After a brisk mid morning walk to see birds we went to the award winning spa and took our "Journey of the Oriental Rose." This journey was a three hour spa treatment that started with a foot wash in a custom make wooden bucket. Then we were treated to a full body exfoliating scrub, a 90 minute massage and a 60 minute facial. We came out of there shiny and new. We had worked up an appetite with all that rubbing. Later we headed up to the lounge and had a bite and a sip. The lounge bites were not enough so we headed to the restaurant. Here we were greeted by our favorite employee, the restaurant manager / sommelier Takumi Mouri. Instead of seating us with the riff raff he put us in the bar which is usually reserved for private parties. Dressing nice pays off more often than one might think. It was a very romantic spot with a great view. We saw that they had a few gins that we had not tried before. We told Takumi about the gin books and I showed him a you-tube that featured the gin book. Before we knew it he was digging out rare gins that were not even on the menu. One was from Okinawa and the other was given to them from a French Gin maker that was staying at the Hotel. Even better we were able to take the Okinawa gin bottle with us so I could remove the label. He also gave us two bottle hangers from the other gin which also went into the gin book.
Dried flowers on the walk
Tiny white flowers
Nice art in the pool lounge
Is this furniture or a speaker?
This looks like a speaker
Here is the super high end tube based amplifier
Three dimensional art
Bamboo is used in this area to make art
They are doing a fine job of it
Off to the spa we go!
The spa is quite nice
The vibe is mellow
Lots of awards
A little distillery to get essential oils
Love the chicken bowls
Fancy award
The fancy gin from Okinawa
A fancy glass to go with it
The French Gin with its fancy glass
Distillerie de Paris
The bottle hanger
Autographed by the owner
With a sketch of a gin distillery
The attention to detail and appreciation of craftsmanship showed in this fine selection of sausages. All tasty, all different and a great dish
Leslie got the sashimi plate. A great dinner!
Looking out over Beppu
A romantic spot for two
A new tonic too!
