Hakone Pax Yoshino

“A brilliant experience.”

We stayed here for 1 night during the Tokyo part of our trip to experience a Japanese ryokan, including the food, the room features and the use of an onsen. The room was authentically minimalist with slippers, tatami matting, a very low table with seating cushions around it and a futon for sleeping… more

We stayed here for 1 night during the Tokyo part of our trip to experience a Japanese ryokan, including the food, the room features and the use of an onsen. The room was authentically minimalist with slippers, tatami matting, a very low table with seating cushions around it and a futon for sleeping. The toilet, bath, shower and other washing facilities were different to the usual Western ideals but very good. The shower (photo) was the same as the ones in the onsen. The hotel is situated overlooking the Sukumo river which was a raging torrent due to a day of extremely heavy rain Getting to the hotel from Hakone involves either an irregular shuttle bus service, a 20 minute walk or a 700¥ taxi ride. Due to the lashing rain we opted for the taxi. The staff were very friendly and helpful. Our room, 401, looked a bit tired with paint that needs touched up and occasional stains on the matting. There is an in-room safe, tea/coffee making facilities, a fridge and plenty of hangers. We definitely wanted to enjoy the Japanese experience, so I wore the yukata, Japanese socks and slippers and a haori (jacket) which was fun. The onsen (very hot 40°C spring) was a completely new experience and once you got used to the nudity and the very hot water was extremely relaxing. There's no bar available but the vending machine did sell ice-cold KIRIN lager at a reasonable price. Dinner was a multi course tasting menu of a lot of Japanese dishes. Despite there being more than 10 items, the overall menu wasn't overpowering. It was well balanced, very tasty, enough to be filling but NOT overwhelming. Breakfast buffet was very good, offering a wide range of Japanese dishes as well as scrambled eggs, small sausages and bacon. Overall, this was a very novel experience offering an insight into the authentic Japanese lifestyle and I'm so glad that we had the opportunity enjoy it. Even the weather improved significantly as we returned to Tokyo.

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“1st time around Hakone Yumoto”

This hotel breakfast and dinner is great. We are staying at river view with hottub in the balcony. The only probles is if you have room on east side you will be facing Tenseian Hotel parking lot which is less privacy and disturbing view from your balcony and from your hot tub. Since this hotel is o… more

This hotel breakfast and dinner is great. We are staying at river view with hottub in the balcony. The only probles is if you have room on east side you will be facing Tenseian Hotel parking lot which is less privacy and disturbing view from your balcony and from your hot tub. Since this hotel is old, you can constantly step sound from floor above, so if you got noisy neighbors above you, it will be disaster (like our experience) it will not be a problem if you bring earplug like me. A lot of choice around hakone yumoto, i think i will try other hotel if visiting this area again

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“Not for me!”

We enjoyed our stay at the ryokan but having experienced the traditional Japanese accommodation I think that I will stick to western style in future. The traditional style beds were reminiscent of a kids sleepover and were the cause of much hilarity for our family! Beware if you want to arrive with… more

We enjoyed our stay at the ryokan but having experienced the traditional Japanese accommodation I think that I will stick to western style in future. The traditional style beds were reminiscent of a kids sleepover and were the cause of much hilarity for our family! Beware if you want to arrive with a bed to crash on the traditional style accommodation is not for you and our daughter nearly had a sense of humour failure on arrival 😂 as all she wanted was to chill on a bed and there were only 2 seats available. The futons were made up for us when we were out at dinner which was nice but one of our rooms was missed which wasn’t great. It was strange waking up on the floor and the mattress was very hard! I felt like I’d aged 20 years when I tried to get out of bed (aka up off the floor) the next morning! The bathroom facilities were strange if a little dated, the hairdryer was certainly nothing to write home about and nearly burnt my hair to a crisp! Breakfast was great a great selection of lovely fresh food! Overall a different experience - I’m glad I’ve tried traditional style accommodation but it’s not for me!

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