Remember my trip to Hakone Shrine with my friends? The day before we went to the shrine, we stayed at this amazing and affordable ryokan in Hakone, Japan. Hakone is a few hours ride from Tokyo, in the nearby Kanawaga-ken, and is famous for its black eggs, Lake Ashi, Hakone Shrine and its onsen!
So what's a Ryokan?
A Ryokan (旅館) is Japanese style inn[1] and usually costs much compared to hostels. In a ryokan, you'll be sleeping on a futon (布団) in a Japanese style room, that is with tatami mats (畳). In contrast, in hotels, you're sleeping on a bed in a western style room.
The name of this ryokan is Hotel Musashiya, and is found in the heart of Moto-Hakone. Unfortunately Mount Fuji cannot be seen from this ryokan but I heard just a few minutes walk, there's a place with great views of Mount Fuji. It was cloudy when we went there so no Mount Fuji views for us. We paid 41,400 yen for 3 people for a night in 1 room. Expensive? Well, it's the best deal we got during Golden Week where prices are at their peak.
Tip: Prices for hotels will greatly increase during Golden Week. Since it's GW, it's best to book your accommodation beforehand or else, you'll sleep nowhere because all are fully booked or end up at extravagant hotels.
So what's so great about this ryokan?
1. Convenient Location
Located in the heart of Moto-Hakone, travelers staying at this ryokan can take a stroll around the boat pier and go shopping at nearby souvenir shops. Hakone Shrine is just a walking distance so it's very convenient.
2. Delicious Food
Some ryokans don't really offer half-board (in japanese: 一泊二食付き) so you need to look for your own food. Half-board means dinner and breakfast the next day are included in the accommodation. We're lucky this ryokan got the best food and the staff were so accommodating. Dinner was served at our room by a Nakai (中居, attendant), while breakfast was served at the dining hall where we joined other people who checked in that time. Each room has a Nakai so you'll really feel like a princess. Hehe Not to mention, you can request more rice. LOL
3. Two Onsen
Of course, a ryokan won't be complete without an onsen (温泉) or a public hot spring bath. Since it's an onsen, expect that you will be completely naked. Japanese people are so used to this already so they won't really care about you. Just pretend not to be awkward so you won't make a scene. Works every time! 😅
This ryokan has both indoor and open air onsen, and they are separated by gender. The open air onsen wasn't so good when we bathed there. Because it was so windy, every time I got up, I would be shivering a lot. But actually it's really good. Their onsen is located on the top floor of the building and has good views of Lake Ashi so I was enjoying the bath and the view outside.
I didn't take photos of their onsen so just imagine it. 😉
Sadly, they don't have private onsen so for people with tattoos, they might not allow you. To be sure, you can contact them.
4. Typical Ryokan Amenities
They have table tennis and karaoke rooms for rent. Usually ryokan have areas for table tennis so after a refreshing bath, you can get competitive (and sweat again, LOL). At the ground floor, there's a souvenir shop and a sofa where you can mingle with other people (and use their wifi 😅).
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5. Clean and Spacious Room
Japanese style rooms! There's just something about Tatami (畳) that I love but can't really pinpoint as to what it is. Besides the room amenities that every hotel offers, Hotel Musashiya also provided us with Yukata (浴衣) and magnificent views of Lake Ashi from our room's window. My sleep on the futon (布団) was comfortable after the onsen.
I was about to post a photo of me wearing yukata but nevermind. 😂
6. Accommodating Staff
From the time we arrived til check out, all the staff were so welcoming and accommodating. Service is really so good in this ryokan. Can't explain it all in words, so you gotta experience it yourself. 😅
Things Hotel Musashiya can improve
I don't really have that much of a complain because of all the positive things I mentioned above. But I think they can improve on improving the wifi connection to reach the rooms upstairs. The free wifi is only available in the ground floor where there are sofas. Some people (like me) don't really want to go out their room.
Lastly, I hope they install bidet in the toilet. I understand it's a Japanese style inn but some ryokans already have bidets installed in their rooms' toilet. Innovation please, if possible. Hehe
While it is true that ryokans are expensive, I think it's better to at least experience it if you're planning to have a vacation in Japan. If you're so good at looking around, you'll find affordable and decent ryokans. Not a bad ryokan experience for my first time! Now, I'll be sure to stay in ryokans for my next travels. Hopefully, I have money to be able to pay for it. 😅
How about you? Have you experienced the Japanese hospitality at a ryokan? Please share with us your experience!
