Hakone Kowakudani Onsen Mizunooto — Hotel in Hakone

A warning ⚠️ for a low-value-for-money hot spring hotel!

Room: I stayed on the first floor, the room was big and the floor looked clean, but there was a strange smell upon entering! Musty smell? I'm not sure, but it was uncomfortable and the smell stuck to my clothes. The bathroom was a disaster! Very dirty 😨! The door, walls, and floor were covered in mold. Didn't the cleaning staff notice? Being on the ground floor and shaded by trees, the room was dark and gloomy. Plus, with the dirtiness, my kids were too scared to take a shower 🫣. When you open the closet door, it makes a noise, and when the bathroom door isn't fully opened, it makes noise too. The entire atmosphere was unsettling, and the room would make a great location for shooting a Japanese horror movie 🤣!

Hot spring: I didn't go to the public bath, but I visited the free private bath, which was old and dirty 🤢. The outdoor bathtub in the room wasn't hot spring water, but since I brought my own bath bag and covered the entire moldy wooden bathtub, I felt safe enough to soak for a bit 😌.

Food: For dinner, we chose hotpot with soy milk base, which was delicious, and the ingredients were cheap. However, the chicken was tasteless. What was I eating? The sashimi was fresh and tasty! The grilled dishes and desserts were average, but we were full after the meal. The same meal was served to both adults and children, but the kids didn't like it and could only eat hotpot and grilled dishes. Before booking, I sent a message (two months before the trip) asking about children's meals and fees, but I didn't receive a response (other hotels replied within one to two days!). Only after the trip did I check my messages and found that the hotel had replied a few days before check-in, saying that if I didn't respond, they would charge the kids as adults 🤬. I don't understand why, if there was a distinction between adults and children, the front desk asked for the children's ages and didn't confirm the choice with the guests 😒. There was also a waitress who treated us differently from Japanese guests, which I understand, but she didn't need to be so visibly unhappy and seemed like we owed her something 😤. Even before finishing our meal, she came to clear the dishes. To avoid making her angry, we kept saying thank you and were afraid of her! As for breakfast, I won't comment on it. The fish was Instagram-worthy but hard and tasteless, and the pickled vegetables were fun because we could guess which one was set-up 🤪. Only the sashimi and dessert were tasty, but maybe we didn't appreciate the other dishes 🤣!

Staying at this hotel is not a hunger strike, that's for sure! Drinks were available all day in the lobby, and we could enjoy the scenery leisurely. Meiji milk and coffee drinks were available on B1, and popsicles were available on the first floor and B1. From 6 pm to 7 pm, there were meat buns and Japanese dumplings, which were quite tasty 😋! After eating dinner at around 9 pm (dinner started at 8:30 pm), ramen was available at 10 pm, and the kids thought it was better than dinner 😏😅.

Transportation: After taking the mountain train to Kowakidani, we had to rely on the hotel shuttle bus, as we couldn't walk there. It's a ten-minute walk to the 雕刻之森 museum bus stop , and then you can take a bus to get there in one stop.

Staff: Most of the staff were nice, and my two stars are for their hard work. Thank you for your hospitality!

To sum up, paying over 5,000 Hong Kong dollars to stay at this hotel, I don't think it's worth it! I stayed at two hotels this time, and compared to Hanaori in 桃源台, I would give this one a 50 out of 100, and the other one an...

My husband and I had a wonderful 2 night stay at the Mizunooto ryokan in September 2025. Definitely recommend staying at least 2 nights if you can afford to. The grounds and facility are beautifully kept. There are 2 buildings to the hotel and there is a public onsen in each building. The outdoor public onsens were very peaceful, surrounded by trees and bamboo forest with some bamboo cover from the rain. The indoor public baths were also quite nice but the water was too hot in the private baths (43 C or 109 F). Guests were respectful and the experience was peaceful and relaxing - I even got to soak in the hot springs by myself for a good amount of time. There were 3 private onsens with no reservations (but recommended maximum time 45 minutes to be considerate of others). We had a chance to use all 3 of them - as long as you stay at least 2 nights and make sure to keep checking, there definitely is a good chance you can enjoy the private onsen (though depends on how crowded the hotel is). The hotel provides free yakult yogurt drinks, ice pops, cold drinks (sodas, teas), coffee/tea 24/7, ramen noodles (10:30pm-11pm, so-so), and dango/glass noodles (6-7pm).

We paid for the kaiseki breakfast and dinner, which were both excellent. The menus were written in Japanese only, and not all the waitstaff spoke English well, but we were able to navigate through okay. The meals were well worth it - very traditional Japanese style so if you are a picky eater, then this may be difficult for you. Waiters were all nice. The second breakfast, we had subpar service though. The waiters never lit the fire for our miso soup - we had to flag someone down to do so.

The room was a Japanese-western style room with a private onsen on the balcony. Room was wonderful and clean. Futon and beds were very comfortable and soft. Finally, transportation to the hotel is not too bad. Once you arrive at the Kowakidani station on the Hakone Tozan railway, there is a shuttle every 10-15 mins from 2-5pm to take you to the hotel. I don't recommend walking, it is a long walk. If you arrive outside of those hours, contact the hotel beforehand so they can arrange pickup.

The temperature of the water was too hot in the private onsens (109 F or 43 C), which in my opinion is too hot to be safe. The WiFi was awful - barely could stay connected and even my e-sim struggled. The menus were written in Japanese only, and not all the waitstaff spoke English well, but we were able to navigate through okay. The meals were well worth it - very traditional Japanese style so if you are a picky eater, then this may be difficult for you, but personally I loved everything. Waiters were all nice. The second breakfast, we had subpar service though. The waiters never lit the fire for our miso soup - we had to flag someone down to do so. You also had to pay 550 yen to rent a yukata - I feel like for the high price tag, yukata rental should...

I am writing this review with immense disappointment and frustration after my recent stay at this onsen hotel. My experience was far from what I expected, especially given the high cost.

First and foremost, when I arrived at the hotel at around 5 PM, I was shockingly informed that there was no barbecue available, only sukiyaki. This was not the worst part; the sukiyaki came with a meager two pieces of beef, and I was essentially forced to eat pork. I cannot eat pork, and despite this, I was not even given an option to substitute it with chicken. This is utterly unacceptable and shows a complete lack of consideration for guests’ dietary restrictions. If you cannot eat pork, do not come to this place. The dinner itself was atrocious. The seafood was not fresh at all, making the meal extremely unappetizing.

Furthermore, the ramen service during dinner was ridiculously limited. They offered ramen for only half an hour, and then it was gone. This limited availability is unacceptable for a place that advertises its dining services as a highlight.

To add to the disappointment, guests who arrived later were left without milk. How can a hotel of this supposed caliber not have basic items like milk available for all guests?

The cherry on top of this horrendous experience was the state of the coffee bar. I was horrified to see cockroaches crawling around. This is a severe hygiene issue, and it was clear that the cups were not properly covered to prevent such contamination. This is absolutely disgusting and unacceptable for any establishment, let alone one charging such exorbitant prices.

In conclusion, this stay was an absolute disaster. The exorbitant price did not match the terrible service and quality of food provided. I found myself hungry and had to rely on snacks to get through the night. The unreasonable scheduling, subpar food, and complete lack of hygiene made this trip extremely disappointing. This was supposed to be a relaxing and enjoyable stay, but it turned out to be one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had. I strongly advise anyone considering this hotel to think twice. You will only be met with disappointment,...