ZEN — Hotel in Hakone

My partner and I had an amazing time at this Ryokan.

This review will be written from the perspective of foreign tourist.

Here are the main points: Me and my partner stayed here for 4 nights which gave us ample time to really experience the hotel and area.

Short summary: Amazing and kind staff, very nice room, quiet, amazing location and amazing food.

Room: We had booked the room with Mt. Fuji view. On a clear day Mt. Fuji is easily visible when looking out the window. Although Mt. Fuji is not directly visable from the bed, the view from the bed or looking straight ahead is still absolutely gorgeous.

The beds are soft and with 3 different types of pillows to choose from, things like a fridge and tv where also present.

The room also had a rather large wooden onsen bath. It easily fit 2 people sitting down or being submerged until the head with the knees slightly bent.

The bath is also an onsen bath: onsen is a protected term and has to have a certain amount of minerals, now you might think this isn't a big deal but I can honestly say that this makes a noticable difference in the bathing experience.

The room was also super clean, and I honestly can't think of anything negative to say about it.

Staff:

Our entire experience with staff could be summed up as follows: The staff where amazing.

Not only will they give you what you need or ask for they will actively go out of their way to maka your stay more enjoyable.

They are very kind and welcoming, they have multiple members of staff that have an extremely high to fluent control of the English language. And even that staff members that might not be fully able to understand everything you say will still effectively communicate and mainly help you when help is needed.

They are always very attentive and will regularly surpass your expectations.

Food:

Breakfast and dinner are served at certain times: we could choose between 08:30 or 09:00 in the morning and dinner was always served at 18:00.

At dinner in the evening there is a dresscode which they provide you the clothes for. These clothes are both comfortable and a nice part of the experience.

Now about the food itself. Something to keep in mind is that this is a traditional Ryokan so the food is also rather traditional. I get for some people there might be ingredients which they haven't had before and therefore are afraid to try it out. And I do understand that sentiment but I would honestly recommend trying everything they have to offer because even if you can't fully appreciate the taste of the dish, you can still definitely taste the master craftsmanship that went into the cooking. Breakfast is also traditional.

All the food we had during are stay was amazing, but here are the main standouts to me: A5 grade Wagyu beef, tuna sashimi, hotpot and splendid alfonsino.

Although the menu is the same for everyone the first night they stay at the hotel the menu for both breakfast and dinner changes every night you stay there. This makes it so that even if you have a longer stay you don't get stuck eating the same meals everyday.

The drinks they offer are also very good however their non alcoholic menu is slightly limited in the choices you have but still offers various tasty drinks.

Location:

When travelling from your last city (in our case Tokyo) to the hotel here are somethings to keep in mind:

Definitely use luggage transport services when you have big luggage smaller suitcases you can keep with you if you want but I would honestly recommend just taking a backpack and sending the rest to the hotel. It's extremely easy to arrange and reasonably priced.

The hotel is very well situated very close to a lot of the attractions of hakone, the ropeway station and dock for the sight seeing close are a 20 minute downhill walk away or 3 minutes by bus. The sightseeing cruise is also an easy way to get to the other side of the lake.

We are hoping to return...

