Palace Hotel Hakone

I was told that there are very few English speaking people in Hakone, but I was highly impressed with the standard of English spoken by the staff at Palace Hotel Hakone. The service was excellent too! The location is a little out of the way, but it is just a few bus stops away from the Lawson's convenience store, and a few stops away from one of the main stations, Togendai. The hot spring onsen facilities is a must-try and the best would be the outdoor onsens :)

Western style hotel, very clean, very polite and obliging hotel staff especially front desk. A fine Onsen indoor and in the garden. The meals were western style with no variation night after night although no complaints about the quality as it was simple. The hotel seems to cater to bus tours with guests arriving about dinner time and leaving in the morning. We stayed 3 nights and there was no other restaurants nearby and all sights to be seen were a very expensive cab ride away.

After reading previous reviews of this hotel I was not expecting the wonderful experience we encountered. The location of the hotel was about 30 minutes on a public bus which stopped at the door, the views were amazing overlooking mountains and Lake Ashi from the end of the corrider you could see Mt Fuji on a clear day. The hotel staff spoke very good english and went out of their way to welcome us. The hotel has two onsens one indoor and one outdoor which was very relaxing. Would recommend this hotel to other travellers.

The hotel was great. The service charges for the restaurants is a bit strange when there is no tipping in Japan.

Food from the 3 restaurants is expensive and not much variety

Restaurants serve great food but are ridiculously expensive. Location is perfect to jump on a bus and see all the sights although difficult at night if you want to go to restaurants etc. Rooms big and spacious and clean. Beds comfortable.

Very nice hotel with a good location. Easy access by bus. The staff was doing their best to accommondate all your needs. Food was very good - but the decor of the restaurants were very disappointing. Its like sitting in a cafeteria - too bad when you want to sit and have a good time! Also there is no bar which is totally not okay!

Hakone is an area not a town, we got caught!, had to take long bus ride from main train station, recommend bus ride and hotel you must try the bath house. close to Mt Fuji and lake

The hotel was a bit hard to get to, not all of the buses went to the hotel and because it was up in the mountains it took a long time to get to and from the hotel and the attractions in Hakone. But the hotel was beautiful and so was the views.

Nice position, if it is clear you can see Fuji from the balcony of the hotel. Lake Ashi 15 min, spacious room.

We could Mt Fuji from our window. The Tozan Pass enabled us to jump on trains, cable cars, buses, ferries and tourist attractions. Buses stop at the Hotel from Yumoto to Tongendai. Cable car takes you from Tongendai to Gora or you can catch a pirate ship ferry across Lake Ashi. Public transport gets you away from tourists. Only gripe about the hotel was the price in the restaurants and also they were generally booked in advance by tour bus groups. But we jumped a bus or bought sushimi/sushi + grog at the local supermarket and brought it back to the hotel.

The location is good although there are no shops or anything else around this hotel - it looks out over Lake Ashino and you get a great view of Fuji on a clear day. The information about the hotel states that there is a bar but when we asked about it we were told that you have to reserve access to this in advance and there was nowhere to sit down and have a drink which disappointed us a little. You can walk down to the starting point of the cable car and where the boats go from round Lake Ashino in about 15 minutes - down the hill. This was great and we went the right way in terms of crowds - everyone was coming the other way on the cable car. By the way - definitely try the black eggs at the second stop of the cable car - most excellent! All in all - if you are looking for a good location with beautiful view this hotel is great. Food is a little expensive but ok - nothing special though. We enjoyed our stay as we love to get out and about. The hot springs are nice too.

If you get a view of Mt Fuji it is wonderful. Nice rooms, food OK (pricey); baths wonderful; ask at the desk for daily bus times.

excellent hotel hot springs an added bonus will come again if coming to japan the view of Mt Fuji from the verandah or the front lawn is breathtaking

It was clearly out of season, meaning that the staff was not doing the best - or maybe the best staff was on leave. The hotel is situated in a place where there are no competion from local restaurants, and this was felt.