Sightseeing from Ueda Castle to Hokkoku Kaido Yanagimachihere
Kakuma Onsen Iwayakan
Today is ``Kakuma Onsen IwayakanI will stay at ``.
This is one of the resorts of the Kanto IT Software Health Insurance Association (Kanto ITS).
There are several resorts in Kanto ITS, but they all have the same price: insured persons and dependents can stay for 5,500 yen per person, and companions can stay for 11,000 yen per person.
This time we will stay at ``Kakuma Onsen IwayakanIf you make a regular reservation for 2 people, it will cost about 20,000 yen per person including dinner and breakfast, so it will cost about 40,000 yen for 2 people.
I won't reveal who is insured, me or my wife, but in this case, one insured person and one accompanying person can use the service for a total of 16,500 yen, so it's a bargain at this point.
By the way, children can use it at half price.
Families with children can travel at very low prices, so the Kanto ITS resorts are very popular, and many of them can only be booked by winning a lottery.
However, this “Kakuma Onsen Iwayakan” can be reserved without a lottery.
This time I will try to find out the reason.
Transfer
There is a shuttle bus that departs from the hot spring entrance of Ueda Station at 3:00 p.m., so you can access it even if you don't have a private car or rental car.
To use the shuttle bus, a reservation must be made in advance by 17:00 4 days before check-in.
There is an image of a bus on the website, but what actually arrived was a bus, or rather a Pajero.
We will take you to the hotel in a Pajero.
It says it takes about 40 minutes to get from Ueda Station to the hotel, but in reality it took just under 30 minutes.
Upon arrival, you will check in.
You will need your insurance card when checking in, so don't forget to bring it with you.
room
After checking in, you will be given a brief explanation of the facility's facilities and guided to your room.
There were two rooms we stayed in this time, and they were quite spacious.
It's a Japanese-style room, but you sleep on the bed.
The rooms and building as a whole felt old, but I didn't feel like they were dirty or needed cleaning.
Water and hot water are provided for drinks.
There are no convenience stores nearby, but you can order beer at the front desk for a fee, and you can also drink it in your room.
Radio waves come in
Looking at blogs and reviews from a few years ago, there was information that there was no cell phone reception.
Both my wife and I use Rakuten Mobile, and the signal is normal.
I was hoping that I would be able to do a digital detox since there was no radio waves, so I was glad that there was no radio waves. .
There is Wi-Fi in the building and in the rooms, so don't worry if you don't have a signal.
The speed is also comfortable enough.
Also, as per blogs and reviews, there was no terrestrial TV, so only BS was available.
Personally, I don't watch much TV, especially when I'm traveling, so it wasn't a problem for me personally.
heating
The rooms we stay in and the dining room where we eat dinner and breakfast are heated and warm, but the heating in the hallways is weak and cold.
After warming up in the hot spring, your body will cool down a bit by the time you return to your room.
bath
There are 3 types of baths.
- Indoor bath
- open-air bath
- family bath
Indoor bath
Images are taken from the homepage.
The indoor bath is divided into men's and women's baths.
You can take a bath at any time from check-in (15:00) to check-out (10:00).
Also, this is the only place with a washing area, so we recommend washing your body here first.
The image on the homepage shows two types of hot springs, but in reality there is only one type, and it is a brown carbonated spring.
It was damaged by a typhoon, and since then the source has been diluted and used.
The color of the hot water is brown, but it is diluted so you don't feel that carbonated or hot spring feeling.
When you get close to where the hot water comes out, you can smell the faint smell of hot springs, so I decided to take a soak around here.
When I got out of the bath, I felt so moisturized that I didn't even need to apply lotion, and I realized that I had just soaked in a hot spring.
There was a faucet at the entrance of the indoor bath where you could drink the hot spring water, but I was unable to use it when I stayed there.
I tried drinking the spring water, and there was no chlorine smell, and it tasted delicious since I had just gotten out of the bath.
open-air bath
The image of the bath is taken from the homepage.
Climb the elegant stairs to move around.
As you can see from the image on the homepage, there are two types of hot spring water: hot springs and boiling water.
Unlike the indoor baths, the open-air baths are not diluted, so the quality of the water is carbonated and slippery, and the water is rich in iron, so I felt a strong blood-like scent.
The temperature is slightly lukewarm, so you can stay in the hot spring for a long time.
If this is the original ability, it can't be helped because of the circumstances, but it is a great waste that the indoor bath is diluted.
When you visit, we recommend you to take a bath in the open-air bath.
Please note that the usage hours are limited to 15:00-21:00 to prevent heat shock.
After checking in and washing your body in the indoor bath, go to the open-air bath immediately.
Then come back in before or after dinner.
By doing this, I think you can enjoy both the view during the day and the steamy atmosphere at night.
The biggest thing to keep in mind is that it is basically a mixed bath.
However, there is a women-only time, so women can use it with peace of mind.
Since it is only available to hotel guests, there are no old men (commonly known as crocodiles) who want to see naked women, so I want them to feel safe there.
I think it depends on the timing, but my wife and I were able to enter during the mixed bathing time.
