Loved the indoor / outdoor private onsens that were available for our use by prior booking. The staff was also very kind and courteous. Getting back to the hotel can be challenge if you are out beyond 7pm. You can however walk to some lovely restaurants around there. Don't try to venture too far in the evenings or you may struggle to get back.

We had a lovely stay at this ryokan! It was my birthday and the staff were so sweet, upgrading us and decorating our room. The traditional room was comfy and a really fun experience. We had the traditional breakfast, too, which was hit or miss for us (I had fun trying all the different little options, but my boyfriend isn't the biggest fish fan and most all of the food was either fish or fish-y). It was great for doing the Freepass Loop, since you could get off at the end of the funicular, and then continue on and see the Open Air Museum the next morning on your way back to the train station. The highlight, as many reviewers already mentioned, are the private onsens <3 They're worth every penny for the hour you can reserve in each of them. They have three: an indoor onsen with a sauna, an indoor/outdoor onsen, and an outdoor onsen that looks like a mermaid grotto. The water is perfect, full of the sulfur that's great for your skin. Pro tip: The hotel is FAR (and UPHILL) from the Gora "city center" (if you can call it that, haha) and there is NO food available at the hotel unless you booked in advance with your reservation. But there is a restaurant up near the hotel, quite close (definitely walkable), that has AWESOME food. It's a mom and pop place decorated with vintage Americana and playing old American music. It's a total vibe, and the food is excellent and reasonably priced. The name is in Japanese, but the address is 1320-695 Gora, Hakone :) (see photos)

I don't have any complaints, I would just make sure you know that the walk to this ryokan is STEEP. With luggage it would've been challenging, so we were glad we'd had our luggage shipped directly there from our previous hotel in Tokyo. (If you haven't heard, this is very common in Japan! It's so convenient and quite cheap. You can usually do it through your hotel, but if you want you can do it on your own through your local Lawson convenience store)

We had such a nice stay here: staff were friendly and helpful, and having the option to book the onsen for private use in the morning and evening was awesome. Because there were enough slots, they also let us book the evening onsen twice. The onsen was hands down the best part of the stay and was really peaceful in the rain. Breakfast and dinner were wonderful as well, with generous portions. Definitely take the cable car from Gora station and get off at Koen-Kami for an easier walk! I saw some reviews mentioning the noise from other rooms: for me, it was easier to hear hallway noise, but I don't feel like it's worse than any Holiday Inn.

I probably missed this, but there are no showers in the rooms (or at least, the room we booked). This really isn't a big deal because you book an onsen slot and shower at the private onsen showers before going in. But just a heads up for everyone, especially those coming in the humid summer like we did.

Calm and peaceful ryokan in a beautiful location. Three different options for private onsen, one indoor, one outdoor and one with both. Staff is friendly and speaks English which is a huge help for overseas travelers. The room was clean and had both beds and futon options, as well as a traditional sitting area. Breakfast was beautifully presented and featured a variety of flavours. We felt welcomed and catered to.

The ryokan is far up a mountain and getting there on foot may be difficult for some. Highly recommend using buses and/or trams. The staff misread our booking at first and claimed we had not made reservations for breakfast, which we had. Luckily it was a small misunderstanding that was cleared up. Breakfast was not included by default and finding the option when booking was a bit difficult. There also seemed to be dinner available when we got there, but we did not see an option to reserve dinner when booking.

Beautiful, small property up a hill from the train station (Gora). Great staff, able to communicate effectively, efficient and helpful. We dropped our bags off (left them inside with a note, no staff for early arrival) and checked out Gora. They did forget that some of our party was requesting vegan meals but they tried best to accommodate us on the fly. Private onsens that you reserve by the hour. Great onsen facilities- use the indoor/outdoor one for the best experience in our opinion! We are a family of four that was comfortable in our birthday suits, you may want to reserve separately for male/female family members as bathing suits are not appropriate in onsens.

They do not have a bunch of staff so be patient at checkin and meal times. As mentioned they forgot the vegan meals as messaged but didn’t follow up to remind them either.

I really liked the traditional Japanese rooms and the private onsens. We tried all three of them! We also had a great experience with the dinner in the night and breakfast in the morning. It was quite different from what I have eaten before, so it was a nice new expierience. To come here you need to take the train from Hakone to Gora and then the ropeway two stations uphill. From there its a 5-10 min walk. If you have lots of luggage, maybe take a taxi from Gora would be easier.

We had such a fantastic experience during our stay at Ajisai and loved walking around in the supplied Yukatas! We really enjoyed the private onsen which we definitely made use of with our family, and the futon bed was extremely comfortable. Just note that it is a fair walk (especially if you have luggage), so best to take a taxi from Gora Station to get to the Ryokan.

The provided meals weren't the most delicious in my opinion with the meat served at dinner quite tough and chewy. We still had a wonderful stay regardless.

Facilities were lovely - perfect mix of traditional and modern comfort. The onsen were lovely and easy to access.

The location is a bit challenging. It is a ~15 minute walk to town and we were unable to get taxis to take us there. The walk is OK but a bit hard with a lot of luggage.

We had a wonderful stay! The private onsen was great for teenagers.

Hard to arrive in the evening without car. Better to plan to arrive before 5pm.

Staff was really helpful and nice! The room was comfortable and spacious enough for the group of 5 we had. The onsens were well maintained and clean. It was easy to book and change our onsen time bookings to fit our schedules. I also enjoyed that they had lotions and toiletries at the onsen rooms. There was neftlix and eng TV options in the rooms. They had snack options to purchase (seeing as many of the stores close as of 5 / 6 pm and no convenience stores nearby it was really helpful).

The only thing that was a hassle to our group was the walk to the ryokan. Although it is close to the train and bus stations the walk to the ryokan is on a very steep hill. The bus schedule stops really early in the night (5 / 6 p.m.) so we had to walk everytime to and from the stations. With luggage I would suggest taking a taxi or matching your activities to the bus schedule so that you don't need to drag it up a hill.