gambda

I have an overnight connection coming up in Tokyo - arriving in NRT late afternoon on a Saturday and departing from HND the next day in the afternoon.
I will be staying at a hotel in Shinagawa which is close to the Shinagawa train station and therefore easy access to HND airport.

I read up on the recent opening of the rooftop onsen / hot spring facility at the Villa Fontaine Grand Hotel at Haneda Airport and I'm tempted to give that a try before my flight out of HND. My flight leaves from T3 and I understand there is a walkway that connects the hotel to the T3 Arrivals lobby.
To experience the onsen, I was thinking of checking out of my hotel in Shinagawa early AM, take the Keikyu train and aim to be at the onsen around 8:00, so I have enough time for a soak before checking-in in for my onward Lufthansa flight which leaves at 12:50 pm. The check-in for this flight won't open until 3 hours before departure.

My questions are :
1. Are there luggage storage facilities for those not staying at the hotel but just using the onsen on a casual basis ? The luggage storage at HND T3 to be closed, according to the Haneda airport website
2. How easy is the access from the Haneda Airport train station to the onsen considering I will have one large bag and a carry on ?
3. Their website mentions that the facility is closed once a month for inspection but couldn't find info online on exactly when they close. I emailed the hotel to find out but haven't had a response yet.

Thanks.

LapLap

Assuming (but not actually knowing) that Lufthansa won’t take your luggage until 3 hours before departure, that there is indeed no luggage storage at T3, and in absence of any confirmation that the Villa Fontaine Grand will hold onto your bags as you use their premium priced services, my own approach might be to send the majority of the luggage via takkyubin a day or two before (can’t remember offhand what the deadline is, your Shinagawa Hotel will tell you) and go to the rooftop onsen with the minimum needed in a carry-on bag.
Once clean and relaxed, retrieve your cases from the takkyubin luggage forwarding service (perhaps rejiggle the contents with the clothes you have on you you’d prefer to put in the hold) and check them in.

It’ll add a few thousand yen to the whole experience but it will make the journey to Haneda and up to the Onsen reception easier and more relaxing.

Do report back if you find better/cheaper alternatives (I’m not entirely sure that you won’t be able to drop off your bags with Lufthansa earlier than 3 hours before the flight, you certainly can with other airlines), you are the pioneer here, it’s a brand new facility.

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

I flew back from HND to FRA on lufthansa in November and the documentation suugested chekck in opens 3 hrs prior ( Lufthansa have their own desks)
I arrived at 1hr 45 prior to departure ( was in business class) as the ANA lounge was reported to be not that great and had a quick swim at my hotel ( Conrad)
Check in closes 1hr prior to depature

Regards

TBS

gambda

Thanks for the replies. I will do some research on the Takkyubin option and see if I can have my luggage shipped from NRT to HND, as soon as I arrive.

I have also received a response to my email inquiry from the hotel saying that luggage can be stored at the Omotenashi Centre on the 2nd floor of the Haneda Airport Garden so that's another option to consider: https://www.shopping-sumitomo-rd.com...ice/#section01
There is also no maintenance date in March so onsen is open everyday.

BTW, the Villa Fontaine Grand Hotel is landside at HND Terminal 3 , just double checking ?

LapLap

Yes, it’s the Royal Park Hotel that is actually within Terminal 3. The Villa Fontaine Hotels are part of the Haneda Garden Park complex attached to the Terminal; very much landside.

Thank you for sharing your confirmation from the hotel. Did they say how much the service would cost?
Having learned through you that the service existed I was able to find a website describing the Hospitality Centre, but it just mentions that the luggage holding is a paid service without saying how much.

https://www.shopping-sumitomo-rd.com...ility/service/ (there’s a language option on the top right of the page)

The same webpage says that the newly opened (31st Jan) Haneda Garden Bus Terminal also has coin lockers. With the Large kind (W=35cm, D=67cm, H=87cm) costing ¥500 yen a day

gambda

No, they didn't advise the cost of luggage storage at the Omotenashi (Hospitality) Centre but yes thanks for pointing out the coin storage. Much cheaper than the Takkyubin option I was considering. Do you know on which level on T3 in HND airport is the Keikyu line train station ?

Q Shoe Guy

Tickets and gates are directly opposite the Arrivals exit after customs and immigration. Keikyu line train platforms are beneath Terminal 3 and between Terminals ! & 2. Both escalator , stairs , and elevators are available to the platforms.

