Hanaougi Bettei Iiyama
花扇別邸いいやま
Does Hanaougi Bettei Iiyama allow tattoos? In a private bath
Hanaougi Bettei Iiyama is a 15-room inn for guests aged 13 and over, where rooms with an anteroom, a terrace twin and two-story maisonettes each have an open-air tub fed by the inn's sodium bicarbonate spring.
Bettei Iiyama publishes no tattoo rule. Four of its six room types have their own open-air tub filled from the inn's spring, and there is one private open-air bath, reserved at the front desk on the day for ¥3,300 per 50 minutes. Either one lets a tattooed guest bathe in the spring apart from other guests.
The bath
Each open-air room has its tub on a deck or terrace outside the living room. In the twin room the tub sits on an open terrace one step from the beds. In the maisonettes it is on the ground floor, with the sleeping room upstairs and a second washroom on each level, which the inn suggests for groups and families of several generations. The four rooms with an anteroom let one guest stay up bathing or reading while another sleeps. Guests in these rooms get bathrobes.
The water comes from the inn's own well, drilled 1,200 meters down. It is a sodium bicarbonate spring, once called a baking-soda spring, that the inn says cleans the skin and leaves it smooth; the inn nicknames it a beauty bath. The source is cool, so the water is heated and circulated through filters.
The one private open-air bath is taken in 50-minute turns by a single party. The large bath has a deep indoor tub, where the water reaches the shoulders, and one open-air bath on each side. Men's and women's sides swap in the morning. Hours are 3 p.m. to midnight and 5 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Shampoo, body soap, bath towels and hand towels are set out in the large bath.
The hotel
The inn calls itself a hideaway for adults, with every one of its 15 rooms laid out differently; some are maisonettes and some are in a converted storehouse. The lobby is framed in the steep-roofed gassho style with zelkova logs a meter across, and old cedar is used through the building. One attendant serves each party from welcome to send-off. Dinner centers on Hida beef steak grilled at an open hearth. The sister inn Hidatei Hanaougi is a three-minute walk away. Staying guests park free, in a lot for about 40 cars.
Good to know
- Guests must be 13 or older. The inn stopped taking younger children in January 2023.
- The private open-air bath is booked the same day, at the front desk, for ¥3,300 a party.
- Wash indoors first. The room's open-air tub has no shower or taps, but the indoor bath beside it does.
- A free shuttle meets afternoon trains, leaving the station's west exit on the hour and half hour if reserved ahead.
Getting there
Ride the JR Hida limited express from Nagoya Station to Takayama Station, about 2 hours 10 minutes according to the inn. Its free shuttle bus runs from the Hakusan (west) exit to the door in about 8 minutes, every 30 minutes between 2:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Seats are by reservation, made by the day before. By taxi the ride is about 10 minutes. Morning buses leave the inn for the station and the morning market every 40 minutes from 7:45 a.m. to 11:05 a.m.
Takayama STN · JR Takayama Main Line
Roughly 30 minutes; the inn measures it at 2.3 km.
Free shuttle from the west exit in the afternoon, reserved by the day before; taxi about 10 minutes.
Where it is
Takayama STN
- Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
- JR Takayama-Hokuriku Area Tourist Pass ¥19,800 · 5 consecutive days Worth it if Gero, Shirakawa-go or Kanazawa is on the same trip.
- 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 at the front desk.
How we know
Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site (: the hot spring page, the rooms page and the bathing FAQ describe the private open-air bath and the spring-fed room tubs)
Best for: adults who want a 15-room inn where the room has its own spring-fed tub on a terrace
Room types with an open-air tub: the rooms with an anteroom (four rooms, each laid out differently), the twin room with an open terrace, and two two-story maisonette types, one with futon and one with twin beds. The two-room superior type (four rooms) and the general rooms (two) have none. The open-air tubs have no washing area; each room also has an indoor bath with a shower. Since January 2023 the inn takes guests aged 13 and over only. It has no sauna and takes no day visitors.
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