Fukuzumiro — Hotel in Hakone

Throughout a 2-week family holiday in Japan, this particular 1-night stay has topped the list of my family’s Japanese highlights even after being back home for a month.||You don’t stay here for the ‘luxury’ 5* FourSeasons type approach albeit the ryokan is spotless, comfortable, well furnished and in beautiful grounds - you stay for the full ‘Japanese’ experience. It’s one of, if not the oldest, Ryokans in the Hakone region and as such, comes with oodles of history and tradition.||Tip; Get the RomanceCar out of Tokyo (front and back carriages have incredible full size windows allowing uninterrupted views of Mount Fuji). On arrival into the station at Hakone Yumoto it’s a 15-min walk up through the town and over the bridge. ||The welcome at Fukuzumiro is warm, and it’s nice and refreshing for one night (but not for a full 2 week holiday!) to have the challenge of making yourself understood as English is mainly managed through Google translate on the phone! Great, great fun!||The onsen protocols were explained; you could book a private onsen for a specific time, or join the male-only or female-only onsen at your convenience.||After all the instructions / welcome, we were then shown to a traditional Japanese room overlooking the river below - nothing better than the sound of rushing water outside your window. The room we chose, purposefully slept all four of us (my wife and I and two early 20’s kids) - can’t remember the last time we all slept in one room together, let alone on Tatami mats, with Shoji screens, and Fusuma sliding doors. What a blast! ||First job on getting to our room was to put away our western clothes until the morning checkout and dress in traditional Japanese kimonos - with help provided to ensure everything was correctly attired and fastened.||The traditional Japanese dinner was just unbelievable - course after course after course washed down with sake and beer. The accompanying photos will hopefully do the job better than any of my words could. Breakfast was another treat with a Japanese and more western style (eggs/bacon, etc) option.||Us Westerners mostly all want modernity and familiarity with our hotels - but to go to Japan and have at least one night living the traditional old-school Japanese way and feeling part of the culture was an experience that none of my family will ever forget.||And I haven’t even mentioned the owners and their staff - GREAT sense of humour, warm, friendly, attentive and committed to ensuring that we all loved our stay. ||Thank you to you and your...

I found this place after searching for a ryokan in Hakone online. This showed up in several searches so I decided to try it out for a night. It's conveniently a 15 minute walk from Hakone Yumuto station. It seems like there is luggage forwarding information available at this location but I did not use it here.

My room was Sakura 1 which had a nice view of the nearby Haya River. The main hostess knew a little English which led to some confusions due to my lack of Japanese aside from basic phrases. She was extremely patient, friendly and warm. We used Google translate to help each other out. Since I got there early I was able to sign up for one of the private onsens (first come first serve for sign up). You can sign up for two different slots (before 10pm and after 10, blurry photo attached) and most are 50 min while others in the morning are 25 minutes. The other onsens are shared with some only for males or females depending on the time of day.

The inside of the room was warm enough despite being 50ish Deg F/10 Deg C. There is a heater inside, wifi, yukata, extra covers. There are informational binders including cute instructional drawings and memorable individuals who resided in the rooms in the past. Kaiseki dinner was served around 1800 and was large. I'm not a food expert, but I loved what was served. After dinner they helped arrange the bedding and covers. For morning they were gracious enough to serve breakfast a half hour early at 730 to help me get to my train better.

The onsen I chose was for 1 to 2 people I believe. Instructions were clear for a non Japanese speaker/reader. I'm not great with warm temperatures so I had to hop out fairly often to take a break, but it was a unique and relaxing experience. There is a view of some trees outside. I'm not sure what the other onsens choices looked like but I chose Komaru because it looked the nicest to me.

Overall, I had an amazing time thanks to the staff (5/5 for this alone), location, onsen and food. I don't know how it compares to other Ryokans in the area but I would gladly return if I'm back in Hakone...

Our family of 4 (2 adults, kids ages 8 and 12) had a lovely 2-night stay at Fukuzumiro Ryokan and would visit again in a heartbeat. We booked this specific ryokan because of their willingness to prepare a fully plant-based (vegan) kaiseki meal, and we were enchanted by every dish at dinner and breakfast both. It set a high bar that no other similar establishment met during our 2-week trip in Japan. The staff member assigned to us, Akiko, did not speak much English, but she was kind and helpful, and with Google Translate we managed to learn everything we needed and get to know each other a little. She was also kind to help us make some slight adjustments to my son's menu as he is rather selective (a.k.a. picky) - something that we don't take for granted in Japanese hospitality.||Amenities: We found the futons quite comfortable and our room had a great sitting area facing the river. Kids report that wifi was top notch. One of the two "public" onsens is quite beautiful and at least some of the others have windows that open to the outside, which made the experience extra special (though it makes for a chilly shower on cold days!). ||True, the shared bathrooms haven't exactly been updated, and when the temperature is around 5 Celsius outside the walkways can be rather chilly, but that's to be expected in a 110-year-old traditional Japanese house. Our room itself warmed up quickly and we enjoyed the heating pad under the dining table. ||Access: We travel with each a carry-on piece of luggage and we were able to walk up from the Hakone-Yumoto train station in about 20 minutes, including a couple of stops for street food. We also used the Tozan train line (Tonosawa station just a short walk away) and bus to get to and from other Hakone attractions. People with big luggage will definitely want to take a taxi from the station though (probably under 1,000 JPY). ||Overall: a great cultural experience for our family. Strongly recommend to plant-based/vegan people who want to eat traditional Japanese food (without the...