Hidamari Ichinoyu (Formerly: Ichinoyu Shinkan) — Hotel in Hakone

Although I personally enjoyed my one night stay at this traditional japanese hotel, luxuriating in the spring bath, sleeping on the floor and dressing up in a yucata robe, the food and accessibility let it down. I explained that two of our party were vegetarian but they still insisted on trying to feed us chicken and fish at dinner, eventually they gave us a laminated card with what we could eat on it (very little). This was repeated at breakfast with them once again trying to feed us meat. The rooms are not suitable for elderly folk, my elderly Mother struggled to get out of the bed and could not sit down as there are no chairs in the room, reception did bring her a chair from the dining room when asked. She also struggled with the lack of a western style shower. The hotel is also difficult to access with lots of steps and located on a steep hill. This should have been pointed out to us before our visit. On our arrival we had asked for a taxi to be ordered for our onward journey the next day to Odawara, as the local stations are difficult to get to, especially if you are of a certain age, with many steps and steep slopes. At check out we were told that there was no taxi until after our train was due to leave. This resulted in a mad dash to the train station with my elderly Mother struggling down the steps etc. This added undue stress to our visit and it was a shame that we were not told until check out. On the whole this meant we felt let down by this...

Our stay at Tonosawa Ichinoyu Shinkan was perfect and the highlight of our trip to Japan. Everyone we encountered was so polite and helpful. We arrived in the pouring rain and had some difficulty finding the actual building, but all of the workers in the surrounding building helpful us locate the building. We were early and left to go sightsee, and when we arrived back to check in, our luggage had already been brought to our room. The dinner provided was HUGE and very delicious. Our room was large, clean, comfortable and the mineral bath in our room was the perfect temperature and so soothing after a long day in the rain. My one "negative" comment (which didn't detract from the overall experience at all but might be good for some to know) was that there was no shower in the room. The hotel was conveniently located by a train station, and despite what other reviews have mentioned, we didn't struggle getting our luggage up and down the hill (but we're both about 30 and in decently good shape. If you have any mobility concerns or a large amount of luggage, this may not be the case for you.) The morning of our departure, we left early and the staff were kind enough to let us in to breakfast about 15 minutes early so that we could eat before catching our train. Staying here was the highlight of our trip to Japan. If you're on the fence about...

Our stay at Tonosawa Ichinoyu Shinkan was perfect and the highlight of our trip to Japan. Everyone we encountered was so polite and helpful. We arrived in the pouring rain and had some difficulty finding the actual building, but all of the workers in the surrounding building helpful us locate the building. We were early and left to go sightsee, and when we arrived back to check in, our luggage had already been brought to our room. The dinner provided was HUGE and very delicious. Our room was large, clean, comfortable and the mineral bath in our room was the perfect temperature and so soothing after a long day in the rain. My one "negative" comment (which didn't detract from the overall experience at all but might be good for some to know) was that there was no shower in the room. The hotel was conveniently located by a train station, and despite what other reviews have mentioned, we didn't struggle getting our luggage up and down the hill (but we're both about 30 and in decently good shape. If you have any mobility concerns or a large amount of luggage, this may not be the case for you.) The morning of our departure, we left early and the staff were kind enough to let us in to breakfast about 15 minutes early so that we could eat before catching our train. Staying here was the highlight of our trip to Japan. If you're on the fence about...