Wakakusa no Yado Maruei

Location and Access

This onsen ryokan stands on the southern shore of Lake Kawaguchiko, facing the water with Mount Fuji behind it, and the rooftop Mount Fuji Observation Deck offers 360-degree panoramic views. Rooms with a view of Mount Fuji are limited to the 10-tatami Japanese-style rooms with an open-air bath on the Mount Fuji side (sleeping 3 guests); most rooms are laid out facing the lake.

It is about 10 minutes by car from the Kawaguchiko IC on the Chuo Expressway and about 40 minutes from the Gotemba IC on the Tomei Expressway. If you come by train, a free shuttle runs from Kawaguchiko Station on the Fujikyu Line: pickups run from 3 p.m., with the last one at 5 p.m., and you need to call once you reach Kawaguchiko Station; drop-offs run every 30 minutes from 8 a.m., with the last one at 11 a.m.

Rooms

There are 46 rooms in all, sleeping up to 220 guests. The lineup centers on 31 Japanese-style tatami rooms, along with 13 Japanese-style tatami rooms with an open-air bath (5 of them on the special Nonohana-tei floor), 2 Japanese-Western rooms with a view bath, and 4 other rooms. The open-air baths and view baths in the guest rooms are not onsen: they are heated water drawn from natural Mount Fuji spring water, and guests fill the bath themselves. Children aged 12 and under, including babies and toddlers, cannot stay in the 5 Nonohana-tei rooms on the special floor, so families with children should choose another room type. Every room has a bathroom, a bidet toilet, an LCD TV, an air purifier with a humidifying function, an electric kettle, a refrigerator and a safe for valuables. The entire property is non-smoking, with a single smoking area on the front-lobby floor.

Staying with Children

Children of elementary school age are charged 70% of the adult rate, which covers a kaiseki dinner comparable to the adult meal, a Japanese breakfast and a full set of bedding. For children under school age, meals and futon bedding cost 50% of the adult rate; futon bedding alone costs 4,400 yen; for children aged 3 and over needing neither meals nor bedding there is a facility-use fee of 2,200 yen; and children aged 0 to 2 needing neither meals nor bedding stay free of charge (please note this in the request field when booking). A full set of bedding comes with a children's yukata (for heights from 100 cm), a children's bath set and a bath towel. The lobby has the picture-book room Otenki-ya, one of the touches that makes the ryokan easy for children to spend time in.

Please note: food allergies cannot be accommodated. Baby food is not provided either, but if you bring your own, the staff can warm it in a microwave and lend you serving plates.

Onsen and Communal Baths

The top-floor open-air view baths Fuji no Yu (with a Mount Fuji view) and Umi no Yu (with a Lake Kawaguchiko view), together with the communal baths Goso Alps no Yu (with an onsen herbal bath and steam and high-temperature saunas) and Wakakusa no Yu (with a mist sauna), alternate between men and women, so you can enjoy all four baths in a single night. The spring water is a sulfate and chloride hot spring.

The communal baths are open from 3 p.m. to midnight and from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m., and the open-air view baths from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. and from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Children wearing diapers cannot use the communal baths or the open-air baths. Please use the bath in your room instead, or the private-hire view bath Fuyo no Yu, which carries an additional charge (3 p.m. to 10 p.m. and 8:10 a.m. to 10 a.m.; 1,650 yen per group for 30 minutes, reserved on the day on a first-come, first-served basis). Guests with tattoos, including temporary sticker tattoos, cannot use the baths.

Dining

Dinner starts between around 5:30 p.m. and around 7 p.m., served either in your room or in a private dining room; you cannot choose which, but both are private spaces for your party alone. Known locally as "Maruei of the cuisine," the ryokan serves seasonal kaiseki with a well-established reputation. Breakfast is served at the breakfast venue, starting from 7:30 a.m., with the last start time at 8:30 a.m. Children's meals are available too: a children's kaiseki meal or a children's menu at dinner, and a Japanese children's breakfast set in the morning.

Parking

Free parking for 100 passenger cars, all outdoors.