Madoka no Mori
unscored · Ikyu 4.8 / 5no first-hand write-up in the thread
A forest ryokan in Gora (opened 2014) whose strengths are the shared facilities: three open-air forest tubs per gender fed by a second spring, a private stone sauna and a basement speakeasy bar. The crowd picture is strong (Jalan 4.9, Ikyu 4.78 across 86 reviews). Recent Ikyu reviews split on where it is heading, though: most still rate it near-perfect, while two 2025-26 stays sense the service sliding toward ordinary. Book a bedroom-plus-tatami or a deluxe room and avoid the 30 m² studios.
Scores
Food
Hida beef shabu is the standout course, extraordinarily buttery, and a new head chef has refreshed the tableware and the appetizer courses. Standard rooms eat in private dining rooms; in-room dinner is for the suites only. The sushi course is the weak link and the menu barely rotates. Ikyu guests put the food at 4.84, their highest mark here, and even the critical reviews call the meals excellent.
Bath
The inn draws on two hot-spring sources: the big baths run on one the staff describe as sterilizing, the in-room tubs on a second, moisturizing one, and they will tell you to take the big bath first. Each gender side has one indoor bath and three open-air tubs in the forest, and a private stone sauna (ganbanyoku) can be booked by the slot. Two 2025-26 reviews question the cleanliness of the big baths.
Service
Guests are greeted with a welcome drink and the house pastry chef's pudding, with handmade sweets left in the room, and Ikyu guests describe the staff as uniformly pleasant and well trained, putting service at 4.8. The inn has a strong repeat clientele, and returning guests say the unobtrusive attentiveness is what brings them back. Two 2025-26 reviews report the service slipping toward that of an ordinary luxury ryokan.
Room
Every room has its own onsen tub, but the 30 m² studios, where the beds take over and there is no sofa, draw the most repeated complaint. Ask for one of the 36.5-41 m² bedroom-plus-tatami rooms instead, or the 53 m² deluxe rooms Ebine 311 and Akebonosou 215 with their window sofas; KI-NRT's advice for a first Hakone trip is a suite here. The rooms have exposed-beam ceilings, and the 2014 fittings are starting to show.
Place
Madoka no Mori sits in the forest above Gora at about 550 m, high enough for occasional real snow, and the January-February reports are uniformly positive. Inside, the corridors are tatami and guests walk them barefoot, the lobby is spacious and impressive, and KI-NRT counts it (with its sister Gora Hanaougi) among the few traditional-style inns at the top of Hakone, where most of the highly regarded properties are modern and Western in design.
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).