On Our Radar
What caught our eye before visiting — from reviews and research, not a stay.
What caught our attention: every room has a flowing natural hot spring, drawn from 700m underground. A love hotel with an actual hot spring — let alone one that isn't recirculated — isn't something you hear about often.
Rooms A701 and A801 are a rare concept: a full view of Sapporo Racecourse right out the window. The idea of feeling like you own the racecourse is a fun one.
There's a heated pool, a sauna, even a rainbow bath — the place is stocked like a small hot-spring ryokan.
We haven't been yet, so a star rating is still a ways off.
Stay in This Room
Room A801 (Racecourse View)
If you're into horse racing, this seems like a room you'd want to stay in at least once.
The racecourse view alone would be interesting enough, and then you add a flowing natural hot spring, a jet bath, and a hot-stone sauna on top of it.
Not "a hotel for betting on horses," but "a hotel for spending a day watching the racecourse." A801 is the kind of room that makes you want to spend a day exactly that way.
How We'd Spend It
Not a real stay — this is the editors' daydream of one.
3:00pm. Blue Hotel OCTA, Room 801. Walk in, and the first thing you do is open the curtains. Sapporo Racecourse spreads out in front of you. You didn't come to the racecourse. Today, you're watching it from here.
Check the next race on your phone, then run the bath right away. A flowing natural hot spring. Sink into the jet bath. And right there in front of you: the racecourse.
Soaking in a hot spring while watching horse racing. When you actually think about it, it's a fairly absurd way to spend a day off. Horses run on the TV screen, and a few hundred meters away, real horses are running too. "Was that the race we just saw?" — and you glance out the window to check.
Between races, a hot-stone sauna. Once you've worked up a sweat, back to the hot spring. Then more racing.
Before you know it, it's the last race. The racecourse quiets down. But your day isn't over yet. Dinner in the room, watching Sapporo Racecourse turn to evening — the same track that was roaring with excitement all afternoon slowly settling into a quiet view.
After that, however you like. Get in the hot spring. Lie around on the bed. Get back in the hot spring.
Never actually going to the racecourse. Buying a ticket, then getting in the hot spring instead. That kind of race day can exist too.
Trip Notes
If you're staying here, this is the day we'd recommend.
- Access
- 10 min on foot from Sōen Station (Sapporo Municipal Subway Tōzai Line).
- Google Maps
- Blue Hotel OCTA 札幌
- Phone
- 011-738-2466
- Hours
- Not available
- Price
- 3-hour rest: ¥3,900–19,990. 5-hour rest: ¥4,990–21,990. Overnight: ¥6,500–33,990 (varies by day of week, plus bathing tax and accommodation tax).
- Official Site
- blue-hotel.com/octa/
Good to Know
- Official name: Blue Hotel Octa. 75 rooms total.
- Every room has a flowing natural hot spring drawn from 700m underground, said to help with nerve pain, muscle aches, and poor circulation.
- Rooms A701 and A801 have a full view of Sapporo Racecourse from the window.
- Every room comes with a Refa shower head and Chromecast. There's also a heated pool, a sauna, and a rainbow bath.
- 75 parking spaces.
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