Sawatari Onsen Miyataya Ryokan

The baths consist of three: a large public bath, a family bath, and a private bath. The baths, which have gentle spring water straight from the source, are available 24 hours a day. There is no extra charge for using the family bath. On the day we stayed, we relaxed in the open-air bath many times from night until morning. Meals are served in private rooms, which is nice. Coronavirus measures are also in place. It was my first time at Sawado Onsen, but it was a great hot spring.

Sawatari Onsen has been rooted in this area for a long time as the hot spring of Kusatsu Onsen. Looking at the map, it's about halfway between Kusatsu and Shima. Compared to places like Kusatsu, the hot spring town has no foot traffic and almost no shops. Silence. . . correction. I think people who like remote hot spring towns will love this kind of atmosphere. Miyataya is located at the top of the hill in the hot spring town. When you look at the inn from the outside, you might think it's small, but it's built like a typical Kyoto townhouse, with the inn going deeper and deeper into the back. The three-story building has an indoor bath, a private open-air bath, and a family bath. It's nice to know that you can take a bath 24 hours a day, except for the private open-air bath. It's not as acidic as Kusatsu, nor is it cloudy, nor does it have a strong sulfur smell. I wonder if the temperature of the water will be a little lukewarm. . . It may not be enough for hot springs for hot guys who only like hot springs, but since I'm not too assertive, it was gentle on my skin and didn't irritate my skin, making it easy to take a long bath. Both meals were served in a private room. I highly recommend the famous cream-grilled apple that I had for dinner. At first glance, you might think it's a dessert, but since it's topped with scallops, it could almost be treated as a main dish. It's also hearty because it uses a whole apple. The wait staff was a foreigner who was learning Japanese, so I had the rare experience of writing drink orders on a piece of paper and handing them to them. I thought it was a shame that the open-air bath was a completely closed space with no view. But overall, I think it's a good inn. I would like to visit again as a refreshing bath after a day trip bath in Kusatsu.