LAMP LIGHT BOOKS CAFE — Restaurant in Sapporo

I really liked how clean the room was, lovedthe bathroom, I took a bath every evening (I think they should include bath salts or bath powder for the bath, would be a nice touch) I loved the rooms decor plus bathroom decor-didn’t have a view but the room became sunny in the daytime, but the amenities were basic but downstairs you were able to pick up some more and then ask for a few extras, which was nice. If I could be so frank to say that the staff was not friendly at all, and they did not attempt to speak any English, which was a surprise I was really turned off that there is no lobby in the hotel so you can’t sit and chat with your friends-you have to leave the hotel or order something and I think that’s unacceptable. I know it’s a hotel/café, regardless guests of the hotel should have a place to sit and relax and not worry about always having to order something when they’re downstairs. Or at least give the guests of the hotel a discount on a drink or a food item. I also think it would be a great idea if they had tables outside, which they don’t. I think these are very important suggestions that you should consider in the guest rooms-

1. there needs to be hooks in the bedroom to hang your towels. If there’s more than one person sharing the room or regardless, having hooks in the bathroom, I feel is a necessity.
2. a magnifying makeup mirror in the bathroom
3. a full length mirror in the room or bathroom. But overall, I was very happy with the location of the hotel. I enjoyed breakfast in the morning and I really was delighted how clean the room and bathroom were. Plus, I was also pleasantly surprised that there were a number of English books in...

Great place to work with plug sockets and fast WiFi (fast enough I could catch up on a football match on DAZN that I had missed).

Coffee however was very lackluster. I usually ask if the barista can make a flat white as this is my go to drink but usually not on the menu in Japan. It's usually a polite no since it's not on the menu, or yes about 50% of the time, but in this case the barista hadn't heard of the drink. Okay, not too popular in Japan, but for someone using an espresso machine and with many espresso-based drinks this was a little worrying! Still, can't be mad at this as it's not on the menu.

I ordered their speciality seasonal coffee as this was recommended, and listed under "drip coffee". However this was definitely prepared via french press. Although this might not bother many people, it does question the consistency and quality of the items on the menu.

In summary: I'd 100% come back to get some work done, but I wouldn't go specifically...

Everything about this cafe is nice, it's attached to a hotel, and it's open earlier in the morning compared to most other cafes in the area. So I thought it would be a good place for me to do my remote work, which involves video calls. And I did so once already before writing this review without incident.

However, on a tiny sign by some of the chairs, it says that you are not allowed to talk on the phone or PC.

Strange, for a cafe in general, and especially one attached to a hotel where people might have to do work. I wish I would've read the sign earlier, but it was mostly in Kanji, which is hard for me to read and English was on the back of the sign.

I wouldn't have been too upset about it, because I've been living in Japan for a while, and I understand that Japanese people like to have spaces for peace and quiet, and it's my bad for not paying close enough attention to the sign, but the staff was a bit rude in the way he told me.

I was in the middle of a call with a client, and the staff walked up to me, so I stopped what I was doing and he shushed me and told me to be quiet. Once in Japanese and in English. Then he picked up the sign and turned it over, and that's when I saw the English side. Then he told me to go outside. No please, no formal language used in Japanese. Just, "go outside". So I took my PC, carried it outside and finished my video call there.

It's a shame, but I probably won't be coming...