11/5 - Taketoritei Maruyama

We were warmly greeted upon our arrival at the hotel lobby of Taketoritei Maruyama. I was expecting that we would check in and get our room keys and that would be it. However, we were asked to leave all our bags at the desk and were ushered to a sitting room. We weren't entirely sure what was going on because only 1 or 2 of the staff were comfortable speaking a little English with us. What really surprised me was the cup of tea that they brought out to us. This was no ordinary cup of tea. It was a cup of plum tea with gold leaf sprinkled in the drink. It was so luxurious that I wasn't quite sure how to react. As we sat and drank our tea, we could look out the window and see the view. If you looked really hard, you could make out buildings far off in the distance and even possibly the ocean.

We weren't finished our tea, when our personal bell hop came and greeted us. Poor guy. His English wasn't all that good and he had a heavy accent. However, he gave it an admirable attempt to convey his welcome and explain how our stay would be like at Taketoritei Maruyama. He helped us to book our private session in one of the four special private onsen baths. He also helped to book our personal dinner time.

Our bell hop took us over to a table where all women got to choose a yukata to wear as part of their stay at Taketoritei Maruyama. N picked a very feminine pink yukata with purple flowers. It also came with a purple sash used to tie the yukata together. We both got a cloth bag with traditional Japanese designs as a gift from the hotel to us as a part of our stay.

Then it was time to take us up to our room. Part of the experience of one's stay at Taketoritei Maruyama, is that the lady guests can be carted in a beautiful wooden wagon. In The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, the Moon Princess was returned to the moon in an ox-drawn wagon. So all women can feel like a princess. At least from the lobby to the elevator. So N was the lucky passenger as this beautiful wagon was pulled down the hallway to the elevator.

Our bellhop took us up to our room on the 4th floor. He opened the room for us and introduced all the different parts of the room to us. We left our shoes by the door and put on our slippers. The bell hop told us that we should write our name or draw something on our slippers so that we can identify them when we go into the public baths. It was a huge room for just the two of us to stay in, but it was simply decadent feeling. There was first the large tatami (sitting/sleeping) room. When we arrived, the room was set up with a table in the middle with a beautifully decorated plate of fresh fruit on it. One wall had a typically minimalist zen-like painting with a singular vase of flora directly below it. The window was almost floor to ceiling and was definitely wall to wall. It looked out onto a small yard that was really meant for viewing and not so much for walking in.

Next to the tatami room was another sitting room. There was a table that had a large blanket skirting the sides. I had a Japanese friend when I was young who had a similar table in his home. It was very comfortable to sit at, especially if your feet were cold. We didn't end up using this room very much except for the large closet to keep our belongings. I also found my men's yukata in the closet.

Just outside our room in the yard was a small, but segregated private bathtub. This was our own private onsen tub that we could access just outside our room. I guess that's what we paid a little extra for. It was a large green ceramic tub that could easily fit two adults. Water flowed down into the tub from a hollowed out piece of wood. It was all so decadent.

The bell hop also showed us the toilet room, washroom, and shower. The toilet was literally in a separate room and across the hall from the washroom and shower. There were two sinks and a selection of fine Japanese toiletries for the guests to use. The shower was small, but most Japanese showers are. It was set up so that you could take a bath in the tradtional Japanese style of sitting on a stool and using a wash basin. You could shower like most North Americans do if you wanted to, though.

Introduced to our room, I felt like we had landed in the lap of luxurious experience way beyond our usual circumstances.  The stay at Takitoritei Maruyama was definitely our one big splurge of the trip.