If you want to book a room in Hotel Musashiya, please contact them in the information below. You can also find them in Booking.com.
ホテルむさしや (Hotel Musashiya)
神奈川県足柄下郡箱根町元箱根20
Contact number: 0460-83-6348
Thank you for reading!
See you around! またね！
Credits:
[1] Source: Ryokan - Wikipedia
All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise. Not an ad.
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Well, I have been in a couple of ryokans in Japan, and there is nothing really that can be compared to the experience of sleeping in a regular hotel. Although there are some ryokan style hotels too, the real ryokan and of course the onsens will give you an unforgettable experience. One day when I visit Japan again, I will definitely have a night or two in a very traditional mountain ryokan. The peacefulness is always great.
Thanks for sharing your experience and photos about this neat place!
Thanks for sharing your experience!
You’re like my senpai in terms of ryokan experiences. 😅
Completely agree about the unforgettable experience. Soaking in the onsen, staying in the room with yukata on, it’s really relaxing.
Hope you can come to Japan again!
Just curious, have you lived here before?
I haven’t lived in Japan. Yet my overall timespan (combined) of staying in Japan would be around a year. I’ve visited Japan about 15-16 times of about 3 weeks each. Mostly of the time I spent on Kyushu island, but I’ve been to Osaka, Tokyo, Fukuyama too. I have been in a group about folklore dances for most of my life, just before I married and now there are two kids around, who really “eat” almost all my spare time. 😁
So, really I’m very familiar to Japan and everything Japanese and definitely would gladly spend some more time traveling around the country.
I haven't been to Kyushu. They said it's warmer there than the rest of the country. I would love to go to Kyushu especially Beppu.
That's a lot of traveling for you! The airlines would be rich from you. 😅
I bet there are many interesting folklore dances in Japan, but I can't recognize their differences. (sorry!) All are just so wonderful to see!
Now that you have a family, hope you can bring them to Japan too! If they're still toddlers, it's gonna be hard to travel far so maybe when they're past that stage, it's easier to travel with them.
It’s really warm and humid in Kyushu, especially in mid-September when I used to visit Japan. And yes, I’ve been to Beppu and it’s really interesting. You can see steam evaporating from so many buildings. And they have these interesting sort of spring lakes which are all colored in different sues due to different chemicals in the water.
This is a very young me, back in 2009
I don’t actually dance Japanese traditional dances. I was participating in Bulgarian folklore dances group.
And yes, definitely want to go with my family in a Japanese trip! Maybe when the kids grow a little bit, as you supposed!
Japan gave me a lot of friendships and a lot of great emotions!
More than 10 years ago! Indeed young and free!
Japan is so close to your heart. That's wonderful! A lot of precious memories..
I thought you're dancing Japanese dances. I know some foreigner, guy lives in Okinawa and joins the dance.
Some day, Japan shall see you again. And that time it would be with your whole family.
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😌It's always fascinating to see how well Asia, in this case Japan, has preserved traditions. It's a good thing to transition from a technologically advanced setting to a more traditional, "DOWN TO EARTH" one😍.
The meals appear to be delicious. Aside from salads (regular lettuce and spinach), I don't do well with raw proteins such as beef or seafood. I had sushi once and almost slit my throat with my nails because I was itching. For relief, I ended up with a needle in my ass [same with mushrooms]. We cook almost everything in this over here, which is prolly why, I mean we still deep fry sausages🤣.
Last frame, is that soup pot? the design is lovely. This hotel is so unique. You sure had a fantastic time here❤️
You nailed it! While the city is so busy catching up to modern times, there are also hotels like this that are preserving the tradition of the past. And we can experience that in the present!
The meals are superb! Since having this sumptuous meal, I've been craving for it and sometimes I just wish they would all appear to me in my house. 😂
That's so sad! Sashimi and sushi are my favorites! Of course, only in Japan. If it's in my country, no way. Not sure if that's safe to eat. HAHAHA
Why would you deep dry a sausage?!?! LOL My first time knowing that!
