Shogetsu Grand Hotel — Hotel in Sapporo

Stayed 1N in a Premium Room #703 (with in-room onsen bath area) as base to explore Jozankei area for 1st time (60min bus ride from sapporo). We were there in mid Sep autumn start, and it was rainy on intermittent basis. The Nature Luminarie (Jun to Oct) was also on during our visit, apparently only guests staying in Jozankei will get tickets for event, and 5min walk downhill & southwest from hotel, and the walk ends at 二見吊橋

Pro Spacious room layout; room has floor to ceiling window and also 4 windows that open out (but with insect netting) Meals were kaiseki dinner and semi buffet breakfast, both in dining hall Onsen is fairly large, with open air area as well. No sulphur smell here, supposed to be sodium chloride based hot spring. Hotel provides clothing / slippers to move around within hotel area / meals / hot spring No issue with keeping luggage at hotel post checkout Hotel offers shuttle service to / fro sapporo station once a day (late afternoon for sapporo pickup, and early morning to sapporo). We choose Kappa Liner bus instead as there were more timings that suited us + XL luggage not an issue; otherwise the public buses do ply Jozankei vs Sapporo on frequent intervals e.g. bus #12, although not friendly for XL luggages Our room was on a higher floor. FYI, hotel entrance / check-in counter is on 6th floor, and rooms can be on 1st floor Throughout the day post check-in, hotel has schedule of activities at the very spacious and welcoming lounge area with seatings that can face the river; there is also a music corner + rocking chairs, with audiophile speaker system to play with Private onsen room available, although i was told you cannot choose the onsen with river view (there is another one with no view), room will be given 'at random' on check in (a weird concept to me, since if preferred room is available, it has to be available to be booked by anyone). Last timing for private onsen is 10pm. The nearest bus stop to / fro Sapporo (Jozankei jinja mae) is Gensen Park (open air free footbath by river), 雨ノ日と雪ノ日 (funky gelato), 山ノ風マチ (mini shopping stretch) and 岩戸観音堂 (temple) are some of the nearby places to explore, farthest would be 15min walk. Seicomart is across the road from hotel.

Con Lounge sofa bed in room is very large, but the pillows can use an upgrade as they were so small and actually makes lounging uncomfortable. Water pressure in room shower is medium only; but control and temperature is good. The in room onsen water was also too hot for us (55deg), although we tried the private onsen room (no view) where the water temperature was more comfortable Hotel staff is strict on check in time at 3pm; for check out, hotel advise to settle the bill 1st ahead of time eg from 7am onwards on day of checkout, to avoid the crowds Only 1 dinner time at 6pm, and it takes at least 1.5h to complete. Breakfast latest start timing is also 7.30am. We ordered additional seafood for dinner, and got hairy crab instead of shell sashimi. The hairy crab tasted way too salty, probably due to how it is cooked - NOT recommended at all.

All in, hotel is centrally located in Jozankei, and also seems to be only hotel where EVERY room has a river view. The daily schedule ensures there is something for everyone, so it can be quite relaxing to just chill in hotel, especially for couples, family...

This is the first time encountering such a rude and unwelcoming experience in Japan. ||If you wish to pay for a 5-star price and experience a NO-STAR experience, this will be the right place to stay. ||We drove from Furano to Jozenkai and upon arriving at the resort, I had parked my vehicle outside the entrance just to check and ensure it the right place. The moment I step into the lobby, the reception shouted very loud from the counter “NO SPIKES!” Indeed I was wearing spike grip, as Furano was snowing heavily, and their lobby is actually stone floor and not timber. Nonetheless I respect their rule and I said ok, let me sit down pointing to a nearby chair and take it off, to my surprise, he used his body to block me from moving towards the chair and showed me out of the doorway into the snowing walkway to have my spike remove. He simply just turned his back and walked back into the lobby. Thereafter removing the spikes, I went in again to seek clarity on the spikes grip and he simply brushed me off with his reply.. ‘my hotel, my rules!’ ||Next was the Checking-In process, we asked if he needs to register us first, since room is not ready, He replied blatantly, no check in, check in 3pm, show me a cross sign with his arm. I asked if we could unload our 2 huge luggage at the lobby first while waiting for the check in time, he mentioned that it was possible. We asked if anyone could help with 2 big luggage, he simply pointed to the corner where the metal trolley was. So, I guess its self-service. After unloading our luggage and pushing it into the lobby, he came forward, took our luggage without saying anything and pushed them away into the reception holding area without providing us any identification luggage tag. ||We were left unattended at their lobby. Shortly we asked if there is any restaurant that we can take some light snacks, again his reply. No food, no cook! When I asked them if anyone could speak simple English, they looked as if I am asking for something out of the world and simple replied NO ENGLISH.||Their attitude is simply unacceptable, totally hack attitude. With such good reviews on social media and having to pay almost $500SGD per night to stay in 5-star Onsen Resort for a totally relaxing experience, this encounter has simply dampened our mood.||But we certainly look forward to the highly-reviewed room and Onsen experience, indeed the room and their facilities are top-notch, expect the staffs attitude which I will give them a NO-star without any hesitation. ||This is the worst experience I had out of my entire travel journey so far, even a developing country of a 3-star hotel performs better than them....

Came here right before the new year.

The hotel itself is pretty much right by the main road that connects Jozankei to Sapporo. It's pretty much the first major hot spring hotel that you come across as you enter the district.

Once you're checked in, you can explore the first and second floor.

Off the bat, I can say that this place is extremely suited toward women. There's a multitude of lotions and facial products in the sink next to the front door. The hair products used across the facility are obviously Shiseido. Seems like a good place for women especially concerned about their facial health.

The first floor has a lounge with self-service drinks and dessert snacks. The drinks are stocked for the day, but the desserts are served during breakfast and dinner. I believe the breakfast is from 6AM - 8AM and dinner was 6PM - 8PM.

The meals here are fairly traditional, so expect a good variety of vegetables, seasonal flavors, fermented foods, and of course, sashimi. There's usually one main soup dish such as nabe. Don't forget to get your breakfast meal ticket after dinner!

After meals, it's typical to head to the 2nd floor for the hot springs. There's 4 to be found here: standard pool hot spring, cypress wood (subtle earthy scent), outdoor, and sauna. The outdoor one is by far the most popular, especially in winter, as you can enjoy the frost of winter and the warmth of the natural waters at the same time. There's a spot on the smooth rocks forming the wall of the outdoor hot spring where you'll get drips of melted ice falling on you as you're in the hot spring. Truly the best of both worlds.

One small thing to note is that the cleaning staff come in around 10AM - 2PM. There isn't all that much to do during winter around Jozankei, so unfortunately, you can't just lounge and do nothing in your room.

Nonetheless, the service was friendly and overall great. There were staff that spoke English to a limited degree in the front and they had general instructions for the hot spring and information about the hotel in English, so foreign visitors shouldn't have any problems.

Looking forward to visiting...