Hotel Okada — Hotel in Hakone

Don’t believe the negative reviews. This hotel was amazing. Our experience was perfect and the service is by far the best that I have ever experienced and I’ve travelled to over 35 different countries over the past 15 years. Firstly to get to the Hakone from Tokyo, it’s very easy. We got the Hakone free pass and upgraded to the romance car. Then from hakone to the hotel, either take shuttle bus A which comes on a set schedule posted on the hotel’s website or take a taxi. The bus comes every 30mins to 1 hour depending on the day. Taxis take about 30 minutes to arrive. Cost for bus is 100 yen and taxi is about 900 yen. If you have big luggage, I suggest getting a taxi. Total driving time is like 5-10 minutes depending on traffic. Walking is like 15-20 minutes. Overall, I suggest packing super light and just have a hand carry cuz it makes taking the public transport easier and the hotel literally provides you with EVERYTHING from razors, toothbrushes, lotions, make up remover, soaps, yukatas, pajamas, etc. Honestly the amenities are second to none.

Then on check in, it was super fast. They greet you at the entrance and they know which room you go to as soon as you tell them your name. The check in process was super quick, less than 5 minutes, and they take your luggage up for you.

Now for the room, we got a private onsen in a western style room and it was PERFECT. It was super clean, had shoes, robes, multiple towels, and beautiful scenery of the mountains. They also had a high quality TV. The cleaning was also perfect. They give you a form to fill and to bring to your dinner asking about when you’d like cleaning done and how many robes you need etc. The form also asks when you’d like breakfast and dinner the next day. they also provide new towels everyday!! And the cherry on top is that they have an awesome coffee maker in each room with iily coffee. The private onsen itself was relaxing and soooooo serene. The water was hot and we had to add cold water to cool it down a bit. We didn’t go to the hotel’s public baths but we took a look and they were huge and awesome as well. We also went to the Yu no Sato onsen next door which had amazing massage chairs and a relaxing room to chill in. (The walk in only 3 minutes and it’s an obvious covered path with clear directions, I’d be shocked if you get lost going there) Also, It’s free! They also have a beautiful outdoor onsen.

In addition, the hotel Okada has a games room where you can play ping pong and arcade. They also have karaoke with all you can drink in the basement.

Furthermore, the food at the buffet had lots of variety!! Overall quality was really good, especially the Japanese food. I’d stay away from the Chinese or western style dishes. The macarons were delicious. The sashimi was yummy. The breakfast also had amazing croissants. I was super full every day! They also provide coffee, tea, juices, and sodas! The restaurant also has a beautiful view if you get one of the tables by the window. We also booked massages and the therapists were very skilled, had good strength, and super knowledgeable about anatomy. We left the hotel feel refreshed, invigorated, and happy. Lastly, I want to give a big shout out to the people at the front desk. They had exceptional customer service. On the day of check out, we asked them to call us a taxi. The wait was about 30 minutes, so they especially opened the game room for us to play and lent us ping pong paddles for free. And when the taxi arrived, they personally came to get us to go to the taxi.

All in all, Hotel Okada is the best hotel that I’ve ever stayed in Japan. The onsen was beautiful. I’m not sure why there are some crappy reviews, but I thoroughly enjoyed my experience and I really hope to come back...

