I Looked Into Mizu no Kaori, a Hot Spring Inn in Hakone Gora

In my Komorin's Casual Fantasy Travel series, I usually cover campsites, but sometimes I go a bit off track and look into hot spring inns too, telling myself "today I'm in the mood for a hotel-cation."

This time, what caught my eye was a small hot spring inn in Hakone Gora called Mizu no Kaori. Despite having only 8 rooms total, I learned it even offers a Japanese-style dormitory room (shared room), and that made me want to sort out the details once and for all.

The Short Version

It seems like a fairly unusual hot spring inn where, out of 8 total rooms, one is a mixed-gender Japanese-style dormitory room.
The Rakuten Mobile signal came back as a "C" rating, so that's something worth keeping in mind.

I've put together the details below.

Looking Into What Kind of Inn Mizu no Kaori Is

This is a hot spring inn located in the Hakone Gora area, and according to the official site, it's a quite small property with only 8 rooms in total. There are broadly two room types: one is the "omakase" (chef's choice style) Japanese-style room of about 8 to 10 tatami mats plus a wide veranda, and the other is a 24-tatami-mat mixed-gender Japanese-style dormitory room. Apparently the dormitory can be divided into two 12-tatami-mat sections using a movable partition, and it can accommodate up to 12 people. It doesn't seem to be the type with individual capsule-style partitions, but rather an open shared-room style, so it might be a good option for solo travelers looking for a casual stay, or for groups.

Check-in is apparently from 3:00 PM to 10:00 PM, and check-out is at 10:00 AM. Reservations can be made through the booking engine on the official website, and it seems phone reservations are also accepted (I'll leave out the number here, but you can find it on the official site). The lowest-priced plan is listed starting at 13,650 yen per person, and there also seem to be upgraded plans that include mud therapy or a nail treatment. However, I couldn't find a clear statement on the official site as to whether these prices include tax and service charges, so it might be worth confirming that when you book.

Komorin

I feel like shared-room hot spring inns aren't something you see very often. When I hear "dormitory," I tend to picture a guesthouse, so seeing this style at a hot spring inn felt pretty fresh to me.

About the Cloudy Waters from the Owakudani Spring and the Private Open-Air Bath

The hot spring water is apparently drawn from Owakudani and has a cloudy, whitish appearance, sourced directly from the spring without dilution. It's said to be effective for joint pain, neuralgia, and muscle pain, and is also promoted as good for the skin. There's one indoor bath each for men and women, available from 3:00 PM to 9:00 AM the next day, and it seems the men's and women's baths are swapped at certain times, though the official site didn't specify the exact swap times.

In addition, there also appears to be a private open-air bath with a view of Mount Myojogatake. It's 2,500 yen (tax included) per group for 45 minutes, and reservations need to be made in advance. I wasn't able to confirm whether it closes during the winter season, so if that's something you're curious about, it might be worth inquiring before your stay.

Another thing that caught my attention was something called "mud therapy," a hot spring mud treatment. Apparently they mature the mud from the Owakudani spring, keep it at around 42 to 43 degrees Celsius, apply about 10 to 12 kilograms of it to the body, then wrap you in linen and a blanket to promote sweating. It costs 9,600 yen for guests staying at the inn and 10,000 yen for non-guests, is done in a dedicated room, and also requires advance reservation. As someone who prefers staying indoors, I found myself intrigued by the idea of getting slowly warmed up without having to move my body at all.

Room Facilities and the Meal Lineup

The omakase Japanese-style rooms apparently come with a full set of standard amenities, including a washroom, a toilet with a heated washlet seat, a TV, air conditioning, and a tea set. Since 2020, it seems only one room has been designated as smoking-permitted, with all other rooms being non-smoking and a smoking area set up beside the entrance. The dormitory room itself is non-smoking, and it comes with a shared sink, refrigerator, electric kettle, and microwave. I couldn't find any mention of Wi-Fi on the official site's facilities page, so that remains unclear.

For dinner, guests can apparently choose from six options, including a hot spring kaiseki course, Hakone mountain-foot pork shabu-shabu, kinmedai (splendid alfonsino) shabu-shabu, hoba-yaki (grilled dish on a magnolia leaf), and Japanese beef chuck roll sukiyaki-style hot pot. Breakfast is home-style cooking using ingredients from the western Kanagawa region, with rice from Toyama Prefecture's Koshihikari variety. They don't seem to offer full allergy accommodations, only consideration for ingredients guests would rather avoid, so it might be worth checking on this in advance.

As for access, it's about a 20-minute walk from Sounzan Station, or you can use the free shuttle service from Sounzan Station or Gora Station (running from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM and 2:30 PM to 6:00 PM, with a system where you contact the inn after arriving at the station). By car, it's said to be about 40 minutes from the Odawara-Nishi IC on the Odawara-Atsugi Road. Since I don't really drive, I found myself reading this while imagining arriving via the shuttle or by bus and ropeway instead.

Rakuten Mobile Signal Conditions

When I checked this facility's location using the official My Area Connectivity Simulation tool, the overall rating came back as "C." Given its location tucked into the mountains of Gora, it seems like checking the signal situation ahead of time might be a good idea.

This rating simply reflects what I found using the official tool. If you're planning to rely on Rakuten Mobile for staying in touch or looking things up during your stay, it might be reassuring to double-check before you head out.

Komorin

Hearing a "C" rating does make me a little tense, but if this is the kind of inn where you spend most of your time relaxing in the hot spring, maybe a somewhat weak signal isn't such a big deal after all.

See Rakuten Mobile Details

Wrapping Up

To sum it all up, my impression of Mizu no Kaori is that it's a small hot spring inn with a rather unusual style, where one out of its 8 total rooms is a mixed-gender Japanese-style dormitory room. Alongside the classic hot-spring-inn touches like the cloudy waters from the Owakudani spring, the private open-air bath, and the mud therapy treatment, the availability of a shared room option makes it seem like a place worth considering for both solo travelers and group trips. Since the Rakuten Mobile signal came back as a "C" rating, if connectivity is a concern for you, it's probably a good idea to check the official tool ahead of time.

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