Green Park Hotel Review

「日本語は下の方」
 
We started out last weekend's International Exchange event by reviewing a local business hotel. It was a bit random and out-of-the-blue, but I suppose it was something obligatory or a formality.

Green Park Hotel is a a business hotel located in Honcho in the heart of Aomori City. It's a very obvious building because the whole thing is painted an algae-green color. It's near all the important places like the city office, prefectural office, and Shinmachi, and it's only a 5 minute taxi ride from Aomori Station and ASPAM. Location-wise, it's fairly good, but the neighborhood it sits in is fairly dark and shady.

The hotel manager explained to us that foreign travelers, especially from the United States, have been visiting Aomori in greater numbers than ever before. They've also begun to stay in lower-priced accommodations like guest houses or business hotels. To better serve the foreign visitors, they wanted our opinion.

My first impression of the place was, "Well, it looks and feels like a normal business hotel." Nothing in particular stood out, except for how nice the public bathrooms downstairs were. The building isn't particularly new, nor is it particularly large. The rooms were small and had no view out the window whatsoever, but they were very clean, quiet, and comfortable. All in all, it felt the way a business hotel should.

For a foreign visitor who doesn't speak Japanese, I can imagine staying in these northern wastes of Japan is difficult. English ability is very limited, and translations are hardly ever provided. The clerks at the counter of Green Park Hotel spoke a fair amount of slow English, which I found (pretended to find) very helpful. They also had a decent amount of fairly accurate English translations on their guides and pamphlets, although it would still be better to have more. I found that the only perfectly written piece of English was the Asahi Beer advertisement.

So close! But at least it's understandable...

Suddenly, perfect English.

One thing we found particularly funny were the "adult programming" pamphlets. "Yeah, this is definitely lodging meant for businessmen traveling alone," we collectively thought. It was also interesting how the cover was written mostly in English, yet the contents are exclusively Japanese. What a tease!

OMG adult programming in English!

Just kidding, it's all Japanese. At least there are pictures!

Finally, we were allowed to partake in their breakfast buffet. It was already lunchtime, but nobody was complaining! Their selection was particularly good, and the taste was nothing to be ashamed of. For a mere 500 yen, I thought it was a great deal.

Japanese food, pseudo-Western food, they've got it all.

In conclusion, this business hotel was basically what you'd expect from a business hotel. Just enough to be clean, safe, and comfortable, for cheaper than a conventional hotel. I'm not sure what exactly made it different from any other one, but I enjoyed the breakfast buffet.


今回の国際交流フェアの始まりは青森市内のビジネスホテル体験でした。少しいきなりだったけど、交流員の義務だと思っていました。

グリーンパークホテルは青森市本町にあります。スピルリナグリーンの色なのでとても目立ちます。近くに市役所、県庁、新町がありますし、駅からタクシーで５分だけかかります。周りの近所は少し暗いけど、ロケーションはいいです。

最近、青森に来る外国の観光者が増えているみたいで、その観光者がゲストハウス、ビジネスホテルみたいな宿に泊まっているそおです。なので、我ら外国人の意見を聞きたがるとマネージャーに聞いてました。

最初入店した時、「まあ、普通のビジネスホテルだな」と思いました。一回のトイレはとてもモダンでよかったですが、他のところが特に何も目立ちませんでした。建物はあまり新しくないし、部屋も思う通りのシングルサイズだったし、窓から景色なんてなかったです。だけど部屋はきれいで、静かで、あずましい感じでした。全てはビジネスホテル通りでした。

日本語を喋らない外国人の立場で、ここ田舎の青森へ旅をするのは大変です。英語で喋ってくれる人が少ないし、英語に翻訳した説明は少ない。ですが、グリーンパークホテルは国際化のことを頑張っているみたいです。カウンターの人が分かりやすく英語で部屋案内してくれました。部屋の中にインフォメーションガイドも英語で書いてあります。間違いもありましたが、それでも分かりましたので安心でした。ロビーにアサヒビールのバナーはたっだひとつの完璧な英語の作文でした。

もうひとつ面白いもの見つけました。エロチャンネルのパンフレットを見かけて、「ここやはり一人旅のビジネスマンの部屋ですよね～」と思ってしまいました。カバーの方はほとんど英語でしたが、チラッと中身を見ると残念ながら全て日本語でした。なんとガッカリ！でも絵がたくさんありましたから十分かな～

最後は朝食バイキングを食べさせてもらいました。種類が多くて普通の朝食バイキングよりセレクションがある。味もなかなか美味しいと思いました。５００円でバイキングが特に安い！

他のビジネスホテルに比べて、グリーンパークホテルはいい方です。値段は少し高いんですが、割引もあるのでもっと安く泊まることができます。いいことは特に朝食バイキングでした。