Fujikawaguchiko Apartments

I stayed in a room with a hot spring bath on the Mt. Fuji side of the East Building. Blessed with the weather, I took a long view of Mt. Fuji from the evening to the next morning and soaked in the hot springs many times. (Laughs) The quality of the Kawaguchiko Onsen at this hotel is a neutral calcium, sodium-sulphate, and chlorine-based disinfection is heated and circulated, including a large communal bath and a private room bath. It is not a source hanging, but it is well managed including the spring temperature. It warmed up well. It seems to be a room meal, but I stayed at 々 at the end of the year 12/29 night, probably because there were many guests, in the dining room on the 7th floor, dinner was a course kaiseki dish, breakfast was a buffet. The beef stew that I expected was also served on the course because the amount was small, but it felt like a taste. Each was carefully cooked in a small amount, and the quality and quantity were satisfactory. I stayed until 11:00 in the morning, and I took a bath 5 times in another 々 large communal bath once, 3 times in the room bath. In addition, the large communal bath has a waterfall and an open-air rock bath in the foreground, and a large cypress bath in the back. I think the impression will change depending on the way Mt. Fuji looks, but I was lucky 々. Since it is the year-end and New Year holidays, the high accommodation fee is natural, but it was a satisfying content for the room, meal, bath, service, and environment that matched it.

I stayed at the Kogetsu for 2 nights in May and it was an unforgettable experience. Every detail was beautiful and thoughtful. I booked rather late and was not able to book the same room, so the first night I stayed in a Standard Western Style twin w open-air bath; and the second night in a Standard Japanese Modern w open-air bath (Triple). Both were on the 3rd (of 5) floors and both had stunning views of Mt Fuji. Both incorporated both Japanese and Western style. The first room had wood floors throughout and half-shoji screen doors so you could separate the bedroom and dining areas. It also had a small walk-in closet. The outdoor onsen was quite large (could easily fit 4 adults) and the patio was wider than in the Triple room. I posted pics of the Standard Western Style Twin and will post the pics of the Triple separately. In contrast the Triple room was larger and there was a gorgeous daybed (which becomes the 3rd bed) with windows on either side overlooking Mt Fuji. The onsen was a bit smaller (could easily fit 2 adults). The bedroom was carpeted, dining area had tatami-style mats, and hallway had wood floors. There was a wardrobe rather than walk-in closet in this room. Both rooms had a wet area for washing up before the onsen, a separate powder room, and separate toilet room. Honestly, you can’t go wrong - both rooms were gorgeous. I felt lucky to be here. One thing to note is that there is a boat launch beside the ryokan, so my open-air onsen on 3rd floor was not super private (there’s a screen to pull down if you want privacy, but it obscures the view). The 4th/5th floors would have more feeling of privacy. The kaiseki meals were beautifully displayed and delicious. The 2 nights’ menus were different but followed a similar (but not identical) format: 1) Aperitif, 2) Seasonal appetizers, 3) Soup, 4) Sashimi, 5) Main course (hot), 6) Steamed fish, 7) Grilled fish, 8) Palette cleanser, 9) simmered dish, 10) rice dish, and 11) dessert. My nakai, Fumiko-san, was lovely - friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. Breakfast was also included - it was half- buffet, with an elegant bento box with appetizers and tamago. It also included delicious tempura, made to order and delivered to your table. The hotel has a happy hour from 2:30-6:30 where a limited selection of tea, coffee, nonalcoholic drinks, beer and wine are free. You can enjoy them on the gorgeous terrace overlooking Mt Fuji with your feet soaking in the footpath (just not in your room). Lastly there are shuttles every morning to Kawaguchiko Station or any of the tourist sights on the way, and the hotel will send a shuttle to pick you up when you are ready to come back. The location of this ryokan could not be better - close to some great museums and on the North shore of the lake, which has the best views (and away from the touristy South shore).

Very Good value for money! With welcome drinks (juice & house wines) & snacks. Fusion fine dining dinner mixed with Japanese & western style, decent presentation & taste good. Cozy room setting with high quality drinks ware. Due to bad weather, we didn’t use the outdoor bath tub but we believe that it should have the FJ Mountain view. The 5 different hot-spring private rooms are special, no reservation is required & we tried the hot stone chair & felt good! The hot-spring section also provides to ice lolly & drinks. Buffet as the Morning breakfast with variety of foods but only serve till to 9:15am. Hotel pack up service with several time slots & operated on time.

This lovely hotel (its a bit dated, but everything is clean and very nice) is right on the lake, and very quiet. Its 10 minutes driving distance from the Kawaguchi-Ko bus stand/train station and there is a free hotel shuttle every hour. I would definitely go for rooms with a view - either of the lake, or of Fujisan. We went for rooms with lake view, and very much enjoyed it. The rooms are big and very comfortable, with a desk, an armchair and a sofa. There is also a small balcony, with amazing views of the lake. Its so peaceful, especially in the early morning or during sunset. The hotel is located in a large garden. There is an indoor and lovely outdoor onsen, where you can bath in the warm water whilst seeing bamboo and hearing birds. Breakfast is a good buffet. The restaurant for dinner is rather expensive, so i would recommend eating in one of the few restaurants in the small town.

We are on a guided tour and were fortunate to stay at Regina. It was good in every way - great rooms, excellent checkin, hot shower and comfortable bed. WE had a traditional Japanese dinner and it was probably the most complete (and very tasty) meals we have had so far. Also the breakfast was handled smoothly and the food was hot and tasty. Be aware that this hotel is a short way out of town, but has great views of Mt Fuji.

