Hakone Airu

We’d gladly come back. The welcome was the best we’ve had in Japan so far: the staff greeted us with drinks, showed us around, and made us feel at ease right away. Dinner and breakfast were both lovely, peaceful experiences. They made the bed while we ate, so the room was ready for sleep when we returned. The onsen was just what we needed on our day trip from Tokyo, and honestly, we liked this room more than our one in Tokyo. Nearly perfect.

The meals were the biggest letdown. Everything arrived at room temperature, and although we tried it all, we ate very little. Japanese food is usually my favorite, but Hakone Airu really missed the mark. For the price per night, I expected better, and drinks were the most expensive we paid for in Japan. I’d look at other ryokans if I visited again. The room itself was beautiful, with a clean feel, a nice view, and a private onsen big enough for two. The location was good, and service was good too. Still, the beds were very uncomfortable and the pillow was hard. I hadn’t had trouble sleeping anywhere else in Japan. Three stars for the location, cleanliness, onsen, and service. This could be an amazing ryokan if they sorted out the food.

The food really spoiled the stay for us. We tried the dinner and breakfast dishes, but hardly any tasted good, and I only managed a bite of most of them. They were the worst meals we had during our 10 days in Japan, which is why we took off two stars. We’d had a wonderful stay in Kyoto, so maybe that set a high bar. My husband was underwhelmed too and says he doesn’t need another ryokan experience. The tub fit two and had pleasant views, even in winter, and the massages were great. The room was nice, though temperature control was difficult. The shower room was cold, the shower took ages to warm up, and we couldn’t work out how to stop it switching off after about 45 seconds. Check-in and checkout both dragged on, perhaps because they were training staff. We were also supposedly given a beverage credit, but nobody mentioned it, and all we got was instant coffee and some juice at breakfast.

Getting to the hotel was a hassle. The Ryokan association minibus only runs from 9 to 11 in the morning, so outside those hours you may have to climb steep hills on foot or pay for an expensive taxi. The room looked nice, the onsen was great, and the view was lovely. But we had painful, itchy bites, something we hadn’t experienced at other hotels in Japan. It made us wonder whether the duvet, pillows, or room had been left uncleaned for a while. The bigger issue was my shellfish allergy. We’d told the staff about it and mentioned prawns and lobster as examples, yet I was served tempura abalone during the kaiseki. My wife and I were stunned, and I became worried about the other soups and courses. We asked staff to check whether any other shellfish had been served, but got no answer. They only seemed to understand how serious it was when we complained at the front desk. I had to use my EpiPen while we waited 15 minutes for an answer that never came. The staff apologized, but the chef didn’t come out to acknowledge the mistake, which was a red flag. Only while we were complaining did staff say the chef was cooking tempura fish for me, by then the set meal had long finished. I knew kaiseki would feature local and Japanese specialties, but expected better care around allergies. The chef should take another course on allergies, in my view. My wife and I were furious. If I’d eaten the abalone without realizing, I could have gone into anaphylactic shock and needed an urgent trip to hospital. This nearly ruined our honeymoon.