Hotel Thoughts

[rkold]

So I am trying to decide between 3 hotels in Takayama. I know everyone is supposed to want to stay in a ryokan there and if possible the gassho zuri farmhouses but realistically, I am a vegetarian and hida beef is just not something I am going to eat. Things I do like to do are onsen... sightseeing, and onsen.

The 3 choices are the Hida Hanasato no Yu Takayama Ouan, for around 6600 yen a night, it's 5 minutes walk from the station, the rooms are supposedly small, but it's just me and my luggage lol they do have a roof top onsen. I'm not sure if they have separate onsen for men and women or just change sex depending on the time of day. The negative of this of course is you have to pick to use the onsen during your time.

The Associa Takayama Resort, the most expensive of the bunch at 10,000 yen though it does include breakfast (and fancy hotels like this tend to have a breakfast buffet with things I will eat) Other pluses are 2 full floors of onsen, so one floor is always women only. It's also off a little ways from town. The negative is it is a free 15 minute shuttle from the station so I have to wait for the shuttles or time all trips to make the shuttles back and forth or splurge on a cab. It's also the most expensive.

The final option is the Spa Hotel Alpina, which is also 5 minutes walk from Takayama station, about 6900 yen a night and has a roof top onsen though it's not as outside as either of the above two. Again I'm not sure how large the onsen is so it might switch between the sexes.

I'm 99% sure I won't have my period during this part of the trip, but of course my period is not particularly regular and things like trips and exercise tend to throw it off.

I've booked the first half of my trip, now it's just booking the second and deciding when I want to return to Tokyo my flight out is Saturday morning so I need to be back in Tokyo by Friday evening but other than that everything is open.

Comments

[summer-queen.livejournal.com]

Could the onsen be divided by a wall? That's how the outside one in Hakone I went to was like -- one pool, but a floor to nearly roof wood wall between us.

I'd vote for the first one, assuming the onsen suits your desires. Onsen outside during winter = so nice. ^_^

[rkold.livejournal.com]

Yes, outside onsen in Winter are what I am going for! Sometimes the water is too hot otherwise and I can't fully enjoy it.

unless there is a mirror image bath I think there is just one bathing area (http://www.japanican.com/hotels/shisetsudetail.aspx?ar=A07&st=5475041&dt=20100222&sn=2&pn=1&rn=1) It doesn't look like if you go through the pictures there is a wall. I am pretty sure the single hinoki bath is the charter bath.

the other one (http://www.japanican.com/hotels/shisetsudetail.aspx?ar=A07&st=5475035&dt=20100222&sn=2&pn=1&rn=1) has some really outside baths! A few have that infinity style edging. They explcitly state they have 2 floors of baths that alternate between the sexes. I also now know they're only about 2km from the station which is walkable and even taxiable if necessary.

[spazzygirl19.livejournal.com]

I think you should go to one of the hotels with the outdoor onsen. You just have to figure out whether you'd spend more than the difference between the hotels on cabs, etc.

If you can 'deal' with a really small room -- then the first one sounds good. But if you're really lazy in the morning & it's worth it to you to have breakfast in the hotel -- then the second. Make sense? But of course the final decision is yours.

[rkold.livejournal.com]

Oh the cheaper hotel has no cabs, I'm just not sure if there onsen is always open to women or if it's timed between men and women. 2 km is not so expensive by cab, but there is a free shuttle bus once an hour, I was just concerned in case I didn't want to wait lol The buses tend to coincide with when the express trains from Nagoya come in/leave which makes sense.

I've dealt with small rooms before and probably will most of the trip. I tend to like to eat my morning breakfast in the hotel early like 7:30 lol But I am trying to figure out how much hotel time I will ahev since most things close by 5.