Wonderful traditional style hotel, onsen in the balcony, central location, beautiful area close to all the great sightseeing.

The property is beautiful, private balcony with private onsen were AMAZING! Room was comfortable and well laid out. That part is definitely a 5*. The staff were friendly, mostly helpful, but not so much if you got there early. They did take your stuff, but didn't help with directions on how to catch the bus or where to walk. The food is where this property lost a star (I'd give it a 3, maybe upper 2). The dining area is beautiful and peaceful. The actual food needs some work. The first course was set out 10 min early and was meant to be warm, we arrived on time and it was cold. They proceeded to bring out each course in rapid succession and we had a ton of food in front of us. Not a proper kaiseki meal. As we dug in the food was ok, how they managed dry fish in soup is beyond me. I'd stay here again - but would skip the food and enjoy it in town instead. One other note - if you stay here know its at least 30min away from the lake and the majority of the Hakone Loop. So I'd suggest accounting for that in your time planning.

Awesome stay

Hakone Airu was an awesome place to stay and such a relaxing experience. The rooms are beautiful and the staff were really friendly and helpful. The private onsen on the balcony was honestly insane and easily the best part of the stay. It’s a really cool mix of traditional ryokan vibes with modern comfort. Just be warned it’s a steep climb up there from the station and it’s about 800m walk

The room, food provided, staff, and ambience were perfect.

Staff were friendly and helpful. Loved the private bath (spa)!

食事を改善した方が良いです。

Staff was extremely kind and polite. Interacting with them each day was a pleasure.

Staff were great. Amenities were amazing. Loved the private onsen

Incredible experience and one we’d recommend anyone going to Japan to experience. Food is incredible, very thoughtful and a fantastic experience. You can’t guarantee every course will be to your taste, but there are enough options that you will still be satisfied. The staff have put such care into your experience, it’s amazing. Rooms are stunning and onsen experience is wonderful. The highlight of our Japan trip - thank you!

The food was absolutely delicious and the portions left us very full. It helped a lot as we burned calories with our different adventures.

職員非常有善，酒店設計美麗。 令我深刻印象的是房間（昂，4/f) 裡的私人風呂很好。 早餐在2樓 又會按預訂房間分隔個室，好有私人空間。

Clean, spacious room with your own private osen, too bad I didn't know they serve their breakfast from 7:30-11ish, I wish they have put the time somewhere on their booking page because I had to leave at 7am to catch my train and I didn't have a chance to eat the breakfast that came with my hotel booking. I feel sad for missing out on that.

The staff were very helpful, especially in trying to account for my husband's dietary requirements. The room was spacious and comfortable, and the private onsen was wonderful. I enjoyed the food a lot and I recommend trying the shonan gin tonic! It cost us 800 yen to reach Hakone Airu by taxi from the train station. You can take the shuttle bus for 200 yen, but I'd note that it would be difficult to ride it with large suitcases.

C’était parfait.

This was one of the best hotel experiences I've ever had. Amazing room, incredible meals and great staff. Truly amazing and I would definitely stay here again.

The staff was extremely nice and helpful. The hotel itself is beautiful and I loved our private onsen.

Nos encanto el hotel, excelente atencion por parte del personal, excelente comida .. y una experiencia inigualable el tener un onsen privado en el cuarto!!

Check-in process was slow (seemed like we sat in the lobby forever). Room was nice. Massages were great. The meals were a major let-down. We tried everything that came with the dinner and breakfast, and very little tasted good. I literally had only one bite of most dishes. By far, the meals at Hakone Airu were the worst meals we had in 10 days in Japan. The food tainted the experience and is the reason we took off two stars. The tub is large enough for two and the views were pleasant, even in winter. The shower took a long time to heat up and we didn't figure out how to make it work normally (it turns itself off after about 45 seconds). It was cold in the shower room and overall, difficult to regulate the temperature in our room. Check-out was also slow; not sure if they were training new staff or what. I would like to try a different ryokan at some point, but husband says nope -- been there, done that, don't need to do it again. Clearly, he was underwhelmed by the experience here too. We had an amazing stay in Kyoto, so perhaps we were spoiled by that.

The staff were so attentive and kind! Everything was ready for us and went smoothly, it made our stay extremely relaxing.