日帰り温泉 兆寿泉

I stopped by while out for a drive. This hot spring facility is located inside Hotel Lakeside Tsukuba. I paid 1,000 yen to enter at the front desk (?) on the right side of the hotel entrance. It appears you have the option of going down to the basement on the left side of the building to access the open-air bath, or going up to the second floor on the right side to access the large public bath. *Apparently, you can use both, but since they're in different locations, you'd have to change clothes and move between them every time, so it really just comes down to a choice between the two. So I headed to the open-air bath on the left, on the first basement floor. The layout is as previous reviews have stated, but the smaller bath in the front is a warm bathtub with free-flowing hot spring water, and the larger one in the back is a lukewarm bathtub with circulating filtered water. There are four shower rooms (washing areas) below the stairs leading to the bath entrance. (Body shampoo, shampoo, and conditioner provided) It was a weekday (late December) after 5 PM, and there were two other guests ahead of me, but they left shortly after, almost replacing me. I had the bath all to myself for about an hour after that. The water in the free-flowing hot spring was warm (though not hot enough to be called hot), with a slightly brown, smooth, and slippery texture, which was very comfortable. After about 20 minutes, it started to get too hot, so I moved to the circulating, filtered bath for the second half. This one was lukewarm, so I soaked for about an hour, gazing at the stars in the night sky, satellites, and passenger planes heading to Haneda Airport. It did have a strong chlorine smell, but in a cold December open-air bath, you'd get cold quickly if you didn't stay in it for the entire time. My hands and feet were still smooth even after I got home, and it was a very relaxing time.

This hot spring is located in Hotel Lakeside Tsukuba. Drop-ins are welcome. There's an indoor bath and an open-air bath (there are private shower booths outside). During cold weather, it might be a little tough to jump in outside, so it's best to warm up in the indoor bath first. The indoor and outdoor baths are separated, so it's a bit of a hassle to move between them, though... The open-air bath is built around rocks. There's one tub, one with circulating water and one with free-flowing water. The circulating water seemed hotter. The slightly hotter pouring water also reminded me of hot spring water, and it had quite an earthy smell. This is probably the original aroma of this hot spring. You can even get a glimpse of Ushiku Lake. There's a roof, so the back tub is under the roof. I took a leisurely soak in the heated one at the front. This is a typical Kanto hot spring with a brown salty color. It's quite smooth and silky. It used to feel like a private bath, but now more and more people are coming. It's not crowded yet, though. A list of the hot spring ingredients is available in the changing room. You can drink cold water in the changing room and lotions and other products are provided. There aren't many hot springs in the Tsukuba area, so this place, although it's in Ushiku, might be a hidden gem. *I previously wrote about the hot springs in a hotel review, but the hotel review itself has disappeared.

(1) First visit. Just a day trip to the hot springs. 1,000 yen for adults isn't cheap, but I'm glad that infants are free. Fees apply for elementary school students and above. (2) The biggest selling point is how empty it is. It's especially quiet between 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM. (3) There are two baths: an open-air bath in the basement with free-flowing hot spring water, and an indoor bath on the second floor. Neither has a cold bath or sauna. (4) The quality of the spring water isn't bad, but personally, I found the open-air bath in the basement to be quite dirty. There were algae, leaves, and small debris floating around. It bothered me and prevented me from soaking for long. I wonder if they could keep it a little cleaner? (5) A rest room is open to day trippers. However, the heating wasn't on, so it was cold. There might have been a switch somewhere. If you're planning on going, ask the staff.

It's more like a leisure facility bath than a hot spring. The baths are located on the second floor and the basement, and the changing rooms are in separate locations. I recommend the basement hot spring. There's only a shower and an open-air bath, nothing else. Of course, there's no sauna either. However, being outdoors gives it a sense of openness, and perhaps because of that, it's usually empty, even in the middle of a holiday (I went in around 2 PM on a holiday, and there was only one other person there). For those who don't need anything but an open-air bath, or who don't want to be stuck in a crowded hot spring and want to go to an empty one, this is a hidden gem. In the summer, the attached pool apparently has a water slide. There's also a dog run and a golf course.

I visited the hot springs for a day trip after 7:00 PM on a Saturday at the end of February. It cost 1,100 yen for adults. By chance, there were no other guests in the open-air bath on the first basement floor, so my son and I had it all to ourselves. (Several other guests arrived later.) It was amazing gazing at the starry sky while bathing in the open-air bath! The shower in the open-air bath was also easy to use and comfortable. I was so satisfied with the open-air bath that I didn't go to the large public bath on the second floor. I'd like to try it again next time.