Hotel GuteWelle

The bath here is milky white sulfur water: it runs from the source but is warmed before it reaches the hinoki (檜) tubs, and pale flecks of yunohana (湯の花) settle in the water. The indoor bath and the outdoor rotenburo connect through a small opening you duck through without stepping outside, so you can move between them even in winter without getting cold. On a clear day the rotenburo looks out to Mt. Norikura, and the sky fills with stars after dark. There's also a kashikiri (貸切) private bath for guests who'd rather not use the gender-split baths, or who use a wheelchair, plus a rest area with massage chairs for afterward. Hotel GuteWelle takes its Japanese name, "the wood-scented hotel," from guest rooms built with pine imported from Europe, and its German name from Grindelwald, the Swiss resort town twinned with the Matsumoto area that shaped the owners' vision for Norikura Kogen.