No other guests came while I was there, so I was able to have a good time.
family bath
There is also a family bath available if you make a reservation.
I was told that it was boiling water, not a hot spring, so I skipped it this time.
dinner
Dinner start time is fixed at 18:00.
When I'm ready, I get a call in my room and head to the dining room.
This is where you meet up with other guests, and today there were 3 groups including us.
Why don't we run into each other in the bath?
drinks
Drinks included beer, wine, shochu, sake, and soft drinks.
They said they didn't have carbonated water and couldn't offer sour drinks.
My wife can't drink beer, so we chose sake from the beginning, and I decided to have a glass of sake while drinking beer.
A medium bottle of beer was 660 yen, and the sake was 1,320 yen for 300ml of Iwaya Kannon.
The sake seems to be Iwayakan's original label.
Drinks are not cheap and are similar to those at izakaya bars, but they are not as expensive as inns or hotels, so you can order with confidence.
Menu
The menu was written orally so I only vaguely remember it.
sesame tofu
The sake goes well with the flavor of sesame seeds.
Young sweetfish, surf clam, edamame wasabi?
All of them are good for beer and sake.
Mozuku vinegar
It's neither good nor bad.
Hoha miso
If you come to a hot spring or mountain area, there is a high probability that you will find Hoba miso.
It was my first time to pair Hoha miso with duck, but the taste of duck was strong and the beer went well.
Deep-fried cherry blossom trout
It's fried to a crisp, and the sauce and slight curry flavor make the beer go well.
Salt-grilled sweetfish
This is the first sweetfish of the year.
The bitterness is a little strong, but the sake goes well.
Tempura
Enoki tempura was served at soba restaurants during the day, but you don't see it that often in Tokyo.
Is it common in Nagano?
The taste was so strong that I thought this is what enoki mushrooms taste like.
yellowtail
Leaving aside the reason why it's yellowtail sashimi, it's just delicious.
Vegetable rice, miso soup
I had planned to eat white rice with the yellowtail as a seafood bowl, but it was a happy miscalculation.
It's salty and delicious.
I was told that refills were OK, so I only had it once.
pink grapefruit
I get the impression that it had a strong sour taste.
Impressions of dinner
If you look at the example posted on the homepage, it looks luxurious, such as carp dishes and shabu-shabu, but in reality, it doesn't feel luxurious.
I'm sure a lot of local ingredients are used, such as mushrooms and vegetables, but there were some dishes like yellowtail that made me wonder why.
As for the taste, it's not that great, but I think it's good enough.
As for the volume, my wife, who is a light eater, ate almost all of it, so it may not be enough for men.
Let's cover that up by drinking alcohol or having a second helping of rice.
Please note that even if you get hungry in the middle of the night, there is nothing around, and the front desk does not sell snacks, so you will be hungry until morning. .
breakfast
Breakfast starts at 8:00.
Unlike dinner, there was no phone call to my room, but I was told to come to the dining room at 8:00.
I wake up around 7:00, take a morning bath, and head to the dining room after taking a bath.
Menu
A small bowl of Japanese vegetables, dashimaki eggs, candied boiled vegetables, and a few pickles.
The main dish is boiled tofu.
It's a menu that lets you eat rice.
You can get second helpings of rice, so I had 3 refills plus the rest for my wife, making a total of 4.5 bowls.
Impressions of breakfast
There aren't many hotels that offer luxurious breakfasts, so I think this is what it's all about.
Breakfast may be a bit unsatisfactory for men in terms of volume, but you can adjust by having a second helping of rice.
Check-out ~ Transfer
I took a bath before breakfast, but I also take a bath after meals.
After settling the bill, it was 20,320 yen for accommodation + drinks + bathing tax.
I had quite a few drinks: 3 beers, 1 sake, and 1 soft drink, but the original accommodation fee was low, so I was able to stay at a cheap price.
The bus, or rather the Pajero, departs at 10:00, so I think it would be a good idea to pay the bill 10 to 5 minutes beforehand to avoid inconveniencing your fellow passengers.
We left on time and had a Pajero shuttle us to Ueda Station.
Impressions
I felt that it was not an accommodation for children or young people and I think this is why you can book without a lottery.
Firstly, the place is not suitable for children or young people.
Other resorts are located in famous tourist destinations such as Hakone and Karuizawa, so Ueda feels plain compared to them.
I don't know what new graduates or people in their early 20s like about the food menu, but I think it's a menu that young people don't really like.
By the way, there seems to be a separate menu for children.
As for how to spend your time, I think that once you check in, you basically retire to the inn, and the flow is check-in → hot spring → dinner → hot spring → sleep → hot spring → breakfast → hot spring → check out.
There are no play facilities inside the building, so I think this is also a good place for children.
Basically, I think this is an inn for people in their 30s and above who don't have children and want to forget about the city and spend a relaxing time.
I'm in my 30s and above and don't have children, so I was able to relax and enjoy the hot springs.
If I had to be greedy, I would have liked to have used the open-air bath in the morning as well.
I think I will use it again in the future.
