It's probably due to the publicity in the LP guide that English speakers patronize this establishment, and as a result booking procedures can be done in English, or in my case, really bad Japanese. The map in the book is somewhat inaccurate as to its location though, which resulted in half an hour of wandering around in a panic before a helpful convenience store clerk told me it was down a nearby alley, different from the directions in the book.
When I got there, I was quite surprised to discover that the place looked like a multilevel department store. It quite frankly didn't look like a place that housed a natural hot spring, since I was more expecting a low set building on a large plot of land dotted with pools of steaming water. Walking into the place, you get the feeling that this is like some classy day spa, which it in fact is. Safro offers the basic onsen package with all the services you'd expect, including all the bathrobes, towels and toiletries you could use, and 40 degree baths you can soak in for as long as you like, both indoors and outdoors, 23 hours a day (they use an hour every day for general cleanup and restocking). Next to these baths are bubbling pools with added bath salts to ease away muscular tension and pain. Wet and dry saunas are also free for patrons to use, as well as a four unit jacuzzi and massage area (extra charge for the masseuse). It was so nice that I took two baths on the Saturday. ^^ I would have liked to take photos, but the steam in the place makes that kind of hard and besides, I didn't want to get kicked out onto the cold streets of Susukino overnight. I did get pics of the dressing room and the cool down area when no one was looking though.
Upstairs from the hot spring were rooms for individual massage (Thai, Swedish, aromatherapy and reflexology), a rest area with reclining chairs where you could have a nice nap after your bath, a 24 hour food service counter and dry rock spa that claims to be therapeutic for blood pressure, migraine, diabetes and such. Frankly I don't believe that lying on hot stone tiles can give you anything more than low temperature burns, but I did see a few ladies go in with towels and bathrobes. I'll stick with the hot spring, thanks.The thing about a public bath is that you have to leave your modesty at the door. No one in Japan minds since they do the hot spring and public bath thing all the time, but for someone who's not local, seeing droopy, wrinkly old ladies in the bath can take some getting used to. I shouldn't poke fun at them though, since gravity eventually claims all things and I'm going to end up looking like that someday. *weep*
The capsule hotel area of the place is located downstairs of the hot spring and consists of up to 40 capsules stacked together, about 12 units to a room. Each capsule was surprisingly roomy, fitted with lights, alarm clock, radio and even a television, and came with a warm blanket and a surprisingly supportive pillow filled with what felt like beans.
The bed inside the capsule could have been softer though, and because you only get a roller blind for privacy, any particularly noisy guests will keep you from getting a good night's sleep, like the ones who were staying two out of the three nights I was there. Damn tourists. Well, there's always the bath.On the whole, this is one place I could stay at again on my summer trip. The rates would probably be lower then too, because they inflated their prices for the Snow Festival. Must refrain from packing bulky bags for the trip though, since the lockers provided are not designed for long term boarders and are a little on the narrow side. Other than that, two thumbs up!
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