We stayed in the cutest hotel. I told Wilf I was going to title this post (with apologies to Willie Nelson) ‘On the floor again’, but decided that wasn’t as clever as I thought.
Anyhoo. The hotel is called Shosenkaku Kagetsu and it is a traditional hotel right near the train station, practically underneath the gondola to the ski area. It is set back from the street amongst the trees. Our room was a traditional Japanese room…
It has a sitting area with chairs and a table, in addition to the low table and chairs in the main area. As you can see the beds are futons on the floor, and I will say (as I always do) that they are comfortable for sleeping its the getting up and down that is sometimes a challenge. We arrived after dark so could not see what was outside the window.
Our room looked down onto a koi pond.
Koi of all sizes, expecting a hand out..
There was a lovely public bath with one of the nicest outdoor baths we have been to. Smaller inns like this switch the baths back and forth one day to the next, so on Thursday the ladies use the area to the left and on Friday they use the area to the right. The big clue is that the curtains at the entrance change colour. In fact it was the public bath at a hotel years ago when I firmly leaned the kanji for man and for woman. We had gone to the bath before bed and when I got off the elevator I turned to the right. In the morning I decided to go back , got off the elevator and was in the process of turning to the right. From out of nowhere a tiny elderly lady in a kimono appeared, spun me around and pushed me through the curtain to the left, saving me from embarrassment. Advice for you – Ladies change room, restroom, whatever- signage is always in red. Men’s are blue. And the kanji for woman is 女 (looks sort of like a figure curtsying). Man is 男 (figure with a rice paddy for a head..)
The baths switch back and forth when they are different – one might have a view of the garden, another is outside. This way the guests can enjoy all of the options.
Throughout the hotel there were little niches with sculptures or displays of handcrafts, origami creations – always something interesting to look at. They had a nice lounge where we could have coffee in the morning and no matter where you sat there was a view into a little enclosed outdoor garden, each one different.
The lobby area had a little stream full of tiny little carp to enjoy. When we stepped off the elevator on our floor there was an interesting scent in the air. It turns out that the tatami mats on that floor had all been replaced recently and our room smelt so fresh, like a freshly mown field.
So – should you find yourself in Yuzawa, Niigata prefecture and you want a charming place to stay please do consider Shoshenkaku kagetsu.
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