Lalaca — Hotel in Hakone

This ryokan seems nice when you arrive as you get a warm welcome from the staff and the room is not too bad. However dinner here is atrocious, especially if you have any dietary needs. I myself am vegetarian due to religious reasons and my friend does not eat pork. I let the hotel know about this when booking and they responded that they will do their best to modify dishes. Dinner was supposed to be a traditional kaiseki dinner, we've stayed in ryokans before that have had no issues modifying the kaiseki to vegetarian and have made it feel like I wasn't missing out by not having meat and seafood. The dinner here was completely different, in 5 courses I was only served 2 small pieces of silken tofu on one dish. For the rest of the dishes I was served flavourless leafy greens and a few bits of veg with nothing else, my friend was served the same veg as me but with a variety of meats and seafood alongside it. She was getting far more food, and far more expensive food despite us paying the same price for dinner. She did say her food was difficult to eat and not very flavourful. At one point a small fishcake looking thing was on my salad, the staff member serving me was concerned it was a fishcake because it looked like one and she had to check what it was. Another member of staff said it was made from flour but after the confusion I didn't trust eating it. The staff then came out and gave my friend two options for breakfast, to me they only offered plain white rice. After dinner we went to speak to the manage about our dissatisfaction with the food, we tried to explain that it was unfair that one of us was getting so many expensive foods and a large quantity of foods while I just got the same vegetables as her and nothing else extra (no tofu, no egg, no variety of veg). The manager was extremely rude and essentially said it was my choice to be vegetarian and that I should be happy they even made any modifications and that it took a lot of effort for the chef to modify (i dont understand how as my friend and i were being served the same veg) as the chefs speciality is seafood and they don't know how to cook vegetarian. I pointed out they should have communicated to me when I booked that they couldn't cook vegetarian well, then I would have booked a place that could instead of wasting my money here. He did not have much to say about that and said they tried their best so I shouldn't complain, that they would like to serve me seafood but unfortunately I choose to be vegetarian (???). We have stayed in other ryokans in japan that have been able to modify their kaiseki to feel the same as the regular kaiseki and that I was getting the same quality of food for the same price. To not be served tofu or something other than vegetables was incredibly poor quality and not appropriate for the two of us paying the same money (who would not be dissatisfied watching their friend get served multiple slices lf wagyu beef and seafood while you get only leafy greens which she also has). At one point my friend got a soup and my alternative was a glass of orange juice. When I asked for some of the dinner money to be compensated he refused. The way he spoke to me felt very discriminatory and rude, it was incredibly bad customer service. When I asked if there was someone else I could speak to he said no and I could only speak to him. It's a shame he's like this because the ladies working at the ryokan are all lovely, a very stark difference to him. We did not manage to get to breakfast as both of us had very upset stomachs the morning after, which I don't doubt it because of the food here. Overall I would not recommend a stay here, they are only nice to you until you have a complaint or problem. Then they become rude and act like you're the issue. Completely ignoring the fact that you are paying them to recieve a good quality of service. Also the kettle filter in our room was dirty and pouring out...

My husband and I stayed here for our last night in Japan, and it was so lovely! After coming from hectic Tokyo, Lalaca was peaceful and quiet. We arrived about 1pm, and knowing it was too early to check in, we left our bags with no problem and went off to explore the region by cable car, ropeway, boat, and bus (in that order). We arrived back at Lalaca before 6, just in time for dinner. A very pleasant young woman who spoke excellent English showed us to our room and explained how everything worked.||||After donning our yukata, we enjoyed a fabulous multi-course traditional dinner, the best meal of our trip. All dishes were presented beautifully in the pretty dining room overlooking the forest. So relaxing!||||After dinner, it was off to the onsen. Here's where we ran into our only snag. While we booked the private onsen, we couldn't find it! My husand and I each went into our respective areas to disrobe and pre-bathe, and then looked for some entrance to the private onsen. No luck, so we enjoyed our separate baths. When we emerged, we noticed what I think was the private onsen accessed directly off the downstairs recreation room (not from the changing rooms). The sign for it was only in Japanese. I hope the otherwise wonderful owners provide directions or a sign in the future for non-Japanese speaking guests.||||Overall, though, the inn was wonderful. We had the traditional Japanese room. It was very spacious. Hot water and tea-making supplies were provided. The futons were very comfortable. Our room had toilet facilities but no shower; however, it was no problem as there's one in the onsen bathing area.||||After an equally fantastic breakfast, we relaxed a bit more and then planned to walk down to Gora Station. However, the owner, without us even asking, offered to drive us - great service!||||Lalaca is a beautiful, small inn in a peaceful and quiet area, and hope we can return for a longer...

My husband and I stayed here for our last night in Japan, and it was so lovely! After coming from hectic Tokyo, Lalaca was peaceful and quiet. We arrived about 1pm, and knowing it was too early to check in, we left our bags with no problem and went off to explore the region by cable car, ropeway, boat, and bus (in that order). We arrived back at Lalaca before 6, just in time for dinner. A very pleasant young woman who spoke excellent English showed us to our room and explained how everything worked.||||After donning our yukata, we enjoyed a fabulous multi-course traditional dinner, the best meal of our trip. All dishes were presented beautifully in the pretty dining room overlooking the forest. So relaxing!||||After dinner, it was off to the onsen. Here's where we ran into our only snag. While we booked the private onsen, we couldn't find it! My husand and I each went into our respective areas to disrobe and pre-bathe, and then looked for some entrance to the private onsen. No luck, so we enjoyed our separate baths. When we emerged, we noticed what I think was the private onsen accessed directly off the downstairs recreation room (not from the changing rooms). The sign for it was only in Japanese. I hope the otherwise wonderful owners provide directions or a sign in the future for non-Japanese speaking guests.||||Overall, though, the inn was wonderful. We had the traditional Japanese room. It was very spacious. Hot water and tea-making supplies were provided. The futons were very comfortable. Our room had toilet facilities but no shower; however, it was no problem as there's one in the onsen bathing area.||||After an equally fantastic breakfast, we relaxed a bit more and then planned to walk down to Gora Station. However, the owner, without us even asking, offered to drive us - great service!||||Lalaca is a beautiful, small inn in a peaceful and quiet area, and hope we can return for a longer...