Fuji Kawaguchiko Onsen Hotel Konansou — Hotel in Fujikawaguchiko

Top notch. Highly recommend!!!! Not gonna lie - I saw 3 star classification and was like hmm.. but went for this place anyways since everyone on reddit suggested it and the place had great reviews. it LIVES UP to expectations!

I honestly think the 3-star classification is because the facilities/aesthetic is a bit outdated and not super new BUT honestly the food and staff/service is 5 star IMO. Best ryokan we could've asked for.

TLDR: yes everyone in Japan is nice but i do think these are by far the kindest, most hospitable staff we've had in two weeks! also the food - i spent so much time photographing/videotaping this food and overeating for a reason!

Every day my partner and I were saying how the staff really go above a beyond. Examples below: Shuttle service - just call them and they'll come pick you up from the main kawaguchiko station. they come really quickly though they quote longer times to manage expectations Check-in - got to check in early! No guarantees/expectations but appreciated Post-check-in - nice lady came by to give us outfits to wear inside and separate ones to wear outside. She also brewed hot green tea for us to enjoy and asked us when we wanted our in-room dinner to be served. Dinner - OMG the food here is truly the star of the show. It deserves its own section below but the SERVICE. It's so elaborate and the same lady came by to explain everything we were eating. She comes by 3 more times to deliver more fresh food and dessert and clean up! Bed - Staff comes by to set up the futons in the traditional style rooms. We wanted a thicker cushion so we asked them to double up the futons so it was less firm. They accommodate everything! Hospitality overall - i spilled coffee in the breakfast buffet over the drinks area and informed staff and of course they said don't worry about it all. I then said thank you to the same person who cleaned it on my way out and he again said to me, i really shouldn't worry as it's very common. although i do expect people to be polite, how genuinely kind these people are make me love this place. souvenir shop - i was trying to buy a sticker and opened my coin purse which had A LOT of coins and the lady was like i can help you find all the smallest coins you might not want in order to pay for this and she did! such a nice offer because honestly you do want to keep your 100 yen coins in japan since most vending machines only take those.

FOOD - DINNER: omg. this was STELLAR. the in-room traditional japanese dinner sets are ELABORATE and so thought out and honestly would probably cost $100 USD back home per meal. The entrees were always my favorite (sukiyaki or yakiniku) and the soups. One day we had yuzu sake and i asked if i could buy a bottle of it and they said unfortunately not and it's only available at Konansou. CRY! So so delicious. The desserts are also amazing and perfectly small.

FOOD - BREAKFAST: just when we thought it couldn't get any better, i was blown away by the breakfast buffet. there were SO MANY options! i had to take a video for social media to capture how they had japanese hot foods (curry, udon, simmered beef and tofu, tofu and vegetable fritters, rice porridge with pickled veggies) AND western food to cater to them tourists (croissants, bacon, eggs, toast, salad, smoked salmon, yogurt, fruit). OMG the fruit in japan is so good. I'm obsessed with the oranges, apples, and strawberries here and I'm from california where we get pretty decent quality fruit! i can't wait to go back tomorrow am to eat all the things i didn't have room in my belly for this am.

Things to note: we booked for the onsen of course. we purchased the upgrade for the first night since it was only available then and it was lovely to have our own private outdoor bath! public bath: definitely clean and worth checking out since this has view of Mt Fuji. we got bad weather during our stay and couldn't see anything rooms/facilities: very traditional, slightly old school vibes. not my favorite aesthetic but it was still clean and...

This was an amazing trip to Lake Kawaguchiko, the hotel did not disappoint. Public baths, private onsens, karaoke, wine station, outside patio, gift shop, lounge, wine station etc this hotel has it all! We didn’t check out all the amenities as there’s so much to do around the lake, visiting shops and restaurants as well.

