Hakone Kowakien

Great hotel in an awesome location! Loved the onsens.

Buffet breakfast had an abundance of options. Had buffet dinner which was also very good with multiple choices. Walking distance to Open Air Museum, with a few restaurants within walking distance. Bus easily accessible for areas farther from hotel.

Both the variety and quality of the breakfast and dinner menus were great. Bathing suit onsen area was different (i'm not sure i'm a fan of the different colours of water) but really enjoyed the traditional onsen at Yunesun. Many outdoor areas meant that none were crowded. The water temp did feel a littl bit cool compared to the private onsen at the hotel. Beautiful hotel in a beautiful setting. Unfortunately is was raining during our stay. It would have been nice to have a shuttle from the hotel to Yunesun to avoid walking in the rain as it is a rather steep walk.

Beautiful property and great staff.

Convenient location as just across the road from hot springs. The most amazing buffet breakfast and dinner we have seen. Clean rooms, friendly staff. Would definitely return.

Rooms were clean and the front desk staff was friendly. Dining was very disappointing, wasn't expecting kaiseki but tastes worse than local buffet place. Hot springs bath onsite was small, outdoor bath had limited mountain view. It was nice to get complimemtary access to another onsen a block away with multiple pools. Overall, okay but not a 5-star hotel.

It was great but dinner was fully booked.

Beautiful property with friendly staff

We appreciated having breakfast and evening meal as part of our stay. Bus stop directly outside main entrance made commute to other locations easier especially when combined with Hakone free pass. The hotel has a shuttle bus which provides transport to Gora Railway station and the Cable car. We enjoyed walking to the Hakone Open-air Museum even though it was uphill on the return to the hotel.

The property was great. The “waterpark” was a bit odd—but in a very quirky and interesting way.

Check-in is strictly at 3pm — not a minute earlier — and staff were unhelpful throughout. It honestly felt like dealing with machines, not humans. The property caters almost entirely to Japanese guests, with little effort made for others. All announcements, including check-in and dinner calls, were made only in Japanese, leaving non-Japanese speaking guests confused. The self check-in/check-out kiosks are not user-friendly, and staff showed no willingness to assist. For dinner, it wasn’t even a proper reservation system — I was told to physically go upstairs, ask for approval from someone at a desk, and then return, instead of staff handling it directly. Very inconvenient and unnecessary. Overall, the service was cold, unwelcoming, and not up to international standards. Not recommended unless service improves dramatically.

The buffet dinner is amazing and the free ticket to hot spring Morinoyu is a value-added experience in our trip. My family enjoy the stay.

good resort

The hotel was very nice but we informed them that we were vegan. They said they couldn’t do any thing for us. They were very unhelpful with the food situation. Breakfast was very poor.

The restaurant needs help - food is not great. The Onsen is very nice

Hotel is new & beautiful. Compound is lovely with a garden to walk. Breakfast & dinner offers a good spread with free flow of wine & beer. We stayed for 3 nights, would help if they could change some of the dishes daily. Can get boring eating the same spread over 3 days. Room was compact but comfortable. No bathtub. Will pick a bigger room next time. Location is great. Local bus stop right in front of hotel. Very convenient. Do note that u may not be allowed to board if your luggage is big & bulky. Seek help from the hotel’s free shuttle service instead.

The room was large and clean. Had a great public bath. Breakfast and dinner buffets were amazing. Definitely looking forward to coming back.

A wonderful 5 star hotel. The lobby area is spacious and the check-in process is organized using kiosks with someone from the hotel to guide. The private Onsen on the 7th floor can be booked using their App which was explained during the check-in process. The buffet was good and had a lot of variety that caters to westerners and locals. Take advantage of the waterpark / Onsen across the street which is offered for guests staying at the hotel. The wristband for the waterpark is given to guests in the lobby area. The waterpark has a lot of pools with different themes (coffee, peach, green tea, and wine). The public Onsen has breath taking views of the mountains and you keep your swimming suit on the whole time which is suitable for families. You must cover your tattoos before accessing the waterpark. The back of the hotel is a nice garden that lights up at night for a lovely night stroll. We stayed for 2 nights and wish we could have stayed longer. We’ll definitely come back again

Dinner and breakfast buffet spreads are fantastic. Property is lovely.

Plan ahead - find restaurants, plan your travel, bring food/ snacks, pre book taxis as no one will help you in the hotel.