The Best Hotels in Sapporo

At 568 feet, this high-rise hotel is the tallest building in Hokkaido, which means the views over Ishikari Bay and the snow-covered city in winter are the kind you linger over from bed. It connects directly to Sapporo's main train station, with shopping and sights right outside, so the city asks very little of you. Several restaurants, a sky bar, and a natural hot spring spa round things out when you'd rather not leave.

Public baths on the top floor look out over Sapporo's skyline, which sets the tone for this design-forward business hotel in the middle of the city. Rooms come in three color schemes named urban, natural, and hip, and all have rain showers and French press coffee makers. A restaurant pairs French technique with Japanese dishes, and a second-floor bar handles cocktails. The Michelin Guide has it among its selected hotels.

The Club InterContinental floor sits at the top with private-label champagne on permanent tap, which sets the tone for the whole hotel. This luxury property in the Lilac Square complex takes the upper floors, and 149 rooms look out over parkland and Sapporo's river corridor. A heated pool runs twenty meters on the ninth level, and the Norva Lounge splits into fire and forest sections, because subtlety only goes so far.

The grey stone facade blends so cleanly into the forested hillside behind it that the building itself seems to be trying to disappear. Suigan is a seven-suite hot spring retreat just outside Sapporo, inside a geothermal pocket of national park, and the floor-to-ceiling windows and open-air onsen baths make it clear the forest is the point. Suites run large enough to feel like private apartments, meals arrive to your room, and two suites come with saunas.