Nothing beats staying right in a city’s downtown area when traveling. Hotel Pearl City Sapporo offers just that, which made my stay in Sapporo really convenient. From Sapporo's main station, the hotel is only a 4-minute walk south. Follow the signs towards Sapporo Esta (a department store) and as you walk down the adjacent street, you will quickly arrive at Hotel Pearl City Sapporo.
Sights such as the historic Clock Tower, Hokkaido University Botanic Gardens, and the Former Hokkaido Government Office are all within 5-minute walking distance from the hotel. The Nijo fish market, where you can taste delicious seafood and buy some fresh crabs that Hokkaido is so famous for, is 15 minutes by foot away. From the hotel, you can also walk to Susukino, Sapporo’s famous entertainment district, lined with izakayas, karaoke bars, restaurants, and mega shopping malls. The walk takes just over 20 minutes, but you will get to pass by Odori Park and the Tanukikoji Shopping Arcade, both of which are undeniably iconic sights of Sapporo.
There are various rooms available at Hotel Pearl City Sapporo that will make your stay very pleasant and comfortable. Apart from standard single and double rooms, there are connecting rooms for large families and barrier-free rooms that provide disabled access. Every room is equipped with a TV, a refrigerator, a kettle, bathroom toiletries, and a LAN cable for connecting online with a computer. For guests who require Wi-Fi, a portable WiFi set can be loaned from the reception at no cost.
Breakfast is served at the hotel’s restaurant, Sicilian Rouge. Breakfast options include the traditional, Japanese breakfast set or a Western-style option with an omelet, various bread, pasta, and sausages.
At lunch and dinner time, Sicilian Rouge serves as a specialty restaurant that uses tomatoes grown by local farms in the city of Yubari, east of Sapporo. The cuisines served at lunch and dinner have a fusion of French and Italian influences and make use of tomatoes in the most interesting ways! For instance, the pretty Sicilian Rouge Shortcake uses yellow cherry tomatoes between the layers of sponge cake, which adds an interesting twist to a typical dessert. Also, Sicilian Rouge is the only, if not, the first restaurant to introduce tomato fondue in Sapporo. Tourists aside, locals have also taken an interest in this specialty restaurant, especially since the cuisines are very healthy and fresh.
You can also get interesting tomato-related products like tomato juice and ketchup produced in Yubari in the lobby of the hotel.
In the basement of Hotel Pearl City Sapporo, there is also a Japanese-style bar, or izakaya called Tori yo sakana yo. Private Japanese-style rooms are available. Some of the special dishes include Korean bibimbap, seafood chijimi (pancake), and finger food, which all go really well with beer. Hotel guests get a 20% discount on the bill.
If I ever travel to Sapporo again I would definitely return to Hotel Pearl City Sapporo, for its superb location and impeccable service during my stay.
