箱根芦之湯温泉 きのくにや旅館(Kinokuniya Ryokan)

Perhaps it's the Japanese in me, but I think if you're going to stay in an onsen (hot springs) area like Hakone, you need to stay in a ryokan. Jamie W. and I stayed in a nice one in Kyoto several years back, though that was on the higher end. Founded in 1715 as a stop on the Hakone Hachiri, this inn is over 300 years old and quite traditional like stepping back into a 1950's Yasujiro Ozu movie. We reserved a large tatami room (248 sq ft) with a private bathroom and mountain view for a reasonable ¥21,780. It was spartan by Western standards though there was a TV screen we never turned on. We also had a couple of chairs next to the window. Otherwise we slept on thin futons that laid flat on the tatami. It can be challenging on the back if you're not used to it. We were quite surprised to be informed they were not serving dinner or breakfast, the usual service at a ryokan, presumably because they had so few guests staying overnight. Unfortunately we were in an isolated area and not logistically close to the more touristed area next to Lake Ashi. We thought we'd go to bed hungry, but luckily we found the nearby Doll House Museum had a cafe that provided a hot meal. The must-do was reserving a half-hour in the private bath filled with the natural hot springs water. It was across the road from the ryokan in its own cabin. There were two discrete baths. One was the hydrogen carbonate spring which was kept at a high temperature that made it difficult to stay for more than a few minutes. The other was the sulfur spring which was comparatively cooler and consequently more relaxing.

노후된 시설. 청결하지 못한 환경.객실에는 모기가 있어 수면을 방해함. 객실에는 wifi도 제공되지 않음. 프라이빗 욕실도 매우 불편함. 식사와 요리수준 낮음. 이용요금도 너무 비쌈.1박에 400불. 다시는 이용하지 않겠음.

Very good, nice a**osphere

We prefer a small ryokan like Kinokuniya than a hotel type onsen. Even though it looks old, but this is what you come here for. We have three of us in a very spacious room. I happened to have an online meeting and it worked well. We booked with 2 meals - breakfast and dinner. As expected, the food is great. However, it's very traditional so make sure that you expect for something different than your usual.

The dinner alone gets a lot of points. Easily some of the best food I have ever had at a ryokan. The Men’s Onsen is a bit small outdoors. It was difficult to get my large western body (5’10”, 185lb) in the outdoor pool. The indoor pool was nice. The biggest problem is the old wooden floors. Upstairs neighbors had kids and I got virtually no rest. The tranquil a**osphere of autumn in the mountains of Japan was disturbed by little giants trampling overhead. Overall, great place, but I hope you get lucky with who stays above you.