KAI Hakone

KAI Hakone is a 34-room ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) in Hakone-Yumoto, beside the Sukumo River, 7 minutes by car from the station, reopened on 13 August 2025 after renovation. It suits couples or families who want a first night in a ryokan, with hinoki (Japanese cypress) hot-spring baths and a kaiseki dinner, as close to Tokyo as possible, for one or two nights, at the gentlest price of the three ryokans in our Hakone selection.

A ryokan on the old Tokaido road

KAI is the ryokan brand of Hoshino Resorts, the Japanese hotel group that also runs Hoshinoya. KAI Hakone stands on the old Tokaido road, which linked Edo, today's Tokyo, with Kyoto, and on which Hakone was one of the stages. The 2025 renovation took that journey as its theme: the décor of the rooms, a library of travel books, and the Sawa-chaya tea house recreated in the courtyard, after the tea houses where travellers once stopped. Tea and Japanese sweets are served there on arrival, then herbal tea or sake after dinner.

A workshop introduces yosegi zaiku, Hakone's wood marquetry, in which small pieces of naturally coloured wood are assembled into geometric patterns.

The baths

The public baths, one for men and one for women, are lined with hinoki and each has a semi-open-air bath. The water comes from the Mount Yusaka spring. A lounge welcomes bathers afterwards. For the customs, our guide to onsen etiquette explains each step.

Four rooms out of 34 have their own open-air hot-spring bath: the two Western-style rooms with an outdoor bath and the two Hakone Gokochi suites.

Choosing a room

All rooms look out on Mount Yusaka and the Sukumo River. Hoshino Resorts does not publish room sizes, except for the suites; the room table lists them by capacity.

• The Japanese-style rooms, on tatami (traditional mats), come for two guests (6 rooms), four (11 rooms) or five (5 rooms): the two-guest room for a couple, the four- and five-guest rooms for a family.
• The six Japanese-Western rooms with a living room have a lounge facing the river.
• The two Western-style rooms with an outdoor hot spring have beds and a private hot-spring bath: the room for a couple who want to bathe together.
• The two Hakone Gokochi suites, over 110 m² and new in 2025, have two separate bedrooms, a living room with a desk and sunken sofa, a second lounge, Ishi-no-ma, and a private open-air hot-spring bath, for four guests: two couples or a family.

Dining

The kaiseki dinner (a seasonal Japanese meal of many small courses) is served in semi-private rooms, at 5.30 or 7.30 pm, local time. It includes the Hakone dish of beef and vegetables simmered in broth. Vegetarian meals are available, and children aged 4 to 11 have their own menus. Breakfast is served from 7 to 9 am.

In our check for April 2027, the cheapest two-night rate included dinner and breakfast on the first night only; a half-board plan for both nights cost barely more. We choose the one that fits your programme. The booking engine does not mention the onsen tax, levied by the town: we check with the ryokan whether it is paid on site.

With children

For a family, KAI Hakone has several advantages. Children up to 6 can share their parents' bed, within the room's capacity; children aged 4 to 11 have a menu; there is a playroom, and sixteen rooms sleep four or five.

Location and getting there

The ryokan is at 230 Yumotochaya, Hakone, about 7 minutes by car from Hakone-Yumoto Station. From Shinjuku, the Romancecar, the Odakyu company's limited express, reaches Hakone-Yumoto in about 80 minutes. From the station, the Hakone Tozan bus leaves from stop no. 4 for the Kuzuhara stop; taxis can be hard to find there at busy times. From Odawara Station, on the shinkansen (bullet train) line, a taxi takes about 20 minutes, for roughly 5,000 ¥ (about 29 €). Parking is free.

On departure, a free shared taxi runs back to Hakone-Yumoto Station, booked by noon the day before, for up to five passengers: at 10.15, 10.45 and 11.15 am in April, and at 9.45, 10.15 and 10.45 am from May. Check-in is from 2.30 pm and check-out by 11 am, local time.

Hakone-Yumoto is where the Hakone Tozan mountain railway starts, climbing to Miyanoshita and Gora, then the cable car and ropeway run on to Owakudani and Lake Ashi. The ropeway is partly closed from 7 to 24 December 2026 (Owakudani-Sounzan section) and from 12 January to 26 February 2027 (Togendai-Owakudani section), with replacement buses.

How it compares in Hakone

Of the three ryokans in our Hakone selection, KAI Hakone is the closest to Tokyo, the only one in Hakone-Yumoto, at the foot of the mountains, and the least expensive: in our check for April 2027, less than half the entry room at Gora Kadan. It is also the most recently renovated, reopened in 2025. Hakone Ginyu, higher up the valley in Miyanoshita, gives every room its own open-air bath and serves meals in the room; Gora Kadan, in Gora, has private springs, a pool and separate pavilions.