Hotel Route-Inn Kinokawa
ホテルルートイン紀の川
Does Hotel Route-Inn Kinokawa allow tattoos? Yes, covered
At Shimoisaka on the Wakayama line, with the chain’s large communal bath; the ride from Osaka is long for the distance because the connection is sparse.
Tattoos are allowed if a cover seal hides them completely. The group names no seal size and doesn’t say the hotel sells seals, so bring your own.
Show this at the front desk
入れ墨(タトゥー)のある方のご入浴はお断りしております。ただし、カバーシールを用いて入れ墨(タトゥー)が完全に覆えている場合に限り、大浴場を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
Tabibito no Yu at Kinokawa uses the radium artificial spring of the chain’s standard hotels, water treated with the approved additive Radi-Hope, which Route Inn credits with easing rheumatism, nerve pain, poor circulation and lower back pain. The hotel’s photos show a long tub running the width of a big window onto a small garden of shrubs and stones against a bamboo fence, with dark stone flooring and wood-toned walls. The other bath has windows of frosted glass along its tub and a large glazed pot in one corner. The baths are divided by sex and open 3 p.m. to 2 a.m., then close for three hours and reopen 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. Scales and hair dryers are in both changing rooms.
The hotel
251 rooms, with 200 free parking spaces and two EV chargers (6 kW, not rapid) that guests can reserve for the night. Breakfast is free, 6:30 a.m. to 9 a.m., with croissants and a mocha swirl danish baked on the premises. Nagomi’s dinner menu of rice bowls, noodles and Ueda curry runs 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., closed Sundays and holidays. Rooms open at 3 p.m., and checkout is 10 a.m.
Good to know
- Kokawa-dera ten minutes by car, the third temple of the Saigoku pilgrimage.
- Koyasan an hour’s drive, by the hotel’s reckoning.
Getting there
Shimoisaka STN · JR Wakayama line
About 10 minutes.
Connections from Osaka are sparse, so the ride is long for the distance. By car, the Kinokawa exit of the Keina expressway is about 5.9 km away, and Iwade-Negoro 7.7 km.
Where it is
Shimoisaka STN
- Subway Midosuji line 15 min
- JR Hanwa line 1 hr 5 min
- JR Wakayama line 25 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 your own seals and cover the tattoo completely before you go in. The hotel doesn't specify a size, so cover everything.
How we know
Confirmed from official site (the chain's own FAQ)
Best for: pilgrims visiting Kokawa-dera and Koyasan by car
Book your stay
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