Suite Villa Hakone Gora

As usual: Gora is a great place to set as a base in Hakone. Accommodation is easily accessible by the mountain rail and by bus. Coming there after 6pm means a 200m walk uphill, which is OK unless you have lots of luggage with you - before that time you can ride the cablecar. The apartment is quite spacious, it's got all the cooking utensils and of course its own onsen. But don't expect it to be extraordinary as it is a simple alcaline hot spring, not a rich sulfur one that you can find in some other places in Hakone.

Check-in process is lame. Taking a video on a tablet and pronouncing your names? Really? This is some new sort of nonsense I've never seen in Japan before. It's not an issue, but it is not what you'd expect in any nice place. This is our 50th+ hotel/guesthouse/etc. in Japan in the past 5+ years. The place is a bit noisy when it's raining. It's not just the normal sound of the rain, but some real noise because the gutters are engineered in some very bad way. We were very tired, so we could fall asleep just fine. But it was not a pleasant experience at all.

It was a nice condo and we enjoyed the Onsen bath. The Brewery and Grill below was a scrumptious Nobu restaurant. Wonderful.

It was a brutal slog lugging a roller bag up an incredibly steep hill. Also missing the dryer and unkept yard.

Worth the money. Only if you want to cook yourself, prepare earlier. They have a private onsen , also well equipped with kitchen ware.

Very clean, comfortable and kitchenette was well equipped

Quite a steep slope up to the property from Gora station; would be challenging for older persons to pull luggage up

It is nice and spacious apartment, traditional Japanese style interior with a view to the garden. There is a private onsen (japanese thermal bath) which is a relaxing thing to do after all day sightseeing. Location is ok - not in the centre of Gora, but walkable 5-10 min distance (although uphill) in a green neighborhood.

It would be a nice stay, but check-out time is 10:00 and while we finish to pack up, by 10:05 old lady housekeeper enters the apartment and starts yelling in Japanese and run around the apartment doing random things (such as throwing a garbage bag on the floor she brought into apartment). I ask her to give 5 minutes to finish packing, but she continued running around the apartment yelling in Japanese. Horrible experience and not recommended to anyone. Also, there is a mould scent in the apartment.

Enjoyed the short experience of staying in a home someone from Japan might live in rather than a hotel room. Very spacious , especially for 2 people. Garden view with Japanese furnishings felt very welcoming. Appreciated having a washing machine during our travels. Very nice having an onsen to soak in.

Getting to unit was very difficult when didn’t know area and terrain. Used goggle maps to find the unit. The walk from train stop #56 was not good. The VERY steep walk uphill from the main road would be impossible with a medium/large size luggage or if there is any damp weather with slippery roads. We each had a small rolling suitcase and a backpack which were already very hard to pull up the steep hill. The second hill after The Grill was not quite as steep but still exhausting. Would be good to advise guests if any other better route to your place. Hard to find and to verify we had the correct building because the sign posted in front of the building on the property did not have the digits of the address and was all in characters that we could not read. Didn’t have a clothes dryer to dry clothes from washer. Instructions on washer door indicated a dryer was once there but it looks like it was removed.

This Villa is the perfect size for a small family visit to Gora. The kitchen is fully functional and stocked with enough cookware and crockery for 8. The garden view is quite lovely and the Onsen tub was a nice treat. The Villa is traditional Japanese so be prepared to use a low couch and chairs. The dining room, however, has a western style dining table and chairs. The futon beds were quite comfortable. However, we did find the twin beds a bit firm for our liking. The suite is well air conditioned. It is a short walk to the convenience store and two restaurants. A great find at a very good price.

We struggled to turn off the water to the tub. I’m sure this was an operator error in translating the instructions to English. We did manage to figure it out but did start to worry we would flood the suite.

Comfortable, spacious, relatively close to the station and convenience store and all around satisfactory.

A bit on the expensive side. Getting there from the station was somewhat of a hassle, as it's located at the top of a steep road. This can be especially challenging if you have heavy luggage. Using the microwave was a little confusing at first, particularly because there are no English instructions, but once you realize it's highly automated, you get the hang of it. The check-in procedure is also somewhat excessive, as you're required to take a video of everyone stating their names.