By Darby Line
Word about Onsen for All, the Princeton area’s new Japanese style wellness center, traveled far and wide and attracted visitors from Virginia, Washington DC, Long Island, Manhattan and even California for its opening free soak day on Sunday Nov. 15. General Manager Darby Line said more than 200 people attended the center’s special event, which officially introduced the region to the joys and benefits of hot water soaking.
“We were thrilled by the response,” Line said, adding that many of the event’s visitors were Japanese. “The onsen tradition of hot water soaking is an important part of Japanese culture,” she said, “and we are the only onsen-like facility in the area. Many of our Japanese visitors brought their entire families to soak.
“One man said his young son, who was born in the US, had never experienced an onsen and had his first soak at our facility. This was a great honor for us!” Line continued.
Created as a place of relaxation and wellness, Onsen for All had its “soft” opening Oct. 20 of this year. This past weekend was the center’s official Grand Opening Weekend, with a private party on Saturday evening that was attended by more than 150 community members and the Free Soak Day on Sunday.
Onsen for All is a Japanese-inspired wellness center housed in the 300 year old, fully restored Jedediah Higgins House in Kingston Village. The center features a spa garden with four large cedarwood soaking hot tubs and a wood-fired sauna gracefully landscaped with live bamboo and other plantings. For $20 a guest receives a robe, slippers and towel, and may soak in the hot tubs, enjoy the sauna and relax in the meditation room for as long as they wish. "This provides a unique, effective and affordable way to escape from everyday stresses," Line said, which was the goal of the center’s founder, the late Dale Krieger, in creating Onsen for All.
Yoga classes, wellness classes, massage therapy and body treatments are available, as well as organic juices and teas.
For information and reservations, call 609-924-4800 or visit www.onsenforall.com
