ゲゲストWe got to the hotel in the beautiful location just before 3pm and we got given a little tour of the place and then got shown to our room. The staff are very friendly and do their best to speak English. A lovely lady was in charge of our hospitality throughout our stay and she first showed us that there is a public hot spring and a private hot spring and asked us if we would like to book a time to use the private hot spring, we booked a time as we checked in but then we didn’t use it as we were happy with our private hot spring in the room. We also booked a time for dinner and they arrived at that time
Promptly with A LOT of food. We also got a choice for a staple food and we chose some steak which was high quality and delicious, as well as the lobster (on the menu it said grilled prawn but a lobster is what came and it was delicious). We ordered a few beers and a bottle of wine with room service and it always came quickly and was nice and cold.
The private hot spring is absolutely boiling but it’s a good experience and there’s ice water provided which helps.
Breakfast came at 8.30am and it was also huge! It didn’t come with coffee but I ordered some and that was easy enough.
The lady who served our food explained every dish and how to eat it and she was always extremely friendly and attentive.
Would recommend!
Nngathant20 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.