Kamenoi Hotel Nara
亀の井ホテル 奈良
Does Kamenoi Hotel Nara allow tattoos? Yes, covered
A charred-cedar indoor bath and a garden open-air bath on the hotel’s own spring, out by the Heijo Palace ruins, and five rooms with a hot spring bath of their own.
Refused in principle, with a condition: you may use the large bath if a seal leaves the tattoo invisible to other guests. The hotel names no size and doesn’t say it supplies seals, so bring enough of your own. There is no private bath, but five rooms have a hot spring bath of their own.
Show this at the front desk
入れ墨・タトゥーのあるお客さまは、大浴場のご利用をお断りしております。なお、タトゥーを隠すシール等により、他のお客さまから入れ墨等が見えない状態の場合は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
The hotel draws its own spring, Heijokyu Onsen, a salty spring whose salt keeps bathers warm afterwards. The indoor bath is finished in charred cedar to recall old Nara, a rounded green-tiled tub on an amber tile floor, with tall glass doors onto a garden-style open-air bath edged with rocks where the water runs brown over the stones. There is no sauna, and the sides don’t swap. Overnight guests bathe 5:45 to 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. to midnight; day visitors 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for ¥850, both sessions starting at 1 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays for pipe cleaning. Bring bath towels from your room.
The hotel
Five rooms have a view bath of their own filled with the hotel’s spring: four special Japanese-Western rooms of 49 to 53 m², where the spring flows straight through, and one 53 m² premium room for up to five with a massage chair. Other rooms run from 22 m² doubles to eight-mat tatami rooms. Dinner is kaiseki (a multi-course Japanese meal) in the garden restaurant, and overnight guests get free late-night tantanmen. Free parking for 88 cars. Check-in 3 p.m. (last check-in 7 p.m. on most plans), check-out 10 a.m.
Getting there
Yamato-Saidaiji STN · Kintetsu Nara, Kyoto and Kashihara lines
About 15 minutes on foot, or 5 on the free shuttle.
The shuttle leaves from the station’s south side and must be booked by the day before, with afternoon departures from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Kintetsu-Nara is about 6 minutes from Yamato-Saidaiji by train.
Where it is
Yamato-Saidaiji STN
- Subway Midosuji line 8 min
- Kintetsu Nara line 35 min
- JR Kansai Wide Area Pass ¥12,000 · 5 days Worth it if you’re riding out to Kinosaki or Shirahama and back.
- Dotonbori food tour, 12 dishes and 2 drinks Two and a half hours around Dotonbori with an English-speaking guide: an izakaya, street food and a local restaurant, in a group of no more than fifteen. Evening starts.
- 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
Bring enough seals of your own to hide the tattoo completely, or book a room with its own spring bath.
How we know
Confirmed from official site (the hotel's own FAQ)
Best for: travelers near the Heijo Palace site with a small tattoo
Book your stay
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