Curated Collection
21 stays
Kusatsu pumps out more free-flowing hot-spring water than almost anywhere in Japan, and its small inns put you closest to it — modest wooden buildings a short walk from the steaming yubatake field, where the owner often runs the front desk and the baths themselves. We track 21 stays in our database with 15 rooms or fewer, from $63 a night. Suehiroya Ryokan holds a 9.8 guest rating, Oyado Yukizumi pairs a 9.6 score with rooms around $70, and Kei offers a polished, adults-quiet take at the top end. With so few rooms per house, winter weekends sell out weeks ahead — book early for ski season.
末広屋旅館
Renovated seven-room ryokan two minutes from the Yubatake, with four free 24-hour private kashikiri baths sourced from Kusatsu's sulfur spring.
from $158 / per night · per person
9.8/10 (61)お宿 ゆきずみ
Seven-room modern ryokan one minute from the bus terminal, with real Yubatake-source kakenagashi sulfur water and a #1 Google ranking among Kusatsu inns.
from $70 / per night · per person
9.6/10 (348)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)草津ホテル別館 綿の湯
Adults-only 10-room annex of Kusatsu Hotel, independently bookable since 2007 with English-speaking staff, near Sai-no-Kawara park.
from $184 / per night · per person
9.5/10 (43)旅館たむら
Fourteen-room mid-range ryokan of roughly 150 years standing, three minutes from the Yubatake, with two free kashikiri baths.
from $100 / per night · per person
9.4/10 (15)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)草津温泉 ほしかわ
Four-room inn renovated in 2024 with three 24-hour kashikiri baths and English-speaking staff, seven minutes from the Yubatake.
from $90 / per night · per person
9.3/10 (24)うり房旅館仲通り うら房
Small five-room ryokan on a quiet back alley a few minutes from Kusatsu's Yubatake, with two key-locked private onsen baths.
from $115 / per night · per person
9.3/10 (84)湯の宿 みさご
Intimate five-room Kusatsu Onsen ryokan an 8-minute walk from the Yubatake, with three key-lockable private open-air baths on free-flowing source water.
from $72 / per night · per person
9.2/10 (449)お豆の小宿 花いんげん
An adults-only 10-room inn about 99 steps from the Yubatake, with four free-to-use private acidic-sulfur baths.
from $165 / per night · per person
9.1/10 (340)草津温泉 ヴァンベール
Six-room adults-only inn reopened April 2023 with three free kashikiri baths — hinoki, semi-open-air, and stone — all source-fed kakenagashi.
from $106 / per night · per person
9.1/10 (166)松村屋旅館
Nine-room budget ryokan in central Kusatsu Onsen with English support and acidic-sulfur source baths near the Yubatake hot-water field.
from $139 / per night · per person
9/10 (64)ひのき亭牧水
Intimate ten-room Kiso-cypress ryokan a short walk from Kusatsu's Yubatake, with three reservable private baths and kaiseki dinners.
from $140 / per night · per person
9/10 (222)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)中村屋旅館
A traditional 10-room ryokan in central Kusatsu Onsen with reservable private baths fed by the town's acidic-sulfur source water.
from $63 / per night · per person
9/10 (478)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)松乃井旅館
Small nine-room budget ryokan near the Yubatake in Kusatsu Onsen, with four free-flowing private hot-spring baths and two-meal plans.
from $75 / per night · per person
8.8/10 (51)湯畑の宿 佳乃や
Casual budget ryokan two minutes from Kusatsu's Yubatake, with source-fed shared onsen baths and a light breakfast.
from $81 / per night · per person
8.7/10 (390)十二屋旅館
Ten-room traditional ryokan one minute from the Yubatake, with four rooms that include a private open-air bath.
from $95 / per night · per person
8.6/10 (265)いで湯荘
A small seven-room ryokan a short walk from the Yubatake, with round-the-clock free-flowing acidic-sulfur baths and English support.
from $200 / per night · per person
8.5/10 (179)
