Originally Posted by
bocastephen
But it did, as pointed out upthread, overly romanticize some spots which may be less desirable in winter, or only desirable, in case of the onsen, with reserving a private bath.
Sorry to break it to you, but the Onsen private bath has even less of a garden view than the main baths/rotemburo do.
This photo comes from the Saya no yudokoro website. Worth noting also that even with the private Onsen, mixed gender bathing/family bathing is not allowed (with the exception for family members of the opposite gender under 7 years old).
I’ll add that only fully open rotemburo/baths are going to have any kind of view in December as the temperature difference between inside and outside make window panes opaque with condensation.