SPA TERRACE Shisui

A 14-room inn opened in 2017 as an annexe to Choraku, the older ryokan whose grounds it shares, ten minutes’ walk from Arima-Onsen station. Three rooms have their own hot spring bath: Tsuzumizakura, about 55 sq m; Atagoyuri, 45 sq m; and Nenezakuro, 40 sq m, its bath out past the terrace. The rest have none.

Arima has two waters; both are piped here from a source on the grounds. The women’s bath, Totoya-no-yu, has an open-air kinsen (gold spring) tub, an indoor ginsen (silver spring) one and a mist sauna scented with the silver water; the men’s, Sumiya-no-yu, has the first two, its gold tub added in 2020. The gold is an iron-bearing strong salt water, the silver a radium spring — cloudy and undiluted, but reheated and recirculated rather than free-flowing. The three room baths take a blend of the two. Bathing runs 15:00–24:00 and 06:00–10:00.

Dinner is the kitchen’s own wa-French (和フレンチ): appetiser, carpaccio, soup, fish, meat, rice and dessert, changed about every two months. Breakfast is a Japanese or Western plate chosen at check-in. Both are served in the Hanakago dining room, which the inn notes is not private.

A private bath is 5,500 yen for 50 minutes, same-day and first-come only, over at Choraku up stone steps; guests may use Choraku’s baths once per stay. Check-in 15:00, last arrival 18:00, check-out 11:00. Under-12s are not admitted, though sources differ on whether a 12-year-old qualifies. Some 20 to 30 steps lead to the entrance.