Gora Hanaougi

Great room, view, food, and service Our stay at this hotel was remarkable. Everyone is super friendly. The 10 course dinner and breakfast were on par with some of Michelin star ones we had in Japan. You are treated very well, even better than the 5 star ones we stayed at Kyoto and Tokyo. Highly recommend it!

Very good premises with a refined and traditional high end touch. Location is excellent with a private elevator to the ropeway. Service is nothing but great and really efficient. My only two points were there needs to be progress: -there is a clear inconsistence in the level/quality of the food served at dinner depending on the days. While our second dinner was really good our first one was disappointing for this level of establishment. Some of the sushi seemed pale and not fresh and some fishes were simply without taste (frozen). Service was great anyway which offset the lack of taste of the first day. -there is an obvious issue with sewer odors in our room (just at the entrance), it is not constant but it is very strong in late afternoons. Overall we were happy with the stay and the excellent service from the staff; but the hotel management must have better consistency in the food quality every day. Additionally the odors issue must be fixed urgently in room 201.

Gora Hanaougi was one of our first stays in a two-week trip to Japan. We spent one night there, enjoying the onsen as well as meticulously prepared meals for dinner and breakfast. Later in the trip we had equally as elaborate and even more tasty meals in other locations, however the sense of courtesy and service at Gora Hanaougi was unique. If you are looking for a peaceful stay we recommend this ryokan, if it is in your budget.

Wow, this place certainly exceeded our expectations! We stayed for a single night in early March and immediately after check-in wished we had done two. The property is nestled up a hill and our room had a great view of the valley and surrounding neighborhood. The public onsen is gorgeous (we happened to be there during a snowy period) and never had more than a couple people. It was nice to be outside and surrounded by trees though the indoor pool was also very nice. The actual room was huge and included just about any amenity you might need (shoe dryer, humidifier, very nice skin and hair products, Nespresso, etc.). The food situation was what really set this place apart. The multi course dinner was amazingly prepared and included a bit of everything. I was a bit worried as I'm not big on fish but this place prepared it perfectly (it's also VERY fresh). Both meals (dinner and breakfast) are served by your host (who also checks you in and out) and so you really get to know them. Our host (J-A) was wonderful and really made the overall stay that much better! I definitely recommend staying here if you're able to make a night in the Hakone area! The location is perfect for sightseeing before you check-in and after you check-out (you definitely won't want to leave in between!) as it's right near the Sounzan station (they have a private elevator just a short walk away) or they'll pick you up from the Gora station.

As you enter the warmly scented wood fragrance, warm floors, you are transported into total relaxation. This place makes the Ritz Carlton look subpar if you can believe that. The attention to detail is mind-boggling. Just one example, our Japanese wear that is provided to wear around the property was perfectly sized for us without them even asking our size. We could only think they used our passport information or someone is great at eyeballing for the perfect size. The food was on a whole different level. The pattern on the dishes matched the food and each course was another art piece. It was a work of intricate art only with food. 10 courses will blow you away both in taste and presentation. The breakfast was delicious and we ate every bite. We had one woman who took care of us our entire one-night stay. She was so polite. Even though looked like the Ryokan was sold out for the night, we only saw one couple as we were checking in. Other than that time, it was total zen. The private bath overlooking the mountain was picturesque. It even snowed in the morning which was so beautiful. In the end, it was hard to leave. It was the highlight of our trip to Japan. We will certainly return.

Absolutely an amazing experience at this ryokan. The staffs are amazing, rooms are spectacular and cleanliness is top notch. The food is amazing and hot springs are so relaxing. We had a wonderful stay and will definitely come back!

First trip to Hakone, first stay in a ryokan. We all had a great satay. My daughter loved it so much she wanted to write the review- Hello this is the daughter speaking this hotel is probably the best hotel on earth. The people were very friendly and our attendant wantanabe was so kind. the onsen was amazing there is like a little room to dry your hair. the bed room has two beds and little mattress if you have a bigger family or if you want to try something new and a private onsen I recommend doing the private one in the morning the dinner lunch and breakfast was big but AMAZING I personally don’t like fish but I tried there fish and I went from “fish are friends not food” to only wanting fish for dinner,and I forgot to write this but when you arrive at the inn they give you a menu of like drinks and red bean mochi if you get wantanabe tell her I said hi bye-bye

Great food. Exceptional service. Although I stayed at better rooms in Kyushu with the same price, this is Tokyo area, understandable. There was one staff who replied my email in English with a quite stiff tone. It was my initial interaction with them asking about transportation so it left me with a bad image. But after I got there, all the other staff were great.