3-Star Hotels in Hakone

This time, I stayed here with my partner. The room was spacious and comfortable, and the food was delicious. The hot springs were very relaxing, and although the open-air bath was a little small, it was nice to be able to enjoy the view while soaking. The hotel has many services to enjoy during your stay, such as table tennis and a karaoke room (for a fee), and they also rent out board games and Othello. However, I was disappointed that the staff at the front desk seemed a little cold when I asked to rent a board game. Other than that, it was a very satisfying stay. They also offer a bus shuttle service, and I think it's great to be able to enjoy delicious food and hot springs at this price. I would like to stay here again if I have the opportunity.

20 min uphill hike from Gora station. Or you can take cable train up hill for two stations and walk on flatland for about 8 minutes to hotel. Hotel has shuttle bus. They dropped us off on the way back. You can possibly call to pick you up at Gora station. Trip.com reservation options show you prices for one adult. It's very hard to book for 3 people to stay in one room to save money. I sent a custom request to the hotel exactly this - 3 people in one room. Trip.com charged me $270 and when I got to the hotel, they said I have to pay $300+ more for 2 more people. That was not clearly communicated to me by either Trip.com or hotel. There's a language and cultural barrier. In Japan, you pay per person - not by rooms. They scan your all passports of everyone staying - not just the person who books. With last minute notice, I had no choice but to pay more as other hotels nearby are filled up and we were very tired from 4 hours train transfers dragging our bags plus 8 minutes walk to the hotel. All in all, if trip.com room selections are not a perfect fit, I can't recommend booking this hotel. Custom messages are not recognized. Communication is lacking. You will get charged last minute without any alternatives left. For $570 a night, we could have a way better hotel in Hakone. The breakfast also wasn't memorable and you have to reserve it ahead of time. I would not come back.

I would recommend everyone to experience this ryokan at least once. A huge room with a kitchen, dining room, bedroom, bathroom, toilet and a hot bath. There is no window in the room with the bath, but because the bath is hot, you don't feel the coolness, but you can enjoy the views of the mountains. Dinner and breakfast - my respects! Gigantic and filling, but in the Japanese spirit. Fans of continental breakfasts in regular hotels will be sad. The staff is friendly. They try to speak English. It is not always possible to understand each other, but they try very hard! A special plus for this!

The room was very spacious, with a living room, kitchen, washing machine, hot spring bath, and even a scale. However, when I tried to enter the room, the password I received via email was incorrect, and I had to call customer service myself to get the right one. Other than that, everything else was great.

This is one of the best places I stayed! Thank you very much! The hotel is located a little bit far from the train station and I think this is the only downside (and I didn't suffer from it). The price is expensive, but it is worth it because 2 meals are included, and they have great service. The staff is from Nepal so if someone comes here and expects Japanese, they may be disappointed by that. But in fact, this is way better as they don't have those strict Japanese traditions and are more flexible for guests. The atmosphere and hospitality make you feel like you are at home. There are 2 buildings and I was in the second building that has a big onsen. The names of guests are written on a board, so you get a feeling they were waiting for you. I was checking in a few minutes after check-in hours (18:06 or so), so I was nervous. Fortunately, I didn't have any problems with that. Also, I didn't expect any meal for dinner because of my previous bad experience with the Japanese staff. And then I was surprised when the owner said that the dinner time starts at 6 PM! So I had the meal after 30 minutes. This is really convenient for tourists because you can see Hakone and come to the hotel on the last train from Gora station (that's what I did) and then you will have a great dinner! After I finished the meal, they gave me a dessert! Overall, it felt like a regal banquet. I really like it! After that it was already dark, so I walked around the hotel and took pictures. It looks nice and comfortable. Then I needed a rest before the public bath. The owner said I can use onsen any time I want, it is 24 hours open. I didn't check that though I used it 10-11 PM. There are 2 pools with serum and some minerals from the volcano. The pool inside is hotter and more comfortable. The pool outside is almost body temperature. Actually the water from the spring is hotter, but the water temperature in the pool decreased. There were private baths, but I was tired and didn't go to check them. After you finish bathing, you can drink cool water from the cooler near the entrance. The breakfast that was included in my plan and the staff again pleased me with that. I like the variety and quality of the food. After checking-out I had a free transfer to the train station. So, I had a wonderful experience with this hotel, and it is one of the reasons I want to visit Hakone again. Thank you very much!!!

Such a great find! Calming ryokan in a peaceful part of the mountain. Staff were all super friendly and accommodating of us as tourists who didn’t speak Japanese. Every meal was delicious and the staff took time to tell us what each little dish was and even gave us some extra mini dishes to help us try different things. They were all delicious! The onsens were also very relaxing and had everything you could need. My boyfriend and I booked the private onsen our last night and looking out over the mountain at night when it was raining was a great experience. We got the Japanese style room and it was very spacious and the tatami floors were very comfortable. View over the mountains was also terrific. The ryokan shuttle took us to the nearest two train stations (Gora or Sounzan) in the morning when we requested and picked us up at the end of the day so it was very convenient getting to the ryokan even without a car. Highly recommend this stay!!

