Published date: May 18, 2025
Experiences Not in the Guidebook
Room Type Stayed
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Experience of the stay
If you're staying at OMO, I highly recommend participating in the neighborhood guide tour✨. You can learn a lot of local information that isn't in the guidebook, and you can also ask the rangers about things outside of the guided tour. It's a free tour, so it can get fully booked. It's reassuring to make a reservation in advance.
Although I regrettably had to cancel due to less-than-ideal weather, I also wanted to try the night view tour of Mount Hakodate! This tour takes you with a chartered bus from the hotel.
During your stay, you can use coin lockers and the shuttle bus, allowing you to store your luggage before check-in and ride for free to Goryokaku or the red brick warehouse. Of course, this service is available after check-out, too. I stayed in the middle of my trip and utilized it for almost two full days 🙇. Since there aren’t many shuttle buses, it's recommended to plan accordingly or combine it with streetcars or public buses!
With an outdoor bath and sauna ✨, my stay was a complete delight. There’s also a supermarket next to the hotel, which was very convenient for buying drinks, snacks for kids, and souvenirs.
Experiences during the trip
The beauty of Goryokaku during the cherry blossom season was truly moving throughout my visit 😍. Cherry blossoms everywhere—sakura, sakura, sakura 🌸. It was my first time seeing so many lined cherry trees. You can also rent boats at the moat, costing 2500 yen for 50 minutes for two people. A nearby sushi restaurant called Shunka is highly recommended. They had seasonal assortments available. It gets crowded during lunch, so be prepared to wait.
At the free market, I indulged in tons of salmon that kids love! There are stalls selling crab soup and onigiri, and you can buy rice to make a seafood bowl or enjoy grilled seafood right there.
The hoki I bought at the market was incredibly delicious 😆. Had I not been recommended by the OMO Ranger, I might not have bought it. The shipping costs are quite high, so if you can, I recommend bringing a cooler bag to take it home on your last day. You can carry it around for up to 24 hours!
Hakodate is the birthplace of GLAY, and I hear there are GLAY-themed manhole covers drawn by Eiichiro Oda from One Piece in various places.