The staff here are all amazing and it’s probably been one of the best customer service/hospitality experiences I’ve had for countryside international travel hotel. If you have been to Japan before you already know how efficient, honest, and customer service-friendly they are. The 2 staff members that did an absolute amazing job were Ms. R. Yamagishi (front desk) she was excellent handling all our inquiries, securing us a rental car last minute during a national holiday that we didn’t expect as travelers, and getting us reservations last minute when cancelations can occur from others so we got lucky and experienced the kaiseki thanks to her! She speaks English fluently which was a plus. Also Mr. Naoyuki “Noah” was awesome being our kaiseki specialist. Loved having a great conversation with him and wish him the best with his future endeavors.

Also the hotel provides free shuttle to Kawaguchiko station (5 min ride) - securing your express bus transportation for the next leg of the trip, restaurants around the station, post office nearby, etc.

Will definitely return to Lake Kawaguchiko and this hotel again! There’s too much to talk about and there are some great hidden gem restaurants around here and Kawaguchiko station.

We got a deluxe room with 2 twin beds, dining room for kaiseki, and the bathroom came with our own private sauna! Stayed for 3 nights and there were tons of things to do. We rented bikes down the street and toured the whole lake counterclockwise. After a long day we had already reserved the 50 min private onsen and it was amazing! You come out of the bath feeling relaxed and body rejuvenated. The views of Fujisan is stunning. I also recommend the foot bath where you dip your feet in a public bath section on the roof top with Fujisan in the background.

Last note - we have been traveling for 7 days already before staying here at Konanso so the laundry station located on their 3F was great for around 500-600 Yen (I forget) for washer/dryer function took about 2 hours and you set a 4 digit security code so nobody can remove your load unexpectedly. We popped in a load and went out for dinner and ice cream dessert at Lawson conveni. Came back to hotel and our load was finished!

Thank you Hotel Konanso - Arigato Gozaimashita 🙏🏻🗻

We will be back! Japan is an amazing country (already our 3rd trip back to...

Sgd1300 for 1 night for our family of 2 adults and 3 young kids, our most expensive hotel of our 10 day vacation, but also where we experienced the worst service. I wanted my kids to experience a traditional ryokan. Excellent service from driver of hotel shuttle, we arrived at kawaguchiko station at 7.30pm and had to call hotel using pay phone in station. Waited at bus stop no. 10, picked up by 8 seater mini van fairly quickly 10mins later. While checking in at hotel, my husband realized that he had left wallet next to station pay phone, driver helped to retrieve it for us immediately. Reception counter staff were prompt but cold. Once in room, we were served dinner initially with the worst service from a female server. She was extremely curt. When helping us to take group pictures, she kept saying "1-2-3" very quickly, rushing us impatiently, and snapping photos of us without us being ready. She ignored our requests and imposed her own preferences on us. For example, when we asked her to change the fuel to our sukiyaki pot, she changed the fuel, and also dumped all our ingredients into the sukiyaki pot right in front of us, despite us telling her repeatedly that we wanted to do it ourselves. I already had a cooked slice of beef in the pot that I wanted to take out, but she dumped my remaining raw beef slices on without asking me! My daughter didn't want leeks and cabbage, yet the server just dumped everything in without asking her, and my daughter had to fish everything out. Because the female server ignored us despite us saying firmly that we wanted to add the ingredients ourselves, we could only sit and stare at her serving us rudely. Worst service we have had in Japan. I personally went down to front desk to complain, and request for another server to serve us instead. When I told the front desk staff that I would like our server changed, he didn't probe further. If he had probed to ask why, I would have provided feedback on that lousy server. The new lady who served us our dessert was so much friendlier and service oriented. Despite her limited English, she made it a point to interact with my children, and was worlds apart from the first lousy server. For the price we paid, we really expected top notch service and for our preferences to be respected. Hotel breakfast was great. Room view of mount fuji was awesome. But everything was marred by this lousy service incident. Don't think we will recommend this place to friends given the cost and potentially...