ニコーリフレ — Local services in Sapporo

Nikoh Refre is a men-only capsule hotel, very close to Susukino metro station, so a great location. Sapporo station is two metro stops away, and Odori Park a 10 minute walk. A Lawson, Family Mart, 7-Eleven and Don Quijote are all within a 3 minute walk. Generally there is a lot to see and do around the hotel, and a variety of transport is very easy to come by.||||The hotel is set over 7 floors, Reception being on the 4th. The facilities are clean and modern and the staff, even though their English is limited, are warm and friendly and will try their best to communicate with you. The capsules are spacious and comfortable. Everything you need is provided by the hotel at no charge - towels, hair combs, toothbrushes, toothpaste, facial wash, shower gel and shampoo, hairdryers, hair products - very nice! The toilets were clean, and there are separate enclosed smoking rooms for the nicotine-lovers amongst us.||||While the hotel is generally very good, there are some slightly unusual aspects I felt I should point out. First, you cannot pay for more than one night's stay at a time, which made my 4 night stay a little cumbersome. When you arrive and check in, you are given a receipt showing you have paid and the time - you can then remain a guest and use the facilities for 24 hours from the printed time (which was actually convenient as it meant on my final day I didn't need to check out until 5pm). You have to show this receipt to Reception every time you leave and come back to the building, and re-check in every day when the time has "run out."||||On top of this, entering/leaving the hotel is a drawn-out process. First, you enter and take the lift to Reception on the 4th floor and put your shoes in a locker. You queue, and hand the locker key to Reception, and they exchange this for your main locker key (which incidentally is about 15cm wide - far too thin to hold much besides a couple of garments and a very thin bag). You then take the lift to the floor of your capsule/locker. The locker rooms and the capsules are on opposite sides of the floor, so not exactly convenient. And when you want to leave, you have to repeat this process but reversed... longwinded, especially when you are having to wrap up and then de-wrap up everytime because of the extreme cold Winter temperature in Sapporo. ||||You aren't allowed to bring in outside food and drink as there is a restaurant on site, and there are signs saying you are not allowed to stay if you have tattoos - which isn't mentioned prominently on any of the hotel's booking websites. This is because there are no Western-style shower rooms, just a large open-plan Japanese bathroom where you shower seated facing a wall (on the same floor as Reception, which you have to walk past every time you use it, and it's also open to non-staying members of the public). The room is very nice and has hot tubs and massage as a paid extra, but for those not used to Japanese culture it could be a bit confronting, plus my tattoos are on my wrist, tummy, and inner bicep so easy to hide, allowing me to slide under the radar - if you have larger ones you could find yourself in a slightly awkward situation.||||As well as this, the capsules have Japanese-style pillows - half the size of Western pillows and filled with beans, not down or feathers. You also have to vacate the capsule rooms between 11am and 3pm so they can all be cleaned and have their linen changed - far too long a gap in my opinion. Finally, on checking out the hotel wouldn't hold my luggage for me - a slight inconvenience. The hotel atmosphere is non-existent, so only stay here out of needing a place to rest and recuperate after sightseeing. The guests, being mainly middle-aged Japanese men, are often quiet and "distant," meaning there is no social vibe whatsoever.||||All in all I enjoyed my stay here and wouldn't dissuade others from staying, however I only booked it as it was the only affordable hotel left for the Snow Festival, and it wouldn't be my first choice if I returned. ||||A pleasant, if rather...

Appears to be men's only hotel and overall I did not like it. If you really want to go to the spa do it as a day trip.

Broken down ratings 0-5 Location: 5 Close to a lot of things and good food

Cleanliness: 2 The hotel has old carpet, I don't think that can really ever be clean... Not gross, but since they don't want you to wear shoes or slippers it's uncomfortable. Pod and bathroom were ok, but the air did not smell clean.

Pod comfort: 2 Thin foam pads and cheap blankets. Also no ventilation in the pod so it was hot and it smelled like smoke and air freshener. I think the smoking room ventilation went into the rest of the building... That being said it was pretty quiet.

Amenities: 3.5 There is a Japanese style bath and a relaxing room with manga and a restaurant. If you like that it may be good for you, I did not find either place very comfortable. Also lockers for your stuff are very very narrow. No way you could fit a hard luggage case. I had to take things out of my backpack to fit and it's not a large one.

Atmosphere and staff: 2 It felt sleazy. At first I thought I went to a love hotel. There were gambling machines in the smoke room on the pods floor and many many massage ads. Also as a mostly English speaker the staff were not very helpful, but they did have a mostly understandable handout...

The location is nice, as it is on Tanuki-koji central arcade street, within walking distance of the madness of Susukino but firmly apart from it. The spas and sauna here is good, with jacuzzi and TV. Indoor cafe with varieties of food and snacks. Lots of mangas, magazines and newspaper in Japanese language. There are two classes of cabin, but if your aim is to have a budget trip, go for the cheaper one. Capsules are modern, wood- types with TV. Surprisingly comfortable, compared to coffins you get in Tokyo. What I like about this place is that it is relatively new, and cleaned by hardworking staffs, and although you must get out from the cabin at 11AM you can stay at the sauna and cafe area for the remaining 24hrs without extra charge. Free wi-fi. Plenty of common space. Could be better than staying at a lousy business hotel.||The downside: bring or buy earplugs. Although the place is quite quiet, this is a capsule hotel, so the chances are that a man would be snoring right next to you.||Recommended for male...