Hokkaido 3-Day Trip: Second Half of Day 1 ② | A Break at the Hotel, a Toast with Genghis Khan, and a Night at Keio Prelia Hotel Sapporo

I am in my 50s and already wishing I could go back to Hokkaido. Between my part-time job, working from home, and daily housework, my days just fly by, and before I know it, the day is over.

I love hitting all the tourist spots, but lately, I've found that the time spent relaxing at the hotel is the best part.

If there's a large public bath, my satisfaction level goes up even more. Cold beer, delicious food, and that pleasant sense of fatigue that lets you fall asleep instantly. I spent the second half of my first day in Hokkaido enjoying just that kind of time.

Continuing with my Hokkaido trip.

Staying at Keio Prelia Hotel Sapporo

Check-in

We headed to the hotel after visiting Shiroi Koibito Park. This is our second time staying here. My husband used to stay here whenever he was on business trips to Sapporo.

Despite its convenient location within walking distance of Sapporo Station, the interior has a calm atmosphere and is very comfortable, making it one of my favorite hotels.

First, we parked our rental car in the adjacent parking lot. There is a flow line that lets you go straight to the front desk if you pass through the back entrance. It makes checking in easy even if you have a lot of luggage.

Parking costs 2,000 yen per night. The style was to pay along with the accommodation fee at check-in. Checking out is easy and quick since you just return the key. There was also an automatic payment machine.

A delightful guest lounge

On the way to our room, I caught a glimpse of the sign for the "Guest-Only Lounge." I wondered if it had been there before, but I dropped off our luggage in the room and headed straight there.

Even though we were traveling by car, we walked around quite a bit while sightseeing. After checking in, I definitely felt the swelling in my legs, thirst, and fatigue. I felt like taking a shower to freshen up.

A free drink service at a time like that is truly appreciated.

It was a hot day, so I gulped down a cold Calpis. It brought a smile to my face, but I restrained myself, remembering my sensitive stomach.

There was a good lineup of free drinks, including teas, coffee, and soft drinks. This kind of service really influences how satisfied you are with a hotel.

There weren't many people when I used it, and it was nice to be able to spend time in peace. Taking a break away from the crowds at the tourist spots. I only rested for about 15 minutes, but the fatigue faded and I felt refreshed.

After this, I'm heading out for a meal I've been looking forward to. It's that dish you just have to eat at least once when you come to Hokkaido.

Genghis Khan for a Hokkaido Night

The main branch has a huge line! Decided to go to the 5.5 branch instead; it was cleaner than expected.

For dinner on the first day, I had the Genghis Khan I'd been looking forward to.

I was aiming for the famous 'Daruma Main Branch.'
Although it was a little past opening time, there was already a long line. I was torn between waiting in line or going to another branch.

Since I was already in the mood for Daruma, I decided to try the nearby 'Daruma 5.5 Branch'.

This is just my own personal image, but...
when I think of Genghis Khan restaurants, I think of 'billowing smoke,' 'Showa-era public taverns,' and 'clothes smelling like smoke.'

The 5.5 branch was cleaner than I imagined, and perhaps because it's a relatively new location, the interior was bright and felt clean.

There were lockers to store luggage and jackets. The ventilation was also good, so it didn't feel like the place was filled with smoke. Since I pack minimal changes of clothes while traveling, I thought this was a great facility.

There were many tourists in the restaurant, but I also saw what looked like regulars who ordered beer, meat, and rice, ate quickly, and left right away.

Genghis Khan Revenge

There was a small personal revenge story behind this Daruma Genghis Khan experience.

A few days before my first trip to Hokkaido, while I was eating Kaki-pi, the sharp end of a 'Kaki no Tane' rice cracker poked into the gum behind my upper front teeth—a careless accident, but a very painful one.
It was a minor accident, but the pain was intense.

On the day of the trip, at the table where I was about to eat Genghis Khan for the first time, I found myself seriously thinking about what technique I could use to enjoy the delicious meat sizzling on the hot iron plate and the vegetables coated in meat juices without feeling pain.

It wasn't just a matter of pushing it to the back of my mouth; the meat, soaked in hot, delicious sauce, was almost like a weapon. The soy sauce stinging the wound, the meat I couldn't chew—my first-ever Genghis Khan experience ended without me really being able to enjoy it at all.

