Gora Kadan
強羅花壇
Does Gora Kadan allow tattoos? Yes, covered
Small fashion tattoos are allowed in the large bath and the pool if you cover them with the tape the front desk hands out; large ones are refused. A room with its own open-air bath gets around the rule entirely.
The rule is in the ryokan’s own FAQ. The private open-air bath, free to guests for 40 minutes, is another way around it.
Show this at the front desk
大きな刺青がお有りのお客様は大浴場・温水プール共にご利用をいただく事ができません。小さなファッションタトゥーの場合、フロントでお渡ししているテーピングなどで隠して頂いた場合のみご利用いただけます。
The operator’s own wording, to show at the desk if you need to.
The bath
Gora Kadan owns three mild sources, two of them rising in its own garden. The large baths are split by sex and swap at 3 a.m., one side with a dry sauna, the other a steam sauna; children in diapers can’t use them or the pool. The private open-air bath runs on free-flowing spring water, has its own steam sauna, and is free to guests for 40 minutes. There is also an indoor heated pool with an outdoor jacuzzi, 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., free, a hot-stone room and a gym. The Kihinshitsu suites and a separate category of rooms have open-air baths of their own; the standard rooms, types A to D, do not.
The hotel
A ryokan on the site of the former villa of Prince Kan'in at Gora, serving kaiseki (a multi-course Japanese meal) in a Western-style house connected to the imperial family. Check-in is 3 p.m. and checkout is 11 a.m.
Good to know
- Valet parking for 30 cars, and a free Tesla charger.
- Call from Gora Station and the ryokan’s Mercedes comes to collect you.
- A sushi counter, Sushi Kadan, besides the kaiseki. Day visitors can book a meal with the private open-air bath or a spa treatment.
Getting there
The ryokan's car is a Mercedes. Taxi plans also run from Odawara Station from ¥6,000.
Gora STN · Hakone Tozan line, Hakone Tozan cable car
Free pickup by the ryokan's car; call on arrival.
Taxi plan from Hakone-Yumoto Station from ¥4,360.
Where it is
Gora STN
- Odakyu line 1 hr 35 min
- Hakone Tozan railway 37 min
- Hakone Freepass from ¥7,100 · 2 or 3 days from Shinjuku Worth it if you’re coming from Shinjuku and moving around Hakone. It covers the Odakyu line from Shinjuku and back, then unlimited rides on the Hakone Tozan railway, cable car, ropeway, lake boats and buses. The Romancecar seat fee is extra.
- Mt Fuji and Hakone day tour Lake Ashi’s torii, the pirate ship, Owakudani and Oshino Hakkai, from Tokyo.
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- Japan Rail Pass from ¥53,000 · 7, 14 or 21 days For a trip that takes in several regions by Shinkansen and JR lines.
What happens when you arrive
Ask at the front desk for tape and cover a small tattoo before you use the large bath or the pool. For anything larger, use the bath in your room or the free private open-air bath for 40 minutes.
How we know
Confirmed from official site (the ryokan's FAQ, question 6)
Best for: luxury travelers who want a private in-room bath, and the pool for the family
The FAQ doesn't say how small is small enough for the tape. A room with its own bath avoids the question.
Book your stay
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