> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.nipponstays.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # IHG Hotels Sapporo Ski Trip: City Base, Not Slope-Side - URL: https://www.nipponstays.com/ihg-hotels-sapporo-for-ski-trips/ - Published: 2026-09-29T01:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-30T04:42:54.000Z - Description: IHG has no ski-in hotel in Hokkaido: five sit in central Sapporo, one is by the airport at Chitose. What that costs you in transfer time to the nearest lift. - Author: Hideaki Yasukawa - Tags: Sapporo, Hotels, #2026-09-hokkaido-brands-01 If you're piecing together an IHG hotels Sapporo ski trip, here's the short version: IHG has no ski-in/ski-out hotel anywhere in Hokkaido. Five of its properties sit in central Sapporo, a sixth is at Chitose about 15 minutes from the airport, a seventh is in Kushiro, and an eighth — The Windsor Hotel Toya — joined IHG's Vignette Collection in December 2024 but drives its guests to Rusutsu and Niseko rather than opening onto a slope. The closest of any of them to a chairlift is still a 45-minute train-and-bus ride away. If you're staying loyal to IHG One Rewards for a Sapporo-based trip, the pick among the five city hotels is [InterContinental Sapporo](https://www.trip.com/hotels/sapporo-hotel-detail-126663008/intercontinental-sapporo-by-ihg/?Allianceid=9711325&SID=327049682&trip%5Fsub1=ihg-hotels-sapporo-for-ski-trips&trip%5Fsub3=D19659992&ref=nipponstays.com), which opened on 1 October 2025 by Nakajima Park — it's the only luxury-tier option, and no worse-positioned for the snow than the other four. Landing late and just need a bed near the airport instead? [ANA Crowne Plaza Chitose](https://www.trip.com/hotels/chitose-hotel-detail-1801015/ana-crowne-plaza-chitose-by-ihg/?Allianceid=9711325&SID=327049682&trip%5Fsub1=ihg-hotels-sapporo-for-ski-trips&trip%5Fsub3=D19553641&ref=nipponstays.com) is the one IHG address that answers that question. Either way, the answer changes if skiing from your hotel door matters more than the program: Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt all have ski-in/ski-out hotels in Niseko or Rusutsu, and IHG simply doesn't compete there. ## InterContinental Sapporo: IHG's first luxury hotel in Hokkaido InterContinental Sapporo opened on 1 October 2025, occupying floors 9 to 14 of the Lilac Square building overlooking Nakajima Park, a few subway stops south of Sapporo Station. It's IHG's first InterContinental-branded hotel in Hokkaido — the group's [own opening announcement](https://www.ihgplc.com/en/news-and-media/news-releases/2025/intercontinental-debuts-in-hokkaido-with-the-opening-of-sapporos-1st-international-luxury-hotel-intercontinental-sapporo?ref=nipponstays.com) called it "Sapporo's first international luxury hotel"; it's also the eleventh InterContinental in Japan and the brand's first in Hokkaido. The hotel has 149 rooms, including 13 suites, with the smallest category around 42 m² and the largest suite at 159 m². It's a 4-min walk from Exit 1 of Nakajima-Koen Station on the Namboku subway line — the same line that runs north to Sapporo Station and Susukino. There's an indoor pool, a gym, two dining venues, a bar and a lounge, none of which face a ski slope; the park view is Nakajima Park's pond and trees, not a mountain. | Name | Area | Brand tier | Best for | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [InterContinental Sapporo](https://www.trip.com/hotels/sapporo-hotel-detail-126663008/intercontinental-sapporo-by-ihg/?Allianceid=9711325&SID=327049682&trip%5Fsub1=ihg-hotels-sapporo-for-ski-trips&trip%5Fsub3=D19659992&ref=nipponstays.com) | Nakajima Park (Nakajima-Koen Sta., Namboku Line, Exit 1, 4-min walk) | Luxury tier | Newest build, indoor pool, IHG's top brand in Hokkaido | | [ANA