Hotel Yumoto Hakone — Hotel in Hakone

I hadn't particularly wanted to stay in traditional accommodation in Japan, and I am confirmed in my view. This place is quite a long way from town, probably about 30 mins walk up the hill, and the shuttle bus stops at 7pm, although you can get a taxi for about $A10. The only place to eat nearby is in the hotel, and it is a fixed price of about $A50 per head for a buffet-style meal which was quite good, but not worth that money.||We asked for a quiet room away from the road, but were given a room facing the road and a large retaining wall on the other side against which the roar of traffic echoed. The rooms on the other side are probably a lot nicer, with a view of trees. Also the first night the hot water was tepid. When we spoke to the staff about this they said you have to run Iit for ages to get it hot but I had done that already. The second night it was ok. ||The beds were quite comfortable, as long as you don't mind being in the floor. The business of putting them away every day and then making them again at night seemed pretty stupid to me, but obviously to Japanese people that is normal so they don't mind. And we suspected the tatami mats were plastic, but we could have been wrong.||A couple of the younger staff spoke English and were very helpful about the buses and such.||We found an excellent Italian restaurant in town called 808 Monsmare - highly...

I hadn't particularly wanted to stay in traditional accommodation in Japan, and I am confirmed in my view. This place is quite a long way from town, probably about 30 mins walk up the hill, and the shuttle bus stops at 7pm, although you can get a taxi for about $A10. The only place to eat nearby is in the hotel, and it is a fixed price of about $A50 per head for a buffet-style meal which was quite good, but not worth that money.||We asked for a quiet room away from the road, but were given a room facing the road and a large retaining wall on the other side against which the roar of traffic echoed. The rooms on the other side are probably a lot nicer, with a view of trees. Also the first night the hot water was tepid. When we spoke to the staff about this they said you have to run Iit for ages to get it hot but I had done that already. The second night it was ok. ||The beds were quite comfortable, as long as you don't mind being in the floor. The business of putting them away every day and then making them again at night seemed pretty stupid to me, but obviously to Japanese people that is normal so they don't mind. And we suspected the tatami mats were plastic, but we could have been wrong.||A couple of the younger staff spoke English and were very helpful about the buses and such.||We found an excellent Italian restaurant in town called 808 Monsmare - highly...

Stayed two nights in order to get exposed to the mountainous area of Japan and to catch a glimpse of Mt Fuji. This Ryokan is a tough walk uphill from the train station (take a taxi for sure!) but that does give it a secluded location. Our package included breakfast and dinner (both buffet style) which were excellent blend of Japanese and Western food. Dinner was especially memorable in that there was sashimi, hot pot soups, etc etc. The bedrooms are in the typical ryokan style (tatami mats) which is a must do at least once to truly experience some of the Japanese culture. The bathrooms, however, are tiny. The shower provided very weak water flow. I needed up using the shower area of the public bath to get a really good shower. After getting over the initial shyness of being naked in front of others (women and men have separate public baths and hot spring areas), I found that I preferred using the public bath since it was more spacious. The hot spring fed outdoor bath area was covered so there is more privacy than some outdoor hot spring baths. There is a bus that stops at the hotel that takes you downtown and to the station. Getting a hotel much closer to the Hakone Yumoto Station is probably more convenient, but I did enjoy the more secluded very green landscaping. We went in August after heavy rains so the area almost had a...