The one trip I was looking forward to the most in 2020 was our trip to Japan. While it was initially planned as a trip to see the Summer Olympics, we put that on the back burner and decided instead to make a trip in November. Of course, that didn’t happen either but we have our fingers crossed for 2021.
While there’s a chance we’ll be able to make this trip (Note from Sharon: Get real, Joe. It’s not happening), I’m not holding my breath. All I’m doing is refusing to cancel our award tickets in business class and the one hotel I was looking forward to the most on our trip.
We visited Hakone on our trip to Japan in 2005. I was intent on having us stay at a ryokan and despite my ultimate failure in planning to get us there on time, we had a fantastic stay.
Instead of a ryokan, when we visited Hakone this time I was planned on staying at the Hyatt Regency Hakone, or, as some bloggers call it, the “Park Hyatt Hakone.” While I had enough Hyatt points for a two-night stay, the hotel wasn’t the highlight of the visit. Sharon and I really wanted to revisit the Japanese Bath Waterpark, “Yunnesun.”
What is a Japanese bath waterpark, you ask? Here’s their YouTube promo:
Given, we visited there 15 years ago, and it appears they’ve expanded a bit. It still looks much the same. Since we were the only non-Japanese people there where we were, I’m not sure where the people in the video came from.
Here’s our naive review of Yunnesun, as written by Sharon, from our visit in 2005. I’m sad that we might not get back there this year, but we will be back.
Yunnesun 2005 Review
We took a total of 4 pictures at Yunessun because water parks and digital cameras don’t mix (MODERN-DAY NOTE: that’s no longer the case and I found some pics on the ‘net for you – scroll down just a bit). So Click Here to get to their web site in English and then click on “Yunessun” on that page to learn more about the water park and what it had to offer.
This sign at Yunessun had some of the best Engrish for the whole trip. Sorry that it’s not very easy to read….verbatim, it says:
To Guests:
For your comfortable stay
-No food and drink arrowed ahead.
-Person who is not in good physical condition, over drunk or tattooed is not permitted to enter.
-Manners disturbing other guests, such as running or shouting around in the premises, is prohibited.
-Dyeing hair, washing clothes in the bath room or restroom is prohibited.
-Children under 5years should be accompanied by adult.
-Your wristband is a very valuable thing(same as your purse).Please make sure that you wear it on your wrist at all time. Please notify staff immediately the wristband is lost.
-Beware of losing contact-lenses.
Yunessun had full shower facilities, which we took advantage of, especially since our room at the ryokan didn’t have an actual shower…just the bath area with the buckets of hot springs water. Being sticklers for rules, we did not dye our hair while there.
Final Thoughts
Hakone is just a train ride away from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo. We had a great time in the area when we visited on a previous trip and was really looking forward to our return trip. While I still have hope we’ll be back in 2020, we’ll be back even if we have to wait until 2021.
#stayhealthy #stayathome #washyourhands
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
