Hello Everyone!
Here is an album of my room and dinner. https://imgur.com/a/hLxRzIQ
I have had a few comments requesting how my experience was at Hakone Ginyu. So I decided to write an entire post. I booked about one year before the trip, and went through The Ryokan Collection (https://www.ryokancollection.com/). They handled all of the booking details and served as a liaison between myself and Hakone Ginyu. This came at no cost to me, and I did not have to pay for my stay until check out. Though I did have to put a card on file. This entire process through The Ryokan collection was seamless. I ended up booking The 3F Hoshi Maisonette, I knew I wanted a good view and wanted to be on the third floor or higher, and this was the last room available for my date.
https://imgur.com/a/bZ3z9fL On the day of check in, we took the Limited Express Romance Car from Tokyo Station to Hakone-Yumoto Station. This is slightly more expensive than the standard Shinkansen, but is worth it for the views if you can book one of the observation deck seats. From Hakone-Yumoto station we took the Hakonetozan line to Chokokunomori Station and spent the morning at the Hakone Open Air Museum. I would highly recommend a visit if you enjoy sculptures amongst beautiful scenery. Afterwards we had lunch at a tiny sushi restaurant that was absolutely delicious and close to the station.
Check in was at 2pm, so from Chokokunomori Station we took the train to Miyanoshita Station. Wandered around the small town area a bit and headed over on foot to Hakone Ginyu. About a 5 minute walk from the station. Check in was very smooth, we were seated in the bar area with a complimentary tea while our documents were collected for check-in. Shortly after we were escorted to our room. The room was absolutely beautiful, very clean, spacious, beds were very comfortable. Very nice toiletries were provided in the bathroom, which had both an indoor and outdoor shower. Dinner was at 7pm, so until then we relaxed in our room enjoying the views and the small onsen on the balcony. There was a happy hour, which offered two free drinks down in the bar but we skipped that to just relax in our room.
Dinner was lovely it was served course by course. Beautifully presented with seasonal ingredients. Very simple flavors but still very delicious. I was absolutely stuffed, and my partner had to finish some of my dishes towards the end of the meal. This was the only Kaiseki experience we planned during our trip so I am very happy we got to experience one.
After dinner, just more relaxing and onsening. Beds were comfortable, and we had a lovely night sleep. In the morning we relaxed some more, took another dip in the onsen, and had a massive breakfast served to us at 9am. Check-out was at 11am. We were seated for check out in the lobby, provided with our bill and was on our way. We continued on the day with Hakone Loop and ultimately onto Kyoto. As a note just take the Hakonetozan line and not the buses. Google tried to tell us to take the bus, but the correct bus never came and it was quite confusing to figure out in Hakone.
So overall I would absolutely recommend Hakone Ginyu. Though this was the only Ryokan I have ever stayed in so I can't really compare it to anything else. It was also pretty expensive (JPY 100400, or $688 at the time) the views, room, and food well made up for that. It served as a perfect rest between the busy days we had in between Tokyo and Kyoto. We were also traveling with friends so it was nice to have a little getaway with my partner.
I'd also be happy to answer any more questions about Hakone Ginyu or my trip overall!
by UnbreakableBanana