This hotel is wonderful! The location is superb, right next to the funicular station, Gora. From Gora station, it's quite a steep climb, which would be tough with suitcases. You can take the funicular one stop and then walk on a flat path. Nearby are Hakone Park (free entry with Hakone Free Pass), Gora Brewery, and a grocery store. I really liked the accommodations; the rooms are spacious and well-equipped. You can pick up beautiful yukata for free near the elevators on each floor. Herbal tea is also available. The traditional kaiseki dinner lasts an hour and a half and includes drinks like fresh beer, plum wine, whiskey, shochu, sake, gin, juices, and lemonades. You can choose your dining time: 5:30 PM or 7:30 PM. Besides the hot springs themselves, the onsen also features a jacuzzi, sauna, and cold bath. In the fridge, there's cold fruit drink and ice cream. Overall, I had a most pleasant experience during my visit.

Really enjoyed my stay at Root Hakone. I reached a little late (around 7:30-8pm) and the walk to the hostel was a little dark (roads on Hakone aren’t that well-lit at night due to it being a forested area). So recommend to reach earlier if you’re not that comfortable with walking in the dark alone! The accommodations were comfortable, single futon bed with lockable room doors, separated by a divider. Was initially expecting just a cubbie with a curtain so this was a pleasant surprise. There’s also a direct bus nearby to Togendai Station if you’re keen to take the sightseeing cruise and ropeway. The drinks made by the staff were also wonderful, enjoyed a cassis soda, cassis oolong and fuzzy navel at a great price. The management also gave a guide of nearby recommended places to travellers too (had the best coffee at Amaze Coffee, recommendation of the staff)! Overall would come back to stay again if I’m ever back in Hakone. A downside is perhaps the lack of availability of food options at night and no near konbini so be sure to grab some supplies at the station prior to heading over.

According to the comments, the location is very far away. It is more than 10 minutes away from Hakone Tang Station. I think the road is easy to walk and the luggage will not be too tired. Walking along the river is a different scenery. The distance is not close, but it is acceptable. Compared with some closer hotels, although it is a few minutes away, it is more cost-effective. There is a private toilet inside the Japanese-style room, but there is no shower room, so you must go to the bathhouse downstairs to take a bath. The bathing position is relatively bright, the horse oil shampoo and shower gel are easy to use, and the bathing water is hot enough. It is quite comfortable overall. The only thing is that the wind power of the hair dryer is very low, and it takes a long time to blow the hair. There is no service, except for checking in to help with the luggage for a while. There was no cleaning during the period, and no door delivery when leaving, but it is acceptable because he did not charge cleaning fees and other extra fees. The door of the room feels like a joke. It is locked, but it feels a little loose. Everything is fine, but the most unsatisfactory thing is that there is no window that can be opened in the room, and the window of the room is not equipped with curtains. The window is light-transmitting when sleeping at night, and the sunlight is very dazzling when getting up in the morning, which affects sleep.

There are pros and cons to staying here! Pros: The hotel itself is lovely, with polite staff and a clean, spacious, atmospheric room offering mountain views. The public onsen is included in the price and is quite pleasant, especially if you're lucky enough to have it to yourself, as we did (we went in the morning). The hotel also has vending machines for drinks and snacks, which is very convenient since there are no stores nearby. You can arrange to have your luggage sent to the station so you don't have to carry it yourself, but unfortunately, we missed the 10 AM deadline to book this service. Cons: Unfortunately, these left a strong impression. The hotel is located in a terribly inconvenient and remote area, really out in the sticks and difficult to access. It's far from all the attractions you travel to see – we had to take a boat to get to them – and far from any establishments where you'd want to find food. Not only are these places far away, but they also close early, open late, are overpriced, and the food isn't even tasty. We couldn't call a taxi to the accommodation because you needed to link a local phone number! We initially walked with our suitcases along the road, then took a bus. The buses didn't accept our Hakone pass, a card we specifically bought for Hakone, even though buses were supposed to be included. And the price without the card was clearly inflated – 300 yen to travel uphill for 8 minutes. Since we had another individual onsen booked elsewhere (a 20-minute drive away), after that at 9 PM, we realized the buses had stopped running. There was no chance of calling or hailing a taxi, so we had to walk back to the hotel. This meant a two-hour walk along a dark mountain road, surrounded by forest, with only occasional streetlights. We tried to hitchhike, but no one stopped, not even taxis. After an hour of walking uphill (our emotions were indescribable), about the 10th car, if not more, finally stopped, and a young Japanese couple gave us a ride back to the hotel. Overall, the hotel itself is good (it was also cold at night, we used the air conditioning to warm up, but the room was large and difficult to heat; thankfully, there were extra large blankets). However, everything else regarding the location was terrible. If you plan to stay here, make sure to plan your transportation in advance.