Relax And Soak Your Body In Beverages At Yunessun Spa Resort, Hakone

Within the tranquil ranges of Hakone

Located at Hakone, which is one of the most popular onsen locations in Japan, Yunessun Spa Resort serves a unique group who craves for something out of the box rather than the traditional. It is also considered as a water amusement park, as it includes water slides and playgrounds for kids. If a tourist does not have a swimwear, there are shops inside that sells them alongside other swim equipments. Tickets to enter does not cost a bomb, as it only requires 2,800 JPY (22.59 USD) for adults and 1,500 JPY (12.10 USD) for children aged 3 to 12 years old.

Built in a nation that embraces high technology, Yunessun Spa Resort has electronic lockers to secure your belongings and waterproof wristbands that serve as a key and credit device. You may use the wristband to record all your purchases such as food or swimwear and pay just before leaving the resort. This innovation definitely brings more convenience and less worries to visitors since wallets are not required during the whole experience. It is free of charge to use this service, hence, please visit the reception desk to ask for the wristbands.

Say cheers while you submerge in delicious hot wine!

Upon entering the flavored onsens, all that surrounds you are mostly greenery with a border made of natural and man-made rocks. It does seem like you have found a hidden exotic spa with unique art features (i.e. giant wine bottle, giant teapot, etc.) within a forest in Hakone.

The wine bath is indeed unique to have a brewery theme integrated within its zone. Imagine soaking yourself in piping hot red wine! Interestingly, soaking in wine used to be a rejuvenation treatment used regularly by Cleopatra who loved to bathe in wine.

In case you are wondering, the management claims that real red wine has been included in the onsen. Non-alcohol lovers who cannot stomach the smell of red wine need not worry, as you will hardly smell any alcoholic traces. Instead, the wine pool exudes a smell that reminds one of medicine. Visitors who are conservative or sensitive to smell may want to take note.

Despite being an alcoholic onsen, there is no age restriction regarding the entry to this zone. This is probably because the management knows no one will drink directly from the onsen but just in case anyone gets too excited, there are warning signs in this place to warn them not to succumb to their temptations to drink.

Soak in Sake bath to improve your skin!

Some of the onsens are made to make visitors feel like they are in a traditional Japanese bathhouse made of wooden walls and one of them is the sake bath.

The sake bath is a Japanese rice wine flavored onsen. Designed with a huge traditional cask with a huge Japanese kanji (character) stating “sake”, little droplets of sake drip into the small pool, which can be quite a squeeze at times. This bath is odorless and it feels like you are soaking in a regular traditional onsen due to the bathhouse atmosphere. Again, this is an alcoholic bath with no age restriction and for those who have skin problems, you may want to soak in this bath to improve the health of your skin. Now, on to a non-alcoholic one.

Soak in hot tea below boiling point

This could just be the flavored onsen that caters to everyone. The green tea onsen is one of the largest among the others. This zone has a giant teapot about 2m tall, dripping brewed authentic green tea, which has been collected from the foot of the Tanzawa and Hakone mountains. It is truly aromatic and refreshing, as you shall be surrounded by the fragrance of green tea.

As usual, Yunessun Spa Resort is able to mimic an experience of soaking in hot green tea by making the pool emerald green in colour. It was initially semi-indoors like the sake bath but it has been extended to the outdoors most probably due to popularity. Now, not only will you be fascinated by the giant teapot but you are also able to relax amid man-made features such as the fountain and rocks.

Enjoy soaking in beverages to the fullest

There are many other interesting flavours such as honey and coffee. But, if soaking in pools of your desired flavours is not enough and if you are really tempted to drink from the pool (never do that!), do not worry as the management has got it covered - for you to be totally ‘soaked’ with the beverages.

There is a certain period during operational hours whereby the staff will come to serve you the real deal. When you are already soaking wet in the bath, you will get doubly wet with your desired flavours, as the staff will come splashing you with real honey, green tea, wine etc. The staff will call to the crowd to let you know that he is coming to serve you. Most will gather to get splashed but if you are a little conservative, feel free to ask the staff to serve you personally by pouring it in your hands. As for green tea and coffee, they are not piping hot but just warm, so you do not need to worry about being scalded.

For those who seek traditional baths

If you are looking for something not too fancy or merely to experience the Japanese culture of bathing in hot spring, there are other options such as the charcoal bath, fortune bath, cherry blossom viewing bath and the Goemon’s bath, which mimics the style of how Goemon who was a thief during the feudal Japan era got boiled to death in a boiling hot cauldron. Obviously, the temperature will be safe for soaking, so do not worry about suffering the same plight as Goemon.