HAKONE guesthouse gaku. — Hotel in Hakone

Staff : cool, friendly, be able to speak both in English and Japanese, front desk (and staff room) for check in and out is on third floor

Room : very clean, nice, many store places, futon was great, you can get one bath towel and teeth brush for each person, and if you stay more than one night you get spare towels at the door in the afternoon next day

Co-space, didn’t see people using living room but looked comfy, toilet on third floor is good for big people because toilets on second floor were kinda small, washing room were better on third floor, bins are on second floor (I didn’t find on third floor), vending machine is on first floor, some people seemed to enjoy play room on first floor

Overall : pretty good for casual stay (if you don’t seek “fancy” stay) for foreigners. I’m not sure if Japanese tourists would like (as a Japanese myself) but I enjoyed 2 days of staying. Two problems are ① toilet is away from the room so you should run to the loo sometimes (on third floor. Toilets are also away from rooms in Second floor too but you can go with shoes on) and ② you don’t know if someone is using bath or toilet from outside of the bath room. You need to keep the door of bath open if not being used but I reckon something flipping sign to show being used or available at the door would be...

It was in need of upgrade and repair as things were in dilapidated state. It also needed a much better cleaning program as the men's sit down toilet area on 2F had black mold on the bottom of the tiles growing upwards. So really had not had a proper deep clean in ages. It was also expensive for what it was a traditional Japanese room with shared bathroom for just over £100 a night plus tax. But over accommodation in the area were much much higher than this starting around 3x the price. The good things were the extremely friendly and helpful staff the location. Plus they accepted my luggage delivery and put it in my room for me. They also let you leave your luggage with them if you wanted to go out again after check out. I stayed two nights but did not arrive until 8:30pm on the...

We stayed 4 friends in a room on weekend, staff person was very friendly and helpful (we know Japanese but staff knows English so communicating with them won’t be a problem). It was a pleasant surprise to come to a warmed up room when we arrived. (we stayed in the first week of March so it’s pretty chilly). The facilities are very tidy, there is kitchen on the 3rd floor where you can cook (free coffee too), 4th floor has a rooftop with a nice scenery. On the first floor there is a zone where you can play ping-pong and pool too. Smoking area is also on the first floor. Guesthouse location is pretty convenient (around 5 mins by foot from Gora sta.) I can recommend this place for groups and...