Less than $US40 a night gets you two luxury meals and a room with a private rotenburo bath attached.

Located less than two hours from Tokyo by train, Hakone is one of Japan’s premier onsen hot spring towns, hugely popular with local and international tourists who want to get away from it all in the area’s serene, mountain setting.

While the resort town is usually bustling with tourists, now that coronavirus fears are on the rise visitor numbers are drastically down, causing financial fears for a lot of the local hotels and traditional ryokan inns.

One ryokan operator, however, is going all out in their attempt to lure visitors to the resort for a short break with an accommodation deal so crazy cheap it’s making news around the country.

▼ The cheap stay is being offered by Ichinoyu, which has eight locations in Hakone.

The special cheap rate is being offered as the “Maji de Coronavirus Kanben Shite Kudasai Plan“, which roughly translates to something colloquial like “Gimme a Flippin’ Break From the Coronavirus Plan”.

While the name itself is enough to get everyone’s attention, the prices alone are making jaws drop, as the deal offers a one-night stay in a traditional room with a private rotenburo outdoor hot spring bath attached, along with breakfast and dinner…all for 3,900 yen (US$37.13) per person, including tax.

▼ A room with a private rotenburo at Ichinoyu Honkan.

Considering that a stay in a room at a ryokan with a private rotenburo usually starts conservatively at somewhere around the 20,000 yen ($190) mark, going up past 50,000 yen for a night with meals, $37 for a one-night stay is gobsmackingly low.

The plan can be booked for a limited time from 2-9 March, with the deal limited to weekday bookings from 6 May to 30 June at the following Ichinoyu ryokan locations in Hakone: Susukinohara, Shinanoki, Tonosawa Honkan, Tonosawa Shinkan.

Just in case that isn’t enough to entice visitors to their doors for a flippin’ break from the coronavirus, Ichinoyu is also offering stays for 3,900 yen per night to students with student I.D. cards, and is offering a free stay to two people who follow their official and PR Twitter accounts and retweet the following tweet, as part of their 390th anniversary celebrations.

▼ Ichinoyu was founded in 1630.

Reservations for the Gimme a Flippin’ Break From the Coronavirus Plan are only accepted via their website. Given the crazy low price, all rooms were quick to book out, unfortunately, but there’s still the possibility of future cancellations so be sure to check back over the next few days if you’re interested in taking advantage of the deal.

With Kyoto taking measures to entice visitors to empty tourist sites during the coronavirus outbreak, we may well be seeing more of these super-cheap deals appearing in the coming months. Hotels, in particular, are keen to avoid following in the footsteps of this ryokan that went bankrupt in Japan recently due to the drop in tourist numbers, so we’ll have our eyes and ears peeled for news of more good deals to share with you in future!

Related: Ichinoyu website and locations
Source: Livedoor News via Hachima Kikou
Featured image: Pakutaso
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