Gora, Hakone is a small town that can be easily reached on the Hakone Tozan Railway or by cable car. Gora is a hillside hot springs resort with polished ryokan inns, both moderate and expensive. If you want to step up your experience, you ought to give Laforet Club Hakone Gora Yunosumika a go. It is a luxury hotel which features both Western and Japanese bedrooms.
I really enjoyed my experience in this hotel/ryokan. It manages to satisfy both the Western and Japanese traditions. The entrance to the hotel looks and feel luxurious. We were warmly greeted at the entrance and given their slippers to wear.
Our room was spacious. The entrance way had a long corridor for the bathroom and toilet, along with plenty of cupboards and storage. The main area is set out like a studio with the bedroom and lounge as one. It definitely felt like a mix of a ryokan and a typical room.
Our room featured a private open-air hot spring bath, Western beds and a tatami (woven-straw) area. There were even futon mattresses to use under the bed storage areas. The room came with a flat-screen TV, air conditioning, fridge, electric kettle and an en suite bathroom. There were plenty of storage and had a magnificent view. We couldn’t clearly see it due to the clouds, but we could see Mount Fuji off in the distance.
We were also able to wear their yukata as well, which was really nice quality, and given cool finger socks to keep.
The outdoor open air bath was incredible. We were slightly change the temperature of the water and felt that there was a good level of privacy with the high frosted glass. The other great aspect was the shower being only a few steps away.
The hotel’s hallways were spacious and expansive. There was an air of luxury walking throughout the whole complex.
For breakfast, we could choose from a range of Western and Japanese dishes. Like me, you are bound to find something up your alley.
Aside from our own private onsen, there was a hotel onsen with two indoor options and an outdoor option which offered a much bigger area if you want to soak in the experience.
As we were leaving, we decided to have our luggage sent to Hakone-Yumoto Station. This allowed us to make the round trip with the ropeway, boat and bus from Gora to Hakone-Yumoto Station (without having to come back to Gora to pick up our luggage).
Both the Hakone Museum of Art and Hakone Gora Park are within 600 m from the property. You can get around using the cable car and/or you walk to the main town in Gora. Plenty of places to visit for lunch and dinner.
We managed to find a room on Booking.com at a really cheap price, probably half the usual rate. We were pretty lucky at under AUD$400 for our night stay back in May 2017.
Laforet Club Hakone Gora Yunosumika is located at 1320 Gora, Hakone, Ashigarashimo District, Kanagawa 250-0408, Japan:
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