We wanted to love this hotel because it has a decent location, pretty views, and spacious rooms. Unfortunately, the staff ruined our experience. ||I’ll start by saying we loved the room. It was the biggest we’ve stayed at so far in Japan, the bathroom was so nice and spacious with a lot of nice touches, and the personal onsen was incredible. However, we did have to wait over an hour to check in because the onsen was broken, which lead to us also having to fish out sediment from the pipes every time we wanted to sit in the onsen. ||Now for the hotel, it’s pretty dated. The carpet is peeling up and fraying in places and overall, the hotel just feels old. But nothing too bad. The hotel offers a paid breakfast and dinner which we did not try, but we did try their massages. The team is incredibly sweet and nice and my husband had a great massage. Mine was way too light (I did ask her to increase the pressure but her fingers were shaking so I felt bad asking again). So only get a massage if you’re looking more for a back rub / touches on your head and ears versus a massage to get out knots / muscle pain. ||Now for the staff. When we arrived, we were pushing all our suitcases up the giant hill to get to the hotel. We were looking for the door and staff member outside told us we had to walk all the way around the parking lot to get to the check in. After my husband did that, we realized the check in was literally straight in front of our face and he just made us do a large loop dragging all of our stuff with us. Furthermore, on our last morning we wanted to heat up some ramen we had picked up at 7-11 the night before to eat. We asked one of the staff members if we could use their microwave and he said we could only use it if we bought the food from the hotel. IT’S A MICROWAVE for crying out loud! Also, keep in mind that most restaurants in town close at 7pm and don’t open until 10-11am so what are you supposed to eat outside of those hours? I guess that’s a way for the hotel to make even more money from you, because over $370 a night apparently isn’t enough. So I went and asked another staff member who directed my question to the man who looked liked he was in charge. After running around for 5 minutes (to do what I don’t know) he came over to me to tell me they don’t have a microwave in the hotel so they couldn’t heat it for us. My husband, literally standing next to the microwave (but it was in a closed off section) starts pointing AT THE MICROWAVE and was like sir there’s the microwave can we use it? The man stares at us then finally says that’s not a microwave. I’m sorry what? My husband tells him, if it’s policy or he just doesn’t want us to use it then just tell us, and the man seems at a lost for words. We gave up and walked out. Needless to say we will never be returning to this hotel… ever. We loved Hakone as a whole, but Hotel Okada left a TERRIBLE impression. Hospitality does not exist at...

We wanted to love this hotel because it has a decent location, pretty views, and spacious rooms. Unfortunately, the staff ruined our experience. ||I’ll start by saying we loved the room. It was the biggest we’ve stayed at so far in Japan, the bathroom was so nice and spacious with a lot of nice touches, and the personal onsen was incredible. However, we did have to wait over an hour to check in because the onsen was broken, which lead to us also having to fish out sediment from the pipes every time we wanted to sit in the onsen. ||Now for the hotel, it’s pretty dated. The carpet is peeling up and fraying in places and overall, the hotel just feels old. But nothing too bad. The hotel offers a paid breakfast and dinner which we did not try, but we did try their massages. The team is incredibly sweet and nice and my husband had a great massage. Mine was way too light (I did ask her to increase the pressure but her fingers were shaking so I felt bad asking again). So only get a massage if you’re looking more for a back rub / touches on your head and ears versus a massage to get out knots / muscle pain. ||Now for the staff. When we arrived, we were pushing all our suitcases up the giant hill to get to the hotel. We were looking for the door and staff member outside told us we had to walk all the way around the parking lot to get to the check in. After my husband did that, we realized the check in was literally straight in front of our face and he just made us do a large loop dragging all of our stuff with us. Furthermore, on our last morning we wanted to heat up some ramen we had picked up at 7-11 the night before to eat. We asked one of the staff members if we could use their microwave and he said we could only use it if we bought the food from the hotel. IT’S A MICROWAVE for crying out loud! Also, keep in mind that most restaurants in town close at 7pm and don’t open until 10-11am so what are you supposed to eat outside of those hours? I guess that’s a way for the hotel to make even more money from you, because over $370 a night apparently isn’t enough. So I went and asked another staff member who directed my question to the man who looked liked he was in charge. After running around for 5 minutes (to do what I don’t know) he came over to me to tell me they don’t have a microwave in the hotel so they couldn’t heat it for us. My husband, literally standing next to the microwave (but it was in a closed off section) starts pointing AT THE MICROWAVE and was like sir there’s the microwave can we use it? The man stares at us then finally says that’s not a microwave. I’m sorry what? My husband tells him, if it’s policy or he just doesn’t want us to use it then just tell us, and the man seems at a lost for words. We gave up and walked out. Needless to say we will never be returning to this hotel… ever. We loved Hakone as a whole, but Hotel Okada left a TERRIBLE impression. Hospitality does not exist at...