Sanso Kannawaen in Beppu Kannawa: Room Types, Dinner, and the Free Shuttle from Beppu Station (2026)

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Sanso Kannawaen is an onsen inn in Kannawa, Beppu (345 Kannawa, Beppu City, Oita), with a Noh stage, a thatched tea house and a garden. All 50 rooms have a private indoor bath filled with free-flowing hot spring water (kakenagashi, meaning the water is not recirculated). Check-in, breakfast and car entrances differ between the main building, annex and detached villas on one side and the Sorakan wing on the other. Sorakan uses self check-in at an automatic payment machine, and its breakfast is teppanyaki. Guests can ride a reservation-only free shuttle from the east exit of JR Beppu Station (4 trips a day). Children aged 0 are also charged a lodging fee.

In short

Rooms with an open-air bath: all rooms in the detached villas and annex, and some in Sorakan. Main building rooms have indoor baths only.
Rates: not listed on the official site. Check by entering your dates on the booking page.
Dinner: Japanese kaiseki or teppanyaki, decided by the plan you book. Sorakan also serves teppanyaki for breakfast.
Shuttle: free from JR Beppu Station east exit, 4 trips a day, book by the day before.
Tattoos: people with tattoos are refused use of the large communal bath.

Checked with official pages on Nov 1, 2026 (Japan time).

1. Room types: detached villas, annex, main building and Sorakan

The official room page divides rooms into the detached villas (hanare), the annex (bekkan), the main building (honkan) and Sorakan. The bath differs by room, so here are the main ones.

Room	Size, guests	Bath etc.	Notes
Villa Suite Tsutsuji	143 m², 2 to 8	Cypress indoor bath, open-air bath, dry sauna	Pool Jun to Sep
Villa Suite Ume	140 m², 2 to 8	Cypress indoor bath, open-air bath, box steam bath	None
Villa Suite Take	140 m², 2 to 8	Cypress indoor bath, open-air bath, dry sauna	Private pool Jun to Sep
Annex Japanese-Western	63 to 75 m², 4	Cypress indoor bath, open-air bath	8 rooms
Main Deluxe Japanese-Western	78 m², 1 to 4	Cypress indoor bath	2nd floor, overlooks the Noh stage
Main Japanese-Western Icho	141 m², 1 to 8	Cypress indoor bath	Kitchen and kids’ room (1 room)
Main Western	66 m², 2	Cypress indoor bath	Stone-floored, wheelchair-accessible (1 room)
Sorakan Japanese-Western	66 m², 1 to 4	Indoor bath: 9 rooms. Open-air bath: 11 rooms	Not wheelchair-accessible
Sorakan Family Room	148 m², 2 to 8	2 indoor baths	About 10 steps at the entrance

There are also Japanese-Western rooms (7 rooms) and Japanese-style rooms in the villas, Western rooms in the annex, Japanese-Western rooms in the main building, and the Sorakan suite “Shun” and the Tsuki wing. Open-air baths come with all villa and annex rooms, with the Sorakan suite “Shun”, 11 Sorakan Japanese-Western rooms and part of the Tsuki wing. Main building rooms have indoor baths only. Sorakan rooms cannot be used with a wheelchair; the one wheelchair-usable room is a main building Western room. All rooms are non-smoking. Smoking is allowed at the entrance or garden of the villas and annex, and at the smoking area next to the 2nd-floor shop in Sorakan. Check-in is 3:00 pm and check-out is 11:00 am. Official room guide (Japanese)

Children are charged a lodging fee from age 0. If you bring a child who was not counted in your booking, you pay the price of one adult on site. When booking, include children and infants in the guest count. Cards accepted: JCB, VISA, Mastercard, AMEX and Diners.

2. Rates and where to book

Rates change by date, room and number of guests. The official site gives no price guide, so you check by entering your stay dates on the booking screen. You can book on the inn’s official booking page, by phone (0977-66-2111), or on Ikkyu.com, Rakuten Travel and others. Official booking page (Japanese). See availability and rates on Rakuten Travel (ad), see availability and rates on Jalan.

The inn’s accommodation booking terms say you must pay a cancellation fee, but they do not state the rate. Check it on the booking screen when you reserve. Booking terms (Japanese)

To compare prices and meals with other inns in Kannawa, see our comparison of 15 Kannawa onsen inns (Japanese), from long-stay rental rooms (toji) to ryokan and hotels.

