Oukyuuan — Hotel in Hakone

As it is a traditional small hot spring hotel ( only 8 rooms), I was particularly expecting their service which would be heartfelt, considerate ,and friendly, like even there is language barrier ( I knew that there is from the beginning), you still feel the other side really want to help you. Unfortunately I didn't feel that there, they did their responsibility but that's all. It was the most expansive accommodation during my trip and I was so looking forward to it, but I wasn't feel satisfied in the end (although the food and hot spring were good, but I felt I just received some kind of service process not a truely welcomed guest).

I actually received the service I was expected from them from another biger hotel and some waitress in Tokyo. You can see they really want to help and can feel the friendliness even you don't speak the same language.

But from my experience here, they simply provide the standard service and if they don't understand your request at the first place, most of time they would give up.

Maybe good for japanese guests, but I won't recommend for people who don't speak the language. Or if you are ok just receiving the standard service there without any other needs to communicate, probably...

It was our first time staying at a ryokan and was very amazed and impressed.The meals were delicious and we were super full. We let them know it was for our anniversary and we got small cakes as well :) we had a private bath and there was also the shared bath downstairs that we can reserve to ourselves. The water was very hot and relaxing. The staff were also super helpful! Although they don’t speak a lot of English, the staff who helped us tried his best to answer all our questions and explain everything. Very thankful that they also offered to drive us down to the station. It’s about 10-15min from the bus stop and We didn’t realize how hilly the trek was and it was raining during our stay. We had a lot of luggage so the drive back down was much appreciated! We stayed at another ryokan after and the overall experience was not as nice. This place felt much more traditional and would definitely recommend...

Nice open air hot spring bath in the room balcony, lots of delicious food for dinner and breakfast, and very accomodating staff.

The only downsides are that the walls are kind of thin so you can hear other guests, especially if they are outside in their bath. Also, they are pretty far from Gora station, so you have to have a car or taxi...