APA Hotel TKP Sapporo Ekimae in Sapporo

There are four APA hotels in Sapporo, so it took me a bit to locate this one. The TKP is perfectly located between Odori Park and Sapporo Station which made walking around and exploring easy. The rooms were small with little room for anything besides a double bed and desk along the wall. Unfortunately the room I stayed in had mysterious streaking stains inside the toilet and was unbearably hot. I was able to turn the heat off before I suffocated, but woke up dry and dehydrated every morning nonetheless. My favorite feature in the room was the light control from the bed frame. Would recommend for anyone on a quick trip more interested in exploring than enjoying the hotel.

I’ve stayed in countless hotels in Japan, and many APA hotels.

The main things I care about when rating a hotel: location, cleanliness, cost-to-performance, and compatibility for non-smokers.

I don’t put much value in room size because Japanese hotels tend to be smaller, and I use hotels for just sleeping, not for lounging.

Location: 8/10
Cleanliness: 7/10
Cost-to-performance: 6/10
Non-smoker compatibility: 3/10

If you’re a smoker, this hotel is probably a 4/5 for you. If you are a non-smoker, ask for a higher floor

Positives:
- Friendly staff. Both staff members I spoke to were kind and helped me properly. The young man on the night shift was especially kind
- Will exchange bills for coins in order to use the coin laundry
- Location. It is close to both Sapporo Station and the underground leading towards Susukino
- Typical APA amenities were all present (bathroom amenities, bidet, heated anti-fog mirror, large TV, mini-fridge, plenty of outlets, wifi, openable window, laundry bags, coin laundry, free bottled water, tissues, hair dryer, kettle, and cups)
- Room was clean
- Walls were quite soundproof and environment was quiet

Negatives:
- The biggest problem to me was that if someone was smoking, you could smell it even if you were not on a smoking floor. I was 1 floor above the smoking floor, and it was quite strong. The smoking floors are below the non-smoking floors. It is even worse if you turn on the air conditioning. It was bad enough to give me a headache, even with the window open for ventilation
- The laundry room is on a smoking floor. This seems unwise as non-smokers have to experience the smell, as well as it makes me worry about the smell getting on my clothes
- Shower water smelled a bit bad, kinda like sewage. The shower head seems to have mold on it, so I would encourage the staff to consider cleaning or swapping it for a new shower head
- Of all the APA I have stayed in, this was the smallest one. If you are 180 centimeters or taller, your feet will touch the wall if you lie down straight. A full-sized bag is difficult to open. I can’t recall this even for other compact single rooms. However, I didn’t find this much of a problem as I only used it for sleeping
- Cost seemed high (9000 yen per night for a compact single room for one person), but might be due to the New Year
- The air conditioner is a little noisy

Pretty good location. Nicely decorated. The rooms are small, too small. I can't a place to open my travel suitcase.