Hotel Sansuiso

Hotel Sansuiso is a long-established hotel founded in 1953 (Showa 28), standing in the quiet forest by Lake Yamanaka, one of the component sites of the World Heritage site Mount Fuji. Follow the road that leads in among the trees from the lakeside road, and the hotel appears within the green natural surroundings of Lake Yamanaka.

■Baths (heated Mount Fuji groundwater) The baths here are filled with groundwater from Mount Fuji, heated for bathing. Resting your body in that perfectly clear groundwater is a bathing experience you can have only at Lake Yamanaka.

■Dining The seasonal dishes prepared by the head chef are the signature of a stay here. The Japanese kaiseki course uses local ingredients the area is proud of in abundance, so you can savor the seasonal flavors that Lake Yamanaka is known for through the year. Accommodation plans offered only on the hotel's website include:

• With website benefits: 【Dinner Served in Your Room】 a Lake Yamanaka stay you can enjoy without worrying about other guests
• 【A Slightly Self-Service, Value-Priced Plan】 a good-value plan where you enjoy dinner half self-service
• 【Website-Only Soothing Bonfire Plan】 dinner served in your room, plus a bonfire
• 【Special Plan】 with wagyu sirloin steak and snow crab

These plans center on in-room dining, for a calm and unhurried style of meal.

■Location and Setting The hotel stands in the forest at an elevation of about 1,000 m by Lake Yamanaka, looking out over the largest of the Fuji Five Lakes. The air is wonderfully clear and soothing, and the wild flowers that bloom on Fuji's rugged ground add to the calm of the setting. At night you can gaze up at a sky full of stars, and in the morning you wake refreshed to birdsong.

■Access and Parking About 25 to 30 minutes by car from Fujisan Station or Gotemba Station. Check-in is from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., and checkout is at 10 a.m.