More than 10,000 guests have stayed in hotel’s magical girl-decorated rooms.
Thanks to its recent addition to Netflix’s lineup, hit children’s anime PreCure! has a chance at becoming North America’s newest mainstream success story. But while the streaming giant is starting by adapting 2012’s Smile PreCure! into the reworked and retitled Glitter Force, there’s actually been a PreCure anime chapter on Japanese TV non-stop since 2004, with the latest embodiment of the magical girl franchise being the currently airing Mahotsukai PreCure!
But PreCure isn’t just a regular fixture on Japanese television. It’s become such a part of the children’s pop cultural landscape that it’s also got a presence in the travel industry, specifically at the Ike no Taira hotel in Nagano Prefecture.
Two of the closest attractions are scenic Lake Shirakaba and the Family Land amusement park. As you can guess from its name, Family Land tends to draw travelers with young children, so since 2010 the hotel has been offering special guestrooms decorated with characters from whatever the most recent PreCure! series is.
Starting March 4, guests will be able to book one of six special Mahotsukai PreCure!-themed rooms. While Ike no Taira has yet to reveal any images of the newest iteration of their anime tie-up, the photos seen here of previous years’ versions show that the hotel goes all-out with the motif, and the results are sure to make fans squeal with delight.
Aside from being surrounded by the PreCure! cast, guests who book the special rooms can take home a bundle of related merchandise, including toothbrushes, mugs, notepads, puzzles, and hair scrunchies. Those who upgrade to the Mahotsukai PreCure! Dream Room (as opposed to the less expensive Mahotsukai PreCure! PreCure! Room) will also receive a special shoulder bag.
Also included in the package are passes to Family Land, plus a cosplay photo dressed as one of the PreCure! girls.
Of course, as with many corners of fandom for anime originally intended for little girls, PreCure! has a large number of adult fans as well. Still, Ike no Taira says that the majority of more than 10,000 guests who’ve stayed in its PreCure! rooms to date have been families. That’s not to say that childless travelers can’t book the themed rooms, but it’s unlikely that the hotel keeps an adult-sized costume on hand for them to take pictures in.
Reservations for the Mahotsukai PreCure! rooms can be made online here.
Related: Ike no Taira website
Source: Kai-You
Top image: Ike no Taira
Insert images: Ike no Taira (1, 2, 3, 4)