Yumoto Fujiya Hotel

The bar made the stay feel especially personal. Yuta and Mayuka are HBA certified bartenders, and they made me a perfectly done cocktail each evening. They were fun to talk with, too. The hotel itself is in a great spot for exploring Hakone, with spacious, comfortable rooms, a lovely breakfast, and a peaceful onsen. The staff were warm and went out of their way to help.

The location was hard to beat, right across from Hakone Yumoto Station, with a scenic red bridge by the river in front of the hotel. Our family of three had a spacious triple room and a lovely view of the mountains and trees. The onsen has indoor and outdoor baths, plus a relaxation room with drink vending machines, complimentary tea, and reclining chairs facing the trees. Breakfast had plenty of tasty Japanese and Western choices, and the first-floor gift shops were good for souvenirs. The bathroom in our room looked very dated, though the room itself was great. We also lost one of our two plastic key cards and were charged 5,000 yen, about $33. We were at fault for losing it, but the amount caught me off guard and took some of the shine off the stay. Keep an eye on the card if you stay here.

The dinner service was rushed. We paid 20,000 yen for Japanese dinners at the hotel's fixed 19:30 time, and although the meal had many courses, the cook and waiter brought the last four dishes out all at once. We had booked a traditional Japanese room with tatami and Japanese beds, but couldn't enjoy the Japanese bed setup. Staff said the room was for four people and that, since we were a couple, it had two standard beds. They offered to prepare the two additional beds for an extra charge. The booking details and service were confusing, and the price felt far too high for what we got.

The breakfast was excellent and the onsen was great. We liked having a tatami room and balcony, too. It's very close to the train station, with the Spirited Away bridge over the river leading to the elevator. The room was clean and the bed comfortable, though the decor was sparse, the lighting harsh, and the dimmer switch broken. Sound carries through the walls.