Hakone Yutowa — Attraction in Hakone

The hotel is acceptable if your main expectation is to have an in-room onsen. However, if you are looking for a true luxury experience or a place that takes care to individual needs, this is not the right choice and that’s my personal opinion.

Overall Impression

The property feels more like a health resort than a luxury hotel. Despite the high room and dining prices, the atmosphere is geared towards mass tourism rather than personalized service. While there are some nice areas, overall the design feels poorly thought through and rather uninspired.

Examples of Poor Design and Facilities • Laundry: Only one washing machine is available for the entire complex, which is far too little. • Keys: Instead of modern key cards, guests receive ONE single metal key per room. For families, this is extremely inconvenient as doors between the building sections can only be opened with this key. A number code system or key cards would be much more practical. • Snack Station: Every evening the same cakes were served (in our case, mango slices and crème brûlée) – five days in a row. No fruits at all. Very repetitive and uninspired.

Dining Experience • Drinks: Water, ice, and tea are available throughout the hotel, which is really convenient. Coffee lovers, however, will be disappointed – there is not a single proper espresso machine or a good coffee available, not to mention that soy milk or oat milk is not available. • Breakfast: The buffet is varied, but only available from 7:00 to 8:30 a.m. This forces all guests into the same short time slot, making it crowded and stressful. It also doesn’t allow families to sleep in. • Dinner: As a vegetarian family, our options were extremely limited. Yet we were charged the full buffet price (€142 2 adults, 2 kids) even though we only had rice, French fries, and some steamed vegetables. The hotel shows no flexibility or partial pricing for vegetarians, which feels a bit unfair and outdated.

Service & Rooms • Extra Beds: We had booked extra beds for our children and we were aware that they would be sleeping on the sofa. However, upon arrival we only found mattresses and bedding placed there – nothing was actually prepared. Even more frustrating, housekeeping removed the bedding every day, so we had to set up the beds again each evening. This felt careless and unprofessional. Our bathroom was not really clean, but maybe the housekeeper had just a bad day. • Air Conditioning: The air conditioning in our room was far too weak and struggled to cool the space. Even at maximum setting, the room remained uncomfortably warm, which is unacceptable in a modern hotel. • Location: The hotel is situated directly next to a railway line or at least our part of the hotel. The sound of trains is tolerable, but the loud bell at the level crossing rings approximately every 20 minutes. From 6:30 a.m. onwards, deep sleep is practically impossible. • In-Room Onsen: While the private onsen could be enjoyable, the constant sound of running water is not. The water flows into the tub continuously from early morning until midnight. We had to wrap a towel around the tap to reduce the noise. Rest and quiet are hard to find here.

Summary

Overall, our stay was disappointing. Many aspects of the hotel feel rigid, inflexible, and mass-oriented rather than guest-focused. For a property that opened only a few years ago, the facilities are outdated, poorly designed, and lacking in detail. We ended our stay three days earlier than planned – without refund, which we expected. However, being charged the full dinner price without any flexibility further underlined the hotel’s “one-size-fits-all” approach.

The only positive exception was the breakfast manager Kasa, who spoke English and made us feel truly welcome. Her service stood out in contrast to the rest of the experience.

Conclusion: This hotel is expensive, but not thoughtful, not luxurious, and not guest-oriented. Its focused to the masses, not to individual travelers. I cannot recommend it if you are expecting a more luxurious,...

I’ve stayed in many hotels across Japan, and almost every experience has been wonderful. This one was the exception — and at ¥66,000 (about $440 USD) per night. Unfortunately, what I got didn’t match the price, instead you get: no water, a 100-minute check-in, luggage gymnastics, buffet curfews, old facilities, and a surprise bill on a sticky note. Hakone is beautiful — but please, stay somewhere that actually wants you to enjoy it.

No water, no problem (apparently)

For $440 a night, I expected bottled water in the room. Instead, I watched grown adults slowly fill bottles in the lobby dispenser like it was The Hunger Games: Hydration Edition.

The Check-In Olympics

Arrived at 5:00 PM. Got to my room at 6:40 PM. That’s a 100-minute “welcome experience.” The staff blamed me for booking the “wrong number of people,” then scrambled for over an hour to “prepare” my room… which still wasn’t ready. Five minutes after I entered, a staff member sprinted in, unfolded a sofa bed like a bad magic trick, tossed me a kiddy pack of towels, and bolted.

Rules Without Support • Only one room key for the whole family. • Luggage help? None. I dragged three large suitcases with my kids across buildings and stairs while staff stood by. When I asked for assistance, they just gave me directions. When I asked again, they seemed surprised I actually expected help. • Rules were everywhere, but hospitality was not.

Facilities That Need Love

The building is clearly old, the onsen was small, and overall it didn’t feel like a “4-star” experience. Hakone has so many charming ryokan and hotels — this just didn’t compare.

Dining With a Stopwatch

Dinner buffet: small selection, lukewarm food, and oh yes — you don’t get to pick your time. Staff just say “7 PM,” like they’re assigning detention. Miss it? Too bad. Breakfast? Doors close at 8:30 sharp. Nothing says vacation like dragging sleepy kids out of bed at dawn for mediocre scrambled eggs.

Service & Communication

Staff tried, but English communication was limited. Even the manager’s tone felt curt and unkind. When I raised concerns about the very long check-in, the response was that it was “my mistake” for not booking correctly. Not the warm, professional service I usually experience in Japan.

The Agoda Trap

Here’s the real kicker. I made the mistake of booking for fewer guests. Instead of helping me adjust (drop the meals, change the plan, something), they simply doubled the price on the spot. Take it or leave it. With two kids in tow, I had no choice. The final number was scribbled on a sticky note like a bad garage sale receipt. When I challenged it, the manager swore it matched Agoda’s price. Spoiler: it didn’t. I had screenshots.

Hakone is a beautiful place to relax, but this hotel made the trip stressful. Guests were confused, staff looked overwhelmed, and I felt trapped by bad policies and...

Overall,the location is great, the staff are great and the services including snacks and drinks are also great. My only gripe, which is a HUGE one, can be seen in the following photos. We are currently here on a 3 night stay and are loving getting out to explore during the days with loads to see and do.

The problem is the room. On our first night as a group of 5, I am in a room with my 2 children, and my wife "was" in the room next door with her mum After being out all day and returning to the room in the afternoon after enjoying conversations with fellow travellers and also the free alcohol session, we were met with a rather nasty pungent smell in the room. Hoping it would get better, my kids soon fell asleep, leaving me wide awake with a putrid awful smell in the room. So bad, that in fact I barely slept the entire night due to not being able to switch off from it or find the source while looking in the dark so as not to wake the kids. Upon morning, the air con had stopped, so was switched back on, meaning the smell got worse. Upon closer inspection, the air vents where the air blows out from was THE WORST THICKEST AND MOST AMOUNT OF MOULD GROWING I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE, in any of the locations I have ever stayed in.

See photos below.

Upon mentioning to the staff at the front desk, all that was offered was a very simple apology. We then demanded to be changed rooms due to the disgustingly unhealthy find in the vents. We have since been moved to a new room, but again, upon entering the first thing I did was look up to the vents to be greeted with yet another awful sight. Photos of the second room also can be seen. Completely full of mould which is then being sent throughout the room to be breathed in while you sleep. And there is always a smell...,..

Upon mentioning that it's just not good enough and hugely unhealthy, to then be told that they are cleaned twice a year! Looking at the photos, it looks as though they have NEVER been cleaned.

Simply not good enough and something that everyone staying should be looking at when entering...