APA Hotel & Resort Niigata Ekimae Odori

My first stay at an APA group hotel. I am very impressed with the service and facilities provided at a very affordable price. The hotel is new and clean. There is a very spacious public bath(on the second floor or fourth floor, I am not sure) that is open till midnight. There is also a decent gym(not for powerlifters) next to the spa. The breakfast spread was quite good and the best part is that you can have breakfast even after checking out. The breakfast coupon is valid at the restaurant till 1400 on the day of checkout. Isetan, a luxury department store, and other shopping malls are within 5 to 10 minutes of walking distance from the hotel. Guests also get a free Japanese beef curry(heat-and-eat curry packet) during check-in.

The room was small but not a problem for solo travelers. Check your room size during booking if you are traveling with your family.

Location was great, near Bandai Square and lots of shops with air conditioning. Was very very hot while we were there. Loved the gym/yoga space and the onsen

Niigata was in the middle of a festival week, so we knew there would be parades and fireworks. However it was very difficult to get any information about events on at the time. Most of these we stumbled upon while walking. We travelled to the Nagaoka fireworks so knew there were festivals on all over. No catering for other languages. Hotel also recommended a Chinese restaurant across the road, on the hotel tv screen, and in a room flyer, we went. Do not recommend at all. Hidden charges. Ordered 2 beers and got charged an extra 1000 yen for a jelly type dish that “all customers that order beer must have and pay for”

Decent location - in walking distance of train station, restaurants and shopping areas. Despite smaller than average rooms, they did a good job of squeezing in all the amenities. The sento is very spacious and I never found it particularly crowded. They have digital signage around the hotel (including in-room TVs) saying how busy it is.

The swimming pool was closed when I was there, and this wasn't clear from any of the in-hotel digital signage - they all listed the pool as available. Only when I physically went to get in the pool was I confronted with a "no swimming" sign. I asked a member of staff who suggested it was closed for winter (despite it being 36°C outside) The in-room television had its volume limited to 30%, which I found too quiet to reasonably watch a film. (Though somehow the hotel's own adverts managed to play louder). The lifts were frequently congested, and when I asked if I could use the stairs instead, I was told there weren't any.

An absolutely amazing hotel. Close to JR station and bus terminal. Hotel was beautiful. The hot springs and pool are amazing. And included in the room price. The beds are the most comfortable beds we’ve ever slept in like sleeping on a cloud , best beds in Japan and we’ve been to Japan three times now staying a month each time. Great little restaurants and bars all around only a few minutes walk away. Restaurants at hotel were great. Ten minutes bus ride to the beach. Hotel looks brand new . I would highly recommend staying here when visiting Niigata.

Nothing at all..

I like the Onsen. It's a 7 mins walk from station and bus station. There's another bus station near to hotel ( Bandai bus station)

The room is too small. 2 to a room and yet we dont have the space to open our 26" luggage. Take note , the hotel do not allow guest to have the luggage storage more than 24hrs. As we are going to Sado island for a night, and we request to leave our luggages with the hotel for 1 night and will be back to the hotel again, so we requested to leave our luggages with the hotel, and the counter staff told us we can't leave our luggages, after pleading, as we are all quite elderly, the staff agreed for us to leave our luggages for a night.

Good location - close to Train station and Bus stations, has various restaurants or izakaya around. Twin room was spacious and well equipped. Cleanliness was good. Room's lighting was bright and suitable for work. Hotel's facilities were good as well.

Most of the staffs in overall was helpful and polite but still there were some that was not. We had bad experience during our check-in time. The front desk personnel who handle our check-in was impolite and unfriendly. E.g. She was not listening but just keep on emphasise her inaccurate understanding until I shown her the proof, then only she stop but with no apology.

Everything was perfect. Hotel looks very modern is about 5-8 min walk to station. Close to many restaurants. Onsen is very good above expectation. I especially appreciated the soap and shampoo having mint perfume making you feeling cooler which is good in hot summer! Really good hotel I recommend even the downside here below

The following comments are not really downside. I really recommend the hotel. We travelled during Nagaoka and Niigata summer festival. Hotel was fully booked and too many clients. So this isn't really a downside because of the circumstances BUT I would appreciated the hotel to install more coin laundry as until 1 a.m I had to wash and dry my clothes (too many customers queuing before me). For the priced we paid and the quality of the hotel, I cannot complain but room is small like in many hotels in Japan and had no view window - only an opaque window which could open few centimeters.

Small but functional and comfortable rooms, very good spa and facilities. Good breakfast with mostly Japanese but also European food.

Lack a door tag to refuse new amenities every day, in addition to the "no-cleaning" already available (for a hotel that claims to be eco-friendly they should propose this option) Would have liked to have free access to the dart games without having to buy 1 drink for 30min of playing. The pillows were too hard.

the APA hotel chain in general is very good. every detail is practical including the large TV screen and it’s position. the wifi was good too. the public bath was very good and they have a relatively decent gym too. great price for the quality.

they weren’t flexible with the receipt. they didn’t issue me one saying that I have to ask booking. this is strange as I’ve never had a receipt denied from a hotel. they should make it clear that they don’t issue receipts if reserved via booking. booking does send you a receipt but it was not in the typical Japanese format and ideally I needed it in a different format to ask for reimbursement via my work place.

fast internet for Japan hotels, more than 50mbps down and 20mbps up so I could participate in critical business zoom meetings. Van San, one of the two on property restaurants, was very nice. the hotel onsen (public bath) was very nice.

the small pool cost $12 per hour per person to use. the fitness room was only cardio machines, nice new ones and spacious, but no resistance machines, dumbbells, or even bands. I bought resistance bands from a $1 store and used the floor mats to try to keep up with my fitness routine. The Japanese restaurant on property was average, much better options across the street in any direction.