Name: Nikoh Capsule Hotel Refre - Hostel - Caters to Men
Address: Nikoh Building 4F, Sapporo, Sapporo, Sapporo, 060-0063, Japan
Rating: 9

Air conditioning

24-hour reception

Elevator/lift

Smoking areas

Currency exchange

Smoke-free property

Heating

General

Non-smoking rooms

Locker

Flat-screen TV

Rooms

Laundry

Safe-deposit box

Shoe shine

Luggage storage

Services and amenities

Breakfast

Common kitchen

Restaurant

Vending machine

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Taxi booking

Transfer

Massage

Sauna

Beauty and wellness

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Temperature control for staff

Personal protection equipment for staff

Extra decontamination measures

Temperature control for guests

Personal protection equipment for guests

Additional measures against COVID-19

Health and Safety Measures

Location

At the hostel

Room amenities

Okadama Airport

New Chitose Airport

Nikoh Capsule Hotel Refre - Hostel - Caters to Men

Sapporo

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

20-beds

21-beds

22-beds

23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

27-beds

28-beds

29-beds

3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

34-beds

35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

Nikoh Refre is a men-only capsule hotel, very close to Susukino metro station, so a great location. Sapporo station is two metro stops away, and Odori Park a 10 minute walk. A Lawson, Family Mart, 7-Eleven and Don Quijote are all within a 3 minute walk. Generally there is a lot to see and do around the hotel, and a variety of transport is very easy to come by.

The hotel is set over 7 floors, Reception being on the 4th. The facilities are clean and modern and the staff, even though their English is limited, are warm and friendly and will try their best to communicate with you. The capsules are spacious and comfortable. Everything you need is provided by the hotel at no charge - towels, hair combs, toothbrushes, toothpaste, facial wash, shower gel and shampoo, hairdryers, hair products - very nice! The toilets were clean, and there are separate enclosed smoking rooms for the nicotine-lovers amongst us.

While the hotel is generally very good, there are some slightly unusual aspects I felt I should point out. First, you cannot pay for more than one night's stay at a time, which made my 4 night stay a little cumbersome. When you arrive and check in, you are given a receipt showing you have paid and the time - you can then remain a guest and use the facilities for 24 hours from the printed time (which was actually convenient as it meant on my final day I didn't need to check out until 5pm). You have to show this receipt to Reception every time you leave and come back to the building, and re-check in every day when the time has "run out."

On top of this, entering/leaving the hotel is a drawn-out process. First, you enter and take the lift to Reception on the 4th floor and put your shoes in a locker. You queue, and hand the locker key to Reception, and they exchange this for your main locker key (which incidentally is about 15cm wide - far too thin to hold much besides a couple of garments and a very thin bag). You then take the lift to the floor of your capsule/locker. The locker rooms and the capsules are on opposite sides of the floor, so not exactly convenient. And when you want to leave, you have to repeat this process but reversed... longwinded, especially when you are having to wrap up and then de-wrap up everytime because of the extreme cold Winter temperature in Sapporo. 

You aren't allowed to bring in outside food and drink as there is a restaurant on site, and there are signs saying you are not allowed to stay if you have tattoos - which isn't mentioned prominently on any of the hotel's booking websites. This is because there are no Western-style shower rooms, just a large open-plan Japanese bathroom where you shower seated facing a wall (on the same floor as Reception, which you have to walk past every time you use it, and it's also open to non-staying members of the public). The room is very nice and has hot tubs and massage as a paid extra, but for those not used to Japanese culture it could be a bit confronting, plus my tattoos are on my wrist, tummy, and inner bicep so easy to hide, allowing me to slide under the radar - if you have larger ones you could find yourself in a slightly awkward situation.

As well as this, the capsules have Japanese-style pillows - half the size of Western pillows and filled with beans, not down or feathers. You also have to vacate the capsule rooms between 11am and 3pm so they can all be cleaned and have their linen changed - far too long a gap in my opinion. Finally, on checking out the hotel wouldn't hold my luggage for me - a slight inconvenience. The hotel atmosphere is non-existent, so only stay here out of needing a place to rest and recuperate after sightseeing. The guests, being mainly middle-aged Japanese men, are often quiet and "distant," meaning there is no social vibe whatsoever.

All in all I enjoyed my stay here and wouldn't dissuade others from staying, however I only booked it as it was the only affordable hotel left for the Snow Festival, and it wouldn't be my first choice if I returned. 

A pleasant, if rather quirky, stay.

Quirky capsule hotel

I stayed 2 nights here during the 2016 Snow Festival due to generally sold out hotels in the area.  I wouldn't go out of my way to chose this style of accommodation, but as a solo traveler when my next best option would have cost 10x as much, I was thrilled.  

The capsules in my section had the long side of the box as the open section, rather than the head/foot.  I think this helped a lot with not feeling claustrophobic.  The lockers are tiny - too small to put luggage larger than daypack.  The communal bathing area is very well run.  The staff was very friendly regarding holding luggage before/after my stay which was quite helpful.  The location is super convenient.

If I needed a cheap place to stay, I can't imagine going elsewhere in Sapporo.

Evolution of the capsule

Don't know crowd due to Winter festival or not, cant find any cheaper hotel in Sapporo. Then I book this capsule hotel, price very cheap, below 3k yen and I get an offer of a cup of free beer. You can goyinand out from Nikoh, not outside foods/drinks according to their rules. A lot of refreshment like hot springs, sauna, Finland sauna, massage, massage chair with TV, etc..

budget stay for man only

This property is near one of the main subway stations, a vibrant shopping arcade, and the famous traditional market where you can get decent seafood. It's easy to find, and the whole environment of the hotel is well managed and organized. It's different from many other capsule hotels in that the vibe appears younger, which was also shown through their various promotion ads. The facilities were good, the air in the capsule was not hot and stuffy, the locker's size was a bit narrow but just enough for my bag and backpack,  and the buffet breakfast was not bad. However, the staff, a young lady, who helped me check in possessed rather limited English fluency, making me a bit disoriented about the overall environment at the beginning. Besides, the price for using dryer was quite high.

upgraded capsule

Due to full booked in the hotel around, I choose this hotel to stay for one night
first time to try capsule hotel and they have almost everything there and you don't need to bring any stuffs at all.

the bath area are clean, food are pretty good there.
each floor has different thing like 4/f is reception and the bathhouse
5/f is for eating and rest is the rest room. 

however, you may consider the stuff may not understand any non Japanese Speaker although they are really helpful and trying to explain to you. 

highly recommend if you are on a budget trip

Nikoh Capsule Hotel Refre - Hostel - Caters to Men

Main amenities of the hostel

Location

Available rooms

Location

Description of the hostel

What other amenities are there?

Policies

Check-in terms and conditions

Additional information

Payment