Hatago Kintoen

Location a bit out

I just want to start by saying that the pictures online are quite deceiving, especially of the room, which is very small, and the Onsen tub, which looks like a square and sizable tub online in the pictures, is basically a bathtub with a wooden basin. The view was wonderful, The hotel was rather clean. The restaurant was just OK. My wife has some food allergies, which we let them know about, but we kept getting incorrect items every meal. Our server was great and tried the best, she was struggling to help. It made for a non memorable experience at best. The management is not the friendliest. We stayed for two nights when we asked for a late checkout, nne hour later, for 11:00AM, the gentleman at the front desk rudely uttered, "Impossible!" - thanks for the hospitality, so much for omotenashi. I find that Hakone has become a little too touristy, we had an exceptional experience two days prior, in Shizuoka; where we stayed at another Onsen hotel that was just spectacular and considerably less expensive than here. Also, in Fukushima at Date Onsen, far better experience and much cheaper. The hospitality was 180 degrees from Kintoen. I would never return here, the price is not worth the level of service and experience. Hakone has become the Hamptons of Tokyo-ites who pay whatever to get out of the city. Judging form other comments and the 3-star rating, other peoples experiences seem to be the same - pass and save your money for somewhere else.