Hakone Gora Byakudan
B · 7.3 / 10right inn, right place
A welcoming, English-comfortable Hakone inn in Gora that Japanese regulars return to two or three times a year, and the one member who has stayed calls it an excellent stay if not a luxury one. That single first-hand account loved it (hearty meals, top-floor foliage views, in-room onsen, a fire at night) while conceding the fabric is tired, with wood rot on the decks and a guest crowd that can break the hush.
Scores
Food 4 / 5
brownoarsman found the meals excellent, some of the most hearty and tasty he has had in Japan, though he says himself he is a casual ryokan stayer and this was his first ryokan, so nobody has measured this kitchen against the top houses. After dinner a bar and snack cart is rolled out for a couple of drinks.
Bath 4 / 5
The rooms have private onsen baths, and brownoarsman, who had asked for the top floor when booking, found his wonderful looking out over the late-November foliage, with a hot soak before dinner the start of his best evenings there. Nobody in the thread has written about the communal baths or the water itself.
Service 4 / 5
The okami speaks English very well and so do many of the staff, and the house has a great reputation for being welcoming to non-Japanese guests. Nobody in the thread has written more about the service than that, though Japanese guests like it a lot: a mother and daughter brownoarsman met had been coming two or three times a year for several years, and on Ikyu it averages 4.75 over 224 reviews.
Room 4 / 5
Views from the main room are excellent, and you can request the top floor when booking, as brownoarsman did for the foliage; the main room also has a great wood fire they light at night, which he found easy to fall asleep in front of after a hot soak and some sake at dinner. The interior is very nice, but the building is a bit tired and he saw wood rot on some of the outside decks and balconies.
Place 3.5 / 5
A hillside house in Gora with fine foliage views from the rooms, still lovely but a bit tired, and without the sculpted gardens and other amenities of Hakone's luxury inns, which is why brownoarsman does not claim luxury status for it. Its welcome to overseas guests cuts both ways: on his stay there were kids running around willy-nilly and someone taking a loud business call in the lounge at night, which he has never met at another ryokan.
Getting there
- Tokyo — 2h10, 1 transfer. Odawara Shinkansen + Hakone Tozan line/bus to Gora ~2h12.
- Kyoto — 2h15, 1 transfer. Tokaido Shinkansen to Odawara + Hakone Tozan line/bus to Gora ~2h15.