The food was excellent. It is more slanted towards "western" tastes than the food at the many ryokans that we had been staying at, but as our stay was at the end of our two-week trip and a change from what we had been eating, it was actually welcome as re-entry. We are walkers and did not use the shuttle bus, but having it available would be perfect for many. The museums in the area are quite wonderful and well worth visiting. The roo

The hotel could do a significantly better job having maps and pamphlets in English available for those who want to explore. We did all right, but it was only because we did our research on the web from our room. The arrangements for the public bath is not "normal" for Japan, but it is OK because of the private bath in the room. We were on the river side with a great view, and I doubt it would have been as nice if we had been on the uphill side.

I couldn't be happier about my stay here with my family. From the moment we first arrived until the moment we left the staff were not only extremely friendly and accommodating, they also went above and beyond. They took the time to make my family feel like we were their most important guests. They also assisted me in calling up the bus company we used to get there to follow up about an item that had been lost on the bus, which they then organised for us to pick up from the station when we were leaving. The room was amazing. The size of the room, the size of the bed, the shower, and the balcony hot tub were just brilliant. There was nothing better than coming back to the room after a day of adventuring to soak in the tub to relax. They have a free shuttle to Gora station where you can get the ropeway to Ashinoko or ride the Hakone Tozan railway, and also a free bus to Odawara station to continue on with your travels. This is an amazing place to have a break from the big cities and relax a bit closer to nature.

The highlight was the breakfast . The onsen was also nice .

The hotel does not offer massage. They can arrange for somebody from outside the hotel to come by and do the massage in your room , which is not ideal. We arrived in the evening to Gora train station . The hotel van runs only until 6 pm. We called the hotel for them to organize a cab, but they wouldn’t organize it (it was cold and raining and we had to wait for quite a while to get a taxi

The hotel was beautiful, modern and well maintained with many great facilities. The room was large and comfortable, the bathroom large and great products. Loved our view out to the river from the balcony, and the private onsen on our verandah - though it was chilly getting into it at first, at -1 degrees :). The hotel shuttle to and from Odowara station is a great service (free) and was a great help in getting to and from the property, as was the car service to and from Gora station. I had planned to walk to and from Gora however staff recommended not to, it's a bit of a treacherous track apparently and all very steep (getting to Gora). Food in the restaurant for dinner was exceptional quality, and the service of all the staff just brilliant.

The check in process was chaotic and slow, it seemed like the hotel was underprepared to check in when many guests arrived at the same time. Waiting wasn't the issue it was more the lack of updates from the staff, but we arrived in the afternoon when there were drinks and some snacks on offer free, so this was a nice touch. Also, given the region (volcanic area) there is a constant smell of sulphur, not a problem initially however on the last day it was so strong it was inside the hotel even with doors closed. As an asthmatic this was a problem for me, it would be good for this to be noted on the hotel website (it is noted on signs at the tourist sites such as Owakudani however).

Breakfast meal had many options. Only stay for two nights and even though dinner was delicious ( with slight changes in set meals, but wished it had more options such as vegetables or rice option/ additional noodle option even though I understand how the dinner meant to be more streamline and exclusive level.

Pillow was too soft and had no support for the head and neck, I would wake up everyday with a headache. Blankets was rather on the thin side. Other hotels have a flat sheet under the blanket that adds a layer of warmness. Also the fact that there was no additional blankets in the room. I know you can turn up the heater in the room but it dries up the air in the room for me. So the first night, I was freezing and couldn’t sleep until 4am when I finally had to go down to put in a request for an extra blanket but after that I was warm enough.

This hotel was the highlight of our trip, despite me accidentally booking a "mountain view" instead of a "river view" the hotel still gets top marks, so next time we will be making sure to book the river room! The hotel offers a free coach from the main train station making it easy to access. The room was enormous and luxurious. The private onsen bath was divine. The footbath in the outside bar was amazing for our tired feet after a day of exploring the mountains. My partner loved the spa and you are able to access this as tattooed people which is great. The bar does a happy hour which was fun, drinks were lovely. We had dinner one night and the food was amazing and for both dinner and breakfast there were plenty of vegetarian options. They also had all of the food labelled at the breakfast buffet (gluten free, vegetarian etc) which is the only place we stayed that provided this information.

The rooms that say "mountain view" are more "car park and next door buildings" view, however when you get into the bathtub all you can see is the tress so it didn't ruin the experience, just something to be mindful of when booking. It is the smallest complaint because honestly this hotel blew us away, but the staff were so helpful it was almost overwhelming. The moment you step foot into the lobby you are approached, at one point we had 3 staff all trying to help us with the same thing which was very kind but intense and caused a bit of confusion amongst them and us. We would come back to this hotel even if we didn't plan to explore much of Hakone it would be worth staying and experiencing this hotel.

During our stay in Tokyo my little sister developed a fever. After searching for a Medical Centre in Hakone, I showed it to a man at reception. Hiroaki was extremely helpful, he called the Centre, confirmed they were open, and also made an appointment for my little sister. He relayed all the information back to me in English, provided me with a thermometer to check my sister's temperature and was very patient throughout. Thanks to him we were able to get to the doctor, and get my sister the antibiotics she needed. We were very grateful for his help. Thank you, Hiroaki!

The room itself was great, so much space (unheard of in Japan) and certainly worth the money. Best bed we stayed in throughout our trip. Was also nice to have Netflix access after a big day. Didn’t try breakfast but got cake and wine sent to room and it was delicious, well-priced and came quickly.

We paid extra for the Mountain View room, knowing many reviews had spoken poorly of the river view. Well our ‘upgrade’ was a view of a carpark and bins and trucks. The whole reason we stayed there was for the view of the mountains in the snow so I was highly disappointed. Also, the hotel is in a good-ish location but I would try hotels closer to Gora next time. We didn’t organise a shuttle to the station in time and it was a very steep hill with suitcases, and we are fit people who hike.

The hotel is very pretty and if you get the private onsen it is a very nice experience. They have a shuttle/car that can take you to and from Gora and Odawara, which is very convenient.

The location of the hotel is not easily walkable from Gora station. You need to go through a long staircase to the river, which is also not well lit. The car service to Gora stops at 18:00, so it is not so convenient if you want to stay there for dinner. However, there are 1-2 places where you can eat and that you can walk to from the hotel. If you can, take the view to the mountains, the river side is overlooking the street/town and can get quite noisy.

Beautiful design, attentive service, delicious breakfast. The room was large, clean and comfortable. The location was excellent, just a short drive away to Gora station and the hotel was able to drive us to and from the station with only a few minutes’ wait. Shuttle to Odawara (40 min away) was also very helpful.

The views were not that great (Parking lots) but everything else was superb