Overview

Hakone Kowakien Hotel gives you a relaxed mountain resort stay in the center of Hakone, right beside Hakone Kowakien Yunessun and Motoyu Mori no Yu. The hotel first opened in 1959 and reopened in July 2023 after rebuilding, bringing back the Kowakien name with a fresh resort style shaped around hot springs, nature, food, and family-friendly time.

This is a good choice when you want Hakone sightseeing and easy onsen access in one place. You can stay close to the mountains, walk through the historic garden, enjoy buffet dining, soak in the top-floor bath, reserve a private bath, and use Yunessun and Mori no Yu as many times as you like during your stay, including before check-in and after check-out.

Accommodation

Hakone Kowakien Hotel has 150 non-smoking rooms, all designed with beds for easier comfort. You can choose from compact twin rooms, larger Western-style rooms, Japanese-style rooms with tatami, a universal design room, and a spacious deluxe room for families or groups. The rooms keep a clean, simple resort feel, with layouts that work well after a day of sightseeing, bathing, or playing at Yunessun.

The Casual Twin Room measures 18 square meters and has two single beds, making it a simple choice for two people. Standard Room Type-A measures 30 square meters and has two double beds, while Standard Room Type-B also measures 30 square meters and has one double bed and one single bed. These standard rooms work well when you want more space than a basic twin room, with easy sleeping arrangements for couples, families, or friends.

The Japanese-Style Room measures 30 square meters and gives you a tatami area with two single beds. If you stay with three or four people, futons are added in a self-service style. This room suits you well when you want a Japanese feeling without sleeping only on the floor. The Universal Design Room measures 30 square meters and has two single beds, plus a bathroom layout designed for easier use.

The Deluxe Room measures 50 square meters and gives you the most space in the main room lineup. It has two double beds and sofa beds when needed, making it a strong option when you travel with family or a group and want everyone to stay together in one room.

Rooms include free Wi-Fi, air conditioning, toilet, washroom, bath or shower room depending on room type, chair and table, TV, refrigerator, safety box, hair dryer, electric kettle, cups, bath towels, face towels, toothbrush set, shampoo, conditioner, body soap, samue-style roomwear, and hairbrush. Some skincare and grooming items are sold separately through the amenity service.

Dining

Dining at Hakone Kowakien Hotel centers on Buffet Restaurant Fontainebleau on the 1st floor. The restaurant serves around 60 Japanese, Western, and Chinese dishes, with an open kitchen that adds warmth and movement to the meal. You can enjoy freshly prepared food in a spacious setting suited to couples, families, and multi-generation trips.

Dinner includes popular dishes such as beef steak and sushi, along with Kowakien ramen and Kowakien curry, both of which carry the hotel’s long food tradition. Children’s dishes, tableware, and cutlery are also available, making the dinner experience easy when you travel with children. Dinner runs in two seating periods, with start times assigned at check-in.

Breakfast has a health-focused style, with onigiri made from carefully selected domestic rice and prepared with your choice of fillings. You can also enjoy mini rice bowls, seafood toppings, and other morning dishes. Breakfast is served from 7:00 to 9:30.

The restaurant also offers unlimited drinks during breakfast, lunch, and dinner, including alcoholic drinks such as beer, wine, shochu, and sake, as well as soft drinks, juice, coffee, and tea. Allergy-specific meal changes are not available because the meals are served buffet-style and prepared in the same kitchen, so you should check ingredients carefully when choosing dishes.

Onsen and Wellness

Hakone Kowakien Hotel’s main bath sits on the top floor, which is rare in Hakone, and looks toward the green Hakone Outer Rim Mountains. The bath area includes an indoor bath, open-air bath, and dry sauna made with Kanagawa cypress. You can soak while looking toward the mountains, then enjoy the scent of hinoki wood in the sauna for a slower reset after travel or sightseeing.

The spring quality is sodium chloride spring water. The water is associated with relief for joint pain, muscle pain, and stiff shoulders. The large bath is open from 15:00 to midnight and from 5:00 to 10:00.

For privacy, the hotel has seven private baths. These work well for families, couples, friends, young children, or anyone who wants to bathe without using the shared bath. One private bath has a universal-accessible layout. The private baths are open from 16:00 to midnight, with last reception at 23:00, and again from 6:00 to 8:00. Each session lasts 60 minutes and costs an additional fee. You can reserve after check-in through the QR code shown on the room TV information, and the hotel assigns the bath type.

You also have unlimited access to Hakone Kowakien Yunessun and Motoyu Mori no Yu during your stay. Yunessun is a swimsuit-wearing hot spring activity zone with playful baths and water attractions, while Mori no Yu offers a more traditional hot spring experience. Yunessun is about a three-minute walk across the road, and you receive an entry pass from the hotel front desk.

Guests with Tattoos

Hakone Kowakien Hotel does not allow tattoos in the shared large public bath. If you have tattoos, you can use the hotel’s private baths without tattoo restrictions. For Yunessun, you can use the swimsuit area when your tattoos are covered with a rash guard or similar clothing. For Motoyu Mori no Yu, you can use the baths only if your tattoos are fully covered with the designated cover seals.

Facilities

Hakone Kowakien Hotel gives you a smooth resort stay with self check-in and check-out machines, a cashless payment system, automatic luggage storage, and a 4th-floor lobby looking toward the garden and Hakone mountains. You can enjoy welcome drinks in the evening, stop by Bar 1959 for a quiet drink, or spend time in the community space, which has USB ports and outlets for light work or relaxed conversation.

The hotel is especially comfortable for families. The 2nd-floor play space gives children a place to move and create indoors, while the nursing room has a hot water dispenser and changing table. The 16,000-square-meter Japanese garden dates back to 1914, and you can walk through it from morning to evening while learning about the plants through QR-coded tree boards.

You can also use Sanatio Spa for paid treatments, the seasonal outdoor pool in summer, paid laundry, vending machines, and the adjacent FamilyMart. Free parking is available for 110 cars, including four regular EV charging spaces. The hotel is fully cashless, so you should prepare a credit card or supported cashless payment method.

Activities

Hakone Kowakien Hotel makes it easy to enjoy both active and quiet Hakone time. You can spend a full day at Yunessun, try its swimsuit-wearing hot spring attractions, then move to Mori no Yu for a more traditional bath. During summer, the hotel pool adds another easy family-friendly option, with a 23-meter pool and a children’s water-play area.

For sightseeing, The Hakone Open-Air Museum is nearby and works well for families, couples, and art lovers. You can also travel onward to Gora, Lake Ashi, Owakudani, and other Hakone highlights by train, bus, ropeway, or car. The hotel’s location near Yunessun and Mori no Yu makes it especially convenient when you want a mix of sightseeing, hot springs, and family activities without long transfers each day.

Back at the hotel, you can slow the pace with a garden walk, a top-floor bath, a private bath reservation, a spa treatment, or an evening drink at the bar.

Additional Features

Check-in starts at 15:00, and check-out is by 10:00. You can use Yunessun and Mori no Yu before check-in and after check-out, but you should stop at the hotel first to receive the entry pass if you plan to visit before getting your room.

A free shuttle bus runs between Gora Station and the hotel, and reservations are not required. The hotel is also about two hours from Shinjuku by train through Hakone-Yumoto Station, about 1 hour and 30 minutes from Tokyo Station through Odawara Station, and about 2 hours and 10 minutes from Nagoya through Odawara Station. If you drive from the Tokyo side, the official access guidance lists about one hour from Atsugi IC by way of Hakoneguchi IC.