LapLap

The large coin lockers are usually the first to be taken and thus unavailable.
However, since you’re now equipped with knowing that there are large coin lockers at the Bus Terminal Level and also on Level 2 at the Haneda Airport Garden and that Level 2 is where the Omotenashi Center is with a manned paid Luggage Holding service, I think you have a good, robust plan of action. No need for the Takkyubin service (unless you do your back in or something and could do with a porter service)

It’s a shame the onsen/hotel don’t take on the role of luggage guardians for their customers, especially since they are charging primo, deluxe rates.

Hopefully your experience will exceed mine at the Nagoya Airport sento baths (right after an overnight bus trip from Okayama) which I still remember very, very fondly.

LCUF

In addition to the coin lockers, which are next to the washrooms landside at Haneda Terminal 3, you can also try the JAL ABC counters (both departure and arrival levels) that are for shipping packages / luggages as they can often have spaces. I was at Haneda Terminal 3 recently, gotten to the airport way too early to check in my luggages and was checking out JAL ABC counter on departure level and they ran out of spaces for the temporary luggage holding service and advised me to use the coin lockers, which were completely full, BUT I was able to go to JAL ABC counter on arrival level and asked to see if I could use the temporary luggage holding service and they said yes. I paid about 600 yen per luggage and this might be easier than trying to find the coin lockers.

NewbieRunner

I was confused because there are two onsens, one at Ariake Garden and another at the airport (Villa Fontaine) both called 泉天空の湯.

According to this page the onsen at the airport is open 13:00 to 10:00 (i.e. closed between 10am and 1pm for cleaning).
https://www.shopping-sumitomo-rd.com...userguide.html

The entrance charge is ¥4,800 including towels and a bathrobe.

Takkyubin option won’t work as you need to ship two days in advance for airport pickups.

gambda

Thanks for all your inputs. Options galore and I'm confident one of the options is bound to work fine for the luggage storage. Will report back on the experience

gambda

As promised here’s my report on the Onsen experience at HND on 12 March:

1. Checked out of my hotel in Shinagawa early Sunday morning
2. Took the Keikyu train to HND and proceeded to the arrivals area. My flight wasn’t open for check in as it was still 4.5 hours before departure so had to lug my bags with me.
3. The access to the Haneda Airport Garden are well sign posted and had no trouble finding my way to the Omotenashi centre to store my bags.
4. The problem was the person behind the counter said my only option to store my luggage was in the coin lockers right around the corner (¥500) which was fine by me but I thought they could actually store my bags while I was at the Onsen.
5. Anyway went down to the lockers only to realise that it only accepts ¥1000 bills or IC card. So I went to the Lawsons store and kindly asked the person behind the counter if he could break my ¥5000 bill into smaller denominations which he did…Phew !
6. Then back to the lockers, stored my bags (i took my toiletries bag with me though) and up I went to level 12 of the hotel.
7. You first enter an area where you remove your shoes and put them in the lockers
8. Then go through the gates and you will be in the reception area of the onsen where they explain the different suits you are required to wear but to be honest I was a bit groggy from the previous night I didn’t really pay attention to all of that !
9. You then go to the men’s changing room which has lockers for your clothes. Undressed and made my way to the outdoor onsen pools
10. The temperature was 40 celsius, so I could only soak in it for about 10 minutes or so. The best part was the “lie down baths” outdoor which has tepid water and it was absolute bliss to just lie down for 20 minutes
11. There are showers inside and they provide body wash and shampoo. In the changing rooms there are shaving kits, hair dryer, comb etc.
12. It was getting close to 10 am and they were announcing that the onsen will shut soon for cleaning.
13. Payment made by credit card at the machines just before the onsite restaurant (not reception). I would have liked to try the restaurant but it didn’t have anything that catered to my dietary needs. Once payment is made the machine spits out 3 receipts. Just make sure you wait for all 3 of them as you will need them at the gates to exit the onsen.
14. Anyho, it was a great experience albeit a tad expensive but I was enroute to Europe on holiday so wasn’t worried about a few dollars.
15. The took the elevator down to departures and checked in for my flight. I must admit the soak in the onsen left me rejuvenated and made my 14 hour flight a little less painful !

LapLap

Is this a Men’s Side thing? Am afraid this part has left me scratching my head as I can’t work out what “suits” are and why they might need to be worn.

Am sorry the advice about stashing cases at the Omotenashi Center was dud, at least it was close enough to suitable lockers not to be a waste of energy getting there. Thanks very much for reporting back!

Q Shoe Guy

LapLap , this is just a guess but I think the OP could be referring to swimsuit ? At a few super sento I have been to recently they have restrictions on where you can soak naked.

LapLap

It would never have occurred to me to bring that kind of attire along.
I guess I can see how a (presumably) mixed gender area would be welcome to those tempted to splurge at such a very premium priced facility.