Itoen Hotel Atagawa
伊東園ホテル熱川
Does Itoen Hotel Atagawa allow tattoos? In a private bath
Itoen Hotel Atagawa is the big-value buffet hotel on the Atagawa hillside, and its one private bath is the prize: two glazed tubs on a timber deck looking down the coast, let in 50-minute slots.
The hotel’s hot spring page refuses bathers with tattoos, and the Itoen chain’s FAQ on the same site says the large bath and open-air bath are closed to them as a rule and to use the bath in the room or a private bath instead. Here the private bath is an open-air one with two ceramic tubs and a sea view, ¥2,200 for 50 minutes, booked on the day. The indoor pool also refuses tattoos.
The bath
The private open-air bath is on a deck boxed in by dark timber walls, open on the sea side. It is let in five set slots between 3 and 9:40 p.m., each 50 minutes for ¥2,200, and the fee includes a bath towel and a face towel. You book on the day; the hotel takes no earlier reservations. A light roof covers it, but the hotel closes it in rain, storms and strong wind for safety.
The shared baths are on the top floor. The large bath has a rock tub and a cypress tub, and the men's and women's sides change over, so staying guests can try both. An open-air bath beside it looks across Sagami Bay to Izu Oshima. Hours are 3 p.m. to midnight and 5 to 10 a.m. The water is a sodium chloride and sulfate spring, which the hotel lists for stiff shoulders and joints, nerve pain, sprains and recovery after illness.
Some Japanese rooms come with an open-air tub of their own on the sea side.
The hotel
One of the Itoen chain's flat-rate hotels, with 116 rooms: Japanese rooms, Japanese-Western rooms on the sea side, Western rooms on the mountain side and a few Japanese rooms with an open-air bath. Most rooms look out over Sagami Bay. Meals are buffets. An indoor pool with a children's slide opens in summer at no charge, and there is free Wi-Fi in every room. Check-in is from 3 p.m. and check-out by 11 a.m. Pets are not accepted. The lot holds about 120 cars and is free from 1 p.m. on the day of arrival.
Good to know
- Book the private bath on the day, for one of five evening slots; towels come with it.
- It closes in wind and rain, so have the room bath as a fallback.
- A free shuttle from the station runs every half hour from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.
- A direct coach from Ueno and Yokohama costs ¥4,400 return, booked by phone at least two days ahead.
Getting there
From Tokyo Station the Odoriko limited express takes about 2 hours 15 minutes to Izu-Atagawa Station. By Shinkansen it is about 50 minutes on the Kodama to Atami, then about 1 hour 10 minutes on the Izukyu Line. The hotel is about 10 minutes on foot from the station, uphill, and its free shuttle leaves the station every 30 minutes from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Return runs leave the hotel at 9:15, 9:55, 10:35 and 11:15 a.m.
Izu-Atagawa STN · Izukyu Line (Odoriko limited express from Tokyo)
About 10 minutes.
Free shuttle from the station every 30 minutes, 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Where it is
Izu-Atagawa STN
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- JR Tokyo Wide Pass ¥16,000 · 3 days Three days of JR East trains from Tokyo, and the Izukyu line from Ito on to Izu-Atagawa and Izu-Inatori.
- Izukyu Discovery Pass Worth it if your stay also stops at Ito or Shimoda. It covers two or three days in a row on the Izukyu line between Ito and Izukyu-Shimoda, Izu-Atagawa and Izu-Inatori included, and a vacant ordinary seat on the Odoriko. It doesn’t cover the JR part of the ride from Tokyo.
- Mt Omuro and the Izu coast day trip The Mt Omuro lift, the Atami beach road, the Jogasaki cliffs and Ito’s harbor.
- 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
Use the bath in your room, or reserve a private bath.
How we know
Confirmed from official site (the refusal is on the hotel’s own hot spring page with the private open-air bath above it; the chain FAQ at itoenhotel.com/faq/ is the second sentence quoted and adds the room bath and private bath advice)
※刺青・タトゥーのある方の入浴をお断りいたします。 / 刺青・タトゥーなどを入れている方の、大浴場・露天風呂のご入浴は原則お断りしております。各部屋に備え付けのお風呂か、貸切風呂をご利用ください。
This is the rule for the shared baths. It doesn’t apply to the private baths.
Best for: budget travelers with tattoos who want a 50-minute open-air soak above the Atagawa rooftops
Private open-air bath: five set slots between 3 and 9:40 p.m., 50 minutes, ¥2,200 with bath and face towels, booked the same day. It has a light roof and closes in rain or strong wind. The hotel also sells Japanese rooms with an open-air bath; the page does not say what water fills them.
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