Hakone
Kinnotake Sengokuhara
金乃竹 仙石原
Katsushika Hokusai, “Kajikazawa in Kai Province (Kōshū Kajikazawa), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)” — The Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0
A nine-room ryokan on the Sengokuhara plateau in Hakone, about 700 metres up, themed on the old Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. Each room is a different design and each has its own open-air hot spring bath, free-flowing from the source and usable from check-in to check-out.
The water is piped from Owakudani and arrives milky white: an acidic calcium sulphate-chloride spring, given as 60.6C at source and held at 41-42C in the tubs, with mineral sediment settling in the bath. One room, Sora, is a maisonette built over five levels with a rooftop bath looking out to the Hakone mountains. There is no communal bath and no reservable private bath; the house calls Bar Bamboo, open 20:00 to 24:00, its only shared facility, and says staff attend guests so that they do not meet one another indoors.
Dinner is Kyoto kaiseki brought to the room dish by dish, and breakfast is served in the room as well.
Check-in is 15:00 with last arrival at 19:00, check-out 11:00. From Hakone-Yumoto, the Hakone Tozan bus towards Togendai reaches Daigatake in about 30 minutes, three minutes' walk away. There is no shuttle, though a chartered car can be arranged with three days' notice. Pets are not accepted. The ryokan describes itself as a quiet hideaway for adults and states that children cannot stay, while asking anyone travelling with a child of primary-school age or younger to telephone first.
Why we chose it
Nine rooms, each with its own free-flowing Owakudani bath usable the whole stay, kaiseki carried in course by course, breakfast in the room too - and, on the property's own account, exactly one shared space in the building: the bar. Staff attend guests so that they do not meet one another indoors. What we verified describes a stay you need never leave your own room for.
What it has
- Room with private hot spring bath
- Kaiseki dinner
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Prices are indicative and change with dates and availability.
Sources
- Official site: about and hot spring (Japanese)
- Official site: rooms (Japanese)
- Official site: Sora room (Japanese)
- Official site: cuisine (Japanese)
- Official site: facilities (Japanese)
- Official site: Bar Bamboo (Japanese)
- Official site: access (Japanese)
- Rakuten Travel: hot spring details (Japanese)
- Rakuten Travel: property details (Japanese)
- Ikyu.com listing (Japanese)
- Jalan listing (Japanese)
- Hakone Onsen Ryokan and Hotel Cooperative listing (Japanese)