Crowne Plaza Sapporo](https://www.trip.com/hotels/sapporo-hotel-detail-5233469/ana-crowne-plaza-sapporo-by-ihg/?Allianceid=9711325&SID=327049682&trip%5Fsub1=ihg-hotels-sapporo-for-ski-trips&trip%5Fsub3=D19120292&ref=nipponstays.com) | Sapporo Station (subway Exit 21, Toho Line gate, 1-min walk; JR South Exit 7-min walk) | Upper-upscale | Fastest exit onto the JR line toward Sapporo Teine | | [ANA Holiday Inn Sapporo Susukino](https://www.trip.com/hotels/sapporo-hotel-detail-1940872/ana-holiday-inn-sapporo-susukino-by-ihg/?Allianceid=9711325&SID=327049682&trip%5Fsub1=ihg-hotels-sapporo-for-ski-trips&trip%5Fsub3=D19124457&ref=nipponstays.com) | Susukino (Susukino Sta., Namboku Line, Exit 3, 2-min walk) | Upscale | Being inside the Susukino dining and bar district at night | | [Holiday Inn & Suites Sapporo Odori Park](https://www.trip.com/hotels/sapporo-hotel-detail-128243259/holiday-inn-suites-sapporo-odori-park-by-ihg/?Allianceid=9711325&SID=327049682&trip%5Fsub1=ihg-hotels-sapporo-for-ski-trips&trip%5Fsub3=D19122945&ref=nipponstays.com) | Odori Park (Odori Sta., Exit 1, about 10-min walk) | Upper-midscale | Family suites; kids 12 and under stay and eat free (Sept 2026); maisonette suites with kitchens | | Holiday Inn Express Sapporo Susukino | Susukino (Susukino Sta., Namboku Line, 5-min walk; Shiseikan-Shogakko-mae streetcar stop, 3-min walk) | Midscale | Newest of the five (July 2026); free hot breakfast built into the rate | ## ANA Crowne Plaza Sapporo, ANA Holiday Inn Susukino and Holiday Inn & Suites Odori Park: what actually separates them These three predate InterContinental Sapporo and sit in three different downtown pockets, which matters more than the brand tier once you accept none of them touches snow. **ANA Crowne Plaza Sapporo** is the largest of the five at 412 rooms across 26 floors. It's a 1-min walk from Exit 21 of the Sapporo subway station, right outside the Toho Line ticket gate, and a 7-min walk from the South Exit of JR Sapporo Station — the only one of the five you can reach without riding the subway first. That matters for the JR route to Sapporo Teine, covered below, since every other hotel here needs a connecting subway leg to Sapporo Station before that train even starts. **ANA Holiday Inn Sapporo Susukino** has 178 rooms and sits a 2-minute walk from Exit 3 of Susukino Station on the Namboku Line (Exit 4 of Hosui-Susukino on the Toho Line is the other option). It puts you inside Sapporo's densest nightlife and ramen district, which is a reasonable trade if your ski days are day trips and your evenings are the point of staying in the city at all. **Holiday Inn & Suites Sapporo Odori Park** opened in October 2025, within days of InterContinental Sapporo. It has 195 rooms, including 29 suites, 14 of them two-level maisonette units with kitchens, aimed squarely at families and multi-generational groups. Kids 12 and under stay and eat free (checked September 2026). It's roughly a 10-minute walk from Exit 1 of Odori Station, further from a subway entrance than the other four Sapporo hotels, but it's the only one built with a ski family's actual travel party in mind. ## Holiday Inn Express Sapporo Susukino: the fifth, and the newest That count changed in the middle of 2026\. Holiday Inn Express Sapporo Susukino opened in July 2026 with 223 rooms, a 5-min walk from Susukino Station on the Namboku subway line and 3 min from the Shiseikan-Shogakko-mae streetcar stop. IHG's [own announcement](https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000511.000002364.html?ref=nipponstays.com) calls it the brand's second Holiday Inn Express in Japan and the first anywhere in the country to use its next-generation “Generation 5” design; a free hot breakfast, an Express Café, a fitness centre and guest laundry come with