Iwaki Yumoto guide ｜ Whole house ｜ Rooms & dorms ｜ Hanare ｜ Refugio del Café ｜ Kitchen ｜ Private sauna ｜日本語

Refugio del Café — a private coffee house near Iwaki Yumoto Onsen

One house, one group at a time. Up to 8 guests. About 10 minutes by car from Iwaki Yumoto hot-spring town and Spa Resort Hawaiians.

Check availability and book (official site)

Who it’s for

Refugio del Café (“Coffee Hideaway”) is a whole house for one group per night, designed for families and friends who want to stay together and live like locals for a few days. Grind beans and brew coffee in the morning, cook dinner in a full kitchen, relax in a tatami living room at night.

It suits you if you:

are travelling by car (rental car or your own) and want a base in the middle of Iwaki
are a family or a group of friends, up to 8 people, who want a kitchen and a living room of your own
like making your own coffee

Please read this first: you need a car. The house is not within walking distance of the station or the hot-spring town. There is a convenience store and a bakery nearby, but for sightseeing, a car is strongly recommended. If you will travel by train and on foot only, our other properties in Yumoto town (see the Iwaki Yumoto page) will suit you better.

There is no front desk and no resident staff. Instead of hotel-style service, you get a house to yourselves where nobody needs to be considered.

Where it is

The house is in Shimofunao, in Iwaki City, Fukushima. The exact address is sent to you 2 days before arrival.

By car:

Iwaki Yumoto hot-spring town: about 10 minutes
Spa Resort Hawaiians: about 10 minutes
Joban Expressway, Iwaki-Yumoto IC: about 10 minutes
JR Yumoto Station: about 9 minutes
Iwaki Coal & Fossil Museum “Horulu”: about 9 minutes
Aquamarine Fukushima aquarium: about 13 minutes
Hawaiians Stadium Iwaki: about 13 minutes
Iwaki Arios (arts and culture hall): about 15 minutes

From Tokyo, the limited express Hitachi runs to Yumoto Station in about 2 hours 15 minutes with no change of trains. From the station, you will need a car to reach the house: it is about a 9-minute drive, so a taxi from Yumoto Station is an option if you are not renting a car. You will still want a car or taxi for shopping and sightseeing. (A free shuttle bus runs from the front of Yumoto Station to Spa Resort Hawaiians, but it goes to the resort only, not to the house; please check the resort’s official timetable.)

Sleeping arrangements

Three bedrooms, five beds, for up to 8 guests. We cannot add extra futons.

Bedroom 1: two double beds (4 guests)
Bedroom 2: one king bed (2 guests)
Bedroom 3: two single beds (2 guests)

Double and king beds are meant to be shared by two people. With 8 guests, that is how everyone sleeps. One of the bedrooms is a tatami room with beds placed in it.

The house is 155 m² with a tatami living room, a dining kitchen, and a counter seat by a large window on the upper floor (one flight of stairs up). There is one bathroom (bathtub and shower) and one toilet. The bath is a regular household bath, not a hot spring.

The coffee corner

The coffee corner was produced with Bo-shi coffee, a well-known local roaster in Iwaki.

Specialty drip-bag coffee, free to drink. Take leftover bags home as a souvenir.
Two kinds of whole beans are always available. Grind them to your taste with the mill, and use only what you drink (leftover beans cannot be taken home).
Drip equipment, an espresso machine, a coffee maker, cups and a coffee manual in the house.
Staying 7 nights or more? Tell us if you run out of beans and we will refill.

Kitchen and facilities

Kitchen with refrigerator, stove, microwave, kettle, rice cooker, cookware, dishes and cutlery (including children’s plastic dishes)
Wi-Fi (free), TV, air conditioning and heating, desk
Shampoo, conditioner, body soap, hair dryer, bath towels, face towels, bath mat
Washing machine with a light drying function and laundry detergent. There is no separate dryer. Hang laundry on the sunny upper-floor balcony.
Garden, terrace, upper-floor balcony
Please bring your own toothbrush.

Towels, sheets and consumables such as toilet paper are provided once at the start of your stay. They are not replaced during a longer stay, so please bring more if you need them.

Parking

Free private parking right in front of the house, up to 4 cars.

