Hotel Nanpuso

The view and the staff were really helpful.

Oase van rust en natuur.

Wij westerlingen zijn niet gemaakt voor futon matras

De grote van de kamer en de omgeving

De bedden en het personeel

The hotel was beautiful, even if it’s a large ryokan, the rooms are well presented and clean, and the staff looks after every detail meticulously and take pride in doing so and helping their guests. We were there in late April, and the view from the room (main building, second floor) was so green! We loved the trees, the garden and the river flowing nearby. The public baths are spacious enough, particularly the indoor one (the outdoor baths are a bit smaller) so that you are not on top of each other if there are a few other people. Said that, we used the baths on 3 occasions at different times (~5pm, 8am and 9pm) and they were not busy, only 1 or 2 other people. People come and go quickly, so it’s unlikely it will be busy, and if it is, you may just need to wait a few minutes. We were there on a Thursday and Friday night, perhaps could be busier on a Saturday though. Our little 4 year old boy also loved the baths, and he was able to enjoy the women’s baths with us. It was the first time in an onsen for us, and we loved the experience. The main indoor bath is HOT though, so take care with small kids - the smaller indoor bath is a bit cooler and was fine for our kid. The free refreshments in the lobby are also great. And the shop with souvenirs, some groceries and beers is also very convenient even if a bit more expensive than normal supermarket. Breakfast was also great! And the kaiseki dinner was a highlight of the trip, although we felt very bad that on both nights our kid fell asleep just before dinner (rare as it was earlier than our usual dinner time) and we could not wake him up and he missed that experience and food - on the other hand, this proved that the onsen left him very relaxed! Staff were all super helpful, and although they don’t speak a lot of English, they’re all happy to use translating aids and are very accommodating if you have any requests.

The only thing I didn’t love was sleeping in a futon, but that’s more on me and I was expecting that as I’m a side sleeper. There was nothing wrong with the futons, they were cozy and warm, but as a futon, expect it to be firm and not very thick. So if you’re a side sleeper like me and can’t fall asleep on your back or belly, it can take some time to get used to it or be uncomfortable (eg I didn’t sleep very deeply, and kept waking up every 2 hours or so, second night was better, but got a decent rest overall). If this is likely going yo happen to you and rest is more important than experiencing the kaiseki dinner, consider booking the Western room or ask if you could use two futons on top of each other. My sister and my nephew slept well in the futons, and my mum struggled the first night, but slept like a stone the second night. We were 4 and the tatami space was tight for the 4 futons, so expect being close together, with futons almost touching. We had no experience with the shuttle bus between the station and hotel as we were travelling by car and that was a great choice. Note that the car park is outside on a slope, and if you arrive in the evening after exploring, you’ll likely only have spots left up the slope - that happened to us but wasn’t much of a problem, it’s steep but short hill and enough room at the hotel entrance to pick anyone up if they struggle walking up. We did see people waiting for the bus and it did come right up to the door, but unsure of convenience or frequency. A taxi from the station would be ~1000-1200 yen, and there are plenty of taxis, so with a kid and luggage, we would have taken a taxi if we didn’t have the car.

Vi ønskede et "onsen-hotel" til vores ophold i Hakone, hvor vi kunne opleve, hvad der for os var, det autentiske Japan. Og det fandt vi med dette hotel. Stedet har en historisk "vibe" og ligger i naturskønne omgivelser. Det var klassisk og traditionelt lige det vi ønskede os.

Det eneste der kan beklages er beliggenheden. Hotellet ligger en god gå-tur fra Hakone, men det er heller ikke et problem for der kører shuttlebusser til og fra byen. Det var blot os der ikke var gode til at benytte os af det. Skriv evt. forud til hotellet og bed om tiderne til busserne, så man ikke skal slæbe kufferterne som vi gjorde.

We loved the large room with the option to have beds with the tatami room. It was great to have so much space. The addition of the yukatas was fun and we enjoyed wearing them. The onsen is really nice after walking around all day. The hotel is clean and comfortable. The best part was opting in for the dinner and breakfast. The dinners are outstanding and such an experience. They are not something we will forget. We highly recommend this hotel for a wonderful Japanese experience.