That restaurant was 'Daruma Main Branch.' Or at least, that's what I had thought for a long time...

Visiting this time, the meat and the dining style were different from my distant memories, so I wondered if I had mistaken the restaurant or if it had been renovated.

I hope to find that restaurant someday and visit it again.

Mutton and beer, and white rice

Returning to Daruma.
What was brought to the table was onions as an appetizer, mutton, and beer.

The menu is very simple, so you don't have to worry about choosing, which was great for someone like me who isn't good at deciding on a menu.

I took a bite while grilling the meat.
There was no gamey smell at all, making it easy to eat. The soy sauce-based sauce spread in my mouth, and the beer went down smoothly. Delicious.

The staff recommended adding some spice, but after consulting with my stomach, I enjoyed it with the basic sauce.

By the time the beer was gone, I ordered white rice. Meat, rice, and then more meat. It was a truly happy loop experience.

It was a little different from what I had imagined for Genghis Khan

There is no doubt it was delicious.
The mistake was that I thought Daruma was the 'first shop I went to (the Kaki-Pi shop)' and remembered it as having the atmosphere of a popular local tavern.

This shop was clean and easy to enter, with many tourists. Including the price, my impression was that it was more geared towards travelers.

It wasn't exactly 'cheap and delicious local B-grade gourmet,' nor was it fully 'a shop for tourists,' and it wasn't a 'special high-end shop' either.

I was able to experience the deliciousness of Daruma, so next time, I would like to explore some deeper shops that locals frequent.

Full stomach, skipping the night parfait, and the public bath

On this trip, I learned for the first time that Sapporo is famous for 'shime-parfait' (closing parfait). Ending with a stylish parfait after eating Genghis Khan is one of the joys of traveling in Hokkaido.

In reality, after fully enjoying Genghis Khan, beer, and white rice, I had no room left in my stomach.

With no signs of a 'second stomach' kicking in, I gave up on the parfait and decided to take a walk back to the hotel. On the way, while browsing for limited items at Sapporo Daimaru, I bought souvenirs and something called 'Yuki Pudding' to eat in my room.

Sweet, melting, fluffy pudding.
Is this a dessert that appears in dreams? For someone who loves to eat, a trip is a golden period where you don't have to worry about what you eat or the calories.

The free lounge isn't the only high point of the Keio Prelia Hotel Sapporo. There is also a large public bath.

Early morning departures, flights, driving a rental car, and sightseeing. Because I spent so much time running around, I got sweaty and tired even though it wasn't summer.

Being able to soak in a large bath is truly a blessing. Just by stretching out my limbs and soaking in the hot water, the fatigue of the trip just melts away.

My rating of the hotel went up even further; there was also a women-only lounge area.

Summary

The second half of the first day of my Hokkaido trip was spent relaxing in the lounge at the Keio Prelia Hotel Sapporo and enjoying Genghis Khan. I washed away my fatigue in the large public bath and had a good night's sleep. I skipped the 'shime-parfait' (late-night parfait) but found some delicious dessert instead... that became a good memory as well.

I used to pack my travel itineraries tightly, trying to visit as many tourist spots as possible. Recently, I've started to feel more comfortable with a travel style where I feel that spending time relaxing at the hotel or slowly savoring delicious food is a luxury.

The Hokkaido trip continues. On the second day, I will leave Sapporo and get behind the wheel of my rental car in search of the magnificent scenery typical of Hokkaido.

In closing

In my 20s, I traveled with friends and colleagues.
I also liked planning trips, so I think travel had an element of a hobby for me even back then.

As my female friends gradually entered family life and child-rearing, topics like 'Where should we go next?' naturally faded away.
This is because our priorities began to diverge from those of my friends who were entering the most important period of their lives.

And eventually, I started traveling with my sister.
I learned how easy and free it is to travel where you can just be yourself.

Unlike trips where you have fun but still have to be considerate of others, we can easily talk about what we want to do, and our interests align.This was also the beginning of being able to enjoy travel on my own terms.

Now, I don't have any friends close enough to travel with.
My husband is my travel companion, with whom I can spend time in the most free way possible.