Onsen Guesthouse Tsutaya - Hostel

A cozy little nook in a beautiful place, with friendly staff, good access to nearby places, and great accommodation. My one concern is that the only showers are inside the onsen. Even if you don’t plan to use the onsen itself, you still have to go in and follow its protocols to shower. It would be great to have showers outside the onsen too. Otherwise, a wonderful place to stay while visiting Hakone! 😁👏🏼👏🏼

There are four onsen baths, two for men and two for women. The indoor baths rotate between men and women because one room is larger, but our favourite was the outdoor bath, hot water and fresh air together. The scenery around the hotel is beautiful. You need to take the bus to Hakone itself, which is only 15 minutes away. If you’d rather cook, the communal kitchen is well equipped, and they also sell some food to prepare. We stayed in a private room, though the hostel-style accommodation would be great with friends. The communal lounge also has a large English manga library that we enjoyed. It was our first trip to Hakone, and a fantastic place to stay.

The balcony was my favorite spot, looking out over dense forest with the river running below. It was so peaceful. We stayed in the biggest room, the family room, and loved the setup: the kids had a bunk above a comfortable double bed, plus there was a computer loaded with old Nintendo games. The shared kitchen felt homey, and the lounge had vintage toys and board games. The onsen was amazing, too. Staff were probably the best English speakers we met on our trip, and the bus stop is right outside. Lawson and the lovely Naraya cafè are an easy walk away. The amenities and little extras were great.

The area is lovely, surrounded by nature, and we found it relaxing to hear the river outside our window. Our traditional room had plenty of floor space, much more than the city hotels we stayed in, and the floor mattresses turned out to be more comfortable than I expected. We shared the toilets, since there wasn't one in the room. I really enjoyed the onsen. You have to bathe naked, which won't suit everyone, but when I went there was either nobody else or just one person. It's also where you shower, as far as I could tell. The place seemed fairly accommodating about tattoos compared with more traditional baths, where you may need to cover them. There aren't many restaurants nearby. The hotel gives you a leaflet with suggestions, and there are a couple of Seven Elevens for food. You can also use the well-equipped shared kitchen. We liked the Nepalese restaurant enough to go twice. Buses are the main option for visiting other places during the day. They can get packed, but they do reach some nice spots. We went to the volcanic valley and tried the famous black eggs. I stayed here with my boyfriend during our Japan trip, and it was probably my favorite hotel and area of the whole trip.