At first, I really liked the style of this hotel, and the photos of the outdoor hot springs were eye-catching, so I made the reservation anyway.
There are two Granbell Hotels in Sapporo, located in different areas. Those who book should be careful not to make a mistake.
Susukino is a 10-second walk to Hosui-Susukino Station (Toho Line) and a four-minute walk to Susukino Station (Namboku Line). There are many local hotels nearby, and there are many people in the evening.
When I checked in on the day of check-in, I saw that the actual appearance of the hotel did not disappoint. It was as beautiful as the photos.
The large public bath was open until one o'clock in the morning, and it became super crowded from about nine o'clock in the evening. It got to the point where the dressing room was already packed with people as soon as I entered the bathhouse, and there were no lockers available, so I had to go back to the room. Even if I go there in the morning (it's open from 05:00 to 10:30 in the morning), it's just barely crowded (although there are enough lockers and washing areas, there are only four places in the dressing area and you have to wait).
The breakfast part is a buffet, the food area is not big, and the dishes will change slightly every day. Unfortunately, the drinks are not put on ice, and the temperature is at room temperature. There are four choices of soups/staples, (wild vegetable) soup curry, miso soup/egg drop soup/corn soup, and chazuke rice.
The breakfast restaurant has the same problem as the bathhouse, that is, it is too small and cannot accommodate a whole building of tourists, making the overall experience disappointing.
Not only is the scale of the hardware equipment too small, I personally think that the training and number of employees also need to be strengthened. On the morning of the third day when I was about to have my meal, I arrived at the reception desk of the restaurant. I didn’t see any employees. Even if I pressed the service bell, I still had to wait for five minutes before someone came to greet me. On the first day (early nine o’clock)
During breakfast, someone showed us a table and brought us plates. The next day (around early eight o'clock), the waiter had nothing to offer, leaving us to wander around the restaurant with few seats left to look for it. Later, a lot of people came, and more and more used plates were piled up on the table, but no one was there to collect them. In the end, what made us feel the most uncomfortable was the suspected discriminatory behavior of the employees. Before we ate, there was an older Korean couple sitting next to us. They had already finished eating and were sitting and chatting. However, we had just finished the last thing on the plate when a waiter asked us to leave as soon as possible and asked for our understanding. The restaurant is a bit busier today. If there are still passengers waiting for their meals later, I can completely understand and will leave immediately after eating. But today, only Chinese-speaking people are asked to leave? ? (The waiter probably thought the person next to us was Japanese) We must not make people feel treated differently.
So overall, I won’t come back next time. There are many beautiful hotels in Sapporo, so you don’t have to suffer.
Finally, I would like to remind everyone that the hotel provides a free bowl of soba noodles during dinner. It was only when I was about to check out that I found the piece of paper in the room card holder. The waiter did not inform us when we checked in...
Original TextTranslation provided by Google