I Looked Into +RIVERPOOL Saitama Chichibu

Not just campsites — on this blog I've also been building up a kind of series checking out hot springs and glamping facilities, for those days when you think "let's skip the tent and do a 'hokans' (hotel + vacation) instead."

This time I looked into "+RIVERPOOL Saitama Chichibu," located in Minano Town, Saitama Prefecture. It apparently offers a private heated pool plus a sauna plan, and even as someone who leans more toward indoor activities, it's the kind of place I'd want to try at least once — so I put together the points that caught my attention.

What kind of facility is "+RIVERPOOL Saitama Chichibu"?

This is a glamping facility located in Minano Town, Saitama Prefecture. It seems to have operated under a slightly different name in the past, but it's apparently now running under the name "+RIVERPOOL Saitama Chichibu." Accommodation rates start from 25,000 yen per person, with prices varying by plan — a Standard Plan from 30,000 yen, a Premium Sauna Plan from 40,000 yen, and a limited-time Girls' Trip / Treat Yourself Plan from 25,000 yen (when three people share one site), among others. Another notable feature seems to be that meals and drinks are all-inclusive on many plans.

Check-in runs from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM, and since starting the charcoal fire apparently takes about an hour and a half, advance contact seems to be recommended. Check-out is by 10:00 AM. Reservations can apparently be made either through the booking system on the official website or by phone. Parking looks to be free, with one space per unit, though the number of spaces seems limited, so if you're arriving in multiple cars it might be safer to confirm in advance. Pets are apparently not allowed.

As for access, it's about a 10-minute walk from Oyahana Station and about a 16-minute walk from Kami-Nagatoro Station on the Chichibu Railway, which is a distance that even someone like me who doesn't drive could reasonably consider. By car, it's apparently about 25 minutes from the Hanazono IC on the Kan-Etsu Expressway, and roughly an hour and a half from central Tokyo. I couldn't find any mention of shuttle service on the official website, so that remains unconfirmed.

Komorin

I was quietly happy to see that this place is workable even by train. As someone who doesn't drive, this kind of info is always the thing I care about most.

Checking out the private pool and sauna — facilities that catch an indoor person's eye

One of the major highlights of this facility seems to be that each site has its own private heated pool called "Water Garden." It measures 7.0m by 3.0m with a depth ranging from 0.2m to 1.1m, including a shallow area, so it seems suited more to relaxing and soaking than actual swimming. With LED underwater lighting, it can apparently create a night-pool kind of atmosphere too. The pool is reportedly heated even from December through February, though the heating function may be paused on extremely hot days. Daily cleaning by a robot cleaner and regular water quality testing are also apparently carried out, which gives the impression that hygiene is taken seriously.

The Premium Sauna, which opened in October 2024, also seems to be one of the highlights. It reportedly uses a Finnish-made HARVIA heater called "SPIRIT9" and comes with a semicircular window overlooking the pool. Currently it seems to be available at only one site, so if you want to try it, you'd apparently need to book the sauna plan.

The guest rooms are dome-shaped tents called "Space Dome," 6.0m in diameter and up to 3.0m tall, with capacity for 2 to 4 people. They apparently come fully equipped with air conditioning, a ventilation fan, an air purifier, and Wi-Fi, plus a Serta semi-double bed and Tempur pillows — so it sounds more like staying in a hotel room than camping in a tent. The dining space, called "Fire Terrace," reportedly includes a fire grill with a griddle plate, a 272-liter refrigerator, a microwave, and even a speaker, and in winter you can apparently stay warm with a gas heater and a halogen heater.

The bathroom and toilet area, called "Aqua Room," apparently comes with a ReFa shower head and hair dryer along with UCHINO towels, and amenities from the Omnisens and MINUCA lines are reportedly offered buffet-style. Dinner is apparently a teppanyaki set and breakfast a custom burger set, with a system that lets you choose the start time for each. A room-only plan without meals is also apparently available. On top of that, some plans reportedly come with a free bathing ticket for Chichibu's "Manganno-yu" hot spring, which is about a 10-minute drive away.

By the way, I couldn't confirm any explicit age restrictions or detailed pricing broken down by number of guests for every plan, and I also couldn't find specific details about the BBQ menu contents. If any of this matters to you, it seems safer to check the official website or call ahead before booking.

I also looked into nearby sightseeing and food spots

Right near the facility is a roadside station called "Michi-no-Eki Minano," apparently within walking distance (about 600m). Venturing a bit further, the Nagatoro Gorge (Iwadatami rock formation) is about a 5 to 15-minute drive, and Mount Hodo is about a 15-minute drive as well. There are also seasonal spots nearby, including the winter-only Misotsuchi ice pillars (mid-January to mid-February) and the shibazakura moss phlox hill at Hitsujiyama Park in spring (mid-April to early May). Chichibu Shrine and the "Matsuri no Yu" hot spring in front of Seibu-Chichibu Station are both apparently about a 30-minute drive away.

As for food, Chichibu specialties like waraji katsudon (sandal-sized breaded pork cutlet rice bowl) and miso potatoes are reportedly available at various shops around town. There also seem to be handmade soba noodle shops and gelato shops using local fruit in the surrounding area, so it might be worth stepping outside the facility a bit rather than staying inside the whole time.

Rakuten Mobile Signal Conditions

I tried checking this facility's location (Minano Town, Saitama Prefecture) using the official "My Area Connectivity Simulation" tool, but no result came up — instead it just showed a message saying something like "currently under temporary maintenance." I tried a few times and got the same result each time, so it's possible that data for this area simply hasn't been made available yet.

Because of that, I can't classify the signal condition here as either "good" or "uncertain" this time, so I'm noting it as unknown. I'm sharing things exactly as I was able to confirm them, without exaggerating either way. If you're actually considering booking, it might be a good idea to check the official tool again yourself on your own device before heading out.

Komorin

This was the first time I'd seen the tool fail to return a result at all, so honestly it caught me off guard too. In cases like this, all you can really do is be upfront and say "I don't know."

Wrapping Up

To sum it up again, my impression of +RIVERPOOL Saitama Chichibu was that it's a glamping facility where every room comes with its own private heated pool and a sauna plan is available, letting you spend your stay in a hotel-like way inside a dome-shaped tent. While the facilities themselves seem quite well-rounded, the official tool didn't return a result for the Rakuten Mobile signal conditions, so this time the outcome is unknown. If that's a concern for you, it seems like a good idea to check the official tool yourself on your own device just to be safe.

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Related Links

• Official Site