Munakata-dori, on the Kikuchi river at the edge of Yamaga town Hotel of 44 rooms; two top-floor rooms have a terrace tub of ordinary hot water ★★★★☆

Yutorelo Yamaga

ゆとりろ山鹿

Does Yutorelo Yamaga allow tattoos? In a private bath

Private bath only

Yutorelo Yamaga is a 44-room Relo hotel on the Kikuchi river, and its two top-floor terrace rooms each have a tub of their own for the sunset, filled with ordinary hot water rather than the spring.

No tattoo rule is published. Two top-floor Japanese-Western rooms have an open-air tub on the terrace, so a tattooed guest who books one can bathe without the shared baths, but the hotel says plainly that these tubs are not hot spring water. The spring is only in the large bath and its open-air bath, which day visitors use too.

Illustration of Yutorelo Yamaga in Munakata-dori, on the Kikuchi river at the edge of Yamaga town

The bath

The hotel draws Yamaga Onsen's alkaline simple spring at 37.2°C and pH 9.78, and says it heats the water to keep it at a bathing temperature, about 40°C, and runs it kakenagashi (spring water that flows through the tub and isn't reused); its own table marks water added as well. It calls the water mellow on the skin and lists neuralgia, muscle and joint pain, frozen shoulder, poor circulation and fatigue among its uses.

The large indoor bath and the open-air bath are open 3 to 11:30 p.m. and 6 to 9 a.m. Day visitors are taken on weekdays 3 to 9 p.m., last entry 8 p.m., for ¥500 (children ¥250), with a bath tax of ¥150 from age 12; weekend day use is by inquiry.

The private tubs are on two rooms only. The top-floor Japanese-Western rooms with an open-air bath, 60.75 square meters for up to five, have a freestanding tub on the terrace, which the hotel pitches for its sunset view. The hotel states that these room tubs are not hot spring water, and says it has replaced them with a new, more durable design, so some older photos show a different tub. Nothing needs booking beyond the room.

The hotel

Forty-four non-smoking rooms, most of them 10-mat Japanese rooms, with larger 18-mat and family rooms and Japanese-Western rooms with twin beds; the hotel says the windows look over the Kikuchi river and the town. Dinner is a creative Japanese kaiseki (a multi-course Japanese meal) in the Chiyo dining room, by reservation, and breakfast is served there too. The lobby has a modern hearth where guests toast marshmallows for free, plus billiards, table tennis and the Akari bar. Relo Hotels & Resorts runs it. Check-in 3 p.m. (last 10 p.m.), check-out 10 a.m.

Good to know

Two rooms have a terrace tub, on the top floor, for up to five guests each.
Marshmallows at the lobby hearth are free from 3 to 10 p.m.
Weekday day use is ¥500, 3 to 9 p.m., for the large bath and the open-air bath.
Parking for about 100 cars, with EV charging.

Getting there

The hotel shows its routes only as diagrams. From Shin-Tamana, the city's guide puts the Kyushu Sanko bus to Yamaga bus center at about 50 minutes; the hotel stands on the Kikuchi river at the edge of town and publishes no bus stop or walking time. By car the city's guide gives about 15 minutes from the Kikusui interchange and about 30 from Ueki. Parking for about 100 cars.

Shin-Tamana STN · Kyushu Shinkansen, then the Kyushu Sanko bus to Yamaga bus center
The hotel publishes no walking time.

Parking for about 100 cars; the hotel publishes no shuttle.

Where it is

Yutorelo Yamaga · 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 Yamaga is one stop in a longer Kyushu trip by train.
Kyushu SunQ Pass Worth it if you’d rather ride buses. It covers the Sanko buses from Shin-Tamana and Kumamoto to Yamaga 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 rooms page lists two rooms with an open-air bath and says the room tubs are not hot spring water; the FAQ says the same)

Best for: travelers who want a terrace tub of their own for the sunset over Yamaga and don’t mind that it holds plain hot water, not the spring

Two of 44 rooms, the top-floor Japanese-Western rooms with an open-air bath (60.75 square meters, up to five, non-smoking), have a tub on the terrace. The hotel says the room tubs are not hot spring water, and that it replaced the tubs with a more durable design, so some photos show the old one. The other rooms (four Japanese-Western, four 18-mat, one family room and 33 ten-mat rooms) have no tub of their own. Spring: alkaline simple, 37.2°C at the source, pH 9.78, heated to about 40°C with water added, run kakenagashi. Large bath and open-air bath 3 to 11:30 p.m. and 6 to 9 a.m. Day use weekdays 3 to 9 p.m. (last entry 8 p.m.), ¥500 adults, ¥250 children; weekends by inquiry. Bath tax ¥150 from age 12. Check-in 3 p.m. (last 10 p.m.), check-out 10 a.m. (11 a.m. for members). Parking for about 100 cars, with EV charging. Run by Relo Hotels & Resorts.

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Others in the same group

More private-bath options in Yamaga

Yamaga Onsen ChozanteiShijiki, on a rise above Yamaga town, five minutes by car from the bus center → Yamaga Onsen SeiryusoYamaga town, on the Kikuchi river three minutes on foot from the Yamaga Shimomachi bus stop → Yamaga Onsen Sunpalace MatsuzakaYamaga town, about ten minutes on foot from the Yachiyoza theater street → Kazokuyu YuusenKako-dori, on the eastern side of Yamaga town → Rotenyu MomijiNaka, on the eastern side of Yamaga town → Ryokan KadoyaHirayama Onsen, in the middle of the village, a minute from the Hirayama Onsen-mae bus stop →

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