no matter there are lovely passages and for nonvegans there is also the famous Hokkaido soft serve, which seems to be very famous and maybe worth a try. I must say, there is so many things about Japan that I like and even the unimportant things make me satisfied and get me excited. Staying at the Mercure hotel brought all these things just in front my door, for daily discovering. I had a lot of fun and a perfect base to stay.
The staff of the hotel is very kind and mostly fluent in English as well. However, I personally enjoyed testing myself on Japanese language, which was kindly responded. Also, the design of the hotel is quite modern. I recognized it especially in my room and the entrance of the 14th floor, where there was a design for the floor number in red, colorful pattern.
The bathroom was also supplied with certain goodies and even a skincare package. On my last day, after the check out, early in the morning before 7AM, it happened that some of the staff asked me where I learnt Japanese, as he caught me speaking with some of the other staff. After my response, that I teach myself, he was very surprised, I presented him my book, which I always learn with and he realized that I was German and even talked some German to me. It was a super funny and surprising happening and a proper farewell to a wonderful stay with Accor and Mercure hotels as an end of one months travelling in Japan, which happened to be in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Thank you, Accor and Mercure hotels, for this lovely short trip, filled with memories, smiles and laughter.
