I Looked Into Yufuri Nasu Kogen Onsen Lodge, a Hands-Off Style Inn

On this blog, I've been quietly running an ongoing series not just about campsites, but also about places to stop by when you're in the mood to say "let's skip camping today and go do a hotel-spa staycation instead." This time I'm putting together a spin-off edition of that series.

This time, I looked into an inn in the Nasu Kogen area called "Hottarakashi no Yado Yufuri Nasu Takao Onsen Lodge" (roughly, "the leave-you-be inn"). It's basically a room-only stay, and the listing's tagline of "luxury without hospitality" caught my attention, so as an indoor type myself, I wanted to sort out what kind of place this actually is.

The Short Version

The lodge's signature feature is the "Sky Open-Air Pool," a lukewarm bath around 37°C fed by continuously flowing natural hot spring water, and the overall impression was that the property runs on a self-service, room-only style.
As for Rakuten Mobile signal, the official tool didn't display a result, so I wasn't able to confirm the signal conditions.

I've summarized the details below.

Something I Noticed While Looking Into the Name "Nasu Takao"

Before I started researching, I had it in my head as "Yufuri Nasu Kogen Onsen Lodge," but when I actually checked the official website, it looks like the correct official name is "Yufuri Nasu Takao Onsen Lodge." It seems the correct reading uses "Takao" rather than "Kogen," so I'll go with that in this article as well. It's located in the Nasu Kogen area of Nasu Town, Tochigi Prefecture, and apparently it's about a 30-minute drive from the Nasu Interchange on the Tohoku Expressway.

The operator appears to be a company called Iconia Hospitality, and with a total of 70 rooms, my impression was that this is a fairly large-scale lodging facility.

Komorin

I got a little worried when I saw the name written differently, but the address and phone number matched up, so I was relieved to confirm it was the same place.

About the "Sky Open-Air Pool" and Its Continuously Flowing Hot Spring Water

The lodge's signature feature seems to be a large open-air bath called the "Sky Open-Air Pool." It's mixed-gender bathing with lukewarm water around 37°C, and the notable point is that it's fed by continuously flowing natural hot spring water. Bathing wear and towel set rentals are apparently available for 500 yen (tax included), so it seems set up so you can go in wearing something like a swimsuit.

The spring quality is apparently a sulfur-containing calcium-magnesium type sulfate/bicarbonate hot spring (hydrogen sulfide type), and the flow volume is quite abundant at around 512 liters per minute. That said, the main indoor bath and the outdoor bath apparently use a circulating filtration system, so it seems worth remembering that the continuously flowing water is limited to the "Sky Open-Air Pool." The main bath's hours are apparently 1:00 PM to midnight, and 5:30 AM to 9:30 AM the next morning (starting at 3:00 PM on Tuesdays and Wednesdays). Day-trip bathing is also apparently available, priced at 1,000 yen for adults on weekdays and 1,200 yen for adults on weekends and holidays.

Checking Out the "Luxury Without Hospitality" In-House Style

There are 70 rooms in total, mostly 10-tatami-mat Japanese-style rooms, with room types apparently including Japanese-style rooms without a bath, Japanese-style rooms with two beds, and accessible rooms (with shower/bathroom). All rooms are non-smoking, and it seems the basics like a hair dryer, refrigerator, individual air conditioning, and a washlet-equipped toilet are all provided. The whole building is apparently Wi-Fi enabled, so as an indoor type, it seems like a place where I could relax and watch videos.

The concept of this lodge is called "Free Style Stay" — there's no restaurant in the building, and staying room-only is the default. Instead, the gift shop apparently sells proper frozen boxed meals supervised by the head chef of Hotel Epinard Nasu, along with bread, sandwiches, and retort-pouch foods. Since a microwave and toaster are also fully available, it seems like a style where you put together your own meals at your own pace. As a self-grilling experience over a charcoal brazier, you can apparently also enjoy things like grilled mitarashi dango and a s'mores set.

Gift shop: open 6:00 AM to midnight
Table tennis / billiards: 7:00 AM to midnight, one hour free per group
Game corner: 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM
Coin laundry: available 24 hours (500 yen for washing, 200 yen per 20 minutes of drying)
Free drink service: 3:00 PM to 9:00 PM, and 5:00 AM to 10:00 AM

As a rough guide, when two people share one room, the room-only rate starts at 4,500 yen per person for a Japanese-style room without a bath, and 4,900 yen per person for an accessible room. Since it's room-only by default, prices seem to vary by season and plan, so it looks like you'd need to enter specific dates to check the exact amount. Reservations can apparently be made through the official website's booking system or by phone.

About Nearby Sightseeing Spots

About a 20-minute drive from the lodge is the Nasu Ropeway, and about 25 minutes away are Nasu Animal Kingdom and Nasu Trick Art Pia. Discounted advance tickets for the animal park are apparently sold at the front desk, so my impression was that this location is well-suited for getting around by car. I don't really drive myself since I rarely get behind the wheel, so actually touring the area would probably be tough for me, but just researching it gave me a sense of how many sightseeing spots there are typical of the Nasu Kogen area.

Rakuten Mobile Signal Conditions

I tried checking this facility's location using the official "my Area Connectivity Simulation" tool, but no result was displayed — instead it just showed a message saying something like "temporary maintenance in progress." Because of that, I wasn't able to get as far as checking the actual signal conditions this time.

So for this facility, I'm not in a position to clearly tell you about the connectivity situation. If you use Rakuten Mobile and are concerned about your connection during a stay, it might be a good idea to check the official tool yourself beforehand, just to be safe.

Komorin

This was the first time I've had the tool fail to give a result, and honestly it left me a bit deflated. In cases like this, I think all I can do is report it as-is rather than force some kind of conclusion.

See Rakuten Mobile Details

Wrapping Up

To sum it up again, my impression of Yufuri Nasu Takao Onsen Lodge was that it's a place built around the continuously-flowing "Sky Open-Air Pool," where you settle in for a relaxed, room-only stay. Since the concept is a free-style stay where you put together your own meals, how well-stocked the gift shop is seems like it would really affect how comfortable your stay is.

As for Rakuten Mobile signal, the official tool wasn't able to produce a result, so the most I could confirm was that "it can't be determined at this point." If you're considering a stay and are concerned about connectivity, it seems like a good idea to check the official tool yourself before heading out.

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