Courtyard Hotels in Sapporo

I would like to give this hotel a higher score, but unfortunately I cannot because there are too many little problems with the experience. On a positive note, the rooms are comfortable, perhaps not that large compared to normal Marriott standards, but not tiny either. However, there are just too many frustrating negatives at the hotel. For example: 1. There is a large difference in English language confidence amongst the front-desk staff. Some staff are fluent English speakers, but many other staff struggle with very basic English requests and so you end up with, for example, being recommended to go to a Conbini if you want to eat late, instead of suggesting a local ramen restaurant, many of which are open until 3am ! For an international brand hotel that clearly expects international customers, far more effort should be placed on improving the English language fluency of front-of-house staff, in particular the front-desk staff. 2. There is no comfortable lobby-style area to sit and work quietly. There is a cafe, but you cannot sit there unless you order, and if the cafe is closed, then you have zero seating options. 3. The cafe only servers Hokkoaido wines by the bottle. If you want wines by the glass, you have to order French wine. In my opinion this is a serious missed opportunity to showcase what Hokkaido has to offer. 4. On my first day here, housekeeping staff walked into my room unannounced. Fortunately I was dressed and about to leave the hotel for tourism. But housekeeping staff really need to learn basic protocol ! 5. There is no comptentent concierge at this hotel. Fortunately I am a regular visitor to Japan, so I am happy to cope on my own. But if you are thinking of staying at this hotel hoping to have the assistance of a competent concierge, you will be disappointed. For example, today I tested the front-desk asking for help reserving a restaurant, they just suggested I do it online... gee, thanks guys ! Ultimately none of these problems are insurmountable with proper training and other improvements. But for a hotel of this calibre, they equally should not have been problems in the first place, they are the sort of things that should automatically be there.