I did a lot of research and finally went with this one. Although it was a bit more pricy, it was totally worth it.||||The transportation:||I was worried that it will be hard to get to as I read from other reviews. It turned out to be not bad at all. If you are traveling to Hakone, you probably have bought the Hakone free pass. And you just follow the lines to go to the places that you want to go, and then get to either the Palace Hotel bus station or the Obako ropeway station. Give them a call and they will come pick you up. No reservation needed, and they will come within 5 mins so you can just take your time to do your stuff.||||||The room:||We got the Shiro (Japanese+American with Mt. Fuji view) room and it was breathtaking. We were lucky enough to have Mt. Fuji visible during our stay. The onsen tub was big enough to fit both of us. The onsen water was very hot, you will likely need to open the cold water valve to mix it a bit. Having Mt. Fuji in the view for an onsen bath is just out of this world. The main room has big windows with the same Mt. Fuji views, you can sit on the tatami with free beer and ice cream from the fridge with the amazing view.||||The meals:||Their kaiseki dinner was ok. The food presentation was more appealing than the taste, but still pretty good overall. You can get drinks for additional money and it wasn't that expensive anyways. There's more than enough food to get you full.||||The breakfast tho, was the best breakfast we had in Japan. It was the New Year's day so it was probably a little bit special. They prepared so many things with great quality. Everything was super tasty. ||||The service:||They are super accommodating. Special shout out to Taku who was our main guy. He picked us up from Obako station and sent us over to the bus station the next day. We had an early flight to catch in Narita and he helped us to figure out the best routes to get there and the time schedule of the transportation. As we needed to leave at 8:20 in the morning, they made a special accommodation to serve breakfast at 7:50 for us, to allow us finish the meal and catch the bus. They had to get up at 5:30 to prepare food for us. We really appreciate the effort!||||Some tips:||We made some mistakes and would give people some tips if you are going to this hotel or Hakone in general.||1. Get the free pass, it's totally worth it. Not only it allows you to ride pretty much everything, it has discount on a lot of shops and services, like the luggage delivery service and the souvenir shops.||2. If you are going from Shinjuku, you can choose to use to romance car or not, it doesn't make a huge difference.||3. Try to arrange an additional day after the stay in Hakone. Going directly from Hakone to Airport is not as great, as you will sacrifice a lot of time in Hakone and the onsen hotel. It will take 3-4 hours at least to get to the airport from Hakone.||4. Try to pack light, store your stuff at Tokyo/Shinjuku if possible. If you did have big luggage, the luggage delivery service at Hakone-Yumoto station is really great.||5. Do not pre-purchase fixed time tickets from/to Tokyo. You can always purchase as you go, so that you don't need to always be on a clock. There's always enough seats and they run pretty...

My parter and I had an amazing 4 night experience at this ryokan in a room with an onsen and a view of Mt.Fuji.

While Mt. Fuji was not directly visible from the bed, it could be seen quite clearly when looking out the window and from the onsen. Even if you cannot see Fuji, the view is still very pleasant. The accomidation was amazing and the staff were very generous with ammenities and servicing your stay. The room (we had Shiro) is exactly what is pictured and the onsen can be tailored to the temperature you desire. It also left my skin feeling nice and soft. One thing of note is that you can occasionally smell the sulfer smell of the onsen from your room, but that's a given with most volcanic cities. Other than that, the hotel was very quiet at night and in a nice location to enjoy some peace.

The food was very, very high quality and we were very enthusiastic to be served wagyu beef as part of our dinner 3/4 days of our stay. The food is very Japanese (fish, miso, bonito, etc.), but I'm sure the chef can tailor more to your taste if needed. The ryoken gives you clothing to wear for dinner and optionally for breakfast, which adds to the high-class dining experience. Dinner is a 6 every evening and breakfast is at 8:30 or 9, depending on your choice. The menu for the dinner is more than generous, with a different custom made, several course menu each night. The chef is very attentive and accomidating as well. The breakfast is similarly high quality.

The staff were very lovely, and it made us sad we had to leave! They take your comfort very seriously and accomidate any needs, far beyond what I have experienced at any other hotel. They are very kind and welcoming, even if you cannot speak Japanese. The staff havery varying levels of english, but there's always someone that can help with communication if needed. Like the chef, they are attentive to your personal needs. They are also very friendly :)

If you arrive on foot, there is a bus stop nearby that can take you to a station, which is about a 20 minute walk from the stop (we recommend the hakone free pass, which allows you to take many forms of tansport at a low price). There is also a free shuttle service offered by the hotel, which can take you to the station or to the bus stop. If you choose to walk to the stop, it's not very far, but a pretty steep walk (towards the ryoken) with no sidewalk (take note if you're walking after a long day). There's also a lot to do nearby, if you make your way down to the station. The free pass will allow you to take the bus, cable car, and the pirate ship that takes you across the lake from the station, which has the majority of the attractions. The ryoken also closes its gates at 10pm for safety reasons, so be sure to get back...