Explore 3-Star Hotels in Hakone

This time, I stayed here with my partner. The room was spacious and comfortable, and the food was delicious. The hot springs were very relaxing, and although the open-air bath was a little small, it was nice to be able to enjoy the view while soaking. The hotel has many services to enjoy during your stay, such as table tennis and a karaoke room (for a fee), and they also rent out board games and Othello. However, I was disappointed that the staff at the front desk seemed a little cold when I asked to rent a board game. Other than that, it was a very satisfying stay. They also offer a bus shuttle service, and I think it's great to be able to enjoy delicious food and hot springs at this price. I would like to stay here again if I have the opportunity.

20 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.

I would recommend everyone to experience this ryokan at least once. A huge room with a kitchen, dining room, bedroom, bathroom, toilet and a hot bath. There is no window in the room with the bath, but because the bath is hot, you don't feel the coolness, but you can enjoy the views of the mountains. Dinner and breakfast - my respects! Gigantic and filling, but in the Japanese spirit. Fans of continental breakfasts in regular hotels will be sad. The staff is friendly. They try to speak English. It is not always possible to understand each other, but they try very hard! A special plus for this!

The room was very spacious, with a living room, kitchen, washing machine, hot spring bath, and even a scale. However, when I tried to enter the room, the password I received via email was incorrect, and I had to call customer service myself to get the right one. Other than that, everything else was great.

We stayed one night with our family. We booked two Japanese-style rooms. The rooms were very nicely decorated. We visited the onsen. There are three different onsen: one inside the building, one across the street, and a separate private onsen. The water was a comfortable temperature, there weren't many people there, and there were pools both inside and outside. We ordered dinner and a kaiseki breakfast: delicious and varied. You can order drinks as well. In the morning after breakfast, a staff member gave us a free ride to Gora Station, which saved us a lot of time and effort. Overall, we enjoyed our stay.

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!!

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.

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.

The main courtyard of this hotel is very upscale and only accommodates top-notch guests who can afford a butler. We stayed in the old building in the hotel's side courtyard, the one with the big words ”Fairyland” hanging on it. The room was large, clean and quiet. But there is no elevator, so you have to climb four floors. Customers with large suitcases should order with caution.

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.