Itoen Hotel Hakone Yumoto

“Budget price for Hakone, if your expectations are reasonable, you'll be okay”

We made a reservation here due to the very reasonable cost. The price (we paid about 8800 yen for each person) included dinner and breakfast..and of course, use of the hot spring baths in the hotel --a major draw in this area. The hotel is up the road (route 732) from Yumoto where the train arriv… Mais

We made a reservation here due to the very reasonable cost. The price (we paid about 8800 yen for each person) included dinner and breakfast..and of course, use of the hot spring baths in the hotel --a major draw in this area. The hotel is up the road (route 732) from Yumoto where the train arrives. We drove, and missed the left turn to the hotel. Oddly, there seemed to be no signage indicating the left turn. Anyway, second time around we used our Google maps to find it. The hotel is not in a prime location, out most windows (room, restaurant) you have a view of other rooftops. Our room was, by Japanese standards, fairly spacious. We had originally planned to go Friday-Saturday, but that would have meant that we and our friends would have had to share a room. So we changed our plan to Thur-Friday and we each (two couples) had a room. It was a 12-mat room, so a good amount of space for two of us. They set up the futons and fold them over, so all you have to do is unroll them, and you are ready to sleep. On a busy night, you would likely have more people in that same sized room. There was a small balcony, not really so useful, but perhaps in autumn you might see some colorful leaves over the rooftops. We were there in early March--still a bit brown...and cold. The bathroom is a standard "unit bath" which isn't terribly wonderful, but not unusual. Since we went to the nearby rotemburo (public bath open to outside air) we spent little time in the room's bathroom and did not use the shower anyway. Nothing luxurious about it, but inexpensive toothbrushes are provided in case you forgot to bring one. Otherwise, no other extra amenities. (You receive a Japanese yukata...the kimono style cotton robe-- to wear all around the hotel..very handy! you needn't bring pajamas.) You choose the design you like at check in..and they are sized for your height. The baths- We were on the second floor and just down the hall from the rotemburo..the bath with outdoor fresh air. I like this type of bath: if you get hot in the bathwater, the fresh air keeps your head cool (you can stay in longer without getting lightheaded.) So we visited this bath several times during our short stay. This one only had a place for two people (in the women's bath) to wash at one time though, so when many show up, you have to stand there and wait. The actual bath was large enough for about a dozen people. This bath has no hair dryer (no hair dryers in our room!) though. We did visit the larger bath on the lower level later, which had hair dryers and some face cream and washes....foot cream (you can "sand" your rough feet in the bath area). So this was the place to go if you need to use a hairdryer or want to try out the amenities. While the hotel has been around a while, it appeared that the bath areas had been fairly recently renovated..not worn looking as I have seen at other places. Food: one must consider food as it is included at most inns in Japan. Breakfast and dinner is often a must..i.e. you can't opt out. At Itoen Yumoto, the "all you can eat crab" is advertised for the off season..which ends March 20th. Everything is "all you can eat" although basically you won't want so much of most items. Anything fried, and the meat items-- were less than appetizing. This IS a budget place. They clearly cut costs by making the "restaurant"-- which is more of a cafeteria-- with melamine plates (reminded us of elementary school lunch plates), all self-service. But there is also an "all you can drink-- drink bar". This includes, coffee, tea, soft drinks and yes, alcohol--(beer, sake, and chuhai---Japanese shochu mixed with fruit juice or soda.) For those who wish to pour down half a dozen beers in the allotted 90 minutes, will like this part of the deal. There were two dinner reservation times ..5:30 - 7 PM AND 7 PM TO 8:30. We arrived hungry and had just enough time to visit the bath, so we ate at the early time. So did the multitude of senior citizens taking advantage of the deal. The later time was mainly the university students (March is a school holiday between years). At breakfast in the morning, everyone seemed to be eating at the same time. One more point--the "all you can eat" crab. It was crab legs mainly..some with claws.. It was partially cracked and you had to dig it out, as is common with crab..so you had to work for it. But, it tasted pretty good..and was the best thing there. And, I must admit, I was surprised that when the plate became empty, it didn't take very long for one of the few employees to refill it. It really was "all you can eat". We took advantage of that and made it our main food item. There was also some melon..which isn't really in season yet, but wasn't bad. We ate much of that also. The fried rice was decent.. and we ate salad for some balance. Basically, the remainder of the items were marginal. We had read reviews and brought some extra cheese to go with wine we ate in our rooms later. I must say though, had there NOT been the crab, the dinner would have been a bit too disappointing. That is what we chose to eat, and the other food wouldn't have satisfied me. Breakfast included.the traditional Japanese rice, fish, miso soup,, etc. and then there were the Western items..corn flakes, yogurt, croissants (pretty good). Ham (no, not really great but.). eggs, etc. There was plenty of food and almost anyone could find something even if the Japanese breakfast didn't appeal. There was some fresh pineapple..sweet and tasty-- and some oranges. so we enjoyed those. There was no fruit juice, however. The carbonated drinks were available..but we stuck to tea. I guess real fruit juice didn't fit into the budget there. This is a budget place. If you want a real experience in a Japanese ryokan (inn) spend two or three (or more) times the money, and find a nicer place. But for the price, it isn't terrible. Don't expect any luxury here. This is NOT the place to go on a honeymoon, or for a special occasion. But, for a group of friends on a budget, you can relax a bit, take a lot of baths, and not spend a fortune. If you don't go with overly high expectations, you can enjoy yourself. Leave your "foodie" cap at home. Enjoy the baths -and the company of your friends.

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