Unzen Onsen, a minute's walk from the Jigoku and the Onsen shrine Hotel ★★★☆☆

Unzen Sky Hotel

雲仙スカイホテル

Does Unzen Sky Hotel allow tattoos? In a private bath

Private bath only

The Sky Hotel's answer is an hour after everyone else has gone to bed: from 11:30 p.m. it rents its garden open-air bath and large bath to one party for ¥1,000 a head.

The Sky Hotel publishes no tattoo rule for its two bath halls. For staying guests it rents the garden open-air bath and large bath as a private block from 11:30 p.m. to half past midnight, ¥1,000 a person for two or more. That late hour is the one way to have the water to yourself here.

Illustration of Unzen Sky Hotel in Unzen Onsen, a minute's walk from the Jigoku and the Onsen shrine

The bath

The Sky Hotel pipes its water straight from the Unzen Jigoku and runs it free-flowing. There are two bath halls. Kinugasa-no-yu holds 40 bathers with 11 showers and the hotel calls its indoor bath the widest in Unzen; its open-air bath looks up at Mount Kinugasa, and the hotel says azaleas bloom round it in spring. Hakuun-no-yu is smaller, 20 bathers and 7 showers, with a compact open-air bath of its own. The two swap between men and women morning and evening, so an overnight guest gets both. Staying guests bathe 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; day bathers are admitted 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the hotel's own page gives no day fee. Its small photos show milky white water, big rounded boulders and pruned pines in the garden bath, and a pale blue indoor pool under a white ceiling.

The private option is the late slot. For staying guests the hotel rents the garden open-air bath and the large bath together as one private block from 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., at ¥1,000 a person for parties of two or more. The page does not say how to reserve it, so ask at check-in. The special room, Sachi-kaoru-no-ma, has a cypress bath in the room; the hotel does not say whether spring water fills it.

The hotel

A big hotel on the Jigoku's edge with rooms from 60 to 80 square meters, Japanese-Western rooms with a bath, twins with a shower, a deluxe villa-style room and the special room with a 32-mat parlor and a 16-mat bedroom. The lobby has foot massagers and massage chairs, a coffee corner and a shop selling Unzen's yusenpei wafers, pickles and miso; a 120-mat banquet hall seats 180. The room count is not published. The hotel calls itself Wonderful Sky and markets to groups.

Good to know

The private block runs 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., ¥1,000 a person, two or more, for staying guests.
Both halls swap sides morning and evening, so you see Kinugasa and Hakuun in one stay.
The Jigoku and the Onsen shrine are a minute's walk, by the hotel's count.
Day bathing 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; the fee is not on the hotel's page.

Getting there

From Isahaya Station take the Shimatetsu bus toward Unzen, about 80 minutes by the hotel's count, to the Unzen stop; the hotel names no stop and no walking time, but says the Jigoku is a minute away on foot. From Nagasaki city the bus takes about 100 minutes, and via Nagasaki Airport about 120. By car it is about 60 minutes from Isahaya Station, 90 from Nagasaki and 30 from Shimabara port. From Hakata, the Relay Kamome and the Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen reach Isahaya in about 80 minutes.

Isahaya STN · JR Nagasaki Main Line and Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen (Kamome), then the Shimatetsu bus
Not walkable.

Shimatetsu bus about 80 minutes to Unzen; the hotel is a minute from the Jigoku.

Where it is

Unzen Sky Hotel · map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · open in Google Maps

Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
JR Kyushu Rail Pass from ¥12,000 · 3, 5 or 7 consecutive days Worth it if you’re coming from Hakata by train.
Kyushu SunQ Pass Worth it if you’d rather ride buses. It covers the Shimatetsu buses from Isahaya and the direct bus from Nagasaki Station to Unzen, and highway buses across the island.
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.

How we know

Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site (the hot spring page gives the private rental of the garden open-air and large bath, its hour and per-person fee)

Best for: a group of friends who want the whole garden bath to themselves after midnight for ¥1,000 each

Private rental plan for staying guests: the garden open-air bath and large bath together, 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., ¥1,000 a person, two or more people; how to book is not stated. Two bath halls, Kinugasa-no-yu (40 bathers, 11 showers) and Hakuun-no-yu (20 bathers, 7 showers), each with an open-air bath, swapped between men and women morning and evening. Guests 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; day use 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., fee not on the hotel's page. Water piped straight from the Unzen Jigoku, free-flowing. The special room has a cypress bath; the hotel does not say what water fills it.

Book your stay

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Others in the same group

More private-bath options in Unzen and Obama

Unzen Iwaki RyokanUnzen Onsen, a minute from the Shimatetsu bus office → Hoshino Resorts Kai UnzenUnzen Onsen, on the main road facing the Jigoku → Unzen Kyushu HotelUnzen Onsen, on the edge of the Unzen Jigoku → Unzen Miyazaki RyokanUnzen Onsen, three minutes on foot from the Jigoku, with a Japanese garden → AzumaenUnzen Onsen, above Oshidori Pond at the north end of town → Unzen Fukudaya and Yamateru BetteiUnzen Onsen, on the road below the Jigoku, a short walk from the Unzen Vidro Museum →

All Unzen and Obama listings →