Tabino Hotel Hida Takayama
たびのホテル飛騨高山
Does Tabino Hotel Hida Takayama allow tattoos? Yes, covered
Tabino Hotel Hida Takayama sits beside the Daihachiga River east of the old town, and its rock-lined open-air bath is filled with a sodium bicarbonate spring called Matsunoki-no-yu.
The hotel's bath rules turn away guests with tattoos or body paint unless the tattoo can be covered with the hotel's own designated seal. The rules tell guests to ask the front desk about the seal. They give no size for it and no price.
Show this at the front desk
入れ墨（タトゥー）やボディペイントを施された方 ① ただし、当ホテル指定のシールで覆うことができる場合を除きます。 ② シールにつきましては、フロントまでお問い合わせください。
The operator’s own wording, to show at the desk if you need to.
The bath
The bath is named Matsunoki-no-yu after the neighborhood. The hotel describes the water as a weakly alkaline sodium bicarbonate spring with a thick, smooth feel on the skin. Both the men's and the women's side are on the first floor, each with an indoor bath and an open-air bath.
The open-air bath was built on the bank of the Daihachiga River. The hotel says bathers hear the stream from the tub and can see stars on a clear night. The indoor bath is a long tiled tub under warm orange light, with a window onto a small planted court.
The room television shows how busy the bath is, so guests can pick a quiet moment. The men's changing room stocks razors, combs and cotton swabs. The women's side adds lotion, milk lotion, cleansing oil and face wash, and both have low-heat hair dryers. After the bath there are drinks in the lobby, around a table built like a sunken hearth. The bath rules ban phones and cameras inside.
The hotel
The hotel opened on April 28, 2018 and is run by Sun Frontier Hotel Management. It has 81 rooms, mostly standard doubles of 13 square meters and twins of 15, plus deluxe twins and family twins of up to 25 square meters. Every room has Simmons beds and two-piece room wear that guests may wear around the building. Breakfast is a buffet with Hida dishes such as hoba miso (miso grilled on a magnolia leaf), served 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. There is no dinner restaurant; the hotel books partner restaurants in town and drives guests there. Parking for 65 cars is free.
Good to know
- Ask the front desk for the cover seal before going down to the bath; the rules require the hotel's own.
- A free shuttle meets the limited express trains. The hotel asks guests to reserve a seat ahead.
- Tabino Satellite, a lounge by the station, holds staying guests' bags free from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- A free drink from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and Takayama ramen or ice cream from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. while it lasts.
Getting there
Take the JR Hida limited express from Nagoya Station to Takayama Station; the hotel publishes no minutes for the ride. Leave by the east exit and cross the road to Tabino Satellite, beside the FamilyMart, where the free shuttle bus starts. It leaves the station at 7:30, 8:15, 9:15, 9:45 and 10:45 a.m., then about hourly from 3:15 p.m. to 8:50 p.m. The hotel asks guests to book it ahead. A taxi takes 10 to 15 minutes and costs about ¥1,200 to ¥1,500.
Takayama STN · JR Takayama Main Line
Not walkable.
Free shuttle from Tabino Satellite at the east exit, booked ahead; a taxi is 10 to 15 minutes and about ¥1,200 to ¥1,500.
Where it is
- 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
Cover the tattoo completely before you go in. The hotel doesn't specify a size, so cover everything.
How we know
Confirmed from the operator's own rules page for this hotel (Sun Frontier Hotel Management's large bath rules for Tabino Hotel Hida Takayama, linked from the hotel site's footer)
Best for: a riverside open-air bath under the hotel's own cover seal, with a free shuttle from the station
The seal is the hotel's designated one; ask at the front desk at check-in. There is no private bath, and the guest rooms have unit baths. The shared bath, Matsunoki-no-yu, is on the first floor with an indoor bath and an open-air bath for each sex. The room television shows how crowded the bath is. Phones, cameras and other electronic devices are banned inside the bath area.
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