Through travel hacking, I was able to stay at the Hyosekikaku & Nest Inn onsen in Hakone. This was one of the best onsen experiences I’ve ever had. Here is everything you need to know through our Hyosekikaku review.
Hyosekikaku & Nest Inn Review: Best Onsen in Hakone
Staying at the Hyosekikaku villas in Hakone was such an awesome experience that I had to try to let everyone know about what to expect and how to plan an onsen trip to Hakone.
Using my Chase Ultimate Rewards points that I racked up, I was able to book a one night stay at Hyosekikaku. After leaving, I was so grateful to be a part of such an amazing journey in such a short period of time.
I arrived there with my Japan rail pass on a Shinkansen rail from Kyoto. It was well worth it! There’s plenty more to do in the Chubu region.
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My stay at Hyosekikaku was not cheap, but it was well worth it. I’ve done a few reviews of some of my favorite travel spots. For additional reviews of my travel experiences, check out my review of the Laguna Beach Ritz-Carlton.
Things to know about Hyosekikaku, Nest Inn and Hakone
I think the resort doesn’t get as much exposure as it should because the Hyosekikaku and Nest Inn are branded as separate experiences, but to me they should be unified together. If they branded it as one resort but with different booking options that might extract some more value for the resort as a whole. I used some of my favorite tools to book award travel to get there.
Booking the trip was easy and well worth it. Let’s get into some specifics about the resort and the onsen experience.
Hyosekikaku Details
Hyosekikaku is the villa portion of the resort while Nest Inn is the hotel version of the resort. By staying at Hyosekikaku I was able to have my own private villa and private onsen that I didn’t need to share. An onsen is a Japanese style hot spring. If you are making the trip to Japan, I highly suggest that you carve out a full ryokan and onsen experience.
Nest Inn Details
Nest Inn is the hotel portion of the resort. If you stay on that side of the resort, you’re stay will have a shared onsen, which they call the ‘bird bath.’ I took at peak at it and it looked very nice. They have an indoor onsen and an outdoor onsen. The outdoor onsen looks out to Mount Hakone. Mount Hakone is an active volcano that supplies the onsen hot springs.
If you stay at Nest Inn, you are right in the mix of all the amenities. They have an amazing restaurant called Woodside Restaurant.
Nest Inn also has a coffee shop that is so quiet and tranquil. The coffee shop is called ‘free bird.’ If you can’t tell, I love the names of the sections of the resort. I found myself sitting there two or three times just to enjoy the view and the coffee.
Not a bad place to have coffee at the Nest Inn.
Things to know about Hakone, Japan
Hakone is a small town nestled in the hills. The town is only 40-50 miles outside of downtown Tokyo, Japan, so it is a relatively popular town for backpackers, explorers and people trying to get away from the hustle and bustle. We followed some of our Japan travel hacks to ensure we got there efficiently and effectively. You can make a trip down to Hakone as a day trip from Tokyo. Here are some other day trips from Tokyo to consider.
This made the town relatively easy to get around, but it isn’t always straightforward.
The drive up to the resort is amazing. I didn’t realize the winding roads getting up to the top and how amazing the views would be.
I will advise that it is not a great experience with a lot of luggage on the bus system. The roads are very tight and the turns are drastic. At times, it felt like I was going to get sick!
I took the bus. I ended up having to stand for a 45 minute and 40 stop bus ride through the mountains. Yikes! I’m a bit of a frugal traveler, so I was okay with it. I had to laugh a few times at the experience.
Hyoseikikaku and Nest Inn have the perfect vantage point of Mount Hakone.
The pictures don’t do a justice of Mount Hakone.
Hyosekikaku Review
Upon arrival, the staff was very welcoming to us. They have golf carts so try to make them aware of your arrival (if by bus) so they can pick you up and help you get your luggage up the hill. In Japan, everyone is friendly and speaks english. No need for language barrier apps.
Hyosekikaku was one of the best onsen experiences I have ever had. Hyosekikaku is definitely one of the best onsen resorts in Hakone. I felt so at peace with nature while also being blown away by the architecture and design.
The Lobby of Hyosekikaku
When we checked in, we sat down with some tea and a nice welcome snack during the check in process. It felt like we had everything taken care of from the start. Completely worry free, which was great considering how much hustle and bustle we had the last few days. I needed some that would help me completely shut off from the outside world.
Here is a photo of the tea house and lobby walk up for your consideration.
The experience at Hyosekikaku and Nest Inn was phenomenal. Here’s why you should go.
Our Villa at Hyosekikaku
My villa was mind-blowing. I felt like I was at some sort of palace. I loved the hospitality as a contrast to the big cities. They showed us all of the ways to operate our room, which was fully equiped with air cleaners, open showers, a bathtub with fully grained oak wood, a wood burning stove, fully stocked kitchen and more.
I’m a huge fan of design. I’m frugal though. My house design is not like what it strives to be. I have envisions of making a place work, but I end up deferring to saving. Once I saw the design of Hyosekikaku, I knew this was a place for me.
I will never forget our villa experience. Truly unforgettable.
Other villas at the resort were better with amazing views.
These villas up on the hill were outstanding.
Best Onsen in Hakone
Hyosekikaku is clearly one of the best onsens in Hakone and quite possibly in all of Japan. There are other onsens to consider in Hakone, but not would fully do the tick that many people would want from our stay at Nest Inn and Hyosekikaku.
Use some of these tools for travel hacking to make sure you are getting the most out of your rewards points.
I’m from Minneapolis, so if you ever visit here are 10 things to do along the Minneapolis riverfront.
See Also:
- 10 Most Beautiful Places that Actually Exist
- Find Your Wanderlust: Cheap Places to Travel to
- Estepona, Spain: Things to See and Do
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