Hotel Ichii or Kusatsu Hotel 1913? Compare Baths, Rooms and Yubatake Access
Compare Hotel Ichii by Yubatake with Kusatsu Hotel 1913 farther west, including spring-fed public baths, private baths and in-room onsen.
Both inns are close to the centre, but they spend the room rate in different places. Hotel Ichii is built around its position at Yubatake and its two public baths. Kusatsu Hotel 1913 gives guests more private-bathing options, though the room type and after-arrival booking rules matter.
Hotel Ichii: Yubatake outside, two public springs inside
The main building faces Yubatake, and the bus terminal is about a five-minute walk away. Only selected room types have a direct Yubatake view; the hotel’s room pages distinguish those from the mountain- and town-side rooms. A view room changes what you see from the window, not whether you get a private hot-spring bath.
Ichii’s shared bathing areas use two sources: the Sekiden indoor bath uses Shirahata, and the Sekitei outdoor bath uses Bandai. The hotel explicitly describes both as natural hot-spring water, 100% kakenagashi. Guests who are comfortable with gender-separated public baths can experience both without reserving a private slot.
The distinction between the two baths is clear. Shirahata is the milky-looking source associated with Yubatake; current source data lists 55.5°C and pH 2.06. Bandai-kō is hotter at the source—95.4°C, pH 1.70—and feeds the outdoor bath. These are source readings, not tub temperatures.
Both baths are listed as open from 3 pm to 2 am and again from 5 am to 10 am. The men’s and women’s areas switch sides.
There are only 23 rooms explicitly sold with a Yubatake view: 20 Japanese rooms on floors 4–7 and three Executive Rooms on the eighth floor. The Executive Room is about 77.7 m² and has a rain shower, not a bathtub. A premium view room is therefore not a private-onsen upgrade. Ichii’s public-bath policy also excludes guests with tattoos, so the central location does not solve that access issue.
Kusatsu Hotel 1913: public baths plus a private option
Hotel 1913 is roughly a six-minute walk from Yubatake, on the way toward Sainokawara Park. Its shared baths use Sainokawara and Bandai sources. There are three private baths, but guests choose a time after check-in, and some popular evening slots may already be taken. Only room types explicitly marked as having an onsen include a private hot-spring bath in the room.
The property’s official pages do not specify a flow method for every public, private and in-room bath. If kakenagashi is a deciding condition, confirm it for the exact bath you plan to use rather than extending a source description to the whole hotel.
The three private baths run in 45-minute slots and are booked after arrival. Recent listed prices are ¥1,650 for a smaller bath and ¥2,200 for a larger one; availability is not guaranteed just because the property has three rooms. Selected Japanese-Western rooms do include a private onsen, but the room pages do not identify which of the two springs supplies each bath. Hotel 1913 also has no elevator, an important trade-off for anyone who finds stairs difficult.
| Compare | Hotel Ichii | Kusatsu Hotel 1913 |
|---|---|---|
| Setting | Directly opposite Yubatake | Western side, about six minutes’ walk from Yubatake |
| Public bathing | Shirahata indoor bath and Bandai outdoor bath; both described as 100% kakenagashi | Two sources in the shared baths; individual bath-treatment details are not fully listed |
| Private bathing | Public-bath focused; room upgrades are mainly about view and layout | Three private baths selected after check-in; some room types have an in-room onsen |
| Best reason to choose it | You want to step straight into the central streets and use two public baths | You want a private option alongside the public baths |
For families, both properties accept children, but the room rules differ: some specific Hotel 1913 room types are adults-only, so check the exact listing. Ichii is simpler when most plans centre on Yubatake and a public bath works for the group. Hotel 1913 is more appealing when a private soak matters, provided you can live with a post-check-in booking and stairs. Guests with mobility limitations should ask which building and floor they would use; at Ichii, some view rooms are in the main building while the baths are in the annex, a three-to-four-minute indoor walk involving two elevator rides.
If the main decision is whether to pay more for a view or a private bath, the Kusatsu room-upgrade guide compares what each category actually adds. The Yubatake-area lodging comparison looks at a different set of inns by walking distance.
Sources
- [Hotel Ichii: access](https://www.hotel-ichii.co.jp/access/) - [Hotel Ichii: room categories and Yubatake-view rooms](https://www.hotel-ichii.co.jp/rooms/) - [Hotel Ichii: hot-spring sources and kakenagashi](https://www.hotel-ichii.co.jp/spa/) - [Kusatsu Hotel 1913: official site](https://www.kusatsuhotel.com/) - [Kusatsu Hotel 1913: room types](https://www.kusatsuhotel.com/room) - [Kusatsu Hotel 1913: shared and private baths](https://www.kusatsuhotel.com/hot_spring) - Images: [Hotel Ichii bath and building](https://www.hotel-ichii.co.jp/), [Hotel 1913 bath](https://www.trip.com/)Checked: September 27, 2026
Tags: Hotel Ichii, Kusatsu Hotel 1913, Kusatsu Onsen, hotel comparison, Yubatake, private bath
