Name: Hakone Gora KARAKU
Address: 1300-8 Gora, Hakone, Hakone, Hakone, 250-0408, Japan
Rating: 8.2

24-hour reception

Elevator/lift

Smoke-free property

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Electric car charging

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Conference Hall

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Hakone Gora KARAKU

The 14th World Luxury Spa Awards

Love the place!! Will come back for sure next time

The kaiseki was incredible. Staff was extremely professional, helpful and nice. The property itself is beautiful, and the onsen itself was clean, modern, and had an amazing view.

I couldn't find this Michelin restaurant listed by itself so I'm combining with the hotel. The hotel was 4-5 stars -check in took a LONG time and there was some confusion over our allergy/food preferences but we sorted it out. They could make this a bit faster.
We had a private Onsen on our balcony in the other wing which was amazing - I used it 3 times in 1/5 days. 
The best part of our stay was dinner Teppankayi style with Osamu Osawa who made us the best meal besides our Tokyo meal (tied!) in our 2 week trip. Every course was more amazing than the last. The tenderloin was amazing as was the veggie burger out friend head - every sauce and minor detail was PERFECT with pickled veggies, miso, fish, etc... - then we moved to a separate table for a light desert (thank God as we were FULL)- I loved the garlic friend rice, tenderloin, and tagliatelle with mushrooms. - well deserving of it's Michelin star!

Perfect place for a retreat, luxury stay that catered to small children even the meals were tailored for them. Loved our room with our private onsen

Everything was perfect! The hotel grounds and facilities were immaculate. The room was gorgeous and the view fantastic. The lounge was quiet and comfortable. But it was the staff that made this the best stay ever. They were professional, courteous, and super attentive to every detail.  The highlight of our Japan trip

Phenomenal experience. The facilities are stunning, staff are lovely and helpful, and food was top notch. Highly recommend. Meals were so delicious. They provided traditional outfits to wear which was quite nice and they have a guest lounge to get snacks and drinks and coffee. Our room had a private onsen and I highly recommend going this route (esp if you have tattoos are you are not able to go to the public onsen). 

We absolutely would come here again. It was easy (but a bit long) to get there from Odawara station (2 local trains) but almost door to door. 

Our only ‘complaints’ which really aren’t complaints more so tips for planning ahead:
1) dinners were wicked early and at set times; this is likely because we booked relatively late in a high foliage season. Totally fine but worth noting. 
2) the spa only has treatments after 2pm which is odd to me and a shame - but my fault for not planning ahead and there not being availability 
3) the guest lounge was closed for a chunk of time in the afternoon, when a snack or drink would have been nice - this is a ‘nice to have’ so not a real compliant
4) we couldn’t figure out the public onsen - there are long hours when it’s closed for cleaning (which makes sense and is indicative of the care and attention each staff member has at this hotel). It also sounded like they switched hours for men and women access. This wasn’t an issue for us because we had the private onsen (and I have a tattoo so not really allowed anyway) but could have been a bummer otherwise. They did have private onsen to book at like 5000¥ per hour but no idea how fast those book up. 

All in all, HIGHLY recommend and would love to stay here again.

My husband and I booked 2 nights here as apart of our Japan honeymoon. Only bad part was we didn’t want to leave!! The property, the amenities, the staff, everything was exceptional. The private onsen on our balcony had a beautiful view of the mountains, yet so much privacy. We were able to dine in a private room for same of our meals, and that made it feel extra special. The food was innovative yet traditional Japanese, it was truly interesting and enjoyable. The guest lounge had amazing selections of beverages ranging from nespresso drinks to Japanese whiskeys, and fun little snacks! It rained the 2nd day we were there but honestly, it didn’t matter at all as we were able to truly enjoy the luxurious property and all it had to offer.

We had a memorable and wonderful time at Gora Karaku. The facilities are beautiful, the staff was kind and helpful, and the food was great. Odetta at the front desk was incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. She is great. There was a mistake with our dinner reservation on the second night, but Keishiro Ishihara fixed it, and some. He moved reservations around and got us the table we were promised, and then he had the perfect table reserved for us the next morning for breakfast. That was very thoughtful. Our most memorable experience was Keishiro Ishihara telling us how to get from the restaurant to the water feature and showing us to the elevator and bowing to us as the door closed. And when the door was open on the other floor, he was there waiting for us. He did the same elevator trick a few more times. He even met us in the lobby as we checked out and walked us to the street. And he waived to us until we got to the train station. This was such a kind gesture, and made our experience better and more memorable.

Gora is a great place to stay if you don’t have a car. The hotel is Ideally located near public transit. A short walk to the train station and cable car station with buses stopping out front and a taxi stand. The onsen is modern and has a good view. The staff is uniformly helpful and friendly.

As part of our 2 weeks family trip we stayed 2 nights at Gora KARAKU at the Japanese East Wing upper floor (level 3).

Getting there was simple, get off at Odawara station and they will pick you up in a shuttle bus (book ahead). 

 The room was beautiful and large with your own private onsen which we did twice a day, even our daughter (4) was able to enjoy and relax in the hot spring. The hotel is like a maze with easy and west win split and different elevators takes you to different places, there’s also a lounge where you can enjoy free drinks including alcohol and snacks (with various opening times). 

Food was great we opted into the Japanese cuisine, presentation was beautiful, very tasty and they had special kids meal for my daughter. They gave us a private room but somehow always came in at the right time to help us  (e.g I was getting the rice myself and the staff immediately came in and did it for me) 

The public bath and onsen area was perfect, there’s 2 alternating between men and women depending on the time, I did prefer the one with outdoor hot spring where you can soak in the Mountain View. There’s also a mist sauna which was very very hot. There’s also private bath which they charge 5000 yen per hour. (We will be trying that for our next visit) 

There’s also an outdoor garden, because it was raining a bit the seats were covered. Very clean and had the mountains  view. Good place for morning coffee. 

Checkout was smooth, the whole experience along with the service is impeccable, 2 nights wasn’t enough for us so we will be going back again in Jan to enjoy another 4 nights

Hakone Gora KARAKU

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