the rate. For a ski trip that matters in one narrow way: it is the cheapest tier IHG has in the city, in the same district as the ANA Holiday Inn, so it starts the same bus day from the same place. ⚠ It is new enough that award pricing and availability have no track record yet — check both before you plan a stay around it. ## ANA Crowne Plaza Chitose: the IHG hotel by the airport, not in the city IHG's Hokkaido count doesn't stop at the five Sapporo hotels above. [ANA Crowne Plaza Chitose](https://www.trip.com/hotels/chitose-hotel-detail-1801015/ana-crowne-plaza-chitose-by-ihg/?Allianceid=9711325&SID=327049682&trip%5Fsub1=ihg-hotels-sapporo-for-ski-trips&trip%5Fsub3=D19553641&ref=nipponstays.com) is a 438-room hotel on 11 floors, about 15 minutes from New Chitose Airport by train (6 minutes by taxi) — 5.6 km from the terminal rather than attached to it, and roughly a 7-min walk from the front entrance of JR Chitose Station. IHG's [own hotel page](https://www.ihg.com/crowneplaza/hotels/us/en/hokkaido/ctsja/hoteldetail?ref=nipponstays.com) lists it as the largest upscale hotel in Chitose and one of the largest in Hokkaido (checked September 2026). It's no closer to a chairlift than any of the five Sapporo hotels — Chitose isn't a ski town — but it answers a different question: where to sleep on IHG points the night you land, before moving on. That's worth knowing if you're flying in on the new United nonstop from San Francisco to New Chitose, which lands in the evening; our [guide to the first night after that arrival](https://www.nipponstays.com/where-to-stay-first-night-new-chitose-arrival/) covers the full range of options, IHG and otherwise. The hotel has run a free airport shuttle in past winters — its access page still shows the 1 December 2025 to 31 March 2026 season, picking up at ANA arrivals stop 30 and international terminal stop 98\. ⚠ Do not count on it for 2026-27: the hotel currently carries a separate notice that the shuttle is suspended with no resumption date announced (checked September 2026). Confirm before you book a late arrival around it. ## The honest catch: none of these are on snow, and that costs you real time Every IHG hotel in Sapporo sits inside the Sapporo Station–Odori–Susukino triangle, and the only other IHG address with any real relevance to a ski day from Sapporo is the one at Chitose, about 15 minutes from the airport — ANA Crowne Plaza Kushiro is on Hokkaido's opposite coast, and The Windsor Hotel Toya is a lakeside resort whose own winter programme sells lessons at Rusutsu and Niseko with transport included, which tells you where the skiing is. None of these is ski-in/ski-out, none is a resort hotel, and none is meaningfully closer to a lift than any other — they're all a subway, bus or airport transfer from Sapporo Station first, then a further transfer beyond that. If you hold status with Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors or World of Hyatt instead, that program has an actual ski-in/ski-out property in Hokkaido: the Ritz-Carlton Reserve and three Hilton-family hotels share the Niseko Village gondola base, the Westin Rusutsu Resort opens onto its own slope, and Park Hyatt Niseko Hanazono is the only Hyatt in the region. IHG has nothing to compete with any of that — see our [brand-by-brand map of who owns what in Hokkaido](https://www.nipponstays.com/hokkaido-ski-hotels-by-hotel-brand/) and [how IHG's tiers compare to Marriott's and Hilton's](https://www.nipponstays.com/best-hotel-chains-in-japan/) for the fuller picture. What that costs you in practice is a transfer you can't avoid, twice a day, on every ski day. Sapporo Teine, the closest resort to any of the five Sapporo hotels, is still roughly 45 minutes away door-to-lift once you count the walk to the subway. Kiroro