Spa Bizan no Yu

This natural hot spring facility is located on the 11th floor, the top floor of the Tokushima Meitengai and Hotel Sunroute Tokushima, close to JR Tokushima Station. Day-trip bathing is now available, and the facility is currently open from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM. However, there are some closed days and times, such as during maintenance periods; notices are posted throughout the building, so we recommend checking in advance. On the day of our visit, we drove to the facility and parked at the "Station Front Motor Pool No. 1," which currently offers a two-hour parking discount for day-trip visitors and has an adjacent direct access. Present your parking pass at the hot spring front desk and we'll stamp the discount for you. The hot spring facility is located one floor away from the elevator, and there's a staff member at the front desk. There's a ticket machine next to the front desk, where you can pay for your bathing fee and purchase towels and other items for a hassle-free experience. There's also a vending machine corner, making it easy to stay hydrated. Current amenities at the hot spring include shampoo, conditioner, body soap, face wash, and skincare products. Present your bathing ticket at the front desk in exchange for a shoe locker key. There are also lockers at the front desk for your valuables, so you can store them safely. The changing room has 24 free lockers and clothes baskets, and you can use any locker with a lock. The hot spring water is a natural hot spring (sodium chloride cold mineral spring) that springs from deep underground, and a list of its ingredients is posted in the changing room. It is rare hot spring water that springs from within the city, but its wide range of effects and benefits are listed, so it offers great potential. In addition to the main bathtub and washing area, the bathroom also has a high-temperature sauna, and the outdoor open-air bath is equipped with a cold bath, a jacuzzi, and chairs for relaxing. The water in the main bath is cloudy and contains natural hot spring ingredients. I visited in the winter, and the water was just the right temperature to warm me from the inside out. It was incredibly comfortable, and I was able to soak for a long time. The outdoor open-air bath was filled with a breeze from the 11th floor, creating a sense of openness and invigoration not typically found at hot springs. Being on the rooftop, it was surrounded by a fence, but the plants and bright sunlight filtering in created a resort-like atmosphere. However, on windy winter days, the temperature felt lower than expected. The bottom of the cold bath felt slippery, and steps have been found in two places indoors, so it's important to watch your step and take care to avoid falling. The cloudy water in the main bath was very pleasant, but the outdoor open-air bath in the warm weather seemed even more comfortable and luxurious. The area around Tokushima Station is home to a variety of restaurants and shopping, making it a convenient location for new discoveries, including this hot spring.

Hotel Sunroute's large public bath is located on the 11th floor. It's free for hotel guests. Visitors are also welcome to use it for a fee, though it's open during limited hours. Visitors purchase a bath ticket for 880 yen (up from 730 yen) from the ticket machine located just outside the elevator on the 11th floor. They then hand it over to the staff member at the counter and receive a shoe locker key. Towels (120 yen) and amenities are also available for purchase. I'd rate the lockers about 60 points clean. There are six shower faucets on the right side of the bath and three on the left (one of which was out of service). The shower heads and other fixtures around the faucets aren't particularly clean. They could use a more thorough scrubbing to remove easily smudges like mold. There's a sauna directly in front, accommodating about five people. The main bath is dark, and the quality of the water is unclear. Watch your step because the water is dark. There's a cold bath and a jacuzzi outside, but both are quite small. The jacuzzi had a strong chlorine content, so we left quickly. The sauna was merely a bonus, but it was a real letdown when a group of happy young people wearing sauna hats chatted away. There were signs warning people not to talk, but they didn't seem to care. It was a quiet sauna without a TV, after all. For a hotel spa, it's pretty good. They can probably compete at this price because there's no competition nearby. I considered staying at this hotel just for the sauna, but in the end I was glad I didn't.

A very good location in front of Tokushima Station. There doesn't seem to be any parking available. The hot spring facility is on the top floor of the building. The bath seems to be rich in iron, the sauna is stable, and there's an outdoor cold plunge pool and relaxation area. The strong breeze unique to the top floor is very pleasant and helps you relax. The only drawback is that there's a step in the sauna room that serves as a marker, which is dangerous if you have poor eyesight as you could trip. It would be very helpful if they added a marker without ruining the atmosphere.

I've been there a few times, and the manners of the elderly locals are terrible. They'll just quickly rinse off the shower and jump in the bath without washing themselves, leave their own soap and towels on the shower basin (even though there's a sign saying not to reserve shower spots...), talk loudly, soak in the bath while using the handrail for some reason, scratch themselves in the bath, leave their lockers open and disturb other people, etc. I wish the staff would patrol the area and give them more instructions. It's a shame, because I like this hot spring.

It's a natural hot spring that flows directly from the source, but I've never seen anything resembling an ingredient list. The sauna is hot, and there's a water dispenser for hydration, which is nice, but the temperature of the cold water bath is different during Obon than it is during normal times (it was colder during Obon). Also, the jacuzzi bath wasn't that great. The hot water just comes out from four places. I wish it had a bit more of a ambiance...