Gora Kadan Fuji
A · 8 / 10anchor a leg
Gora Kadan opened its second-ever property in July 2025, a 42-room ryokan-hotel hybrid facing Fuji and big enough for a gym, a pool and three dining rooms. The one guest who has written it up found the stay exceeded his expectations and immediately rebooked a villa; KI-NRT, who has not stayed, expects at worst a Hoshino resort done right, and a 2026 guest called that very accurate. Only the Open-air Bath Suites and up have spring water in the room, so check the room grade before booking, and book the sushi or teppanyaki counter over the included kaiseki.
Scores
Food 4 / 5
There are three ways to eat: the included kaiseki, the teppanyaki counter Fuji Kanda and a sushi counter run by Sushi Sho. Fc912 found the selection varied and enjoyed Fuji Kanda, and a June 2026 guest called the food outstanding. Web reports say the kaiseki is the weak point for a Gora Kadan and the counters are where the kitchen is strongest, so the sensible pattern is kaiseki one night and a counter the next.
Bath
The property drilled its own spring 1,500 meters down, and the onsen feeds a bath building with indoor and open-air baths, saunas, an indoor pool and a Fuji-facing infinity pool, plus in-room baths in every suite. Which grades get spring water in the room is not published, and KI-NRT had heard the standard suites' view baths are plain well water, so ask. Nobody has described a soak here, though Fc912 rebooked the hare villa for its onsen pool.
Service 3.5 / 5
Fc912, who stayed a few months after the July 2025 opening, hit some service issues, though in his view none significant enough to complain about and the kind of thing a new ryokan irons out within a few months. Nobody who has stayed since has written about the service.
Room 4.5 / 5
The build quality struck Fc912 as top notch, and a June 2026 guest called the rooms beautiful. The ground-floor rooms with stone baths have lovely garden views but no sight of Mt. Fuji, so if the mountain is what you came for, avoid them and book upstairs. The hare villa, which Fc912 rebooked for a return in April, is essentially a two-bedroom suite with a large onsen pool, and the Open-air Bath Suites run 136 to 139 square metres.
Place 4.5 / 5
All 42 rooms look at Mt. Fuji, 12 km away, at Subashiri just south of Lake Yamanaka, with a Gora Kadan golf course next door. Fc912 found the views spectacular, though KI-NRT, who has not stayed, is not a huge fan of Fuji from this angle compared with Lake Kawaguchi's. Fuji is a daily coin flip: a June 2026 guest got only a glimpse through cloud, and the first winter's guests had no view one day and a glorious one the next, so book two nights.
Getting there
- Tokyo — 1h50, 0 transfers. Shinkansen Tokyo→Mishima (~50 min 'Kodama'/'Hikari'), then a SELF-BOOKED taxi ~40 min (the inn's published route — it is not a hotel car; pre-book, Mishima's rank is shallow). Free alt: the inn's call-on-arrival shuttle from Gotemba Stn (~20 min, per the inn FAQ; limited vehicles) via the Odakyu 'Fujisan'/hourly Shinjuku highway bus. Direct HND private transfer ~1h30 on arrival day.
- Kyoto — 2h35, 0 transfers. Reverse of: Hotel car back to Mishima (~40 min), Tōkaidō Shinkansen→Kyoto (~2h).
- Hiroshima — 4h20, 1 transfer. San'yō 'Nozomi' Hiroshima→Nagoya (~2h05), 'Hikari'/'Kodama'→Mishima (~1h–1h15), then the hotel car ~40 min (car-only access — arrange the transfer).
Sources
FlyerTalk review by Fc912 #698 · Ikyu 4.74 / 5 · #694 · #781 (thread mentions)