Looking into Sakuraya Ryokan

I've been looking into inns and campsites that are easy to reach even without a car, kind of like a little ongoing series.

This time, I looked into Sakuraya Ryokan, a hot spring inn within walking distance of Atami Station. I'm an indoor person and I almost never drive, so an inn that's close to the station and lets you relax with a meal right in your room caught my eye as a hokance-style destination (a vacation-at-a-hotel kind of trip).

The Short Version

It's a 5-minute walk from Atami Station (per the official site), and both dinner and breakfast are served in your room, so it looks like a hot spring inn that manages to be close to the station and perfect for staying in.
The Rakuten Mobile signal showed up as “AAA” according to the official tool.

I've put the details below.

Sakuraya Ryokan Looks Like a Hot Spring Inn Near the Station with In-Room Dining

It's a hot spring inn in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, and apparently it was founded in 1949, according to the official site.
It's described as a 5-minute walk from Atami Station, which is on the JR Tokaido Line and the Tokaido Shinkansen line. There's also a note that the route includes 77 steps, so it seems worth keeping in mind on days when you're carrying a lot of luggage.

Here's the basic info, as far as I could tell from the official site.

Check-in / check-out: Check-in starts at 13:00 and check-out is by 10:00, apparently (this may differ depending on the plan)
Arrival guideline: It seems you're asked to arrive by 18:00 if you've got dinner included, or by 21:00 if you don't
Booking: Besides the official site's reservation system, it seems you can also book by phone
Rates: I couldn't find specific room rates on the official site, so it looks like you check the plan lists on booking sites and the like
Pick-up: Pick-up from Atami Station requires a reservation and is available from 13:00 to 18:00, apparently. There doesn't seem to be a regular shuttle
Luggage: If you call ahead and ask, it seems they can also hold your luggage in advance

For the New Year holidays, Golden Week, and the Obon period, it seems an advance bank transfer of at least 50% of the room charge is required. There was also a note saying this isn't needed if you book through a booking site with credit card payment.

Komorin

It sounds like you can reserve a pick-up from the station, so that seems handy on days when the stairs feel daunting. As a paper driver, that felt really reassuring to me.

Even the In-Room Baths Reportedly Use Source Water

The guest room buildings are Tozankaku and Shippokaku, so including the main building it seems to be a three-building setup.
Apparently there are nine room types in total.

Rooms with an open-air bath: There seem to be rooms named Kiso, Mikasa, and Karatsu
Ocean-side rooms: Some rooms apparently have a view of Hatsushima Island
Traditional Japanese-style rooms: They mentioned a room built with zelkova wood
Maisonette: Two were listed, Kanazawa and Tsugaru
Connecting rooms: It looks like a type meant for groups and families

The official site says the in-room baths in every room are fed with source water from the hot spring. Apparently if you fill the tub and let it cool down, you can enjoy hot spring water with nothing added. Being able to soak in a hot spring while staying holed up in my room is a real draw for an indoor person like me.

There are two large public baths, Tensei no Yu and Kaisei no Yu, and it seems the men's and women's sides switch depending on the time of day.

Tensei no Yu: Apparently it has an indoor bath, an open-air bath, a sauna, and a cold plunge. Men's hours were listed as 14:00–25:00 and women's as 5:00–9:30 the next morning
Kaisei no Yu: Apparently it has an indoor bath, an open-air bath, and an open-air lie-down bath. The hours are the reverse of Tensei no Yu
Water type: It's described as a calcium-sodium chloride hot spring that's weakly alkaline, hypertonic, and high-temperature
Water temperature: The source water is above 60°C, and the large baths are apparently diluted with tap water and adjusted to 42°C

I couldn't confirm on the official site whether day-trip bathing is available, how much it costs, or whether there are private baths for rent. If you're curious, it's probably best to contact them directly.

In-Room Dining for Both Dinner and Breakfast, and Some Plans Let You Pick the Main

Both dinner and breakfast are served in your room, apparently. However, for groups of five or more or for two or more rooms, meals are held in a banquet hall.
For the dinner main, it seems you can choose between dancing-style grilled abalone and ceramic-plate-grilled Japanese black beef, though in some plans you can't choose. The special beef stew is said to be served with every plan that includes dinner.

Apparently the inn has a gift shop, a reservation-only treatment room (aroma treatments), a mahjong room, a banquet hall, meeting rooms, and more. They also seem to offer free morning coffee as you head out.
I couldn't confirm the dinner and breakfast start times on the official site.

If you're going by car, there's parking for about 10 passenger cars, and it's free. There was a note that if you park in front of the entrance, the staff will move the car for you. For larger vehicles like microbuses and campervans, you're apparently directed to a city-run parking lot (with the fee paid by the guest).
It says there are no non-smoking rooms, but if you let them know in advance, it seems they can deodorize the room for you. I couldn't find anything about whether pets are allowed.

On the nearby sightseeing page, names like the Atami Seaside Fireworks Festival, the Atami Baien Plum Festival, the MOA Museum of Art, Kiunkaku, and Kinomiya Shrine were listed. However, it doesn't seem to mention the distance or travel time from the inn. You can check the official site here.

Rakuten Mobile Signal Conditions

I entered the inn's location (the Tokaigan-cho area of Atami) into the official “my Area Communication Simulation” to check.
The overall result showed up as “AAA.”

Keep in mind that this result is strictly a simulation from the official tool. The actual signal conditions may vary depending on where you are in the building, the building's structure, the time of day, and so on. If you're concerned, I'd recommend checking with the official Rakuten Mobile tool yourself before your stay.

Komorin

Getting an AAA rating was a relief. For someone like me who wants to laze around in the room and still use my phone, that's a pretty encouraging result.

See Rakuten Mobile Details

Wrapping Up

To sum it up, my impression of Sakuraya Ryokan is that it's a hot spring inn that's easy to get to, just a 5-minute walk from Atami Station (per the official site), and that looks great for staying in, with in-room dining for dinner and breakfast and in-room baths fed with source water.

The official site mentions the 77 steps along the way, but I couldn't confirm the specific room rates or whether day-trip bathing is available, so those are worth checking beforehand. Pick-up requires a reservation, so if you need it, it might be reassuring to ask early.
The Rakuten Mobile signal got an “AAA” rating in the official tool. If you're curious, please check with the official Rakuten Mobile tool as well.

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