Find 3-Star Hotels in Hakone

One of the largest rooms I've stayed in in Japan! The private onsen in the room was incredibly comfortable. All the hotel staff were very friendly and welcoming. The food was just average; it looked nice but didn't taste good. They also offered complimentary drinks and desserts in the evening. Overall, a very good hotel.

This hotel is a paradise in the mountains of Hakone! Traditional style of the rooms - it feels like you are living in a Japanese family. We were prepared a traditional dinner, which was served in our room. It was very tasty and varied! The hotel has 3 onsen: 2 - private, 1 - public. We visited only the private ones (you need to book a time in advance at the reception upon check-in, the visit time is 30 minutes). It was wonderful! The hotel also provides a transfer from and to the nearest train stations. The rooms are clean, cozy, we slept on tatami under soft blankets. The hotel has a relax room. With massage chairs and a very quiet atmosphere. We stayed in this room after visiting the onsen and got great relaxation. And you are also given national clothes for rest and sleep. It is very beautiful and cute. Breakfasts were also in kaiseki style - varied and unusual. The hotel staff is very kind and friendly. this hotel allows tattoo baths. great experience, thank you very much! want to come back again!

The biggest advantage is probably its proximity to Yumoto Station. You don't even need to go upstairs from the second floor; just walk to the end, turn left, take the elevator down, walk forward, turn left, and you're there in two minutes. 1. I planned to explore Hakone during the day and knew I'd miss dinner, so I only booked breakfast instead of the half-board option. That turned out to be a great decision. I definitely got back to Yumoto after dinner service had ended. The breakfast looked beautiful in photos, but it was hard to eat. There wasn't really anything appealing; just a bunch of miscellaneous small dishes and pickles. 2. The private onsen needs to be booked in advance, but it was just okay. 3. If you have a lot of luggage, staying in Yumoto is more convenient for check-in, and there are other restaurants open at night. If you're traveling light in Hakone, I'd probably choose Gora, book dinner at the hotel, and explore the various museums around Gora. For a day trip, you don't need to see everything; just pick one or two places you like.

Really enjoyed my stay in the traditional Japanese style room. It overlooked the river and it was wonderfully serene. Room was comfortable and very clean. Getting into the provided yukata after a day out was great. You can wear them anywhere around the hotel including to meals. The hotel was quiet when I stayed and I had the public onsen to myself both days. The hotel dinner was semi- buffet style and you could order all you can eat tempura and steak or local pork. Dinner was delicious for JPY19800 per person, it does get booked out so book your table. Breakfast is buffet style and is a mix of western and traditional food, very large selection of great food. Hotel staff were amazing, was so sweet as our shuttle was leaving after we checked out and the reception staff line up outside to bow and wave you goodbye! You need to ring the hotel to call for a shuttle pick up from Hakone-Yumoto station but it goes from hotel to station at regular intervals. We didn’t try to go out outside the shuttle operation times but I guess you would have to try a taxi or public bus as it would be quite a walk to Hakone-Yumoto. I’d love to come back and stay!

I was quite worried before my visit, having seen many mixed reviews online. However, I decided to stick with this hotel, primarily due to its excellent location very close to Yumoto Station, which makes getting around incredibly convenient. Upon arrival, I personally found it to be excellent. First off, the room was very spacious. Although the amenities were a bit dated (still using traditional button switches instead of a modern key card system), the vintage charm of this traditional Japanese-style room was actually quite nice. Secondly, staying in a room with a private outdoor onsen at the foot of the mountain during summer, I was delighted to find no mosquitoes. I only spotted one unidentified bug on the day I checked in, and never saw another insect afterwards. What's more, the onsen water was continuously circulating, so the surface was always clean with no debris. Enjoying a hot spring bath at night while stargazing was truly blissful. The breakfast and dinner portions initially looked small, served as individual dishes, but by the end, I was completely stuffed and couldn't finish it all! (𖦹.𖦹) Finally, the overall service was impeccable, from the check-in process at the front desk to the staff attending to us during breakfast and dinner.

Positives 1. Large spacious and clean room. Certainly an upgrade from the smaller Tokyo city rooms we were in. 2. The medicinal tea bar was a hit with our group and an interesting touch to the hotel. 3. The public baths (onsen) were well maintained and clean. 4. The hotel provides yukata robes that you can change into. 5. Breakfast and dinner were decent and necessary judging by the limited number of eateries in the area. There is Gora Brewery just behind the hotel and a Daily Yamazaki convenience store just 1 min walk. 6. You can get to Gora Park in 1 min. Tips to get from Gora station to hotel and vice versa 1. Walking. The steep slope is really not for the faint hearted. 2. When you get off at Gora, hop onto the Tozan line from Gora and get off at Koen Shimo (1 stop). It is covered if you buy the Hakone Free Pass. From Koen Shimo, it is a straight walk to the hotel. Much easier than climbing the slope. 3. Hotel shuttle. From Gora station exit, turn right and you will see an underpass. Go through it and this is where the shuttle picks / drops. We didn’t manage to find out how to get the shuttle from Gora station, but from the hotel - you should book the shuttle in advance as it can get full especially during check out time.

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!!

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.

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.

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.