The last photo is the tea set prepared for us, some kind of welcome drink. The big one is the tea pot, and the small cups are with covers.
I know, but we do😂
I was tempted to say TEA POT, but it looked so large in the photos, so wasn't sure. Awe, that's Lovely. You can always visit, just a stone throw for you. for us, it's a whole lifetimes journey.
Appreciate you sharing these lovely photos and scenes, it's refreshing💗
Thank you as always @queenstarr! 💕
Hope someday you could experience this for yourself too!
Maybe at that time, you have a lot of earnings in the platform already which you can spend for a vacation. Hehe
Can you try not to deep fry the sausages next time? 😂
😂Hopefully before I turn 84🤞
🤣I'm sorry, I suddenly lost my ability to read English.
💗
What's so special about 84? Hmmm...
LOL best reply ever!
Just a GIF joke I use to have with 2 naughty hive friends. kinda like to show how long it might take for that to happen [reality.com checker]🤣
Ui, may hidden friend, lol. Food looks mouth-watering haha.
Btw, if it's 40K+ during Golden Week, around how much does it usually cost?
Not sure, maybe minimum 10K yen per person.
I so love their food! It's really a complete Japanese meal, and even though there are a lot of unknown food, I still ate them because they're that delicious. 😂
Hidden friend? Hidden friends yan. hahaha with "s" 😂
Haha, lmao. Nabanggit mo nga na tatlo kayo haha.
Yeah, taas ng probability na masarap pa rin kahit unknown. Kakagutom haha.
Even though food is unknown, you'll still eat it coz it looks so good. Tiwala lang na ok lang talaga sya na pagkain. 🤣
Honestly may mga daydreams ako na may magsisilbi sakin ng ganitong food every time i'm hungry 🤣🤣 masarap talaga kasi! full Japanese course!
I am salivating looking at those plates of food. Such a nice place to visit by the way. Thank you for sharing
Food was really so good! Best meal!
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Wowww @wittyzell. What a beauty everything you show. Hopefully someday God will give me the joy of enjoying places like this. Beautiful your blog... I will be attentive to see so much beauty. Blessings.💖
Thanks for being here @dayadam! Hopefully you can travel to this side of the world someday and experience it first hand 😀
I hope so, sweetheart @wittyzell. Amen. I love your customs and especially the food you see. jajajajaaja. 😍
The food is really so good! I kept wishing this kind of food will be my meal everyday 😂
Sana tlga mkapunta ako Japan someday 🥰
Hopefully yes! And hopefully I'm here at that time, then meetup tayo. 😅
Then kain sa Japanese restaurant. Yay. Bey ko yan haha
Of course naman! 😂
Beautiful lake view! So the Ryokan cost each of you around USD$ 130/night for 1 room?😯 Nice pictures on the post and thank you for sharing.😊
Thank you!
Yes, the view was so amazing! There are also rooms with mountain views, but not sure about how beautiful and peaceful it is.
The ryokan costs us around 100 USD/per night for 1room.
Ahhh... quite reasonable price considering everything in Japan is expensive!
It is! Great deal already!
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Thank you @pinmapple and @ybanezkim26! Have a great time in Coron!
Wow
That's all I can say about the Ryokan
It's too too good
Well, enjoy yourself
Yeah it was an amazing experience!
damn japans food looks so delicious mouth watering gyud kaayo
nag imagine ko sa onsen same sa mga anime happenings hahahaha
HAHAHA! Nice ang onsen if naa kay kaila.. if wala kay kaila, ayyyy di ra bibo but you have solo time.
Food kay grabe kalami jud :D
di rapud sila mo mind og stretch mark witty? hahaha
dghan jud ga ingun na lami daw kaayo ang food sa japan huhu maka curioussssss
200k enough naba na mag laag diha apil na ang show money ? hahahha
Murag ok na na na money oiii 😁 Tipid2 lang gud, ngitag mga deals dire dba masulit rana ang 200k!
Dili ra sila mu mind naunsa ka, bahalag tambok, daot, etc
guide moko witty ha 😍 yey
sure sure!
What a gorgeous gem. And a great blog to write about it
Thank you! I was actually planning to write the whole ryokan experience in another blog post but when I reviewed it, the talk about the ryokan got too long. 😅 hence a separate post