Hotels in Kowakidani/Miyanoshita, Hakone

Dear Hotel Team, I did not want to make these points of criticism public and therefore sent you an email on September 16, 2025. Since I have not received any response by October 1, 2025, I am now publishing my points of criticism. Thank you very much for hosting us from September 14 to 16 2025. Your service is so attentive and friendly - it was consistently perfect. Unfortunately, we experienced many shortcomings that I would like to point out to you. The room, unfortunately, was not clean. The sink siphon is yellow, and the bathtub on the balcony is full of residue from the thermal water. We found hair everywhere: on the floor, the bed, and the couch. I would expect a different hygiene standard in a 5-star hotel. The bed linen seemed old and had frayed edges and loose threads sticking out. It did not feel inviting to sleep in. On the terrace, the hanging chair had a hole that looked like it was caused by a cigarette. The wooden surfaces in the room showed a lot of wear and damage in many areas. Simply touching them up with a suitable marker or paint would already make them look newer and more high-quality. At the buffet, the water glasses were unfortunately very small. In the summer heat, I had to fetch four rounds of two glasses each at dinner to stay sufficiently hydrated. At the first breakfast, I got a cappuccino from the coffee machine. No milk came out, even though a staff member had just refilled it, and the remaining coffee tasted strongly of cleaning agent. The taste lingered in my mouth until the evening. I only took one sip and didn’t want to drink any more. On the first night, I was woken up by irregular beeping in the room. After a long search, I identified the safe as the source. The safe was irregularly entering codes on its own without any input. I tried to open it with my PIN - since our laptops were locked inside - but I couldn’t open it anymore. The error HOLD03 appeared, so I wanted to wait the three minutes for a new PIN entry. In the meantime, the safe entered codes again by itself and reactivated the HOLD03 timer. Luckily, I found a three-minute phase when the safe didn’t make an input on its own, and I was able to open it with my PIN. Out of lack of trust, I didn’t lock the laptops in the safe again. I kindly ask you to have the safe serviced and the defect repaired. Because of this, I unfortunately slept poorly and with the hygiene issues and the problems at the buffet, the overall stay was not enjoyable. A single problem would not make the stay worse, but the accumulation of issues put us off and does not correspond to a 5-star hotel charging ¥80,000 per night for a simple double room. I hope my feedback helps you and wish that you can resolve the problems easily and cost-effectively. Your service is on such a high level, and we truly appreciate that. Best regards

Luckily this onsen hotel has a Family Mart right next to it. Everything there is clean. Onsen on 6/F is also very clean, loved it very much. The best part was to bring my family to the Yunessun swimming facility right across the road. Free entry if you get tickets from the hotel front desk.

My second stay in this hotel, staffs are friendly, foods are great. For those who is coming the first time, please take the train from station 51 and get off at station 55 (Kowakidani). From station 55, you can either 1) walk for 15 mins to the hotel Or 2) take the mini 10 seats shuttle bus from 2-5 pm (every 10-15 mins), just wait at the exit. If you need a pick up outside of this time, call the hotel and they will pick you up (a local Japanese phone number in the picture attached)

The random hotel I booked was a complete success. Take the H line to Penglai Garden and it's just down the stairs. The hotel is small but beautiful. Meals are not provided, so breakfast is divided by room and you can take it back to your room. The room was spacious, Japanese-style, with maple trees outside the window. The hot springs were also amazing, rarely crowded on weekdays!

The service provided by the other female staff was excellent. Despite the language barrier, they were incredibly patient, repeatedly explaining the hotel's services and answering all our questions. Their friendly demeanor left us highly satisfied.

The overall experience was very good, but the details of the room were not cleaned clean enough. There was dust and hair in the corners of the table in the room that was not cleaned up. I was a little disappointed. The other feelings were very good, so I ignored it. Otherwise, I would remind the front desk to clean it up, and the experience would be more perfect. The hot spring in the room was warm and comfortable enough, and the public hot spring scenery was also beautiful, but few people went there. I wonder if I should point out such hygiene details next time?

Nice service! English level of the staff is good. The western meal is good, especially the soup. The hot spring is good and I felt good with the skin. I left on the Valentine’s Day, I received a gift of a chocolate biscuit from the front reception of the hotel. I hope I will visit the hotel again.

The hotel is a short 1km walk from the local train station. The onsen uses natural volcanic spring water and is of very high quality. There is a private onsen available if you ask for the key, however the public bath was empty every time I visted. The room was large, clean, and very relaxing. The dinner was fancy, but had mild flavours. It was not our favourite meal. I was still hungry afterwards, but there was no more food available. There was free alcohol from 9pm to 10pm, but it was of poor quality. The staff were always very kind and helpful.

Nice historical Ryokan, hospitality is their highlight. Very nice food. Spent some time in their private onsen, it was great. One of the surprise is the Zen room, relaxing environment and I slept on the massage chair simply because it’s too comfortable. Nice experience overall!

The room is OK, not as cost-effective as Kusatsu. I booked a shallow room with a mountain view. The view in the room is pretty good. I don't know how to comment on the service. Check-in is not allowed after 10 pm. There was a problem on the road, and I was worried that I would not be able to arrive at 10 pm. After 6 o'clock, I communicated with the hotel through Ctrip repeatedly, but they still insisted that if I couldn't arrive at 10 o'clock, I couldn't check in. In addition, if you arrive before 10 o'clock, you can check in, but if you miss the reserved food, you can only miss it. Help pack or leave a rice ball. After several discussions, it still didn't work. I must thank Ctrip. It is estimated that the staff of Ctrip in Japan were concerned about whether we could arrive all the way. They were worried that it would be unsafe for us to go into the mountains after dark, and they took the initiative to offer to cover the taxi fare to ensure that we could arrive before 10 o'clock as much as possible. The taxi driver took the wrong road, and it was also the Ctrip brother who communicated with the driver. The brother's Japanese is very good. Great! In addition, after rushing to check in, there was another problem on the first night at the hotel. The refrigerator door was a safety hazard. I bumped into it and injured my hand, which was bleeding. Unfortunately, the hotel did not provide any medical emergency measures at night. I could not find a tourniquet or an alcohol pad. The front desk was empty and the help line was not answered. At this time, I still contacted Ctrip, and Ctrip helped me make various contacts. Thank you Ctrip for letting me feel the warmth of my motherland in another country. In general, the hotel has a nice view and good privacy. I hope the service and details will be improved. In addition, safety hazards must be eliminated and we should be responsible for ourselves and our guests.