Stayed in double room. Location is fair and right off a bus stop/near a few stops around it. Great forest and mountain view in front of the hostel. Check in is easy, the staff is friendly and speak decent English. The whole hostel is calm and peaceful with all the wood architecture and cosy feeling with all the decorations. For the room, there's the train running right in front of the window and its not a bad thing, its not very noisy, instead it gives a good vibe. Futon is thick enough so we did not feel the tatami floor at all. There's a shower room of onsen, very very hot water so I barely enjoyed it but my partner did. There's food provided at night which is great as we were tired with all the walking daytime. They serve ramen and rice etc and taste just fine given the price and location (right in the hostel).

The stairs walking up the room were a bit steep, just watch your steps.

It was very handy to have availability for breakfast and dinner at the guesthouse. We tried both! I booked because of Rum the host’s dog and she did not disappoint. Signs up in my language not to feed the dog which was handy because her eyes and body language were very appealing. Thermal bath onsen was simple but terrific after a day of walking.

There is a local bus that is included in Halone pass that gets closer to the house: we tried to walk it in the rain on our first day and that was a bit of a mistake. So do your research on travel options to get closer to the guest house because its location is hilly.

The owner cultivates a really warm and welcoming atmosphere in this guesthouse, with a comfortable cafe space to have simple meals and meet other guests, lovely rooms, and a small private onsen that guests can use that is a really nice amenity. It was a great place for a peaceful stay, to enjoy the beautiful nature of Hakone. We wished we could have stayed longer! It’s also near a few bus stops and there are other shops and restaurants in walking distance, so although it’s on a hill it’s easy to get around from here.

Great place to stay. Lovely, kind helpful guys and loveable Rum the Labrador! Homely place. Definately try the Plum wine...yummy and warming. From Hakone Train Station...Cross over to bus stop...no 2....stop uesokokura. From bus stop the walk up hill bend to hostel not too bad! From the guesthouse you can walk to the train station to get to Gora.

Sinks and toilets could do with a good clean. Breakfast was disappointing, not exceptional for me , sadly......one mini bread roll, mini crossiant,one little jam and butter satchet, one hard boiled egg....orange juice and coffee/ tea extra. Two eggs on toast would be better, or cereal, yogurt.....quick easy convenient .

It was a nice facility with friendly staff and especially the dog. The onsen inside the bathroom was quite nice. The short trek (and a short cut) to the Hakone Open air Museum was a beautiful morning walk on our last day

The dorm rooms did not have proper wifi especially the upper levels. Also we needed to get out of our facility to enter the main cottage which has the bathroom (with private onsen) for a bath. Slight inconvinient but I guess cannot be helped if we have selected a dorm room

Very nice hostel owner, relaxed atmosphere and the bar/common area was really cozy. Didn’t try out the onsen but looked good. There is free tea, breakfast available and for a small price you can get some beers and snacks also.

This is not the accomodations fault; but be wary that most of the buses stop around 7/8 o clock at night. Going out for dinner and coming back there is hard. There weren’t even taxi’s anymore. Luckily a kind man from hakone took us home. So just enjoy the evening in the hostel I propose

The guesthouse was warm and welcoming. After a busy week in Tokyo and Sapporo this was the perfect spot to slow down and relax, this was possible in the quiet guesthouse and the bar which served food and drink. We also liked how you were able to bring your own food and drink (e.g. from 7/11 down the road) and eat in the communal area. We absolutely love Rum, she is a lovely dog who reminded us of our Labrador at home. The room we had was the largest we’ve had in the 3 weeks we’ve spent in Japan. There are 2 showers and a bathroom, we never found ourselves waiting to use one of these facilities. The staff were great and gave us some brilliant tips! Overall in an incredibly expensive area this guesthouse provided an affordable and comfortable option. We would go out of our way to stay here again!

There’s very little to say about negatives. The location was slightly far from Lake Ashi but that can be seen on the map and we knew it would be before booking. The bus is frequent but expensive so it is absolutely worth paying for the Hakone Free Pass even if you’re not travelling from Tokyo.

The staff were an absolute delight and Rum (the dog) was easily the best part of the hostel, I love the way she spins in circles when she's excited. She also likes to dig at the floors, and steal slippers, haha all the slippers had teeth marks in them. 🤣 She was such a delight and helped me when I was missing my dogs, the only problem is that now miss her! 😭 I had an absolute fantastic time here and spent much of the trip just lounging in the lobby chatting with other guests, hanging out with the dog, and talking with the owners. I honestly was really tempted to stay longer, and I honestly wish I had but my time in Japan is limited so I had to get moving to my next destination.

My biggest gripe is that the beds were horribly uncomfortable, definitely one of the roughest sleeps I've had backpacking here. Sleeping on plywood with little more than a blanket under you doesn't conjure much sleep. Other than that this place was great, it felt alot like a cottage, complete with the woodsy smell.

This is a very charming place. It’s basic, but that’s what makes it nice as Hakone is surrounded by posh resorts. Rum is delightful and our daughter spent a lot of time in the front bar playing with her. Staff are friendly with great English.

Unfortunately we couldn’t utilise the onsen because it was too hot. We were told to add cold water, but after 5 mins of waiting plus scooping out hot water, it was still too hot. The hill is quite a climb with luggage. Catch the bus or train one stop further up the mountain and walk back, then you are at least walking downhill for most of it. There aren’t many restaurants around that were open Tuesday or Wednesday, (or they are so teeny tiny they couldn’t fit us in). But you can get food at 7/11 and the lovely staff will reheat it for you.

A fantastically valued stay, with lovely staff, surroundings, food and dog! Dinner in the evening was delicious, and the whole surroundings were great. The onsen was warm, and effectively a bath, but was a lovely treat. Everything was clean and a nice 15 minute walk to either train station in either direction, and into town.

The walls are very thin, so bring earplugs! We also found the beds slightly uncomfortable, but shouldn't detract from a genuinely lovely stay!!