Hotel New Budget Sapporo

Room - I took a single room, and I was pleasantly surprised that the floor area was fairly large, as compared to my expectations of Japanese hotels (especially budget hotels) being small. My room (1421) was facing west, so it could get terribly warm in the room if I go out in the morning and forget to close the wooden panel that shuts out all sunlight. I wouldn't have expected to find a bathtub in the room, but there it was! My friend took room 1405 which faces east, from what he said the window faces a hospital (I didn't confirm it) so he didn't like the view. For myself, I can see an elementary school, as well as a police post just right across the street! One plus for safety! There is a 3-in-1 dispenser for shampoo, body foam and one more thing (can't remember) mounted on the wall, 2 single 2-pin plugs on the dresser table, as well as an emergency torchlight (now, I don't ever remember any one hotel having it - I travel with my own emergency torchlight too - a UK Q40 dive torch) which is a nice gesture to know safety is factored in. Lights are activated via a 2 way switch, one at door, the other just above the bed. There is also a simple alarm clock mounted into the bed frame (don't ask) that works. There is also a hairdryer mounted too, though I can't read Japanese to save my life. The room has a slight smell (odour?) after I come back later in the day... good thing is that it disappears after powering up the air conditioner in a jiffy. There is also the long covered shopping street (which I translate crudely to Fox Small Lane in Chinese, since Japanese and Chinese has some identical characters) which spans across probably 6 to 7 streets. However, this street did not really appeal to me - the rest of the Susukino area is close by anyway. Just to let you know in case you want to do some shopping. The included breakfast is nothing to shout about, however I would think the croissants are really nice and light... no restrictions on how many you have. Minute Maid orange juice is alright, though I'd thought it was a little too sweet for my liking. Internet is available at a small machine at the corner of the lounge, at 100 yen for 10 minutes. I couldn't figure out how to switch off the Japanese input mode, so one of my emails I had to reply ended up with mostly capital letters... Access to the hotel after 11pm is by your room card only, which I think is just nice for a security feature. However the room card prints out your name and room number, though that helps you to get the card back.... it risks having someone else ransack your room while knowing which door it opens. It's a nice touch to print my name on the room card, but the room number?... This is my only pet peeve about it. Apart from this glitch on the room card, I am thoroughly impressed, especially with the staff. I felt so embarrassed each time when I came back to the hotel, they would bow down until the lift doors closed! Some say that after going to Japan, you'd be more courteous and unwittingly bow to people... I sure did, partly because of the courtesy of the hotel staff! I didn't take her name down, however the staff (especially this girl with a extra high bun of hair) helped me a lot and helped my friend and myself with both planning a day trip to Otaru, Hokkaido, as well as helping me to navigate my way to a friend's place in Sapporo, although I must have driven her crazy with my questions in English... Finding the hotel should be easy, you can use the South 3 West 7 junction if I remember correctly... though you should know that the Japanese convention of addressing places is a little twisted - the North/South/East/West conventions only address the AREA, not the street, so you might be wondering why on earth one side of the road says for example, North 3 South 6, while the opposite side says North 3 South 7!