This might be the best place to stay near Mt Fuji! The service is incredible and the staff is very friendly! We booked a dome and loved the sauna, bath, dome, kitchen… everything! The BBQ dinner and breakfast were outstanding and the detailed cooking instructions were very clear. The bed was very comfortable as well. Only one complaint - gas grill is located inside the kitchen and the room fills with smoke. Best to open the sliding doors to let the air circulate and also clean the grill before turning it on. The staff helped us book taxis, which helped a lot, too!

For more general details about Fufu Kawaguchiko, please read my review from October 2020... We decided at the last minute to pay a visit to the Fuji Five Lakes area because the weather forecast called for a clear day (and hopefully a clear view of Mt. Fuji.) Thankfully, one room was available, and it was the exact same room as the one we stayed at the first time (Fufu Luxury Premium Suite, Room #408.) It's a top-floor corner suite with a separate bedroom/living room along with an expansive balcony and a free-flowing, open-air Onsen (natural hot springs) bath. As rooms go, it's pure bliss. Modern, tastefully furnished and decorated, bright and airy, and has all of the amenities and features one would expect when staying at a relatively new high-end property. We still feel that Fufu doesn't make the best use of its space - it's a bit busy, and consequently seems a bit less spacious than its specifications suggest (it's officially 136 square meters, although someone we can't help but feel that they're counting the balcony space as part of the overall room size.) It's really less of a ryokan and more of a hotel with ryokan-style elements. Shoes don't need to come off (although you're advised to do so in the guest rooms), they provide ”Samue” (sort of spa pajama/style) outfits rather than the traditional (and albeit more pretty but less comfortable) Yukatas, but still retain some of the common ryokan charms (and a few drawbacks.) The staff are relatively young, hip and ”pretty”, and more casually friendly than the typical traditional ryokan, which is good or bad, depending on your perspective. We enjoyed the high-energy vibe of the place, although we also do enjoy the finesse and quaintness that top traditional ryokans exhibit as well (Asaba is a perfect example of this.) The clientele are also more youthful than most other properties that we've stayed at - this is where the young, wealthy and beautiful go to see and be seen, that's for sure. Again, not necessarily a bad thing, but just a FYI. Not much has changed from our last stay, although I will say that we enjoyed the food offering a bit more this time. We learned that they brought in a new head chef, and while it's not a night-and-day difference, we did notice a quality and creative improvement from last time. A few specialty dishes were once again served, including a unique cheese gratin with Natto (fermented soybeans that is slimy and has a pungent odor) for breakfast - we enjoyed the dish, but not sure how many Westerners can handle Natto, which is a very acquired taste. While we wish there was an option to have meals served in one's own room, we do think that Fufu needs to have more ”ko****su” private dining rooms in the restaurant. They only have a handful of them, and priority goes to large groups or families with small children. When we go to a high-end ryokan, we prefer not to dine in an open, restaurant-style environment. We requested a Ko****su in advance, and were only told we wo

This is a decently nice, large ryokan-style hotel but it feels a bit old and shabby like a pre-bubble hotel which is past its glory days. The location was a lot more isolated than we were expecting, you really should have a car if you stay here as there is little in the immediate area and it's a decently long walk to the rest of town. I strongly disagree with the ”good for walkers” walkability rating that Tripadvisor gives it. The car does offer a free shuttle four times a day to Kawaguchiko station though which is nice. The rooms (at least the ones we stayed in) were ryokan style with tatami and futons. Both me and my companion found the futons very difficult to sleep in. I didn't get a good night's sleep any of my nights and woke up sore even after requesting an extra futon for support. The public onsen on the fourth floor was very nice and in my opinion quite large. Lastly, the WiFi ranged from terrible to passable. It would vary a bit from hour to hour but was often nearly unusable. This is not a ”bad” hotel by any means, just know what you're getting into. This place probably was more impressive back in the day but today feels slightly run down and not very modern.

Location: 5 minutes from the lake shore and a fantastic viewpoint for mount Fuji. You can rent a bike (250 yen) and tour the lake shore or go to the nearest family mart / restaurants. Service: They would go above and beyond for you, and always with a smile. Seriusly, this is the best service we got in our 3 weeks in Japan, and the average Japanese service is like 4 levels above the average service in Europe and the US. They also provide a shuttle from Kawaguchico station. Cleanliness: The cabin shows its age, in its own charming way. Room: The vila's are big. One floor holds the living room, kitchen and the shower (with a private Onsen), the second floor has 2 beds and a tatami floor. The beds weren't so comfy, if there was a king bed it would have been a 11/10 stay. WIFI: Good on the first floor! less on the second.

We checked into Kasuitei Oya for just one night, as we were visiting Kawaguchiko and Mount Fuji en route from Tokyo to Matsumoto. The hotel sent a collection shuttle bus to the train station and was there in a flash. The staff at this hotel were excellent - they were very attentive and happy to spend time suggesting local things to visit. The room itself was beautiful with a great outlook over the lake. We booked a Western style room, which still had the traditional tatami mat area for relaxing but also had a raised Western style bed, which we enjoyed. We really enjoyed the baths and considered booking the private bath for an hour. In the end we just used the standard baths and the outside one was really lovely. I watched the full moon rise from the bath overlooking the lake - magical moment. Although you don't get a Fuji view from the baths or the room in the hotel, there is a balcony up on the same floor as the baths where you can see Fuji. The location of the hotel is brilliant - you can easily walk to restaurants and everything else you need. We spent a nice evening at a very nearby Izakaya called Cooliya bar, recommended by the hotel and a great place for some tasty plates and a couple of drinks later in the evening. We had the traditional breakfast in the morning. There were a lot of dishes within the breakfast - beautifully presented but a little bit too much food for me in the morning, with some of the dishes a bit on the experimental side for us! Overall, a great stay and would recommend.