{ "slug": "hakone-suishoen", "name": "Hakone Suishoen", "url": "https://ryokancatalog.com/inn/hakone-suishoen", "location": "Hakone", "prefecture": "Kanagawa", "region": "Kanto", "geo": { "lat": 35.2323, "lng": 139.1069 }, "tier": "A", "score": 8.2, "score_scale": "1-10", "unscored": false, "confidence": "med", "evidence": { "units": 4, "op_stays": 2, "member_stays": 1 }, "kinrt_rank_claim": null, "rooms": 23, "property_type": "Onsen ryokan", "style": "Kaiseki / Teppanyaki", "features": { "in_room_onsen": "Yes (open-air)", "meals_in_room": "Private rooms" }, "summary": "A 23-room Fufu-group ryokan in Hakone that does not use the Fufu name, because it is more traditional in architecture and aesthetics and caters to a slightly more mature crowd, and its dining rooms are set in a Taisho-era Mitsui villa. KI-NRT returned deliberately, places it right up there with Gora Kadan, Ginyu and Yama no Chaya despite being less celebrated, and treats it as the group's service standard; a later member's stay confirmed the staff as the standout. Book the kaiseki, because the teppanyaki is a pleasant change of pace but it is not the kitchen's best work.", "aspect_scale": "1-5", "aspects": { "cuisine": { "label": "Food", "score": 4, "text": "Suishoen serves a wonderful kaiseki, and it is one of the few luxury ryokans that also offers teppanyaki, a good way to mix things up on a long trip. The counter seats only eight, so reserve it when you book (KI-NRT called two months ahead and got in off the waitlist). He does not think it measures up to Japan's best: Iwate is the only beef, and the wagyu hamburger steak was good but not memorable. The kaiseki is the way to go here." }, "onsen": { "label": "Bath", "score": 4, "text": "Bathing at Suishoen is done in your own room, because the Luxury Suites and Precious Suites come with open-air onsen baths on their own decks, fed by natural hot springs. Nobody in the thread has written about the water itself, and nobody mentions a shared bath, so the onsen here is a private soak on your own deck." }, "service": { "label": "Service", "score": 4.5, "text": "A member who toured six inns in late 2024 was constantly blown away by the service from the moment he parked: all the staff were attentive and proactive, the teppanyaki head chef spoke into a microphone when his wife got up so someone appeared to show her the way, and after dinner a waitress carried dessert and the rest of their champagne to the room through pouring rain. KI-NRT holds Suishoen up as the Fufu group's service benchmark." }, "room": { "label": "Room", "score": 4, "text": "This is a modern-style ryokan, so if you want traditional tatami authenticity look elsewhere, and if you want the ryokan experience without the culture shock it is your place. KI-NRT stayed twice in Negau, one of the two 96-square-metre Luxury Suites: a separate Western-style bedroom and living room, an outdoor onsen bath, luxurious and stylish, if a tad on the dark side. Toki, a Precious Suite, is slightly smaller and connects to Negau." }, "setting": { "label": "Place", "score": 4, "text": "Meals are served in the main building, a gorgeous Taisho-era villa built as the summer home of the Mitsui family's founder and now a designated Important Cultural Property, and that building is the showpiece of the property. The inn is in Hakone, which KI-NRT recommends for a first trip because there is so much to do in the area, and nobody who has stayed describes a view from the rooms or the grounds." } }, "transit": { "cities": [ { "city": "Tokyo", "hours": 2.2, "time": "2h10", "transfers": 1, "estimated": false, "text": "Odakyu Romancecar Shinjuku→Hakone-Yumoto (~85 min), Tozan railway→Kōwakudani (~35 min), 5-min inn shuttle (reserve)." }, { "city": "Kyoto", "hours": 3, "time": "3h", "transfers": 1, "estimated": false, "text": "Reverse of: Direct Tozan BUS Gōra/Sengokuhara→Odawara (~45 min — one seat; Tozan rail adds a Hakone-Yumoto change), then Tōkaidō Shinkansen→Kyoto (~1h50 on the ~2-hourly Odawara-calling 'Hikari'; 'Kodama'+change or ~2h40 all-Kodama otherwise)." }, { "city": "Osaka", "hours": 3.4, "time": "3h25", "transfers": 2, "estimated": false, "text": "Midōsuji hop Umeda→Shin-Osaka, Tōkaidō 'Hikari' Shin-Osaka→Odawara (~2h05 — the same ~2-hourly Odawara-calling 'Hikari' the hakone>kyoto leg uses at ~1h50 to Kyoto, plus the ~15-min Kyoto–Shin-Osaka segment; 'Nozomi' skips Odawara and all-'Kodama' is ~2h40), then the direct Tozan BUS Odawara→Gōra/Sengokuhara (~45 min, one seat; the Tozan rail adds a Hakone-Yumoto change)." } ], "note": "" }, "photos": [ { "url": "/img/suishoen-0-e35f7e4e.jpg", "tag": "setting", "width": 400, "height": 300 }, { "url": "/img/suishoen-1-aaadc553.jpg", "tag": "interior", "width": 400, "height": 300 }, { "url": "/img/suishoen-2-386045f4.jpg", "tag": "bath", "width": 400, "height": 300 }, { "url": "/img/suishoen-3-9ef1e6a2.jpg", "tag": "room", "width": 400, "height": 266 } ], "links": { "website": "https://www.hakonesuishoen.jp/en/", "map": "https://www.google.com/maps?cid=5189077942476791715", "jp_site": { "source": "Ikyu", "score": 4.52, "reviews": 76, "url": "https://www.ikyu.com/00001359/review/", "as_of": "2026-07-10" }, "flyertalk_reviews": [ { "post": 1, "author": "KI-NRT", "url": "https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/34617783-post1.html" }, { "post": 438, "author": "OWHKG2016", "url": "https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/36730667-post438.html" } ], "flyertalk_discussion": [ { "post": 44, "author": "KI-NRT", "url": "https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/34759701-post44.html" }, { "post": 515, "author": "KI-NRT", "url": "https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/36995079-post515.html" } ], "tripadvisor": [ { "rating": 5, "stay": "March 2021", "url": "https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g298171-d1132684-r786820089-Hakone_Suishoen-Hakone_machi_Ashigarashimo_gun_Kanagawa_Prefecture_Kanto.html" }, { "rating": 4, "stay": "May 2022", "url": "https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g298171-d1132684-r842547381-Hakone_Suishoen-Hakone_machi_Ashigarashimo_gun_Kanagawa_Prefecture_Kanto.html" } ] }, "as_of": "2026-09-07" }