We chose The Prince Hakone Lake Ashinoko hotel based on its location. The lakeside setting and potential for views of Mount Fuji were really appealing and we thought those factors would outweigh any inconvenience of being a little off the Hakone Loop.
The location proved somewhat challenging from the start. From Hakone-Yumoto station, you have to take a bus to get to the hotel. The bus is a city bus that winds up curvy, mountainous roads, makes almost 30 stops and takes over an hour. The bus was very crowded for the first 20 minutes or so and there is no luggage storage so you will have to cram your bags in with you. Despite the uncomfortable ride, the Hakone-en stop is very convenient to the hotel and they have wonderful directions (with step-by-step pictures) of how to walk from the bus stop to the hotel lobby. And the entire walk was covered, which was nice since it was raining when we arrived.
The hotel itself is dated but really interesting architecturally. The hotel was designed in the late 1970s by Japanese modernist architect Togo Murano, and the circular buildings are intended to blend in with their natural surroundings.
We were not blessed with good weather there and not only could we not see Mount Fuji, but we could barely even see the lake. The thick fog lent a creepy air to the grounds and the dated parts of the hotel gave it bit of a Shining vibe. I’m sure the hotel gives a completely different impression on a beautiful sunny day but we kind of liked the quirkiness of the place in bad weather.
We had a room in the annex building and were really impressed with its size and layout. This is the only hotel where we found a room large enough for all of us and it was nice not to have to pay for two rooms. The spacious room had two beds and two couches that were converted into beds for the kids. There was plenty of space for everyone (and their luggage) and the kids were impressed with how comfortable the couches were. The room also had a split bathroom, with the shower/sink in one room and toilet/sink in another. This is a great setup with multiple people staying in the room. And the room had a huge window looking out on the (foggy) lake.
The major downside of the location is its isolation. The Hakone Prince Shopping Plaza next door has multiple shops and restaurants but everything there closed between 4:30 and 6:00. There is a free hotel shuttle to Moto-Hakone, which is great, but it only runs until 7:30. So your only real options for dinner are the 3 on-site hotel restaurants – a French restaurant, a Japanese restaurant, and the Lake Side Grill. All of the restaurants are fixed price and expensive. Unfortunately you really don’t have much of a choice but to eat at one of them. We had the buffet dinner at the Lake Side Grill. It was expensive but they had a really wide selection and everything was pretty good. I don’t know that our family ever really gets its money’s worth at a buffet but I was actually really relieved that this was such an easy meal with so many choices that the kids would like. To us it was worth the money not to have to leave the hotel in the rain, figure out where to go, how to get there, and how to get back. There is definitely a value in convenience.
Again we booked the room rate that included breakfast. We had a choice between the buffet at Lake Side Grill or a traditional Japanese breakfast at Nadaman Garden. We ate at the Lake Side Grill, which offered a huge variety of both Western and Japanese breakfast items. The food was good and the convenience great.
Unfortunately the weather kept us from doing any part of the Hakone Loop but the hotel turned out to be not quite as convenient to the loop as I thought it was. For some reason I had in my head that you could walk to the pirate ship but you actually have to take the hotel shuttle to the Moto-Hakone pier and get the cruise from there. After the cruise you can continue along the ropeway to Owakudani and the cablecar to Gora. If you want to complete the loop by taking the railway down to Yumoto then you would have to take the hour long bus back to the hotel. If you are ok with skipping the railway, you can take a bus back to Moto-Hakone and then the shuttle back to the hotel.
It’s tough to review this hotel since our overall Hakone visit was a bust due to the weather and that certainly clouded our experience there. We thought the hotel was retro-cool and the room was wonderful. The location was not ideal for dining or for completing the Hakone loop. But it’s tough to tell if the picturesque lake location would have outweighed those negatives on a beautiful day.
I would recommend the hotel if you want a scenic, relaxing stay and are ok with either just staying on the resort or with taking a little extra effort to go elsewhere. If completing the loop is your priority, I would recommend either doing Hakone as a day trip or staying in Gora. If we had stayed in Gora we likely could have at least made it to the Owakudani Valley, which to me would have made the trip worthwhile.
