The onsen bath on the 9th floor

We don’t write about hotels very often. We here at WoWasis don’t get complimentary rooms, we pay for our own. So when we take the time to write about a hotel, it’s gotta be good. If you’re ever in the beautiful historical city of Takayama, Japan, a bit northeast of Kyoto, then you’ve got to stay at the Spa-Hotel Alpina. Here’s what you get for your $75 USD:

Looks great by day, too

1)A simple, clean room with free LAN connection and a cool Japanese “toilet shower”
2) A breakfast
3) An incredible onsen (Japanese hot spring-type bath) on the top floor, where you can get a  180 degree view of the city while you’re soaking.
4) Great location: 3 minutes walk from the train station, 5 minutes walk to most major sites.
5) A really friendly staff.

Frankly, it’s the 9^th floor bath that got us. It’s got three hot pools, all overlooking the city. One has undulating tiles, so you can soak as if you were on a chaise longue. Another pool is outside, so you can feel the cool evening air with your upper body, while keeping the rest of you nice and hot below water.

You can book it online, but you’ll probably pay more (around $100 USD) than if you called by phone ($75 USD). We happen to think it’s a bargain at $100 anyway.

Spa-Hotel Alpina
5-41, Nadamachi, Takayama-city, Gifu 506-0021
Phone: +81-(0)577-33-0033 Fax: +81-(0)577-35-3600
http://www.spa-hotel-alpina.com/english/index.html