Hakone Suishoen
A · 8.2 / 10anchor a leg
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.
Scores
Food 4 / 5
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.
Bath 4 / 5
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 4.5 / 5
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 4 / 5
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.
Place 4 / 5
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.
Getting there
- Tokyo — 2h10, 1 transfer. Odakyu Romancecar Shinjuku→Hakone-Yumoto (~85 min), Tozan railway→Kōwakudani (~35 min), 5-min inn shuttle (reserve).
- Kyoto — 3h, 1 transfer. 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).
- Osaka — 3h25, 2 transfers. 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).
Sources
FlyerTalk review #1 · FlyerTalk review by OWHKG2016 #438 · TripAdvisor 5★ (March 2021) · TripAdvisor 4★ (May 2022) · Ikyu 4.52 / 5 · #44 · #515 (thread mentions)