FlyingFrZ

I could not find a specific thread on this property, but please merge if I missed something.

Anyone have experience at this hotel? Spending three nights in Sapporo this November and figured I'd just book this place since the city doesn't seem to have many higher end hotel options.

Obviously I realize this isn't a luxury property, but curious how it compares to similar nearby options.

jxd

They are charging a lot of money for a crappy fairfield property compared to local brands. Personally I'd stay away unless you really need the points/elite nights.

There are better alternatives like the Solaria nishitetsu or Keio Plaza that are (usually) a fraction of what the fairfield charges.

FlyingFrZ

Thanks for the insight. I do see the Keio Plaza is about $75 a night where aa the Fairfield is $140 during our stay.

Would the JR tower be worth the about $80 a night premium over the Keio?

jxd

I don't think so. The rooms are a bit more dated than Keio but the location is slightly better (linked directly to the JR Sapporo station) while the keio is about a 5-10 minitute walk.

The keio plaza has one of the best breakfast in Japan. There's a chef making sushi fresh on the spot, lots of seafood sashimi (scallops, prawns, salmon etc), and even sparkling wine. I'd stay at the Keio Plaza just for the breakfast alone lol.

https://youtu.be/PZiR4Aajk7M
The buffet spread from 3 minutes.

nacho

When are you going? When I went early July this year the rate was more than double - it's more like 30000 yen and up.

I ended up staying at the travelodge 20k yen for 3 nights.

FlyingFrZ

Going mid November. It's about $70-80 a night for a double room at the Keio and $170 at the JR.

Think I'll stick with the Keio over the JR and Fairfield. Don't need the Marriott night credits and we will have a car so grav shouldn't be an issue.

​​​​​​

nacho

That's dirt cheap compared to early July. I wouldn't stay in Marriott in Japan - I prefer not having to think about whether to use the lounge or go out to eat. Plus, as others said, there's no reason to pay 2x the price for a Western chain. Japanese chain hotels are more than ok.

When we went there the cheapest car rental was 25000 yen for 48 hours, last time we went I was able to get a 5 days rental for 20k yen.

jxd

Book your car rental through Rakuten travel. There are uaually lots of deals. The car rental site is in Japanese only so use Google translate. I booked a 5 days rental for 30k yen (mid size) from budget car rental on Rakuten. A compact car will be cheaper.

araknis

It probably should be noted that this property does NOT provide free breakfast for high tier status members.
"Our hotel does not offer breakfast as a Marriott Bonvoy Loyalty Program benefit."

nacho

I did check around and they are not that much cheaper, plus Toyota at CTS opens until 23.00 which is a huge plus when my flight was 8am.

300k yen for 5 days is pretty expensive, even Toyota doesn't cost that much. Toyota was the most lax when during car check upon return.

Overseas Fairfield doesn't include breakfast and whether they extend it to elite is entirely up to the hotel - one more reason to stay away from Marriott when in Japan.

jxd

Oops, my bad - 30k yen not 300k yen. Was a Subaru Impreza and includes full coverage with zero excess (and zero NOC).

nacho

When is the rental for? I know there is a huge difference between seasons, if you are going in between summer and skiing seasons I'm sure you can get great prices. When I went I checked everywhere and I could get by a rental for 3-4000 yen less if I hand in the car at 7pm at CTS, which we tried last and it wasn't nice to be trapped at CTS (they don't allow people overnight at the airport - they force you to use the onsen). My usual nice rental place had no car at all when I was there.

It seems that nothing was totally opened yet when I was there in July. Even the melon buffet wasn't open. The onsen at CTS said that they couldn't serve proper breakfast because they had staff shortage (but they still charged the full entrance fee and nothing has been remodelled since 2019).

I was able to rent a K car at NRT Avis at 20k for 5 days in January 2020 (I didn't buy the full excess as my travel insurance covers that).

FlyingFrZ

We actually have a 4WD Nissan XTrail on reserve at Orix for 6 days at 80k yen.

It was the cheapest 4WD I could find at CTS and seemed like a decent price for the car.

Ill check out Rakuten though
​​​​
​​