Takayama Ouan
飛騨花里の湯 高山桜庵
Does Takayama Ouan allow tattoos? In a private bath
Takayama Ouan keeps its baths on the 13th floor, the highest in the city center, and beside the large bath are three private baths of rock, cypress and tile that staying guests use free, without booking.
Refused in the shared baths: the hotel's FAQ says guests with a tattoo of any size, anywhere on the body, may not enter the large bath, and points them to the private baths instead. The three private baths on the 13th floor are free, need no booking and are filled with the hotel's spring water.
Show this at the front desk
申し訳ございませんが、部位・大きさに関係なく、刺青／タトゥーがあるお客様は、 大浴場にはご入浴はいただけません。ご了承ください。 貸切風呂がございますので、そちらをご利用ください。
The operator’s own wording, to show at the desk if you need to.
The bath
The spring is called Hanasato-no-yu, a sodium chloride spring that rises at 34.1 degrees Celsius, 50 liters a minute, and is circulated. The hotel lists it for nerve, muscle and joint pain, stiff shoulders, bruises, sprains, poor circulation, cuts, burns and fatigue.
Everything is on the 13th floor. The three private baths are a tiled tub with a view over a lattice screen, a pool walled with boulders and a cypress-edged bath with log headrests. The hotel's FAQ confirms that they hold the same spring water as the large bath. Each is a place to soak only: there are no showers, so bathers rinse off in their rooms. Doors lock from inside, and a sign outside shows whether a bath is free.
The large bath has an indoor hall with a main tub scented with cypress and a lie-down bath, and a lookout open-air bath that faces the city by day and its lights and the stars at night; the hotel says the Northern Alps show in clear weather. Each side has a sauna. All of it is open from 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. and from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. After a bath, the lounge hands out free ice pops from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. and cold drinks from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m.
The hotel
Kyoritsu Resort runs this as a city hotel in Japanese dress: tatami mats underfoot through the whole building, low beds on tatami in the rooms, and timber lattice work in the Hida style. It has 151 rooms in five types, all non-smoking, most with a shower booth and two with a bathtub. Breakfast is a buffet of local dishes from 6:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.; plans run from room-only to breakfast included. A free half bowl of ramen is served from 9:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Check-in is from 3 p.m. and check-out by 11 a.m.
Good to know
- No booking for the private baths. Read the sign at the door, lock up from inside and keep to about 30 minutes.
- Wash before you go up. The private baths have no showers, soap or shampoo.
- Carry the bath basket from your room, which holds a bath towel and a face towel; the bath floor has none.
- Parking is ¥1,100 a night, 60 spaces, first come, with no reservations.
Getting there
From Nagoya Station the JR Hida limited express takes about 2 hours 20 minutes to Takayama Station, by the hotel's count. Go through the ticket gate, turn right for the Norikura (east) exit, and turn right again outside. The hotel is about 5 minutes on foot. It runs no shuttle bus and no city bus stops at the door.
Takayama STN · JR Takayama Main Line
About 5 minutes from the Norikura (east) exit.
No shuttle and no bus; the walk is the way in.
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
Skip the shared baths and use one of the private baths. No reservation needed. Check the sign to see which are free.
How we know
Confirmed from official site (the hotel's own FAQ, opened from the FAQ link on its pages, and the hot spring page for the private baths)
Best for: a free private soak on the top floor of a city hotel, with no booking, five minutes from the station
The three private baths are Shidare, a small tub for two, Shirayuki, a rock bath that holds a family of about four, and Azumanishiki, a cypress bath with wooden headrests for lying back. Check the sign at the door, and if it reads vacant, go in and lock up from inside. A turn is about 30 minutes, from 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. and from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. None has a washing area, shampoo or soap, so wash in your room first; most rooms have a shower booth. The hotel takes no day visitors.
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