Helen_in_Hawaii

We are planning a trip to Tokyo-Hakone-Kyoto in late-March. We have our Tokyo and Kyoto lodging put together, but would appreciate some suggestions for Hakone. We will be traveling with our 11-year old daughter.

Thank you very much.

Helen

hawaiiantraveler

Aloha Helen,

We stayed two nights in Gora at the Hyatt Regency Gora Hotel. Gora is a great place to base yourself in the Hakone area and the Hyatt is a nice place to base yourself in for exploring and relaxation.

Hakone is the ideal town to experience a stay in a ryokan if that would interest you. Ryokan with an onsen are a fantastic chance to experience Japanese history and culture and there are a lot to choose from in the area in all price ranges. Here are a few choices, hopefully others will chime in with some other info for you. I don't know what places to suggest not knowing your budget.

http://www.japaneseguesthouses.com/db/hakone/index.htm

http://www.kanagawa-ryokan.com/english/hakone.htm

Aloha!

TravMimi

We stayed in Hakone 4 days, and absolutely loved the area. We stayed at www.hakoneho-kowakien.com/english in a traditional Japanese tatami room. It's right across the street from the www.yunessun.com/english hot springs/spa water park, and about a nice 15 min walk from the Open Air Museum. The kids really loved the water park and museum, and also the vist to Fuji and the Boiling Valley. We are going back for sure.

Helen_in_Hawaii

Thank you for your assistance.

We are looking forward to our travels to Japan.

ilanalea

My husband and I are planning a trip in May to Tokyo/Kyoto/Hakone and I was just wondering if anyone had thoughts on whether it makes the most sense to do it in that order or Tokyo/Hakone/Kyoto and then straight back to Tokyo on the bullet train? We will spend one last night in Tokyo before flying on to Beijing. I was thinking 2 nights Tokyo/1 night Hakone/2 nights Kyoto/1 night Tokyo. I also really want to stay in a ryokan and was had originally thought about doing it in Kyoto but maybe Hakone is better for that? In general on the trip, we are trying to be relatively frugal with lodgings (although not super cheap level) but we are willing to splurge a little when worth it. Any advice very welcome! All of the information on here has been so helpful so far!

Devidas_M

where is my pic ....i posted for the japan contest..?, the pic was taken last year when we visted hakone. We all loved the onsen's......almost got addicted. will be back there again next year.

Danmango

TravMimi suggested the Hotel Kowakien, and I second that. The gardens are beautiful. They have indoor pools, outdoor pools, men only, women only and mixed. Some with swimsuits, some without. Some of the pools are in the large hotel building, some are across the road in the Kowakien Yunessun spa/resort.

When we were there, hotel guests had free access to all the traditional pools, but an additional charge for the Yunessun fun waterpark.

You can choose either Western style hotel rooms or tatami rooms.

mrwunrfl

Either way, before or after Kyoto. Just be sure to check the schedule for a through train between Kyoto and Odawara. Otherwise, it might take a good bit longer to make a connection.

stormygirl

We were in Hakone in December, came in from tokyo and then traveled to Hiroshima from there. We stayed one night but it would have been nice to stay 2 I think to explore the area more.

we loved our traditional ryokan and onsen. I've posted about it here:

http://luggagetag.blogspot.com/search/label/Hakone