3. Private hot spring sources and the large bath “Ho-no-yu”

The grounds have two private hot spring sources, used as free-flowing water with no added water. The water is a chloride spring (sodium-calcium chloride-sulfate), cloudy, though some days it looks clear depending on weather and temperature. The large bath “Ho-no-yu” has one indoor bath and one open-air bath for each gender, open 3:00 pm to 11:00 pm and 6:30 am to 10:00 am the next morning. You can enter the blue-water bath and a steam bath (mushi-yu), a Kannawa specialty. The open-air baths may be closed in bad weather.

In the large bath, people with tattoos and heavily intoxicated people are refused, and photos are banned in the bath and changing room. The onsen tax is paid on site, separate from the room rate: ¥250 per person per night if the rate is ¥6,001 to ¥50,000, and ¥500 if it is ¥50,001 or more. It is not charged for children. Official hot spring guide (Japanese)

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4. Dinner: kaiseki “Yui” or teppanyaki “Kaede”; teppanyaki breakfast in Sorakan

Dinner is at the Japanese kaiseki restaurant “Yui” or the teppanyaki restaurant “Kaede”, and which one depends on the plan you book. The “Kaiseki Tsurumi” at Yui includes sashimi, spiny lobster dishes and Japanese black beef shabu-shabu, plus a pufferfish (fugu) course from November to March. Kaede serves the Kuju and Ogiyama courses, centered on Japanese black beef sirloin; you can switch to fillet for ¥2,200 per person (phone by 2 days before the stay). A vegetarian course is available. Bringing drinks into the restaurants costs ¥3,300 per bottle.

Breakfast in the main building, annex and villas is Japanese-style. In Sorakan, both dinner and breakfast are teppanyaki cooked in front of you; if you want a Japanese breakfast instead, tell the inn by 2 days before the stay. Official food guide (Japanese)

5. Staying in Sorakan: self check-in and dedicated parking

Since the renovation in August 2024, Sorakan uses self check-in at an automatic payment machine. If you chose to pay on site, you pay the room charge at check-in. You carry your luggage from the dedicated parking lot to your room, there is no room or facility tour, and the facility guide is viewed through a QR code. Before check-in and after check-out, luggage can be left at either the Sorakan or main building front desk. Dinner time is the time you gave at booking for kaiseki, or the time written in your plan for teppanyaki. Set your car navigation or map app destination to “Onsen Jinja”. Official Sorakan guide (Japanese)

6. Getting there from Fukuoka, and the free shuttle from Beppu Station

By car from Fukuoka, take the Kyushu Expressway, enter the Oita Expressway toward Oita at Tosu Junction, and exit at Beppu IC. The inn is about 5 minutes away. Parking is free, with 2 EV charging stations (first come, first served). The car entrances differ by building, so the parking place differs between the main building, annex and villas and Sorakan (see the official access map). By train, it is a 20-minute taxi ride from JR Beppu Station, or a 5-minute walk from the Kannawa-guchi bus stop.

Guests can ride a free shuttle from in front of FamilyMart at the east exit of JR Beppu Station (about 30 minutes). From the station, it leaves at 2:30 pm, 3:30 pm, 4:30 pm and 5:30 pm. From the inn, it leaves at 9:00 am, 10:00 am and 11:00 am. Book by phone or email by the day before your stay. The shuttle is an inn car or taxi, and if you cannot catch the last trip, you make your own way. Official access page (Japanese)

Address: 345 Kannawa, Beppu City, Oita · Google Maps · Tel: 0977-66-2111

FAQ

Which rooms have an open-air bath?

All villa and annex rooms, the Sorakan suite “Shun”, 11 Sorakan Japanese-Western rooms and part of the Tsuki wing. Main building rooms have indoor baths only.

Do babies pay a lodging fee?

Yes, from age 0. Include children and infants in the guest count when booking.

Can I use the large bath with a tattoo?

No. People with tattoos are refused in the large bath.

For the latest information, see the official site (Japanese). Latest rates, availability and guest ratings are on Rakuten Travel (ad) and Jalan.

Checked with official pages on Nov 1, 2026 (Japan time). Prices and hours may change.

Sources

9 pages we checked

Checked with official pages on November 1, 2026 (Japan time).