Rating Overall: 4 of 5 mostly due to noise and perceived value. Not suitable for persons with significant mobility issues or large size due to the small size of the toilet room
Location: 2-ch?me-1-2 Asahimachi City Avenue #706, Toyohira-ku, Sapporo-shi, Hokkaid? 062-0911
Narrative
The accommodations when I first got here seemed overpriced, however after settling in for a few days my appreciation grew for my little apartment in Toyohira-ku, Sapporo-shi and will even miss it.
Price
Cost is high in comparison to how much an apartment of this type would go for in the normal local economy. The daily rate was $53.83 (actuals) including AirBnB monthly term stay discount and all the fees. However apartments are inexpensive in Japan. The daily rate for this AirBnB is over 4.5x the market. Of course one would expect to pay more for a furnish apartment that includes utilities, and has staff to talk to if there are issues, but 4.5x the cost seems high. One item to note, there is 24×7 access to staff via the AirBnB app and the host is very responsive.
Things to consider, the owner has to constantly find new tenants that may only be staying a few days at a time, wear on a place with many different persons will be high, problems with tenants will be much more frequent and needing to staff and manage a high turn over rental is a higher cost for sure. This is an AirBnB issue not so much specific to this location. The apartment is 14% less expensive than an inexpensive hotel. The Hotel location for this comparison is arguably in a better location and includes housekeeping and other services, but does not include a kitchen and washing machine. Does the amenity difference and 14% savings make it all even? Hard to say.
| $? 11.50 | Estimated daily cost market rate apartment |
| $? 942.93 | Estimated total 82 day cost market rate apartment |
| $? 350.00 | Estimated monthly cost market rate apartment |
| $? 53.83 | Daily cost AirBnB actuals |
| $? 1,638.40 | Monthly rent based on AirBnB actual costs |
| 4.68 | Cost Multiplier over market rate |
The challenge is finding a furnished apartment for short term stays as a foreigner would be challenging. This must be the justification used to create such pricing models. With AirBnB you are not getting a hotel with staff and cleaning. One pays a cleaning fee for AirBnB and in this location trash collection was a separate fee every time you want trash taken it costs you an extra payment of ¥1000-2000 (about $6.32 – 12.64) depending on how many bags of trash. Given the margins that are being made, trash collection and cleaning could have been included in the price.
Other utilities including electric and gas were included in the price.
Internet
Internet access via WiFi is included in price. Adequate speeds at 50Mbps download /57Mbps upload. Used for Netflix, web and gaming. No issues connecting via VPN.
the Good
- Great location overall with fantastic access to transit
- Walkable area with easy access to really good restaurants, pastry shops and stores
- Basic items needed to cook. clean and laundry are available in the room, the items are clean and work well (except the vacuum cleaner)
- Excellent water pressure
- Excellent tasting water (water quality in Sapporo is really good, just drink from the tap its great!)
- Tankless water heater, never run out of hot water
- Small but effective washing machine
- Walking to main town area is simple if you don’t want to take transit all the time
- Like most if not all places in Japan it comes with a bidet
- Balcony and full sliding window to let in light and fresh air
- Air conditioning unit that is both effective and quiet
- Refrigerator is well sized for the room, effective and quiet
- Working TV that is large and great for hooking up a Roku or FireStick. The TV is not a smartTV so bring your own smart device to watch Netflix etc.
- Utilities included (except trash collection)
the Bad
Noisy and much effort must be taken to keep the noise level down as a courtesy to the neighbors. However, some of my neighbors, even Japanese speaking persons, were not careful about the noise levels. The ravens also are noisy. At about 5am if you like to sleep with the window open the ravens like to make themselves heard. If it is summer time, it is also baseball season and that means regular morning/day/early evening practice. The nice part is you can watch a game from your apartment, however, if you are a late riser you wont be anymore as they yell loudly when doing exercises. I enjoyed it as part of my Japanese adventure but others might have a problem with it.
- The vacuum cleaner doesn’t work in the unit and it is not something worth reporting because if you read the reviews other persons have mentioned it and they were told to turn on high power. High power makes more noise but is no more effective at cleaning. The unit just doesn’t work and has little to no suction to pick up debris. There is a broom in the unit that works every time.
- Not enough power outlets. The owner did provide an extension box near the TV but there is still a lack of places to power your items or even the appliances provided for use.
the Ugly
If you are any taller than 5’ 10” watch your head on the doorways and good luck using the toilet. It will be a tight fit for you. For me at 5’ 10” it was necessary to pull down my pants before entering. It would not be possible for me to do it in the bathroom with the door shut.
Conclusion
The downsides of the apartment were manageable for me and overall I enjoyed my stay. The size of the toilet room would be a major issue to anyone taller than me. Staff was extremely responsive and friendly via my contact with them in the AirBnB application. The unit was chosen based on location and price, at the time that the apartment was booked it was the least expensive full unit option available. However after talking with locals about how much apartments cost it was clear that they prices are jacked up beyond what seems reasonable. It is true that the unit is less expensive than a hotel, it is also not a hotel with onsite staff and locations closer to or inside the downtown area. Hotels do not always include a kitchen and that option was nice. Next time I would look for other options with a private party if possible, however convenience and reality might just have me stay here again.
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