I was shocked how dingy my room was. It wasn't dirty per se. Just like every hotel in Japan, the bathroom was spotless. However, the carpet was badly stained, the walls were terribly scuffed. It just needed updating and maintenance. I felt bad staying here as after a long trip, you want a nice looking place to sleep in and relax. This place looked rough. The breakfast was quite good. The fitness center opened at 11am. That is useless for a business traveler. Also, I am a starwoods member and they wouldn't let me get starwoods credit for the stay and I couldn't understand why they were telling me I couldn't get credit. I was tired and decided not to fight it too much. Overall, find somewhere else unless they have a better floor I wasn't put on!

First off, this is a late review, as we stayed here for 2 nights in March 2010. As mentioned by others, this hotel is NOT in downtown Sapporo, and rather far from the major shopping/F&B areas. It is a few minutes walk from the JR Shin Sapporo station, which will bring you downtown in about 20min. However, it is great for getting to the airport, as the JR goes straight to there, with only a few stops on the way. The location did not bother us too much, as we would leave the hotel around lunch time, do the sights, and come back after dinner. In our opinion, the location is reflected in the hotel's lower rates compared to 'downtown' hotels.
While it is true that the hotel is old and looks dated, it is spotless, and everything works. As SPG Platinum, we were upgraded to the corner suite, which had an odd L-shaped layout, but we were very pleased with the most important bit: the bed! It was comfortable, HUGE (2 super single beds pushed together, about 2.4m wide), and slept 2 adults and 2 kids very comfortably. On the other hand, we didn't like the bathroom, which must have been one of the smallest we have had in Japan.
To us, what sets this hotel apart from others in our minds is the service. On the way to the airport, our toddler tripped while getting onto the train, and her boot fell off and into the gap between the platform and train onto the train tracks. By the time we had picked her off the floor, the train doors had closed, and we were speeding towards the airport. When we reached the airport, we made a report at the JR office. They called the office at the Shin Sapporo station, while we waited as long as we could before we had to leave for our flight. But apparently, nothing was found on the tracks at the station.
The staff at the airport JR office were not too helpful, saying there's nothing they could do. We had to insist on leaving my name and email address, and request an email address from them so we could follow up in case they found the boot.
Over the next few days, we sent several emails, but received no response. In desperation, we emailed the friendly reservations officer Ryuko at the Sheraton Sapporo whom we had made several requests of prior to our stay. Amazingly, she replied within a few hours, saying that she had called the JR Shin Sapporo station master, and the boot was found many days ago, and awaiting claim!!
She gave us the name and number of the station master, whom our last hotel (the Holiday Inn Tobu Narita) called on our behalf, and arranged for the boot to be couriered over. We are very grateful for the Sheraton's excellent service, and we wondered why we didn't enlist the hotel's help earlier! (Interestingly, we received an email from JR on that same day, saying that the 'boot is not found, and there is small hope that it will be found in future'.)
If we go back to Sapporo, we will not hesitate to stay at the Sheraton again.

We stayed here in July 3 times, using the hotel as a "home-base" while we ventured off to explore different parts of Hokkaido.

While the hotel might be a bit dated in it's looks, the exceptional service of the staff more that made up for it.

The rooms were clean and quiet. Each time we came back to the hotel, our luggage, which we had stored, was waiting for us, and ready for us to exchange clothes.

We really enjoyed the breakfast and the staff in the restaurant was very nice.

I loved the spa. There were lot's of different baths to try out. It was a great way to relax at the end of the day.

The bell staff was exceptional and always gave 110% to make us feel welcome.

If there would be any suggstion, it would be to have a club lounge for SPG members.

To me, service is the most important. The team at this hotel made us feel very much at home.

This hotel is located close to the suburban Shin-Sapporo train station , not in Sapporo proper. While trains are frequent, and both the airport train and long-distance trains stop there, it is too far from downtown to go by taxi, and there is very little around the hotel.

The first impression of this hotel is surprising, as it has an ornate lobby obviously designed for one of its main clients, weekend wedding parties. The rooms are considerable more ordinary, although clean and comfortable. However, I found the rooms too hot, something compounded by the thermostat defaulting to the same high temperature every time the room was vacated and windows being sealed shut.

Fortunately, the rates are usually reasonable. However, for those who would like to retain a less bleak memory of Sapporo, I would recommend staying downtown.

Unrelated to the hotel, but I found the staff at the Shin-Sapporo JR station unfamiliar with Japan Rail Pass users, and rather unhelpful (no apology at all after issuing ordinary car reservations on a first class pass).