Curated Collection
11 stays
Kusatsu's water is the headline — intensely acidic, free-flowing, and cooled the traditional way at the yubatake — and its luxury inns give you that water with far better rooms and kitchens than the town average. We track 11 luxury Kusatsu stays, from $148 a night. Kusatsu Onsen Yubatake Sensui leads at 9.6 ($215) just steps from the yubatake itself, Kei offers modern minimalism at $460, and Tsutsujitei sits quietly at $400. Winter is the marquee season, with steam rising off the town under snow; those weekends need two to three months' lead time. An excellent tier for serious bath purists.
草津温泉 湯畑泉水
Adults-only luxury ryokan opened May 2024 by the Naraya Group, all 33 rooms with private open-air baths fed directly by Yubatake sulfur source water.
from $215 / per night · per person
9.6/10 (213)炯 -kei-
Seven-suite adults-only design auberge in Kusatsu Onsen, opened 2019, with three private hot-spring baths drawn from the acidic Yubatake source.
from $460 / per night · per person
9.5/10 (77)益成屋旅館
Six-room luxury inn from 1969, one minute from the Yubatake, where every room has a private hot-spring bath.
from $155 / per night · per person
9.4/10 (34)つつじ亭
An ultra-exclusive 10-room retreat hidden within 5,000 tsubo of private woodland, with full-course kaiseki in private dining rooms.
from $400 / per night · per person
9.3/10 (45)ラビスタ草津ヒルズ
Luxury 69-room Dormy resort where every room has a private open-air hinoki onsen, plus four reservable shared kashikiri baths.
from $148 / per night · per person
9.2/10 (225)ホテル櫻井
Kusatsu's largest onsen hotel, 169 rooms, with a 30-meter 100% kakenagashi bath, nightly yumomi show, and English-speaking staff — tattoos not permitted in public baths.
from $200 / per night · per person
9/10 (4,720)奈良屋
An 1877-established inn one minute from Yubatake, bathing guests in Kusatsu's oldest spring source — Shirahata-no-Yu.
from $350 / per night · per person
9/10 (310)ての字屋
Traditional twelve-room ryokan near Kusatsu's Yubatake, drawing the town's acidic sulfur source water into reservable private baths.
from $445 / per night · per person
9/10 (51)湯宿 季の庭
An all-suite onsen retreat where every room has a private open-air bath, plus 23 communal bathing options.
from $300 / per night · per person
8.9/10 (377)裏草津 蕩 TOU
A 4-room luxury design ryokan in Kusatsu's Urakusatsu quarter, with private open-air baths and in-room baths on free-flowing source water.
from $150 / per night · per person
8.8/10 (202)望雲
A storied ryokan founded in 1598, with six free-flowing onsen baths fed by two natural spring sources.
from $250 / per night · per person
8.4/10 (247)
