Sunnide Resort
河口湖畔 サニーデリゾート
Does Sunnide Resort allow tattoos? In a private bath
Sunnide turns tattooed bathers away from its shared baths and sells the way round it: nine Senikkei suites, each with an open-air bath on the lake facing Mount Fuji.
Not the shared baths. Sunnide’s bath page refuses tattooed bathers, along with the very drunk and anyone in diapers. The answer is the lakeside annex, Senikkei, whose Premium and Grand suites each come with an open-air bath of their own facing Mount Fuji and the lake. The operator does not say whether the suite tubs are hot spring water.
The bath
Sunnide's bath page is about the view: open-air baths looking over Lake Kawaguchi to Mount Fuji. The resort says the Shimazu dukes loved this view from this spot, and urges you to take it in by daylight. The shared baths are a men's and a women's open-air bath, a view bath, a ceramic tub and an octagonal tub, open 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Guests in the rental villas may not use them. The resort publishes no spring analysis, and nothing on its pages says whether any bath is hot spring water.
The private baths are in Senikkei, the lakeside annex, where every suite has an open-air bath on its terrace facing Fuji. The Premium Suite is 70 m² for up to five people: a 10-mat tatami room, a Hollywood-twin bedroom, a living room, a private sink and the terrace bath. There are three, one on the third floor and two on the second, all corner rooms. The Grand Suite is 60 m² for up to four, with a wide veranda in place of the living room; two on the third floor and four on the second. Both come with a massage chair, bathrobes, cosmetics and a washlet toilet. The resort does not say whether the suite baths draw spring water, and there is no charge or time limit on them.
The hotel
A resort in the woods on the north shore of Lake Kawaguchi, on the site of the Shimazu family's villa. Besides Senikkei there is the main building, with 10-mat tatami rooms, tatami rooms with twin beds and a 10-and-6-mat family room, all with a bath. The Western annex has maisonette and panoramic twin rooms with a Fuji-view desk and a shower booth but no tub. There are cottages and rental villas too. Meals are the chef's Japanese-based original cooking, served in the main dining room on Senikkei's first floor, a stone-finished dining room or a wooden restaurant with Fuji in the window. The lobby faces Fuji, and there is a shop of Yamanashi goods.
Good to know
- Every Senikkei suite has its own Fuji-facing open-air bath, with no booking, charge or time limit; the three Premium Suites are all corner rooms.
- Villa guests are shut out of the baths, so book the annex or the hotel if bathing is the point.
- Fuji shows best in daylight, the resort says, so take the open-air bath between 3 p.m. and dusk or after 6 a.m.
- The Fujikyu bus stops at the door, at a stop named Sunnide-mae, about 20 minutes from Kawaguchiko Station.
Getting there
The Fuji Excursion limited express runs from Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko with no change, about 2 hours. Reserve a seat, because it fills up. The resort's own route is the JR Chuo line limited express from Shinjuku to Otsuki, about 55 minutes, then the Fujikyu line to Kawaguchiko, about 50 minutes. From Kawaguchiko Station the Fujikyu bus takes about 20 minutes to the Sunnide-mae stop. By car it is 85 km from Shinjuku to the Kawaguchiko interchange.
Kawaguchiko STN · Fujikyu line
Not walkable; about 20 minutes by the Fujikyu bus to the Sunnide-mae stop.
The Fuji Excursion limited express runs from Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko with no change, about 2 hours. Reserve a seat, because it fills up. The Fujikyu bus from the station stops at Sunnide-mae.
Where it is
Kawaguchiko STN
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- JR Tokyo Wide Pass ¥16,000 · 3 days Worth it if you’re also visiting Karuizawa, Echigo-Yuzawa or Nikko.
- Fuji Excursion train tickets Worth it if you’re coming from Shinjuku. It covers a reserved seat on the limited express straight through to Kawaguchiko, about two hours with no change. The trains fill up, so book ahead.
- Mount Fuji small-group day tour A full day around the Mt Fuji area with a driver-guide, hotel pickup in Tokyo as an option.
- 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.
How we know
Confirmed from official site (the bath page for the refusal; the Senikkei page for the room baths)
※刺青・タトゥ・過度の飲酒をされている方、オムツを使用されている方のご入浴はお断りしております。
This is the rule for the shared baths. It doesn’t apply to the private baths.
Best for: a Senikkei suite with its own open-air bath looking across the lake at Mount Fuji
Senikkei annex: Premium Suite (70 m², up to 5, three corner rooms, with a Fuji-view open-air bath) and Grand Suite (60 m², up to 4, six rooms). The annex page says its open-air-bath rooms look at Mount Fuji and the lake. The operator does not say whether the room bath is hot spring water. Large baths 15:00–23:00 and 6:00–10:00. Guests in the rental villas cannot use the baths.
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