Soooo happy we booked here! It is a beautiful, traditional ryokan with spacious rooms, excellent staff and service, great water pressure (I know that’s silly to note, but it’s worth mentioning), and beautiful private onsens (we didn’t try the public ones).
I was nervous calling the ryokan from the train station to pick us up, but they immediately put an English-speaking staff member on the phone and didn’t make me feel dumb for not understanding and were, in fact, super welcoming and kind. That, in fact, was the theme of our stay here.
The yukatas they provide to wear are comfortable and pretty, and the staff kindly explains traditions and how to use everything during the kaiseki meal (they were so patient to explain everything to us gaijin!)
We were exceptionally thankful for them when we found ourselves very far away at Mishima Skywalk. We got turned around and missed the last bus headed back to Hakone on the freepass and we’re waiting at a bus stop that turned out to not be a stop at all. The skywalk shut down, all employees went home, it turned dark, and the taxi services wouldn’t speak to any non-Japanese speakers. Our ryokan was able to call and get us a taxi (where no taxis were running). Expensive mistake for sure, but without them we’d still be in Hakone on the side of the road!
ALL employees were encountered were kind and helpful, even if they spoke little English (and us little Japanese). Wonderful experience here!