Yutorelo-an — Hotel in Hakone

location: yutorelo-an is perched high on a steep hill just above the quaint little town of gora, which is perched high on a steep hill above the lovely town of hakone-yumoto. you'll want to catch a cab up the hill from gora station when you arrive - the fare is cheap and your legs and luggage will both thank you. yutorelo-an is about a 20 minute, very scenic, not for the faint-of-heart bus ride up twisty mountain roads from hakone-yumoto - the tozan railway was not in operation during our stay. the views from our room at yutorelo-an were splendid! this would be a lovely place for one of the festivals with the mountain bonfire. gora park is just a few steps down the [again, very steep!] street, and gora station's connections to the rest of the hakone area are only a few more steps from there! ||||room: our group of four booked two king-bed [western bed] rooms. the beds were low and the mattresses were exceptionally firm, though the bedding was fluffy and warm. the rooms had tatami mat flooring (lovely!) and a separate, tiny vanity area for face-washing and teeth brushing. the WC was very, very small. there is a bar-type table along the large window with two stools that did not seem up to the task of our 6' american selves, so i found myself mostly sitting on the low bed. our room had a TV and some little cabinets, including a fridge. there was a spare futon in a cupboard. ||||bath: our room did not have an indoor shower area! this is fine - there was a lovely outdoor tub which was large and deep enough that even my 6'5" husband could fit both his shoulders and knees under the water! he was delighted to sit outside and watch the sunrise each morning. there is a public onsen which we did not try, though our friend gave it a go our last morning there and had a splendid time. we had a reservation each night for 45 minutes in the private onsen baths (one 'session' per room per night), and that was a lovely experience, though i wish the outdoor showers didn't have an auto-shutoff feature - it made it very hard to get clean before hopping in the delightful bath. ||||dining: the food was lovely, and there was a lot of it! we had four meals and each one was completely different. at some points, the food was almost overwhelming in both quantity and quality. the orange juice at breakfast was, hands down, the best orange juice i've ever had in my entire life. the kind staff who helped us during breakfast and dinner were patient while explaining each dish and were very gracious and wonderful. we felt extraordinarily welcome. as a note, those who like to get up and go early in the morning may feel restricted by the ryokan's breakfast schedule - the earliest time available during our stay was 8am, and breakfast is very hearty. i wish there were an option to either have a to-go breakfast or to get an earlier start! ||||staff: in addition to the lovely staff in the restaurant, the front desk was nothing but helpful, from check-in our first afternoon to helping us with luggage forwarding on our departure day. the staff member there spoke very good english, as did most of the other staff we encountered, and those who didn't were still welcoming and kind. ||||overall, yutorelo-an was a lovely experience! i am glad that this was our first ryokan experience and that we had such a good time. thank you, yutorelo-an, for your warm welcome and your patience and kindness...

I wish to start my review with a defence against the reviews below, many traveler’s seem to be complaining with first world problems when there are very easy solutions (that have nothing to do with the hotel). You cannot hold a hotel to 5* standards if it’s not, reviews must be based on information that is provided and whether they uphold the standard they claim.

1. Luggage issues - it’s a steep hill if you walk from the station because the entire area is a hill station, if you want door to door cable car service, you then sacrifice the privacy of the gardens and the stunning views that keep this gem so beautiful! Or get a taxi from Gora directly to the top of the hill! Solutions are available.

2. Those with mobility issues or elderly- driver can drop off at the top of the hill at the second hotel entrance- which has a straight level (no stairs/no uphill) path available direct to the reception then the driver go back to park.

3. Those complaining about being lost… there are two entrances plus a map (honestly it couldn’t be easier to follow a path to the main reception) and if you take one small detour to the other road, just walk back 10seconds - that’s definitely a “you” problem and not the hotel!

4. Language barriers - there is no expectation for everyone to speak your language, be polite, get a translation app and do the work yourself. Don’t expect everyone to bend to the English language! Off your high horse I say!!!

I will edit to counter other silly reviews that I feel are unnecessary 😂

Our experience was great! Yes there were language barriers, we did the work to understand and it worked out great. They kept our bags as we came early for check in- so we explored the BEAUTIFUL areas of Owakudani, and Lake Ashi. (I cannot more highly recommend). If you are staying local, you will want to get a taxi or the cable cars back to the hotel - so check the last service times because even taxis are hard to come by after 8pm! We messed up here and had to walk steep uphill for 17minutes- it was strenuous and not easy after a heavy walking day! But manageable with a few breaks.

The room we booked was lovely, we had our own onsen bath on the balcony, beautiful yukatas to choose from (traditional Japanese robes), spacious rooms and lovely decor. We stayed one night due to our itinerary but would definitely come again.

The breakfast was very interesting, they provide information leaflet so you know what’s on your plates (use DEEPL or PAPAGO for a quick photographic translation) - it’s a traditional Japanese display and surroundings. We loved the authenticity! Massage chairs also hit the spot, perhaps they need a material revamp as they are well used and cracking at multiple points - do not use with bare skin for both hygiene and comfort reasons.

We didn’t get to experience the shared onsens or the foot bath, however the drinks reception was a nice touch and the overall ambience was calming for rejuvenation.

I highly recommend and...

This is both our first trip to Japan and, of course, our first trip to Hakone. Our travel agent booked our stay at this ryokan. Our experience was similar to another trip advisor review of this hotel. We felt that the service was rigid, inhospitable and verging on rude. | Upon our arrival, we mentioned that we were lactose intolerant. The front desk person told us that they needed to know about dietary restrictions at least 3 days prior to arrival so they would not be able to accommodate our needs. Our travel agent knew about our dietary restrictions and communicated this to a previous hotel where we stayed so I am not sure how that information was lost. The restaurant served us items with lactose, and we avoided them. | On our second evening, neither my partner nor I were feeling well enough to eat, so we cancelled our dinner with the full knowledge that we would not be refunded for that meal. Because we were not feeling well, we just wanted to have some ginger ale to help our stomachs. We had some ginger ale in the restaurant the night before so we asked the front desk if we could get some more seeing as we were not feeling well. The receptionist told me that they could not get it from the restaurant and that one could only have it if eating in the restaurant. I went to the restaurant to ask them directly if we could have some ginger ale. I was met by the same person who answered the phone at the front desk (according to her) and that it would be too much trouble for the restaurant staff to bring me ginger ale. I reminded her that we paid for an expensive meal that we were not going to have in the hotel because we were sick and she said that she could not help me, looked away from me and started to help someone else without any apology. That was the end of our conversation.| There were some other disappointing aspects for such an expensive hotel experience. The shower in the hotel room was hooked up to the sink faucet so the pressure was very weak. There was an outdoor bath and shower on our room balcony which great though. The private onsens had nice gardens but the water in one of them was visibly not clean. There were also cobwebs in the dressing area. | Hakone is a very special place and I hope to return there some time. But overall, this was not the ryokan experience we expected for the price we paid. I would not recommend this place especially if this is your first time...