Tattoos

The house bath is private to your group, so tattoos are not an issue at the house. Rules for public baths and hot springs outside differ from place to place; see our Iwaki Yumoto guide: /en/iwaki-yumoto/

Check-in, check-out and payment

Check-in: from 15:00. It is self check-in, so you can arrive at any hour. If you arrive after 22:00, our help with key or entry problems may be slower.
Check-out: by 11:00.
You enter with a personal code. We email the address, the code and entry instructions 2 days before arrival.
Japanese law requires a guest register. Please fill in the online form (one representative is enough) at least 2 days before check-in.
Payment: cash is generally not accepted (please contact us in advance if you need to pay in cash). For bookings on our official site, you register a credit card when booking, and it is charged on the check-in day. If you book through another site, you pay as that site specifies.
Cancellation (official-site bookings): free until 8 days before arrival; 50% from 7 days before to the day before; 100% for same-day cancellation or no-show. For the 7-night plan: free until 31 days before; 50% from 30 days before; 100% for same-day cancellation or no-show. Other booking sites follow their own policies.
Rates change by date, so please see the booking page for prices. On the official site, the price is the same for 1 to 8 guests.

Meals

Room only; we do not serve meals. You can cook in the kitchen. A convenience store and a bakery are close by, and a supermarket, drugstore and fast-food restaurants are a few minutes by car. For a drink and dinner out, see our Kitchen Hace page: /en/kitchen/

Ways to stay here

A family trip to Spa Resort Hawaiians: ten minutes by car to the resort, then home to cook, do laundry and spread out in a living room of your own.
Friends on a weekend away: eight people, three bedrooms, one big table, and a coffee morning on the upper-floor counter.
A longer stay: a washing machine, a kitchen and coffee supplies make it easy to stay several nights.

Good to know (honest notes)

You need a car. The house is not walkable from the station or the town.
There are no staff on site. If you have questions, please ask before your stay.
Beds are five for eight guests (double and king beds shared by two). Not ideal if everyone wants their own bed.
Quiet hours are 21:00 to 6:00, inside and around the house; the upper-floor balcony can be used until 22:00 (extra quiet after 21:00).
The bath is not a hot spring. Hot-spring baths are in Yumoto town, about 10 minutes by car.

House rules

Shoes off inside.
No smoking inside or on the upper-floor balcony (including e-cigarettes). Smoking is allowed in the garden if it does not bother neighbours.
No pets (insects included).
Please keep voices and noise low in and around the house. Parties and gatherings must be announced before your stay.
Do not open doors marked “STAFF ONLY” or enter the garden shed.
Please return any furniture you moved to its original place before you leave.
We may charge for damage or late check-out.

Frequently asked questions

How many people can stay?

Up to 8. There are five beds (two double, one king, two single). Double and king beds are shared by two. We cannot add futons. If your number may change, tell us the exact number beforehand.

What time is check-in, and how do I get in?

From 15:00, any time of day (self check-in). You enter with a personal code; we email the code and entry instructions 2 days before arrival. Check-out is by 11:00.

Do I need a car?

Yes, we strongly recommend it. The house is about 9 minutes by car from Yumoto Station and about 10 minutes from the hot-spring town, and not walkable from either.

Is the bath a hot spring? Where can we soak?

No, the bath at the house is an ordinary bath. In Yumoto town, about 10 minutes by car, there are day-use baths (Koito Ryokan, Furutaki-ya, Sumire-kan, Shohaku-kan), a public bath, and a private sauna. See /en/iwaki-yumoto/ and /en/private-sauna/.

Can we cook and make coffee?

Yes. The kitchen has cookware, dishes, a rice cooker, a microwave and a refrigerator. Coffee equipment, two kinds of beans and drip bags are included. No meals are served.

Are towels and toiletries provided?

Towels, sheets and consumables are provided once and not replaced during your stay. Shampoo, conditioner, body soap and a hair dryer are provided. Please bring a toothbrush.

Are children welcome? Pets?

Children are welcome, and long stays are fine. Pets are not allowed.

How do I pay?

Cash is generally not accepted (contact us in advance if you need to pay in cash). On the official site, your registered card is charged on check-in day. If it helps, please pay by one person for the group.

Nearby pages

Iwaki Yumoto guide (getting there, hot springs, tattoo rules): /en/iwaki-yumoto/
Kitchen Hace, our dining bar in Yumoto town: /en/kitchen/
private sauna Sahako-mae: /en/private-sauna/