Hotel Green Plaza Hakone

“EXCELLENT STAY IN THE HAKONE AREA”

Great hotel. Located on the Hakone ropeway at Ubako stop (short walk on path to hotel or call from station for a courtesy pick-up to the hotel), one stop more to Lake Ashi and lake cruise. Fabulous view of Mt Fuji from their back garden. Huge buffet dinner and breakfast included in the price (be… more

Great hotel. Located on the Hakone ropeway at Ubako stop (short walk on path to hotel or call from station for a courtesy pick-up to the hotel), one stop more to Lake Ashi and lake cruise. Fabulous view of Mt Fuji from their back garden. Huge buffet dinner and breakfast included in the price (best we had in 3 weeks of travel throughout Japan). Relaxing onsen in hotel (some Japanese style rooms include your own private onsen). Only suggestion is courtesy van driver should wait a minute or so at hotel door for pick-ups to station (we were right at the door with luggage, when he left without stopping) - also driver could get out and open back luggage compartment for suitcases (I had to struggle to lift ours into an already full van, then he drove extra fast to the station, throwing our suitcases all over and into other passengers). Besides this, the hotel was still a great stay and I would highly recommend it for your visit to Hakone.

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“The Overlook”

2 nights here as part of a trip through Japan - 2 adults and 1 teen. You go to Hakone for the view of Fuji, the onsen experience and the chance to get away from the cities for a few days. Obviously, you do expect a bit of a trip, its the wilderness after all, and this is definitely that as to get … more

2 nights here as part of a trip through Japan - 2 adults and 1 teen. You go to Hakone for the view of Fuji, the onsen experience and the chance to get away from the cities for a few days. Obviously, you do expect a bit of a trip, its the wilderness after all, and this is definitely that as to get here you'll need to get a train to Odawara and then rely on a combo of mountain train/cable car, mountain bus/hotel shuttle or cab. When our Japanese friends shut the cable car due to even the "threat" of thunder however, expect to be sitting on a crowded bus for an hour or so and then get dropped off in the middle of nowhere and be asked to call the hotel to get the shuttle bus to come pick you up despite having switched to a data only e-sim and have no ability to phone anyone. Oh and expect Fuji to be 'over there somewhere' unless you're pretty lucky: that "threat" of thunder is almost permanent up in the tropical mountains and it's hard to have thunder without a lot of clouds. None of this is the hotels fault obviously although some kind of warning that you might find yourself on a trackless nowhere staring at a sign warning you about bears with no phone would possibly be a good idea? The hotel itself is like going back in time. Its old and the area is very damp and this place looks like its stood there a while and been pretty damp most of that time. The room was basic; its billed as a Japanese western room or something and says on the gumph that its got beds, tatami mats and a futon. Our 'futon' was 2 sets of what looked like padding off a sun lounger that we put on the floor. Sleeping on it was as expected. We paid for a view of Fuji but never saw even the vaguest glimpse. The bathroom was tiny - think of the sort of thing you might get on a small boat. The rest of the hotel was OK but the bar is only open from 2.00 - 4.30 every day for some reason none could explain? Like, WTF?? The restaurant is better described as a big school or prison canteen. Going anywhere else in the evening seemed both logistically tricky and potentially life-threatening so you're probably going to eat in and, to be fair, the food was really good - a mix of all sorts for breakfast and dinner but all tasty and its a help yourself deal so if you don't want pickled tuna for breakfast, don't have it. So this place gets an 'average' score. Some if it isn't their fault, some is. Hakone was worth the visit and I'm glad we did it; the trip down the mountain we could do via cable car and mountain train and it was really pleasant so, if this is how you got here and you got lucky with the weather you might well score it better because all the reasons to go here aren't really about the hotel. Which is lucky really...

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“Great onsens, solid room, horrible location”

Hot springs are great, especially the view of Mt. Fuji. The women’s view (the one seen in the photo) is better then the men’s, but the men’s is still solid. Room is solid, nothing super special. It is nearly impossible to get a taxi out of the hotel, meaning if you’re not already out you won’t be a… more

Hot springs are great, especially the view of Mt. Fuji. The women’s view (the one seen in the photo) is better then the men’s, but the men’s is still solid. Room is solid, nothing super special. It is nearly impossible to get a taxi out of the hotel, meaning if you’re not already out you won’t be able to eat out for dinner. Make sure you book your taxi in advance the night before departure. Food is average to below average, nothing great here. Wouldn’t spend more than 1 or 2 nights here; very remote but good if you want to use the onsens.

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“Ok but not great for the $...”

If you're looking for a traditional ryokan experience this isn't it. Rooms are a little tired, dinner has a good range but cafeteria style. Staff are helpful. There are better options for the money.