Hotel Kasuien

Hotel Kasuien has two very different baths. The basement bath is shallow enough for half-body soaks and a reclining tub, set around a garden designed by landscape artist Kazuyuki Ishihara. The women's side there has its own outdoor garden bath, plus toys and a baby bath kept on hand for families. Upstairs, the rooftop bath on the ninth floor is fully open to the sky: the town spreads out below by day, and stars come out at night. Two private baths in the basement can be booked in advance, and day-use bathers are welcome to use them too. The spring water is sodium bicarbonate and chloride, the kind of soft, silky water that gives Ureshino its reputation as one of Japan's three great skin-smoothing hot springs. Rooms lean traditional ryokan style, and a couple of the top-tier ones have their own indoor onsen view bath, while the in-house restaurant serves casual meals alongside the baths.