Overview

At ONSEN & STAY OAKHILL, you can enjoy the forest scenery, fresh mountain air, and powerful natural springs of Zao Onsen. The relaxed bed-and-breakfast concept gives you the freedom to shape each day around bathing, skiing, sightseeing, and dining in the hot spring town.

The high-ceilinged lobby lounge looks out across the trees and changing mountain landscape. You can settle beside the fireplace, enjoy a complimentary drink, browse the manga collection, or return to the source-fed baths whenever you need to warm up and unwind.

Zao Onsen’s central streets are around five minutes away on foot. You can explore traditional public bathhouses, local restaurants, cafés, and small shops before returning to OAKHILL’s quieter hillside setting. In winter, the nearby ski area and frost-covered juhyo trees bring a magical atmosphere to the mountains. During the warmer months, ropeway rides, mountain walks, volcanic scenery, and outdoor bathing fill your days.

Accommodation

You can choose from 30 non-smoking rooms in Japanese, Japanese-Western, Western, and Japanese-style bed layouts. Most rooms include a private bathroom, and every room has its own toilet.

The 50-square-metre Deluxe Japanese-Western Room combines a Western bedroom, a tatami room, and a window-side veranda. You can sleep in a Western bed while keeping the space and character of a Japanese room. The separate areas make this a comfortable choice when you want to relax together without feeling crowded.

The 21-square-metre Standard Twin Room offers two Western beds and a simple layout suited to a solo trip or a stay for two. A private bathroom and toilet are included.

The Standard Japanese Room measures 30 square metres and includes a 10-tatami room with a veranda. You can stretch out on the tatami during the day and prepare your own futon when you are ready to sleep. A private bathroom and toilet are included.

The 30-square-metre Corner Club Triple places three low beds on tatami flooring. Its corner position brings in views of Zao’s seasonal scenery from more than one direction. You can enjoy the character of a Japanese room without sleeping on a futon.

The larger Club Room also measures 30 square metres and combines a 10-tatami layout with low beds and a broad window-side veranda. The smaller Club Room measures 21 square metres and has an eight-tatami layout with low beds. The smaller room includes a private toilet but no bathroom, so you use the shared natural hot spring baths for bathing.

Your room includes Wi-Fi, a television, refrigerator, electric kettle, hairdryer, towels, yukata, geta sandals, shampoo, conditioner, body soap, a toothbrush set, cotton swabs, a shower cap, and a toilet with bidet functions.

Dining

A complimentary breakfast gives you a simple start before skiing, hiking, bathing, or sightseeing. The light breakfast style matches OAKHILL’s bed-and-breakfast concept and may include prepared dishes alongside bread, rice, soup, drinks, and other morning items. The exact format may change according to the day.

Dinner is not served at OAKHILL, giving you the freedom to explore Zao Onsen’s local food scene. The centre of the hot spring town is within walking distance, where you can find casual restaurants, izakaya dishes, noodles, Yamagata specialities, and local sake.

Zao is especially known for jingisukan, a grilled lamb dish cooked on a rounded metal grill. Choosing your own restaurant gives the evening an easy rhythm: enjoy the baths, walk into town for dinner, and return for another soak or a quiet drink in the lounge.

Onsen and Wellness

Natural Zao Onsen water flows directly from the source into OAKHILL’s indoor and open-air baths. The milky water has an exceptionally strong level of acidity, even among the powerful springs found across Zao Onsen. Its mineral character gives the water a distinctive feel and can leave your skin feeling smooth after bathing.

The spring is classified as an acidic sulfur, aluminium, sulfate, and chloride hot spring. Traditional bathing indications include fatigue, sensitivity to cold, neuralgia, muscle discomfort, frozen shoulder, minor cuts, minor burns, chronic skin conditions, and some chronic gynaecological conditions.

Shinra-no-Yu includes indoor baths with different water temperatures and open-air baths made from Zao stone and cypress. Oak trees surround the outdoor area, placing you close to the forest as you soak.

Bansho-no-Yu also combines indoor and outdoor bathing. Outside, you can move between a freestanding cypress bath and a bath built from Zao stone. The deeper indoor bath allows the mineral-rich water to cover more of your body.

The baths remain available throughout the day and night, apart from cleaning between 10:00 and 13:00. The bathing areas rotate between men and women, giving you the chance to experience both designs. A short evening changeover may also apply.

Because the water is strongly acidic, remove jewellery before bathing. The minerals may discolour or damage some metals. The water can also feel sharp on sensitive skin or small cuts, so begin with a shorter soak and rinse when needed.

Guests with Tattoos

You must keep tattoos completely covered with waterproof seals while using the shared indoor and open-air baths.

Facilities

Inside OAKHILL, you can relax in the high-ceilinged lobby lounge, sit beside the fireplace, and watch the forest change with the seasons. The complimentary beverage corner provides drinks during your stay, while bar time and selected evening beer service add an easy social atmosphere after bathing.

The manga corner holds around 1,000 books that you can read during your stay. You can also use the yukata and amenity corner, collect useful rental items, and wash clothing in the coin-operated laundry. Free Wi-Fi is available in the rooms and shared spaces.

OAKHILL uses a contactless self-check-in system and number-lock room doors. After completing the online check-in process, you receive your room number and access code through the link sent to your registered email address. A tablet near the entrance provides another check-in option when you cannot complete the process on your own device.

Activities

You can walk to the centre of Zao Onsen in around five minutes and visit its three traditional public bathhouses. Your stay also gives you access to a hot spring tour across participating Takamiya group properties, allowing you to compare different baths and ryokan settings around the town. Participating properties and bathing times may change.

The Uwanodai ski area is around five minutes away on foot, making OAKHILL a convenient base for skiing and snowboarding. During the coldest part of winter, you can take the Zao Ropeway toward the upper mountain and look for the juhyo trees, often called Zao’s snow monsters. Their formation depends on snow, wind, and temperature conditions.

During the warmer months, you can ride the Zao Central Ropeway, visit the Zao Large Open-Air Bath, walk around Dokko Pond, or explore the paths near Iroha Pond and Kansho-daira. The Zao Echo Line leads toward Okama, a volcanic crater lake whose colour changes with the light and weather. Seasonal road closures may affect access.

You can also try fruit picking, play golf at Zao Country Club, visit the Yamagata Sake Museum, or explore Yamagata’s historic buildings, museums, festivals, and mountain scenery.

Additional Features

Check-in begins at 15:00, with arrival required by 20:00, and check-out is at 10:00. Every room is non-smoking, and online bookings use advance credit card payment.

A complimentary shuttle operates from Zao Onsen Bus Terminal. After arriving at the terminal, contact OAKHILL for collection, and the drive takes around five minutes. You can also walk from the bus terminal in approximately ten minutes.

Free parking and Wi-Fi are available. The bed-and-breakfast format includes complimentary breakfast, source-fed indoor and open-air baths, self-check-in, number-lock room access, and convenient walking access to the hot spring town and ski area.