and Rusutsu are 90 to 120 minutes each way by bus. None of that is fatal — a lot of visitors are happy to trade a longer commute for Sapporo's food and flights — but it does mean an IHG stay here is a city trip with ski days bolted on, not a ski trip with a hotel attached. Say that plainly rather than let the hotel's name do the persuading. ## How you actually get to the snow from a Sapporo base All three routes start the same way: get to Sapporo Station, then transfer onward. Only ANA Crowne Plaza Sapporo skips that first leg. - **Sapporo Teine**: JR from Sapporo Station to Teine Station (about 15 minutes, roughly ¥360 as of September 2026), then a JR bus to the resort (15–30 minutes depending on the zone). Seasonal direct ski buses also run from central Sapporo. Total door-to-lift time from a Sapporo hotel is around 45 minutes. - **Kiroro**: about 60 km west of Sapporo; a direct bus from central Sapporo runs 90–120 minutes. Our guides on [bus vs. rental car for Kiroro](https://www.nipponstays.com/kiroro-bus-vs-rental-car/) and [basing in Otaru instead](https://www.nipponstays.com/stay-in-otaru-to-ski-kiroro/) cover the logistics in more depth than an IHG-focused piece can. - **Rusutsu**: the resort's own RUSUTSU-GO shuttle, free last winter, turns paid from 28 November 2026 (fare and booking method not yet published). It is open to anyone using the ski area, takes about 120 minutes and leaves from in front of Kamori Building 3, a 2-min walk from Sapporo Station (checked September 2026). Driving takes 1.5–2 hours. None of these transfers start at your hotel door — you're adding a subway or taxi leg to Sapporo Station or a pickup point first, which is the extra 10–15 minutes an IHG city base costs you that a ski-in/ski-out hotel wouldn't. For a wider comparison of Sapporo hotels built around exactly this trade-off, see our guide to [where to stay in Sapporo for skiing](https://www.nipponstays.com/where-to-stay-in-sapporo-for-skiing/), which lists ANA Crowne Plaza Sapporo among its shuttle-friendly picks for the same reason it's the fastest IHG option here. ## The numbers, once you put the five Sapporo hotels side by side Of IHG's eight Hokkaido hotels, zero sit inside the region's ski-in/ski-out inventory — five in central Sapporo, one at Chitose about 15 minutes from the airport, one in Kushiro, and The Windsor Hotel Toya at Lake Toya. Among the Sapporo hotels compared below, the transfer to the nearest lift ranges from about 45 minutes (Sapporo Teine, from ANA Crowne Plaza Sapporo) to about 120 minutes (Rusutsu, from any of them) — checked September 2026 against each operator's own transfer and access information. | Hotel | Best-suited day trip | One-way transfer | Why this pairing | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------- | ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | [ANA Crowne Plaza Sapporo](https://www.trip.com/hotels/sapporo-hotel-detail-5233469/ana-crowne-plaza-sapporo-by-ihg/?Allianceid=9711325&SID=327049682&trip%5Fsub1=ihg-hotels-sapporo-for-ski-trips&trip%5Fsub3=D19120292&ref=nipponstays.com) | Sapporo Teine | About 45 min | Already at Sapporo Station — no subway leg before the JR train to Teine | | [InterContinental Sapporo](https://www.trip.com/hotels/sapporo-hotel-detail-126663008/intercontinental-sapporo-by-ihg/?Allianceid=9711325&SID=327049682&trip%5Fsub1=ihg-hotels-sapporo-for-ski-trips&trip%5Fsub3=D19659992&ref=nipponstays.com) | Sapporo Teine | About 50–55 min | Three Namboku Line stops to Sapporo Station adds a short connection first | | [ANA Holiday Inn Sapporo Susukino](https://www.trip.com/hotels/sapporo-hotel-detail-1940872/ana-holiday-inn-sapporo-susukino-by-ihg/?Allianceid=9711325&SID=327049682&trip%5Fsub1=ihg-hotels-sapporo-for-ski-trips&trip%5Fsub3=D19124457&ref=nipponstays.com) | Kiroro | About 100–130 min | Short subway hop to the Sapporo Station bus terminal, then the Kiroro bus | | [Holiday Inn & Suites Sapporo Odori Park](https://www.trip.com/hotels/sapporo-hotel-detail-128243259/holiday-inn-suites-sapporo-odori-park-by-ihg/?Allianceid=9711325&SID=327049682&trip%5Fsub1=ihg-hotels-sapporo-for-ski-trips&trip%5Fsub3=D19122945&ref=nipponstays.com) | Rusutsu | About 120–135 min | Family suites pair naturally with Rusutsu's own indoor amusement park for a rest day | | Holiday Inn Express Sapporo Susukino | Kiroro | About 100–130 min | Same Susukino starting point as the ANA Holiday Inn, at the program's cheapest tier | ## Trip Essentials for Sapporo Things worth booking before you land, all in English: - **eSIM** — [Airalo's Japan eSIM](https://airalo.tpm.lv/2TWpibQS?ref=nipponstays.com): install it at home and data works as soon as you switch off airplane mode at New Chitose. - **Airport transfer** — [Klook](https://klook.tpm.lv/SmB9GsnI?ref=nipponstays.com) covers bus, train, and private transfers from New Chitose. - **Luggage storage** — arriving before check-in? [Radical Storage](https://radicalstorage.tpm.lv/OTgXUqG8?ref=nipponstays.com) takes bags at shops near Sapporo Station for a flat daily rate. - **Tickets and day trips** — [Klook](https://klook.tpm.lv/9WZ8rbff?ref=nipponstays.com) covers Sapporo tours and Hokkaido day trips; booking ahead skips the ticket-window line. ## FAQ: IHG hotels in Sapporo for a ski trip ### Does any IHG hotel in Hokkaido offer ski-in/ski-out access? No. None of IHG's eight Hokkaido hotels — five in central Sapporo (InterContinental Sapporo, ANA Crowne Plaza Sapporo, ANA Holiday Inn Sapporo Susukino, Holiday Inn & Suites Sapporo Odori Park, Holiday Inn Express Sapporo Susukino), one at Chitose about 15 minutes from the airport (ANA Crowne Plaza Chitose), one in Kushiro (ANA Crowne Plaza Kushiro), and The Windsor Hotel Toya at Lake Toya — offers ski-in/ski-out access. The nearest of any of them to a lift is still about 45 minutes away by train and bus (checked September 2026). ### Which IHG hotel is fastest to reach a ski resort from? ANA Crowne Plaza Sapporo, because it's walkable to JR Sapporo Station in about 7 minutes without riding the subway first, skipping the extra subway leg the other four Sapporo hotels need before the JR train to Sapporo Teine or the bus terminal for Kiroro and Rusutsu. ### Is InterContinental Sapporo worth choosing over ANA Crowne Plaza Sapporo for a ski trip? If elite recognition and a newer, higher-tier room matter more to you than a slightly faster start to your ski day, yes — InterContinental Sapporo is IHG's flagship in Hokkaido and about five minutes further from the Sapporo Teine transfer than ANA Crowne Plaza Sapporo. If shaving those minutes matters more, ANA Crowne Plaza Sapporo's position right at Sapporo Station is the practical choice. ### Is there an IHG hotel near New Chitose Airport? Yes. ANA Crowne Plaza Chitose is about 15 minutes from the airport by train or the hotel's own shuttle (6 minutes by taxi), ⚠ its free airport shuttle ran 1 December 2025 to 31 March 2026 but is currently suspended with no resumption date announced, so treat 2026-27 as unconfirmed (checked September 2026). It isn't any closer to a ski lift than the five Sapporo hotels, but it's the IHG option for a first night on points after landing. ### Should I rent a car instead of relying on buses from an IHG hotel in Sapporo? For Sapporo Teine, no — the JR-plus-bus route from Sapporo Station is faster than driving through the city. For Kiroro or Rusutsu, it depends on your group size and whether you're visiting once or daily; our [bus vs. rental car breakdown for Kiroro](https://www.nipponstays.com/kiroro-bus-vs-rental-car/) weighs both options in detail.