Shikoku's luxury hotel "Setouchi Retreat Aonagi" offers a hot spring "Nekoroten" that you can enjoy lying down. This is a service where you can lie down in the full-flat sleeping bath zone and enjoy the comfort of the hot springs while your whole body is weakened.
The depth of "Nekoroten" is only 5 cm. It's designed so that water doesn't get into your ears even if you lie down. With this 5 cm layer of hot water, it's not too hot or too cold, and you can enjoy the comfort of sleeping in a bedrock bath or underfloor heating.
"Nekoroten" is installed in the open-air bath exclusively for guest rooms. Therefore, it can be used indefinitely without any time limit. Pillows that can be used in the hot springs are also available, so you can safely fall asleep. Using a special side table, you can eat and drink freely.
The "Full Flat Sleeping Bath Zone" where you can enjoy "Nekoroten" is seamlessly connected to the hot springs of normal depth. By going back and forth between the two, even people who can get hot flashes in 5 minutes with a normal hot spring can enjoy the long hot springs.
"Setouchi Retreat Aonagi" is a building that was originally partly open to the public as an art museum. It was renovated by architect Tadao Ando and reborn as an all-suite hotel.
The location is about 20 minutes north by car from Dogo Onsen in Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture. Located on a hill at an altitude of 400 meters, it is ideal for avoiding the residual heat in September. It seems that you can enjoy the autumn leaves around October.
■ Setouchi Retreat Aonagi Overview
Location: 794-1 Yanaidanimachi, Matsuyama City, Ehime PrefectureNumber of rooms: All suites 4 types 7 rooms, "semi-open-air hot spring suite" with full flat sleeping bath x 4 rooms (52,800-yen / person)
・ "The AONAGI Suite" where the vast windows of the maisonette cut out the blue of Setouchi
(78,000 yen / person)
・ 2 bedroom "4 bed suite"
(44,800 yen / person)
・ "Garden Suite" with wooden deck and garden
(37,000 yen / person)
The price is one night and two meals on weekdays, excluding tax.