Review of Niki-Club, by Caroline Major

Getting naked with strangers has never been so relaxed - when you're getting ready to take a dip in an onsen that is. The Niki Club hot spring baths are outdoors in the forests of Tochigi-Ken, and it's very easy to feel 'spirited away'. The surrounding Japanese cedar trees sing with birdsong and provide a comforting modesty blanket around the steaming pools of mineral rich waters. While nature does the work you recline, melting away exhaustion and arthritis and stimulating your precious circulation.

More than anything, though, these onsen are designed to reconnect you with nature, and it's that which will ultimately restore wellbeing. As you lie there, steaming, there's nothing to do but look at trees or the stars or the moon or watch raindrops dricing little storms of steam as they patter into the pools.

The facilities

That is the objective of the Niki Club; to reconnect urban dwellers with nature. To encourage you to take midnight walks in the forest. To play on the wooden and rope swings suspended in the trees. To have a picnic and a bike ride, to play tennis or fish in the streams crisscrossing the property; to step in the puddles on the uneven stone pavings; to race to your private salon in the rain. In the snow. In the sunshine. To come back and do it every season. When the leaves fall and when they're green. When the ground steams and smells pungently of mud and the fungi thrive; when the moss is green and the hydrangeas bloom. When the fireflies come out at dusk and when ice covers the ground. This Japanese 'Auberge' just an hour from Tokyo is the antithesis of the city and just the thing for a regular weekend break or a week-long getaway in the countryside.

The drive into the Niki Club is full of suprises. How could such a populous country still have such thick woods? And are those REALLY overhead fans in the cow sheds? It's lush, green and the air is filled with the pervasive 'shuuuuush' of running water. The area itself is renowned for its hot springs and the country is traversed with the rivers and creeks which feed from them. Ah yes, a few days at this onsen will leave your head clear, the body recuperated and your stresses behind.

The rooms:

Rooms come in several types in two wings. The original six rooms in the 'Main' building are the most traditionally Japanese. They front onto a wet rock garden and have a bench edaya outside for drinking tea and smoking. Inside, a living room with sofa looks out through a window wall to the rock garden and behind is the tatami-matted bedroom where a maid will prepare a futon in the evening.

In front of these rooms are the suites, cosy enclaves surrounded by gardens, both lush and green and those of rocks. The wooden floors are a warming contrast to the stark concrete exteriors with their flat roofs landscaped with Japanese style rock gardens typical of the Tochigi prefecture; of slightly rusty, grey and cream coloured stones. The sliding glass doors from each room of every villa continues the nature connection theme and in summer provide welcome breeze and the opportunity to really listen to the sound of silence. Which of course is anything but… a night filled with the sounds of water, birds and frogs is one man's pleasure and another's pain. If you relax, it will hypnotise you.

Touches include the 'in-room' wear, which the room guide will tell you is not appropriate for the restaurants but perfectly acceptable out in the garden and the spa. It's comfortable and cute. Choose from knit or cotton pyjamas in addition to a waffle bathrobe. Incense and complimentary soft-drinks and beer in the mini-bar are also nice as is the Japanese standard 'always on' hot water with a set of quality cups and a teapot with complimenting caddy of green tea.

The newest 24 of the 32 rooms have been recently commissioned from the very busy Sir Terence Conran and feature many of his signatures. Most are split-level and many include a rooftop terrace off the upstairs bedroom. Perfect for being up amongst the trees. These rooms are more contemporary than the older but all share a minimalist design ethic. The Conran rooms are finished with splashes of colour and include a private outdoor iron rich mineral onsen. All rooms have bathrooms with shower stools and tubs. Most are cedar and smell divine when you fill them with steaming water.

Don't make the mistake of choosing these rooms based on their newness or their designer. Even though the older rooms have seen the stories of 20 years, their design endures and the positioning of those four along the river with access to the Japanese country gardens are outstanding if a little 'cosy'. The proximity to nature through both direct access and expansive panels of glass is unbeatable.