【Sapporo Accommodation • Recommendation】Mitsui Garden Hotel Sapporo: A Good Stay Near Sapporo Station

During last year’s (2014) Christmas snow-viewing trip to Hokkaido, I stayed at two hotels near Sapporo Station. The first one was the Mitsui Garden Hotel Sapporo (三井ガーデンホテル札幌). The quality of this hotel is definitely not bad, and its location is also good. The only disappointment was the relatively poor service and attitude of the hotel staff.

 

Mitsui Garden Hotel Sapporo Accommodation Review

 

______________________________

Hotel Name: 三井ガーデンホテル札幌 (Mitsui Garden Hotel Sapporo)
Check-in Date: December 2014, October 2016

Nights Stayed: 2 nights

Room Type: Superior Double Room

Accommodation Cost: December 2014: 32,400 yen for two nights, average 16,200 yen per night, approx. HK$1,100 / October 2016: 12,000 yen for one night

Hotel Website: http://www.gardenhotels.co.jp/sapporo/

Booking Channels: Klook | Trip.com | Hotels.com | Rakuten Travel

______________________________

 

Update: Mitsui Garden Hotel Sapporo will undergo comprehensive renovation from October 20, 2025, to January 31, 2026, and will reopen on February 1, 2026.

 

 

Main entrance of Mitsui Garden Hotel Sapporo

 

Full-body photo of the hotel taken during my stay this year (2016)

 

 

1. Location & Transportation

 

Sapporo has heavy snowfall in winter, making it difficult to walk on the streets. Dragging luggage around is even more challenging. Therefore, for this Sapporo trip, I focused on hotels around Sapporo Station. The Mitsui Garden Hotel Sapporo is one that meets this requirement and offers good quality. The hotel is located west of Sapporo Station, only about 200 meters from the South Exit. Under normal circumstances, it’s a 3-minute walk, but walking these 200 meters on snow-covered streets in winter can be a bit strenuous.

 

Below is the condition of the road from Mitsui Garden Hotel Sapporo to the South Exit square of Sapporo Station in winter. Most of the pedestrian paths have been cleared of snow, but the crosswalks are still slippery.

 

 

There is no underground passage connecting Mitsui Garden Hotel Sapporo and Sapporo Station, so you have to walk on the surface. This is absolutely no problem when there is no snow because the distance is short, but it can be a bit inconvenient on snowy days. However, there is actually a section between Mitsui Garden Hotel Sapporo and Sapporo Station where you can use an underground passage. This underground passage can be used during winter snow to reduce walking time on the surface, but it might not be necessary in other seasons.

 

Across the crosswalk from the hotel towards Sapporo Station, you will see the sign for this Credit Saison.

 

There is a JR line/subway entrance next to the sign. Going down here leads to the underground passage, which connects to Sapporo Station. However, this entrance only has stairs. If you have large luggage or have difficulty with stairs, do not use this entrance. If you are dragging large luggage from Sapporo Station to Mitsui Garden Hotel Sapporo in winter, you can use the exit next to Century Royal Hotel inside the underground passage.

 

This underground passage is relatively quiet because fewer people use it. Following the underground passage will lead you to a food street called FOOD WALK. Passing through FOOD WALK leads to the underground street below Sapporo Station.

 

Sapporo Station is one level above the underground street, accessible by escalator. The underground street also connects to the subway station and the adjacent ESTA mall.

 

The route from Sapporo Station to Mitsui Garden Hotel Sapporo is the same. Just find this APIA food street in the underground street, go through it, and you will return to the exit next to Credit Saison.

 

View Mitsui Garden Hotel Sapporo Location on a larger map

 

 

2. Environment & Facilities

 

The lobby of Mitsui Garden Hotel Sapporo is not very large, but it is quite neat.

 

There is a small restaurant on the ground floor where you can get free coffee and tea to make yourself.

 

Christmas decorations and information about the ongoing White Illumination event.

 

The hotel has a small parking lot that can accommodate 28 cars. Overnight parking fee is 1,200 yen. However, I did not use it as this was not a self-drive trip.

 

Opposite Mitsui Garden Hotel Sapporo is the Times Car Rental Sapporo Ekimae store. It’s super convenient for picking up a car if you’re on a self-drive tour. (Note: This branch is now closed.)

 

 

Free WiFi is available in the hotel lobby and rooms, but the speed is not very fast.

 

The hotel elevators require a room key card to operate, ensuring outsiders cannot go up.

 

Guest room floors

 

One of the features of Mitsui Garden Hotels is the large public bath (onsen) within the hotel. However, since photography is not allowed inside, there are no photos here. To see photos of the large bath, you can visit the Mitsui Garden Hotel page on Rakuten Travel.

 

 

3. Room

 

Our room was on the fourth floor, a lower floor.

 

The Superior Double Room we stayed in had a 160cm wide double bed. The room area is 18 square meters, but it feels very small.

 

The room only has this small window.

 

The bathroom and toilet are quite nice.

 

Mitsui Garden Hotels always provide pajamas.

 

The room area is small, so the wardrobe is naturally not large either. However, there are two retractable hooks installed on the wall, which are very practical.

 

Basic amenities found in every hotel, such as a refrigerator, electric kettle, humidifier, trouser press, safe, and slippers, are of course provided.

 

Below are photos of the same room type (Superior Double Room) from our second stay in 2016. Although the room area is the same and the decor and facilities are largely identical, there are some differences in the color scheme.

 

 

4. Conclusion

 

Mitsui Garden Hotel Sapporo is indeed very good in terms of location and room quality. However, our experience during this stay left us somewhat dissatisfied with their service and staff attitude.

 

We stayed at the Mitsui Garden Hotel Sapporo for the first two days, then went to Niseko and Otaru before returning to Sapporo. We planned to leave our luggage at the hotel for two days and pick it up upon our return. However, the hotel staff did not allow us to leave our luggage, stating that we could only do so if we were staying at their hotel again upon return. Perhaps not allowing luggage storage for more than a day after checkout is their hotel’s internal policy, but the staff’s tone and unwillingness to help even when we were clearly helpless was disappointing and made us feel let down by their service.

 

However, aside from this point, Mitsui Garden Hotel Sapporo is still one of the hotels in Sapporo worth recommending.

 

If you are also considering booking the Mitsui Garden Hotel Sapporo, you can refer to the following booking information:

 

Links to booking pages for Mitsui Garden Hotel Sapporo on major booking websites:

• Klook
• Trip.com
• Hotels.com
• Rakuten Travel

 

Related Articles:

• 【Sapporo Accommodation • Recommendation】Stay@Sapporo Odori La’gent Stay
• 【Sapporo Accommodation • Recommendation】Stay@Richmond Hotel Sapporo Odori
• Japan Car Rental Companies: Comparison, Selection, and Rental Guide
• 【Money-Saving Essential for Hokkaido Self-Drive Tours】Hokkaido Expressway ETC Pass for Foreign Tourists – Hokkaido Expressway Pass
• Summer Self-Drive Tour in Hokkaido! Sapporo Hokkaido Self-Drive Itinerary, Routes, and Attractions Sharing
• Nemuro Hanamaru Sushi: Tokyo and Sapporo Branch Locations, Crowds, and Tips to Avoid Queues
• Detailed Guide to Using Visit Japan Web for Entry Declaration, Customs Declaration, and Tax-Free Shopping in Japan
• Japan Hotel Accommodation Tax: Which Cities Levy It? Who Has to Pay? How to Pay?